"Asuka III Original Performing Arts" Dancer

The next recruitment round for "Asuka III Original Performing Arts" dancers has not yet been scheduled. We will announce it once the timing is decided.

"Asuka III Original Performing Arts" is an entertainment program staged in Lumiere Theater, the entertainment space aboard Asuka III, the new flagship of NYK Cruises Co., Ltd., which entered service on July 20, 2025. It is a new kind of immersive performing arts experience that combines dance performance with dreamlike, dynamic digital art imagery on holographic and LED screens.

KAGUYA

An original work that pays homage to The Tale of the Bamboo Cutter, weaving a fantastical story through distinctly Japanese lyrical beauty and dance, with the moon, bamboo groves, the Milky Way and the world of folding-screen paintings.

MYSTERIO

An original work themed on the mystery and romance of ancient Mexican civilization, weaving an enigmatic story through captivating culture and dance, with the sun, the jungle, vividly colored animals and prayers to the gods.

About Asuka III

• Entered service: July 20, 2025

• Operator: NYK Cruises Co., Ltd.

• Home port: Yokohama

• Gross tonnage: 52,265 GT (the largest Japanese-flagged passenger ship)

• Length / beam: 230m / 29.8m

• Cabins / passenger capacity: 381 cabins / 740 passengers

Position Summary

• Contract type: ALLIANCE MEMBER (Service Contract)

• Field: Cruise ship

• Application deadline: To be decided

• Fee while aboard: 11,500 yen per day, including days aboard with no performance or duties, inclusive of consumption tax and withholding tax, plus fees for lessons, rehearsals and run-throughs

Job Description

Dancers for "Asuka III Original Performing Arts" sail aboard Asuka III and perform in KAGUYA and MYSTERIO. You sail for roughly one to three of the approximately four seasons each year, with a single season being up to about two months of continuous sailing.

Mission: Deliver performances of the highest quality on the extraordinary stage of a cruise ship. Move the guests, win fans through strategic communication, and maximize the value of the experience.

• Performing in KAGUYA and MYSTERIO (up to two shows a day, up to 40 a month)

• Taking part in lessons, rehearsals and run-throughs

• Handling your own hair and makeup, costume changes and prop management

• Cooperating with promotional work (social media, promotional video, media interviews)

• Backstage duties and administrative work such as shift management

• Giving dance lessons to guests at dance lesson events held aboard Asuka III

Required Skills

• Able to dance ballet, jazz or contemporary dance (you do not need all three; we place emphasis on expressiveness)

• The autonomy, initiative and sense of responsibility to maintain motivation and performance over long periods of work at sea

• The cooperativeness and positive, proactive attitude to live well alongside others during long periods aboard ship

• Communication skills

Preferred Skills

All of the following are for reference only. No specific experience is required.

• Experience performing as a dancer in theater, theme parks, concerts or musicals

• Awards won in dance competitions

• Experience as a dance instructor

Number of Openings

A small number of positions.

Application Requirements

• Women aged 18 or over

• Able to take part in the audition and, if successful, in lessons, rehearsals and run-throughs

• If successful, able to sail aboard Asuka III for roughly one to three designated seasons out of the approximately four seasons each year (up to about two months of continuous sailing per season), and to perform, work and live at sea

How to Apply

Please complete and submit the application form.

Application form: to be published at a later date.

Deadline: to be decided

Document screening and auditions are carried out in the order applications are received. Recruitment may close before the deadline once successful candidates have been decided.

Items on the application form

• Full name (with reading), date of birth (and your age as of the date of writing), gender

• Current address, and family home address if you have a family home you can live in

• Email address and mobile phone number

• Performance history, awards, lesson history

• Education, work history (if any), licenses and qualifications (with date obtained)

• Height, weight, and whether you are willing to have your hair cut

• Periods or days of the week when you cannot attend lessons, rehearsals or run-throughs

• Seasons in which you are available to sail

• Self-introduction and any other personal requests (including circumstances requiring special consideration)

• Profile photographs (face and full body)

• URL of a dance video (about 90 seconds or less)

Please apply after agreeing to the HITOHATA, Inc. Privacy Policy, which sets out our rules on the handling of personal information.

Notes

• Profile photographs must be color photographs taken within the last six months.

