But Some Fear Packed Season Is Too Much Of A Good Thing
By: McClure, Steve, Billboard, 7/08/2006, Vol. 118, Issue 27
This year's summer music festival calendar in Japan is more packed than ever. The big-name, internationally known events such as Fuji Rock and Summer Sonic are the mainstays of the season. But smaller, regional festivals have been popping up the length and breadth of the Japanese archipelago, from the island of Okinawa in the semitropical south to the wide-open spaces of Hokkaido in the north.
"It may have taken longer for most of the regional festivals to be established and known throughout the nation, but we see more strong regional festivals with very strong local lineups this year," says Nori Tsuzuki, manager of concert promoter Kyodo Tokyo's international division.
For example, Kagawa Prefecture on the Seto Island Sea coast of the island of Shikoku is the smallest of Japan's 47 prefectures in geographical terms. But even Kagawa has its own rock festival, Monster Bash (monsterbash.jp), which this year takes place Aug. 26-27 in Manou Park amid Kagawa's gently rolling green hills.
Like many Japanese summer festivals, Monster Bash has a corporate sponsor, NTT DoCoMo Shiikoku, the local branch of Japan's leading mobile-phone company. And like several other summer music events, Monster Bash features Japanese acts only, among them Okinawan rock band HY, jazz-rock group Pe'z and indie-rock act Ellegarden.
Although the summer festival boom shows no signs of ending, some think the whole phenomenon has passed its peak with some 25 large-scale outdoor music events scheduled to take place in Japan this summer.
"It's just a knee-jerk thing now, putting on festivals in summer," one industry source says. "The more festivals there are, the thinner the bills become."
Perhaps. But there's definitely no shortage of big-name acts, domestic and international, playing at summer festivals in Japan this year.
For instance, Fuji Rock's lineup includes such international acts as Red Hot Chili Peppers, Franz Ferdinand, Broken Social Scene, the Hives, Sonic Youth, Super Furry Animals and Madness, as well as leading Japanese acts like Asian Kung-Fu Generation and Mo'some Tonebender.
As in past years, the 2006 edition of Fuji Rock will be July 28-30 in the bucolic setting of Niigata Prefecture's Naeba ski resort, about two hours by express train from Tokyo. Visitors coming to Japan to attend Fuji Rock may be in for a bit of a shock if they expect to see Mt. Fuji's famous snow-capped peak as a backdrop to the show—Japan's national symbol is actually about 200 miles south of the Fuji Rock festival site.
Ever since the first Fuji Rock festival in 1997 set the template for Japanese festivals there's been an emphasis on community and culture at summer music events. Several offer camping facilities and most feature a wide variety of food stalls and stands selling all kinds of crafts, clothes and other goods.
Giving Fuji Rock a run for its money in terms of big-name acts is Summer Sonic, which takes place Aug. 12-13 in Tokyo and Osaka (summersonic.com). International acts appearing at this year's Summer Sonic include Metallica, Linkin Park, Daft Punk, Massive Attack, the Flaming Lips and Tool.
Another major summer festival featuring well-known foreign acts is the Udo Music Festival (udofes.jp), organized by Tokyo-based concert promoter Udo Artists, also in Tokyo and Osaka. The lineup has a distinct classic-rock flavor: Santana, Kiss, Jeff Beck and the Doobie Brothers are among the acts playing the Udo festival.
Billing itself as Japan's biggest summer festival in terms of attendance is the Rock in Japan Festival (rijfes.co.jp), which this year will be Aug. 4-6 in a park near the city of Hitachinaka in Ibaraki Prefecture, northeast of Tokyo. Rock in Japan is sponsored by leading Japanese music magazine Rockin' On and produced by Tokyo-based concert production/promotion company Disk Garage.
"In the last five years, summer festivals in Japan have finally taken root among Japanese music fans," Disk Garage president Takeo Nakanishi says. "They all understand that is the place to enjoy music."
Naoki Shimizu, president of Tokyo-based promotion company Creativeman, which organizes Summer Sonic, is upbeat about Japan's summer festival market.
"As far as Western music is concerned, there are only two—one urban festival [Summer Sonic] and one rural [Fuji Rock], so the market is far from saturated," Shimizu says. "The Udo Music Festival has not established itself as an annual player yet." The event first occurred in 2004 and will be staged for the second time this year. "But it may turn into the third major Western music festival," Shimizu adds.
Shimizu says that because regional festivals featuring domestic repertoire are evenly dispersed throughout the country, "the market is pretty well-balanced."
Massy Hayashi, president of Tokyo-based concert promotion company H.I.P., disagrees.
"There are too many festivals—they're killing the market," Hayashi says bluntly. In the '80s, H.I.P. held a series of Japan Jam outdoor summer festivals—but no more, Hayashi says.
He admits that the summer festival boom has its good side, because 50 days of live music during the summer helps to promote music in general. But having so many acts play in such a relatively short span of time weakens demand in the year-round concert market, Hayashi argues.
The continuing popularity of summer festivals has led companies from outside the concert promotion business to enter the fray. Tower Records Japan, for example, recently organized an event called the Nagisa ("seaside") Music Festival, which was held in Tokyo's Odaiba district beside Tokyo Bay on April 16. The festival's main "all-genre" stage leaned toward club/techno, with Japanese DJ/producer Takkyu Ishino, Jeff Mills and Japanese techno/dub band Audio Active among the featured acts.
The festival also included a hip-hop/reggae stage, a house stage and—unusual for Japan—a stage labeled "Rainbow Gay Mix."
And Avex, Japan's biggest independent label, is again holding its a-nation festival series (a-nation.net/pc), which features major Avex acts such as Ayumi Hamasaki, Kumi Koda and BoA. This year's edition of a-nation comprises seven shows in five cities across Japan from July 29 until Aug. 27.
