Some things do not survive being described, and the particular ease of an AZAZ afternoon is one of them. That is why the collective has named its eighth pop-up after a proverb about giving up on hearsay and going to see for yourself.
On Saturday 12 September 2026, AZAZ Collective took over Katsute100’s Broadway Market tea room in Hackney from 3pm to 9pm, with a quiet afternoon of makers and records that turned into an evening of dancing and drinks. Two of the four DJs founded the collective, the tea room launched new alcoholic drinks for the occasion, and entry was free with a ticket.
AZAZ Vol.8 at Katsute100
A Hackney tea room where makers and records turned into an evening of dancing- Address
- 4 Broadway Market Mews, London E8 4TS
- Admission
- Free entry with a ticket
- Starts
- September 12, 2026, 3:00 PM
- Ends
- September 12, 2026 9:00 PM
More about the event
- Over 1,000 people so far
- AZAZ’s first six events drew more than 1,000 attendees between them, by the collective’s own count.
- Best Food Market
- Broadway Market’s Saturday market won Best Food Market at the National Association of British Market Authorities awards in 2024.
- AZAZ’s biggest night so far
- The collective’s November 2025 pop-up at Oslo Hackney ran from 5pm to 3am with eight DJs and a mini market, also free entry.
Why Vol.8 is called 百聞一見 (Hyakubun Ikken)
The full proverb is 百聞は一見に如かず, hyakubun wa ikken ni shikazu: hearing something a hundred times does not match seeing it once. It comes from the Book of Han, where the general Zhao Chongguo, asked from a distance how to handle a frontier campaign, answered that he would rather go and look for himself. AZAZ has shortened it to Hyakubun Ikken and given it the English gloss “Experience It Yourself”.
Kazuki, who co-founded AZAZ, told us the name came from trying to describe what the events are actually like and giving up:
The true appeal of events by AZAZ Collective, and what sets them apart from other events, is something that can only be experienced by being there in person. The same goes for the incredible atmosphere inside Katsute100. It’s something you simply have to experience for yourself.
Whether it was a first visit or a return trip to an AZAZ event, the collective was clear that everyone was part of the community on the day.
Three colleagues from Osaka, Edinburgh and Kildare who started AZAZ in 2025
AZAZ takes its name from azasu, the clipped street version of arigatō gozaimasu, so the collective is, in effect, named after saying thank you. It was founded in 2025 by three friends who work together at the record distributor Juno Distribution: Kazuki from Japan, Joe from Scotland and John from Ireland.
Kazuki was born in Osaka, spent ten years in Tokyo and then moved to London, where the first impression was uncomfortably familiar. In the collective’s own introduction he writes:
London felt just like Tokyo. Too much information. Too little space to breathe. Everyone fighting their own battles alone. I learned that loneliness in a big city looks the same everywhere.
He told his colleague Joe about the loneliness and the frustration with cliquey events, and Joe’s reply was “I know exactly what you mean.” Joe was a DJ and Kazuki collected clothes, and the plan formed from there: music and fashion give people a reason to show up, and once they are there, you give them a place to belong. John, another colleague, heard what the two were building and joined without hesitating.
John grew up in Newbridge, County Kildare, and his account of how he ended up in music is the most Irish sentence you will read this week:
There wasn’t a lot to do growing up there, so most young people fell into sports or arts, and I couldn’t kick a point from 5 yards, so I fell into the latter.
Joe was born in Edinburgh, spent nine years in Glasgow and now shares a London studio with his childhood friend Kombo. Joe and John both played at Vol.8, Joe as Lowree and John as CLRY. Before Vol.8 the three of them had built seven gatherings, including a first birthday party at MKII Hackney in May, and the house rules stayed the same throughout: everyone is welcome, respect comes first, no ego, no judgement.
Two sessions: a quiet afternoon from 3pm, then dancing from 6pm
The day was split in two. From 3pm to 6pm the room was calm and intimate, with the music kept understated so that guests and the makers on the stalls could actually talk. From 6pm to 9pm the focus shifted to the records, the dancing and the drinks.