• Profile photograph files must be between 500KB and 10MB, in jpeg, png or pdf format.

• The face photograph should be a bust shot, and the full-body photograph should show your whole body and figure from head to foot.

• Profile photographs should have a plain, light background such as white or gray.

• Profile photographs retouched with apps or otherwise heavily edited will not be accepted.

• If you pass the audition, your profile photographs may be used for publicity.

• The dance video must have been filmed within the last three months and show your whole body and figure.

• Please upload the dance video to a video sharing platform such as YouTube, using an unlisted setting if you wish, and send us the URL.

• Formats that require the video to be downloaded, such as file sharing services, are not accepted. Please use a video sharing platform.

• At the start of the dance video, please say your name, and then dance.

• The video may be filmed indoors or outdoors, but please film in a bright location.

• If other people appear in the video, please note your own features (clothing, position in the dance) in the remarks field. Videos with many people, such as large-scale stage productions or recitals, in which your own level is hard to judge, will not be accepted.

• If you need to make corrections after submitting the form, please complete and send it again. Where the same applicant submits more than once, we review the most recent submission.

• Travel and other costs associated with the audition are at the applicant's own expense.

• There are no screening or lesson fees for the audition.

• So that you can understand the work in depth, the audition involves confidential information that has not been made public, and we therefore ask you to sign a non-disclosure agreement.

• The audition will be filmed for the promotion of "Asuka III Original Performing Arts" (a documentary on the production process). Please note that you may appear in the footage or photographs even if you are not successful.

Selection Process

• Application (submitted via the application form)

• Notification of the first screening result, based on documents and video (by email, within about two weeks of the deadline)

• Second screening: practical dance assessment and interview, for candidates who pass the first screening (date and venue to be decided)

• Third screening: practical dance assessment and interview, for candidates who pass the second screening (date and venue to be decided)

• Final interview

• Successful candidates decided

If you cannot attend the second screening at the designated date and venue, please note the reason and the dates you are available in the personal requests field when you apply. We will take your reasons into account and, if you pass the first screening, arrange a separate second screening.

Emails may fail to reach us because of size limits or spam filtering. If you have not heard from us more than two weeks after the deadline, please contact us via the inquiry form, and please set your mail to accept messages from the domain hitohata.jp.

Travel and other costs associated with the audition are at the applicant's own expense.

Inquiries About This Position

Please email audition@hitohata.jp (HITOHATA, Inc. Audition Team).

Contract Type and Fees

Contract type

ALLIANCE MEMBER (Service Contract), one year. Unless either party gives notice of a change of terms or of non-renewal at least one month before the contract expires, it continues for a further year on the same terms.

Fees

• Fee while aboard: 11,500 yen per day aboard (inclusive of consumption tax and withholding tax)

• Fee for lessons, rehearsals and run-throughs: 5,750 yen per half day, 11,500 yen per full day (inclusive of consumption tax and withholding tax)

• Travel and accommodation costs for boarding and disembarking (reimbursed at actual cost)

• Travel and accommodation costs for lessons, rehearsals and run-throughs (reimbursed at actual cost)

The fee while aboard is also paid for days aboard on which there is no performance or duty.

Sailing during the audition process, and meetings, interviews and online meetings about the contract, are not covered by the fees.

Social insurance (health insurance, employees pension insurance and employment insurance) does not apply.Q&A

Q. When would performances start?

A. After you pass the audition, the production staff decide based on your schedule.

Q. What are the working arrangements?

A. You sail for roughly one to three seasons of the "Asuka III Original Performing Arts" run. A single voyage is about two months of continuous sailing, and you work according to the performance schedule. Up to two shows a day are planned around dinner time, with roughly 104 performances of the two works combined each year. While aboard you have approximately one to two days off per week.

Q. What is life like aboard Asuka III?

A. Members of "Asuka III Original Performing Arts" board as working passengers and can use a cabin (twin room), the main dining room, the Grand Spa (large public bath) and the self-service laundry free of charge. Some paid restaurants and the salon and spa can also be used at the same rates as passengers. Some facilities are not available.

Cabins are generally twin rooms shared with other dancers or entertainment operators of the same gender. Each cabin has beds, a closet, a television, a refrigerator, a hairdryer, a shower, a washbasin and a toilet. Crew-only areas and facilities are generally not accessible.

