Soneium, by Sony Block Solutions Labs, is excited to announce our collaboration with IRC APP (formerly known as YOAKE SPACE), an official app for IDOL RUNWAY COLLECTION Supported by TGC (IRC). Developed by YOAKE entertainment, IRC APP transforms how fandom can be recorded, rewarded, and valued.
YOAKE Entertainment, winner of Soneium Spark, is backed by Japan's leading IP entertainment companies including TWIN PLANET, ASOBISYSTEM, W TOKYO, Y&N Brothers, and Sony Group. The company hosts IRC, Japan's largest idol and fashion festival, and develops IRC APP, powered by Record Protocol ($REC).
With IRC reaching over a million people through venue attendance, broadcast viewership, and media coverage, IRC APP is redefining fandom for the onchain age together—where fandom contribution is transparent, lasting, and creatively rewarding.
CREATEs presents IDOL RUNWAY COLLECTION 2026 Supported by TGC
IRC 2026 marks the third annual edition of one of Japan's fastest-growing cultural festivals, now elevated through its collaboration with TOKYO GIRLS COLLECTION (TGC)—Japan's largest and most influential fashion event. Since its debut in 2005, TGC has hosted over 40 large-scale events, reaching a cumulative audience of more than 5 million people across in-person shows, regional tours, and nationwide livestreams. As a global gateway to Japanese fashion and youth culture, TGC provides IRC with a world-class cultural and production backbone.
Building on this massive platform, IRC achieved a historic milestone in 2025. IRC 2025 drew approximately 11,800 attendees to the National Yoyogi Gymnasium First Gymnasium. The event brought together 107 idols on a single stage in an unprecedented fusion of top-tier idol culture and high-fashion runway performance. This breakout success firmly positioned IRC as one of Japan’s largest and most influential idol & fashion hybrid festivals.
On March 15th 2026, IRC will take place at the iconic Yoyogi National Gymnasium First Gymnasium for its third annual edition. Hosted by YOAKE entertainment, IRC 2026 aims to further evolve the interplay between idols, fashion, and technology. This year’s lineup features leading groups such as Nogizaka46, FRUITS ZIPPER, CANDY TUNE, CUTIE STREET, and TAKANE NO NADESHIKO, reflecting the event’s cultural reach and mainstream appeal.
Combining TGC’s global fashion influence, IRC’s proven success, and their deep roots in Japan’s idol ecosystem, IRC 2026 stands as one of the most ambitious entertainment experiences Japan has ever produced — where idol culture, fashion, and onchain fandom participation all converge.
IRC APP Brings Global Fan Engagement to Japan's Largest Idol Festival on Soneium
Across the global entertainment landscape, fandom contribution has remained largely unmeasured and undervalued. IRC APP addresses this universal challenge by starting with J-Pop—the world's second largest music market according to IPFi's Global Music Report 2025. Partnering with Japan's leading mainstream idol groups and the nation's largest idol festival, IRC APP demonstrates how IPFi infrastructure can unlock the true economic potential of creative communities at scale.
Powered by Soneium's infrastructure, the IRC APP creates a seamless bridge between everyday fandom activity and real-world impact at IRC. IRC APP leverages Account Abstraction (AA) to ensure the experience is immediately accessible to users unfamiliar with blockchain applications, while offering unprecedented fandom influence. The app adopts a streamlined onboarding flow utilizing social login via LINE, Google, or Apple, enabling users to begin participating immediately without the need for wallets or technical setup.
By linking an X (formerly Twitter) account, users activate "AI SNS Trends", an AI analytics system powered by Record Protocol that evaluates publicly available supportive posts based on positivity, consistency, and contribution to the community.
Record Protocol is a credibly neutral infrastructure powered by AI and blockchain that makes fandom contributions verifiable and connects them to IPFi. Fandom amplifies content, coordinates communities, and creates demand—but their contribution hasn't been properly measured or valued. Record Protocol changes this by making fandom activity measurable and capitalizable, creating a new paradigm where passion becomes quantifiable value.
Follow Record on X for deeper insights into the protocol.
Engagement measured through this system is reflected in "IRC Score", which is automatically claimed to users' onchain wallets—no gas fees or transaction approvals required. Accumulated IRC Score determines a user’s “Membership” rank—Regular, Bronze, Silver, or Gold—each offering progressively enhanced benefits such as early ticket access, priority entry, and premium venue invites.
Membership rank also increases the number of voting tickets granted, enabling fans to exercise greater influence through the app’s onchain “Fan Vote” functions, which directly shape real-world elements of IRC 2026. This function was fully validated during its beta launch in January, where the campaign brought over 60,000 users onchain and demonstrated that a mainstream audience can seamlessly engage with onchain voting through an accessible, UX-first design.
Through the integration of social-native onboarding, AI-based fandom analysis, and gasless onchain engagement, Soneium provides a framework in which onchain activity translates into meaningful, verifiable impact on the event experience.
IRC Lineup | Integrated with IRC APP on Soneium
The first wave of IRC 2026 performers has been announced by YOAKE entertainment. Idols that join IRC APP will enable their fandoms to engage through AI SNS Trends and earn IRC Score. Additional idols will be revealed in the coming months.
Formed in August 2011, Nogizaka46 made their major debut in February 2012 with “Guruguru Curtain”. Starting with their second single “Oide Shampoo”, every subsequent single has reached No.1 on the Oricon charts, with total physical sales surpassing 30 million copies.