Lowree, CLRY, Kenji and tano:c were the four DJs, and the collective did not publish set times in advance. Kazuki told us that was deliberate: they would rather people experienced all four than turned up for one name and missed the others. Lowree is a resident for Hijack at Glasgow’s La Cheetah Club and also held a monthly slot at Cabaret Voltaire with Hometown Edinburgh. CLRY and Kenji both played the first birthday in May, and Kenji was part of the eight-DJ bill at AZAZ’s biggest night to date at Oslo Hackney in November 2025. tano:c first came to AZAZ as a guest and returned for Vol.8 behind the decks, and he is a friend of Kenji’s, which is the kind of connection the collective was set up to make.
The pop-up market: new AZAZ apparel, a sample sale, and four independent makers
Fashion is the second half of the AZAZ idea, and the pop-up for Vol.8 was curated by the collective itself. AZAZ’s own stall carried its original apparel, with new pieces added especially for this collaboration, and the collective held a sample sale on the day.
Alongside it, Akira Sasaki Clothing brought graphic tees, hoodies and art prints designed by the artist himself, on the principle that good art belongs in everyday life and should be affordable to own. MZ Leather Objects brought small handmade leather pieces, MEROMEROxoxo returned after a stint at the anniversary market, and Kogobo rounded out the makers. At AZAZ events the stalls are where the conversations tend to start, and the afternoon session was built to give them room.
Bakes from Gu Choki Pan and bagels from Bagel9 Zaksan
Food came from two small Japanese producers, which suited a tea room afternoon.
Gu Choki Pan is a West London micro bakery run by Yumiko, and the name is a play on gu, choki, pa, the Japanese call for rock, paper, scissors, with pan, the word for bread. Its melon pan (a matcha and anko version is a signature), curry pan and sourdough shokupan usually sell through a weekly changing online menu for collection or delivery, so buying them across a table was a rare chance. Bagel9 Zaksan handled the bagels.
Katsute100 Broadway Market and its new drinks
Katsute100 is one of our favourite places for matcha in London, a small group of boutique tea rooms whose name, katsute, means “once” and carries a deliberate sense of nostalgia. The Broadway Market branch at 4 Broadway Market Mews is its newest, and in the company’s own words it is spacious and pared back, on a more industrial scale than its intricately dressed Angel and Brick Lane rooms.
The collaboration was AZAZ’s idea. Katsute100 has recently extended this branch beyond its daytime café into evening drinks, alcohol included, and Kazuki told us the point of Vol.8 was to bring people through the door for that and help both sides grow together. The new drinks introduced for the day were alcoholic, and Katsute100 kept the rest of the menu under wraps until the day itself.
Erika Kita’s flyer: the number 100 and nothing else in the brief
The Vol.8 flyer is the work of Erika Kita, a professional designer with Japanese roots who has recently joined the AZAZ creative team. Kazuki told us the brief was two lines long: because the title turns on the number 100, work the proverb into the design, and because both Katsute100 and AZAZ are rooted in Japanese culture, make it feel distinctly Japanese. No visual references, no further direction. Everything else in the finished flyer is hers.
Broadway Market on a Saturday: the street market and Katsute100
Katsute100 opens for food from 11am, and Broadway Market’s Saturday street market runs from 9am to 5pm on the same road, with over 150 stalls. London Fields station is the nearest, and Regent’s Canal sits at the northern end of the street if you want a walk after tea.
Event information
- What: AZAZ POP-UP Vol.8 百聞一見 (Hyakubun Ikken), a collaboration between AZAZ Collective and Katsute100
- When: Saturday 12 September 2026, 3pm to 9pm (afternoon session 3pm to 6pm, evening session 6pm to 9pm; Katsute100 open for food from 11am)
- Where: Katsute100 Broadway Market, 4 Broadway Market Mews, London E8 4TS
- Tickets: Free, booked in advance via Resident Advisor
- DJs: Lowree, CLRY, Kenji, tano:c (set times not announced)
- Pop-up: AZAZ Collective (new apparel and sample sale), Akira Sasaki Clothing, MZ Leather Objects, MEROMEROxoxo, Kogobo
- Food: Gu Choki Pan, Bagel9 Zaksan
- Flyer design: Erika Kita
Katsute100 Broadway Market
AZAZ Collective posts line-ups and stall news for its next pop-ups on the AZAZ Collective Instagram.