Q. How can I spend my days off while aboard?

A. Days off aboard are spent much as other passengers spend their time, although some facilities are not available.

Q. Can I choose which work I perform in?

A. Up to four dancers sail each season. Three dancers appear in each work, and the remaining dancer serves as backup dancer and backstage support. In principle all four learn the choreography for every work in several positions, and the production staff decide the cast.

Q. There are duties besides performing. Will I have enough time to focus on my performance?

A. Dancers are expected to handle their own hair and makeup and manage their costumes and props, but we do not envisage a workload so heavy that performance quality suffers. While aboard, roughly one to two rest days a week are set aside as a rule.

Q. Is there an age limit for dancers?

A. There is no age limit for women aged 18 or over at the time of application who meet the application requirements and required skills.

Q. I am a student. Can I apply?

A. Yes, if you can take part in lessons, rehearsals and run-throughs and sail for at least one season. Separately, a small number of applicants may be provisionally accepted as trainees with a view to sailing in a later year.

Q. Can I go ashore when the ship calls at or is berthed in a port?

A. Yes, you may go ashore at ports of call and while berthed.

Q. Do I need a passport?

A. Yes. The ship calls at foreign ports and you may board or disembark overseas, so a passport is required. If you do not currently hold one, you will need to apply for it at your own expense.

Q. What about travel costs?

A. Travel and accommodation costs between your home and the port of boarding or disembarkation, and those associated with lessons, rehearsals and run-throughs, are reimbursed at actual cost.

Q. How long is the contract?

A. The contract runs for up to one year from the date it is concluded. Unless either party gives notice of a change of terms or of non-renewal at least one month before it expires, it continues for a further year on the same terms.

Q. What is the average fee?

A. A season is up to about two months of continuous sailing. For 60 days aboard, the daily fee of 11,500 yen x 60 days = 690,000 yen. For three seasons totaling 180 days a year, that comes to 2,070,000 yen. Fees for lessons, rehearsals and run-throughs are 11,500 yen per full day and 5,750 yen per half day. Travel and accommodation costs for boarding, disembarking, lessons, rehearsals and run-throughs are reimbursed separately at actual cost.

Q. How many dancers sail at a time?

A. Four dancers sail as standard during the period when "Asuka III Original Performing Arts" is staged, about eight months a year.

In addition, two entertainment operators employed by our company sail, along with the entertainment department director, sound staff and lighting staff of NYK Cruises Co., Ltd.

Q. Does the Mariners Act apply?

A. No. Dancers for "Asuka III Original Performing Arts" board as working passengers, so the Mariners Act does not apply.

Q. Are there rules on clothing?

A. When leaving your cabin, the specified dress code generally applies.

Q. Can I use a mobile phone and the internet aboard?

A. Within Japan, service is expected to be available while berthed in port and along coastlines where land is visible. The ship is made of steel, however, so signals are often blocked; in that case service is expected to be available on deck or in places with windows.

Q. I am worried about seasickness or falling ill aboard.

A. A ship doctor is always aboard. Seasickness varies from person to person, and many people find their symptoms ease as they get used to the ship, but please bring motion sickness medicine that suits you.

Q. Can I disembark for personal reasons while aboard?

A. In general you cannot disembark for personal reasons while aboard. Exceptions are made in unavoidable cases such as urgent family circumstances.

Q. Do I need English skills?

A. More than 90% of guests are Japanese or foreign nationals who speak Japanese.

Many of the crew are foreign nationals, however, so English may be needed to communicate with them.

That said, the dancers, entertainment operators and production staff of "Asuka III Original Performing Arts", and the entertainment department director, sound staff and lighting staff of NYK Cruises Co., Ltd., are all Japanese, so English is not a requirement.

Q. When and how are sailing dates decided?

A. The seasons you sail are decided by the production staff based on your schedule, and you are notified at least two months before your boarding date. "Asuka III Original Performing Arts" runs for up to about eight months a year, and you do not sail during the off-season.

Q. I cannot apply during this recruitment period because of my current work. Will there be future openings?

A. If successful candidates are decided in this audition, there are no immediate plans for additional recruitment. However, additional recruitment may take place if fewer candidates pass than the number of positions, or if a vacancy arises. If you would like to perform as a dancer in the future, please do apply now.