Fujirockers: The official fansite of the Fuji Rock Festival

FOH (Field of Heaven) is by far the crowd favorite stage for ambiance and that effervescent hand-made feel. The do-it-yourself makeshift boutiques, light art installations, and overall deadhead hippie vibe drifting through the air. What’s that I smell? (Just kidding, this is FRF, and even with the growing international presence, it’s still Japan.)

What enticed me into Slow Turtle and Little Eagle’s enterprise was the life-size root sculpture of a sexy tree fairy out front amidst their tasteful and welcoming naturalist entrance installation. We got to talking a bit about their respective hand-made goods for sale, turns out Little Eagle lives on the Big Island Hawaii 10 months out of the year, making special return trips to her native Japan for Fuji Rock and other summer festivals, selling her elegant and flowing design work, dresses, blouses and other comfy looking hippie gear. Slow Turtle practices 60s free-love style lettering and crafts intricate multi-color patterns to be hand-printed, residual flashbacks of twenty years ago or so when the couple (previously married) road tripped around the US, following the Grateful Dead and other fleeting movements of the era. They got bored in Japan, they said, so they headed west. They especially like the wide-open spaces, wilderness, California Redwoods, and Native American population. Japanese artists and free thinkers were drawn to the space and time offered in the US of yore. I met a handful of other FOH vendors who also spent significant time overseas soaking up those influences and coming back to Japan to offer a refined fusion product especially for the lucky FRF attendees. They have been doing so for 14 years!

If you need a sweet throwback shirt or a long one-piece that feels on your body like a cool zephyr on a warm sunny day, head on over to their unassuming geodesic dome, wrapped in twigs and berries, and try on some artful craft apparel via hangers made of silken twine. You can also visit their webshop at SLOW TURTLE.NET

The Atomic Cafe, a movement established to oppose nuclear weapons and power through music, returned to Fuji Rock in 2011 after being put out to pasture for a few years and benefited from increased public concerns about atomic energy following the catastrophic chain of events surrounding the meltdown in Fukushima.

Despite the persistent rain, sizeable crowds huddled in groups around the Gypsy Avalon stage as guest speakers such as nuclear expert Hideyuki Ban and film director Hitomi Kamanaka dished out a few home truths about hot spots, radiation testing and decontamination efforts in the prefecture. The sombre mood of the discussions on stage was punctuated by no-nonsense performances by local agitators such as folk singer Tokiko Kato and Soul Flower Union. (It’s actually worth noting that Tokiko Kato is also on the bill on Sunday at this year’s festival. Check her out if you can.)

With Tokyo Electric Power Co. now claiming to have brought the Fukushima power plant under some semblance of control, it will be interesting to see what angle The Atomic Cafe intends to focus on this year. Nuclear reactors across the nation are currently idle, but lawmakers with ties to influential power companies are stepping up efforts to get them back online. And Japan appears resigned to let them do it. After all, who wants to walk up a dozen steps in summer when you can simply stand on an escalator? (*shuffles feet*)

So what anti-nuke message can we expect to come out of Fuji Rock in 2012? Here’s where you can help… Continue Reading…

Fujirockers.org have their own goods, including this very awesome ponchoesque towel. Probably more useful when the sun is beating down on you, but a great design nonetheless. The hood keeps both your head and the back of your neck from those nasty UV rays. Admittedly not something that seems to be a problem at this year’s fest, but hey, walking around in the pouring rain all day means you’ll need a towel eventually, right?

They’re also selling some pretty cool t-shirts, onsen towels, as well as GIANT charity badges at only 100 Yen a pop. (Or more if you’re feeling charitable. Which you should, given that it’s for…you know, charity and all.) Continue Reading…

Anyone who has ever been to the Fuji Rock festival will be able to attest to the fact that the Japanese are the most prepared people in the world when it comes to outdoor activities. Not only are they prepared, bringing every manner of clothing, food and drink preparation equipment, tents, chairs and other leisure goods, but the stuff that they bring is ultra trendy. Making a wonderful contribution to the fashion end of Fuji is the excellent Japanese clothing brand/shop Beams. They have a long history (going all the way back to 2004) with the festival often making clothes and official merchandise for Fuji Rockers as well as clothing for the volunteers and other staff. This year, their collection of T-shirts is definitely worth mentioning because not only are they very cool but they are also for charity. Continue Reading…

A number FRF ’10 acts will be signing autographs for fans at the Ganban shop outside of the main gate and at the Ganban Square in the Oasis food area all weekend long.  The Entrance Band, Mustang, La Ruda, and Mallacan will play late night, intimate gigs too in addition to scrawling their names on merch.  The full schedule is posted at Ganban’s stands.

My esteemed brothers-in-rock have offered some very fine pieces of advice in the posts below this one.  Here’s a few more pointers to add to the list.

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“Fuji Rock won’t really be like Glastonbury until the Emperor shows up in a pink wig.” – Jon Helmer, Fuji Rock documentarian

In case you’re looking for the perfect Christmas present for a fellow Fuji Rocker, the chance comes early this year. Jon Helmer is bringing his double-DVD documentary on ten years of the festival to Naeba. It’s called Tents & Bugs & Rock N Roll, and he’ll be screening the four-hour video at a mobile cinema that will move around the festival grounds. He’s also selling copies for ¥2,000. Instead of a history of rock stars, legendary performances and big name acts, Heller has turned his camera on the fans, the staff and occasionally the artists back stage. This is a people’s history of Fuji Rock, with no narration, no titles, and a roughly chronological structure that covers the years 1999 (Fuji Rock’s first year in Naeba) to 2008. The video was produced in 2009, and now it’s ready for it’s grand debut. A few of the gems you’ll witness amidst the sprawling 245 minutes of the DVD’s length include Joe Strummer planning out the lot that went on to become the Palace of Wonder, Henry Rollins getting psyched up to hit the Green Stage, Jam Master Jay backstage at the Red Marquee…. Continue Reading…

At the very beginning of Jon Helmer’s DVD Tents & Bugs and Rock N Roll, we see a dreadlocked Aussie or Kiwi or Brit (damned accents) standing outside the Naeba hotels getting totally excited about the fact that, somewhere within the walls of that hotel is Limp fucking Bizkit (profanity added by the present writer to better portray said excitement). This first section having been filmed in 1999, I concluded that either a) this was exactly the sort of time-warp nostalgia experience you look for in a DVD like this, because clearly the memo from on hipster high that the Bizkit suck hadn’t yet been circulated, or quite possibly b) this gentleman just thinks for himself. (For the record, I still think “Break Stuff” is one of the top 5 greatest raging angry songs ever.)
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