Their live performance scale continues to grow each year; in May 2025, they held their first-ever concert at Ajinomoto Stadium. Their international popularity is equally strong, with large-scale concerts held in France, Singapore, Hong Kong, Shanghai, and Taiwan, including a successful solo concert in Hong Kong in 2024.
A true icon of Japanese idol culture, Nogizaka46 stands as one of Japan’s leading and most influential idol groups entertainment.
FRUITS ZIPPER is a seven-member idol group—Amane Tsukiashi, Suzuka Chinzei, Yui Sakurai, Runa Nakagawa, Mana Manaka, Karen Matsumoto, and Noel Hayase—who debuted in April 2022 under ASOBISYSTEM’s idol project “KAWAII LAB.”. The group’s concept is ‘from Harajuku to the world,’ and the group will transmit what they call ‘NEW KAWAII’ from Harajuku, an area known for fashion and individuality, to the world.
Their second single “Watashi no Ichiban Kawaii Tokoro” went viral among Gen Z on TikTok, reaching 3 billion views on the platform and surpassing 64 million views on its music video.
In 2025, they made their first appearance on the 76th NHK Kōhaku Uta Gassen, and in February 2026, they will hold the largest concert of their career, a performance at Tokyo Dome.
CANDY TUNE is a seven-member idol group consisting of Mizuki Kirihara, Rino Fukuyama, Nanako Ogawa, Natsu Minami, Kotomi Tachibana, Shizuka Miyano, and Bibian Murakawa.
They debuted on March 14, 2023, under ASOBISYSTEM’s idol project “KAWAII LAB.", dedicated to bringing Japanese idol culture to the world.
The group’s name reflects the idea that, just like candies of many flavors and shapes, the seven members each bring their own distinctive personalities and “favorite things,” coming together to create their own pop-colored TUNE, a unique melody only they can produce. In 2025, CANDY TUNE made their first appearance on the 76th NHK Kōhaku Uta Gassen, further solidifying their presence as one of the most exciting rising groups in Japan’s idol scene.
CUTIE STREET is an eight-member idol group—Risa Furusawa, Aika Sano, Kana Itakura, Ayano Masuda, Emiru Kawamoto, Miyu Umeda, Nagisa Manabe, and Haruka Sakuraba—that debuted in August 2024 under ASOBISYSTEM’s “KAWAII LAB.” idol project.
The group’s concept is ‘KAWAII MAKER.’ With all different ages and backgrounds, the eight members will act as KAWAII MAKERS and transmit their own brand of ‘KAWAII’ from Harajuku to the world.
Their debut song “Kawaii Dake ja Dame desu ka?” has surpassed 200 million streams, and total views on TikTok have exceeded 7 billion.
They continue to attract widespread attention, winning the TikTok First Half Trend Awards 2025 Music Category, and earning nominations in four categories at MUSIC AWARDS JAPAN 2025.
Formed in August 2022, TAKANE NO NADESHIKO is an idol group produced by HoneyWorks. They aspire to embody both the elegance of a “flower beyond reach” and the pure, traditional beauty associated with the Yamato Nadeshiko, aiming to become an idol group admired with pride. On December 17 2025 (Wed), they will release their long-awaited first album, “Miageru Tabi ni, Koi wo Suru”. From February 2026, they will launch the TAKANE NO NADESHIKO LIVE TOUR 2026, covering six cities across Japan, with additional overseas performances planned in Asia in April.The tour finale will take place on May 6, 2026 (Wed) at Tokyo International Forum Hall A.
Additional idols will be announced in the coming months. Idols that integrate AI SNS Trends within the IRC APP, will enable their fandoms to earn IRC Score through everyday social activity on X (formerly Twitter). Positive and supportive posts about supported idols automatically become eligible for IRC Score calculation. Through AI SNS Trends, fandom contributions are evaluated and converted into IRC Scores—claimed onchain without gas fees or blockchain knowledge required. This seamless integration transforms everyday social engagement into measurable influence at IRC 2026.
Special Fan Vote Campaign on IRC APP | Opening Act Audition
As part of IRC 2026’s commitment to building the stage together with its fandom, the IRC APP will host the Opening Act Audition, a special campaign inviting you to submit the idols you wish to see perform as the opening act at IRC 2026.
During the submission period, you can nominate your preferred idols through the official form. Selected nominees will be featured in AI SNS Trends, enabling their fandoms to earn IRC Score through everyday social activity. Based on accumulated IRC Score and Membership rank, fans will receive voting tickets to help determine which idols will appear on stage at IRC 2026.
Submission Period: November 28, 2025 (Fri) 11:00 – December 13, 2025 (Sat) 23:59 JST Voting Period: Scheduled for Mid-January 2026
Additional details will be shared through official social channels. IRC APP invites all fandom and industry partners to help shape the opening stage of IRC 2026.
Submit your nomination here.
Where J-Pop Fandom Meets the Future
This collaboration represents the largest real-world fandom integration ever built on Soneium—bringing together Japan’s most influential idol groups, a nationwide fanbase, and an onchain engagement layer for the first time. IRC APP reimagines J-Pop fandom as a living network that spans both digital and physical worlds. Every daily fandom activity builds toward a transparent, verifiable record of contribution.
Powered by Soneium infrastructure, it connects the passion of fandom with the creativity of IPs, forming a foundation where music, culture, and technology move as one.
What begins with Japan’s idol culture will extend to new creative frontiers—music, anime, fashion, and beyond—demonstrating that when technology is aligned with emotion, it does not replace passion.
It preserves it. It amplifies it. And it gives it a future.
Start your journey with the IRC APP.