This year's summer music festival calendar in Japan is more packed than ever. The big-name, internationally known events such as Fuji Rock and Summer Sonic are the mainstays of the season. But smaller, regional festivals have been popping up the length and breadth of the Japanese archipelago, from the island of Okinawa in the semitropical south to the wide-open spaces of Hokkaido in the north.
"It may have taken longer for most of the regional festivals to be established and known throughout the nation, but we see more strong regional festivals with very strong local lineups this year," says Nori Tsuzuki, manager of concert promoter Kyodo Tokyo's international division.
For example, Kagawa Prefecture on the Seto Island Sea coast of the island of Shikoku is the smallest of Japan's 47 prefectures in geographical terms. But even Kagawa has its own rock festival, Monster Bash (monsterbash.jp), which this year takes place Aug. 26-27 in Manou Park amid Kagawa's gently rolling green hills.
Like many Japanese summer festivals, Monster Bash has a corporate sponsor, NTT DoCoMo Shiikoku, the local branch of Japan's leading mobile-phone company. And like several other summer music events, Monster Bash features Japanese acts only, among them Okinawan rock band HY, jazz-rock group Pe'z and indie-rock act Ellegarden.
Although the summer festival boom shows no signs of ending, some think the whole phenomenon has passed its peak with some 25 large-scale outdoor music events scheduled to take place in Japan this summer.
"It's just a knee-jerk thing now, putting on festivals in summer," one industry source says. "The more festivals there are, the thinner the bills become."
Perhaps. But there's definitely no shortage of big-name acts, domestic and international, playing at summer festivals in Japan this year.
For instance, Fuji Rock's lineup includes such international acts as Red Hot Chili Peppers, Franz Ferdinand, Broken Social Scene, the Hives, Sonic Youth, Super Furry Animals and Madness, as well as leading Japanese acts like Asian Kung-Fu Generation and Mo'some Tonebender.
As in past years, the 2006 edition of Fuji Rock will be July 28-30 in the bucolic setting of Niigata Prefecture's Naeba ski resort, about two hours by express train from Tokyo. Visitors coming to Japan to attend Fuji Rock may be in for a bit of a shock if they expect to see Mt. Fuji's famous snow-capped peak as a backdrop to the show—Japan's national symbol is actually about 200 miles south of the Fuji Rock festival site.
Ever since the first Fuji Rock festival in 1997 set the template for Japanese festivals there's been an emphasis on community and culture at summer music events. Several offer camping facilities and most feature a wide variety of food stalls and stands selling all kinds of crafts, clothes and other goods.
Giving Fuji Rock a run for its money in terms of big-name acts is Summer Sonic, which takes place Aug. 12-13 in Tokyo and Osaka (summersonic.com). International acts appearing at this year's Summer Sonic include Metallica, Linkin Park, Daft Punk, Massive Attack, the Flaming Lips and Tool.
Another major summer festival featuring well-known foreign acts is the Udo Music Festival (udofes.jp), organized by Tokyo-based concert promoter Udo Artists, also in Tokyo and Osaka. The lineup has a distinct classic-rock flavor: Santana, Kiss, Jeff Beck and the Doobie Brothers are among the acts playing the Udo festival.
Billing itself as Japan's biggest summer festival in terms of attendance is the Rock in Japan Festival (rijfes.co.jp), which this year will be Aug. 4-6 in a park near the city of Hitachinaka in Ibaraki Prefecture, northeast of Tokyo. Rock in Japan is sponsored by leading Japanese music magazine Rockin' On and produced by Tokyo-based concert production/promotion company Disk Garage.
"In the last five years, summer festivals in Japan have finally taken root among Japanese music fans," Disk Garage president Takeo Nakanishi says. "They all understand that is the place to enjoy music."
Naoki Shimizu, president of Tokyo-based promotion company Creativeman, which organizes Summer Sonic, is upbeat about Japan's summer festival market.
"As far as Western music is concerned, there are only two—one urban festival [Summer Sonic] and one rural [Fuji Rock], so the market is far from saturated," Shimizu says. "The Udo Music Festival has not established itself as an annual player yet." The event first occurred in 2004 and will be staged for the second time this year. "But it may turn into the third major Western music festival," Shimizu adds.
Shimizu says that because regional festivals featuring domestic repertoire are evenly dispersed throughout the country, "the market is pretty well-balanced."
Massy Hayashi, president of Tokyo-based concert promotion company H.I.P., disagrees.
"There are too many festivals—they're killing the market," Hayashi says bluntly. In the '80s, H.I.P. held a series of Japan Jam outdoor summer festivals—but no more, Hayashi says.
He admits that the summer festival boom has its good side, because 50 days of live music during the summer helps to promote music in general. But having so many acts play in such a relatively short span of time weakens demand in the year-round concert market, Hayashi argues.
The continuing popularity of summer festivals has led companies from outside the concert promotion business to enter the fray. Tower Records Japan, for example, recently organized an event called the Nagisa ("seaside") Music Festival, which was held in Tokyo's Odaiba district beside Tokyo Bay on April 16. The festival's main "all-genre" stage leaned toward club/techno, with Japanese DJ/producer Takkyu Ishino, Jeff Mills and Japanese techno/dub band Audio Active among the featured acts.
The festival also included a hip-hop/reggae stage, a house stage and—unusual for Japan—a stage labeled "Rainbow Gay Mix."
And Avex, Japan's biggest independent label, is again holding its a-nation festival series (a-nation.net/pc), which features major Avex acts such as Ayumi Hamasaki, Kumi Koda and BoA. This year's edition of a-nation comprises seven shows in five cities across Japan from July 29 until Aug. 27.
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