Eric Saty's music is flowing quietly in the small Japanese taste room. The Japanese style restaurant, HIRAYAMA, is great with its adult atmosphere. The guy in charge, Mr. Hirayama, also manages a campsite, and is a camping buddy of Hidaka Taisho and the central figure of the world restaurants, Solomon.

Mr. Hirayamaﾕs speaks of these two with the passion only those very close would understand. Mr. Hirayama opened up in the storm-ridden FUJI ROCK 97ﾕand related his story on the second day like this.

"It made me think that I needed to do something, so I cooked 2 big pots of pork miso soup with vegetables for everybody. Then, when I delivered it to the office, Mr. Hidaka was just announcing that they'd decided to cancel FUJI ROCK. I'll never forget Mr. Hidaka's face. I'm sure that memory is etched in Solomon's mind, too. From that moment on, I think their friendship got stronger than ever."

FUJI ROCK is what it is today because of what everyone went through in '97. With this experience in mind, what kind of menu has Mr. Hirayama got in store for us this year at FUJI ROCK?

"Kansai style udon" with mixed vegetable tempura, fried in front of you. The restaurant's "not-to-be-missed" food is "baked onigiri (rice ball)" with soy sauce on top - superb. There is one other recipe that can't be left out, "rice in Japanese tea". It's so great to be Japanese.

You've gotta check out Mr. Hirayamaﾕs food, full of all that a man can offer, and from someone that understands the way of life of both Taisho and Solomon.