Why Did You Come To Fuji Rock? -Visitor Interviews at Fuji Rock Festival'24-【２】

This is a SPICE original project “Why did YOU come to Fuji Rock?” that investigates the appeal of Asia's largest outdoor music festival, Fuji Rock Festival, from various viewpoints about how Fuji Rock is seen in their eyes by conducting interviews with visitors from overseas. We interviewed at Naeba Ski Resort in Yuzawa, Niigata Prefecture from July 26 to July 28 in 2024.

“Fuji Rock Festival '24” featured headliners The Killers, Kraftwerk, Noel Gallagher's High Flying Birds, and more than 200 artists from Japan and overseas. A total of 96,000 people attended the event for 4 days from the eve of the festival. According to the organisers, the number of inbound visitors in 2024 was 10% of the total witch is the same as the previous year.

This article introduces the fascination of “Fuji Rock” as reflected by 15 groups of overseas music fans.

 

■ Kaylee and Ange from Australia

Kaylee and Anji, who came from Australia, are 21 year-old classmates. They participated in Fuji Rock for the first time as an activity during their three-week trip to Japan.

How found out about Fuji Rock was, “I don't know how we found out. I think we might have googled what was happening in Japan.” Kaylee said. “I think it came up on social media because some artists that are playing we really like and they might have posted it. So that they were playing here and we're like, 'Oh okay. We'll be in Japan!' then so we are here.” Ange explained. The artists they wanted to see at Fuji Rock were "girl in red, The Last Dinner Party, Angie McMahon. They're our top three. I'm really looking forward to it!"

When asked about the attraction of Fuji Rock, Kaylee said, " The music is really good and I think the drinks are good, yeah. I haven't been to a festival this big before and it's just really well." and Angie said, "Quite spacious. Even though there's a lot of people here and good places to sit as well."

About how it differs from music festivals back home, “They're a bit smaller. I think probably attracts less international travelers. Probably a bit more domestic. The people are a bit more rude. I think Australian festivals sometimes are a bit more chaotic. Japanese people are a lot nicer. We were talking earlier and I said I'd like to come back. Oh yeah!"

 

■ Reny and Andrew from China

Reny and Andrew from China, who live in Beijing and Hong Kong, met up in Tokyo and took a bullet train and shuttle bus to Fuji Rock. The journey was also smooth.

The reason why she chose Fuji Rock was, ”Fuji Rock is a really famous festival. It's the biggest in Asia. And I would like to go a lot of our festivals, so Fuji Rock is the option for me. I’d like to see Kraftwerk.” And Andrew said, “First time for me to listen to GLASS BEAMS and they are so good. I was looking forward to seeing Shiza but she was not able to make it. “

Andrew compared Fuji Rock to music festivals in his home country, “Bigger. So much bigger. More people, more international. There are more activities related to the music festival here like food and different sort of music. In China, there are mostly two stages, only one band at one time. You just move between these two stages and there are not many activities.”

Reny thinks that attraction of Fuji Rock is “Good food. And there is a small stage with DJs. People are dancing together. That was fantastic.” She shared with us an episode on GAN-BAN SQUARE. Andrew also said, "The toilet is much faster. That is totally different in China. It's also good management of the facilities I would say.

 

■ Jason and Mango from China

Jason, 30, and Mango, 31, from Chengdu in China's Sichuan province, the home of pandas, joined Fuji Rock for the first time. After landing at Kansai International Airport, he traveled from Osaka to Kyoto and Nagoya to Tokyo. During his 11day trip, he entered Fuji Rock with a one-day ticket. The reason he came to Fuji Rock is "Because it looks very interesting. Someone told me it was really fun and international." Jason said. Mango added, "We like everything about Japan."

Which artists he was going to see were “GLASS BEAMS! KRAFTWERK and ¥ØU$UK€ ¥UK1MAT$U. We like electro music, techno or funky disco and house music.”

What the main attraction of Fuji Rock Jason thought was "People. They are very friendly. Chinese people maybe friendly too, but different. We're always too busy. Hmm..... " He used the translation function on his smartphone and showed me a screen that said, "You are doing it properly." I thought you were doing it properly too. Thanks, mate!

 

■ Emma and her schoolmates from China

Emma responded on behalf of a group of secondary school alumni from Shanghai, China. Their ages are undisclosed. Emma participated in Fuji Rock for the first time, the others for the second time or for the third time. She found out about Fuji Rock on Instagram and from her Friends. When I asked if the preparation and the journey for Fuji Rock were hard, she said, "I don't think so. It's easy. You've got a bus, got a train. Everything's very clear on the website."

“We saw Peggy Goo yesterday. She was fantastic. Love it. And The Killers. They were good as well. I think Fuji Rock has a variety of artists, all in the same place, right? It provides a lot of other social activities like drinks, kids zones, and the engagement with nature. A lot of things that you can actually do on your own rather than just go to a music festival. I think that's something we don't have in China. This is how she felt after visiting Fuji Rock. Also, she was asked if was hard to be in the mountains, then she said, " It's alright. I think we are pretty fit. Fit girls! Yeah!”

 

■ Devon Caranicas, Eugene Young and Philippa Young from USA

Devon Caranicas, 37, Eugene Young, 36, and Philippa Young, 4, who came to Japan on their vacation from Los Angeles, participated in Fuji Rock for the first time. On the previous day, they saw Awich and Erika de Casier, and on the second day, they were going to see Kraftwerk, SAMPHA, and Quruli which a friend told me about. Due to Eugene's work, they have participated in festivals all over the world.

Devon expressed her impression of Fuji Rock in one word. “It's very clean.” Eugene also said, “It's fantastic. I work in the music industry, so I've been to a lot and this ranks very highly. The food is very nice, the site is very clean, the music's very diverse, it's a very interesting mix of people, like old and young which is cool. Family friendly. Very family friendly for our daughter obviously. The kid’s area is fantastic. Devon also mentioned. Yeah, we love it.” And smiled.

Eugene went on to say, “There's a little stage opposite the Red Marquee called the Blue Galaxy. That whole little area is super fun. That walk to get to the Field of Heaven on the boardwalk. There's lots of little extra bits outside of the big main stages, which has been nice. There're some festivals I guess that offer that like Glastonbury. But the general sort of American music festival or Australian music festival doesn't have those added effort perhaps.“

Interview and text by Yuko 'Dora' Soutome