Fuji Rockin' People Vol.9 --Mr. Yoshikazu Okada--

People from different fields of work are involved in running Fuji Rock. We started up this series to introduce these people to you. This is the 9th article in this series. Today we talk with Mr. Yoshikazu Okada, director of the Green Stage. when we first talked about FRF in '97, "Shit! Smash would go bankrupt with this!" were the actual words to drop out of his mouth, but he was the one who completely supported behind the scenes ever since.. Pretty interesting stuff, so read up.---- by ORG-master

Mr.Okada is an energetic person. Even though we planned to tape for around an hour or so but Okada-san talked solely about FujiRock for three hours! After interviewing him, I've struggled for a month on how to relay our conversation.

The impressive parts of his story are about his job as a stage director, the beginning of Fuji Rock and his feelings for Fuji Rock. "After ten years," he says, "I will leave the job up to the younger staff, and go to Fuji Rock as a paying customer." This interview might be quite long, but it's worth reading. Because the fun we have at Fuji Rock happens because of hard-working people like him.

【Could be both the Stage Manager and Human Resources Director for FRF Inc.!】

"If we compared FRF to a company," says Okada, "I think working as a stage director is like a combination of human resources and general affairs. Since the job procedure depends on each person, my job is to organize how they can work efficiently and willingly. Setting up meals, baths or transportation are good examples, more specifically putting up signs that say 'laundry here', 'don't do this' and 'operate this machine like this', something like that. I improve the infrastructure for workers. After the festival begins, I arrange many things with Mr. Sagata of Smash and some assistants so that the shows go without any trouble. I don't demand the workers to do this or that because the most important thing is everyone's opinion, if they're right, they should be heard. Everyone should contribute to the festival. I don't think this is the kind of job where 'you have to do this amount of job in this length of time.' There's no concrete ules about time and duties. I think it's more like software. The key is compatibility. For example, big bands from overseas usually bring their own crew, so I talk to them and help to make their stage run as smooth as possible. I don't alter the nature of the performances, I just arrange what they want to do. If they want to project an image on a screen, I prepare a screen. If they can't bring their own equipment, I provide supportive equipment. Sometimes they show up with something totally unexpected, but I manage to make it usable. If they order something we can't prepare in Japan, I suggest an alternative. Some people used to order things irresponsibly, but the situation is better now. However, misunderstandings still exist, usually between the areas of "We will manage somehow" and "definitely possible".

【Naeba Frequent Traveler】

"We began working on Fujirock 2001 right after FRF'00 ended and before the ski resort opened. We went to Naeba once around the end of October/beginning of November for a meeting to discuss this year's approach based on last year's problems. We can't go there during the ski season because there is so much snow, but once it melts (around Golden Week) , we go there 5 or 6 times for construction. It hasn't started yet this year (as of January 8th, date of actual interview). Considering this year's lineup, each branch of our staff will need to discuss problems and challenges. I'm in Naeba every day during the construction of the stage, because we have to build it on the flat plains between the mountains. We usually have breakfast at 7:00 a.m. and start working by 8. We get together with the people who take care of the large props, tents and heavy equipment, then later I talk with sound and lighting staff. I finish working at around 7 at night. Then we talk about arrangements for the next day, then take a bath and go to bed at around 11 or 12. I have a fairly healthy life there. "

【I Saw the Light】

"Headliners tend to play longer, and lighting is very important and effective because they play at night. If they want to air images behind them with a projector, the preparations (focusing, putting the data, setting the screen, etc.)can last all night. Last year, when everyone was having a groovy time at the pre-festival party, I was preparing the lighting data for Oasis's stage all night long. After all the performances were finished, we had to prepare the lighting for the next day's headliners. Around 6:00 a.m., and the sun is coming up, that's when we finish working. Sometimes we have to cover for groups who don't bring their own lighting staff, so our lighting operator has to listen to a CD of each band to find lighting that suits their music. "

【Hardest Working Man in Show business】

"Perhaps the Field of Heaven staff don't prepare on such a big scale as the other stages, but on each stage people work somehow. Two years ago, The Chemical Brothers brought their own screen, so we got set to change it over within an hour after the previous band finished. We marked the stage ("lights here", "equipment there") so that we could change the set within an hour. We have to do this kind of work through the night. I'm incredibly busy, from the pre-festival party all the way through to the end of the last day's headliner. We take a rest on a rotation system while the festival is going on. Since the rest house is almost a kilometer away, sometimes I sleep behind the stage if time is tight.

It's very difficult to project a picture onto a screen on an open-air stage like Naeba. The resolution is poor and easily affected by the weather. When The Chemical Brothers came, they mentioned that they had only one flat screen at Woodstock '99. But we suggested three panels instead of one. They were delighted with this, because images were cast onto three screens. It was much better than one screen. We tried to reproduce what they envisioned as an ideal show, and we actually did it. It's like that every year.

After the first performance begins at 11, I stand by in the yard backstage most of the time. I have to stand ready because a lot is going on. Equipment from some bands arrives the day before their performance, while some bands' stuff arrives on the same day. When the show is over, it has to be delivered to Narita, and then sent to each country right away. To deliver the equipment and the artists themselves, trucks filled to capacity have to run through the same way the concertgoers are walking along, so traffic control is a must. Depending on some groups, production staff carry the equipment of various bands at the same time, and at 10:00 a.m. they put the stuff on the Green Stage. At 3:00 p.m., they put the stuff down on the other stages. Scheduling the time and locations of the equipment is the most important thing. We have to think about everything together.

I can see some shows, but have never seen all of them. Like last year, I watched two songs of Neil Young, but I had no chance to see Alanis singing, unfortunately. I could hear the sound because I was in the backyard. But I had to work during her performance. From her dressing room we had to bring her production staff's kit, (including a costume case, PCs, business equipment and so on) to the back of the Green Stage. It had to be completed when the show ended, then people loaded them into the truck with all the instruments. Then they lock it and leave for Tokyo straight from the backyard.

You can see these kind of things happening all over the place. Well, I guess my job is more like general affairs than human resources. I don't drink alcohol when I'm working. Before the festival begins, I sometimes drink after work, but I don't while the festival is going on. If I drink, I can't think straight. I get tired too easily and I can't concentrate. After three days, the last group finishes and all the equipment is loaded. Then there is nothing on stage and nobody in the field, and we decide what time we should start to clear-out. Finally, I become free from work. After all this is finished, I can drink with my friends at last. Anyway, Fuji Rock is fun, and running it is fun too. "

【Naeba - Number One in Summer Fun】

"I go back to Tokyo after everyone is gone. Generally, I stay in Naeba for four more days. Compared with construction, dismantlement is faster. Building up the stage takes time and the greatest care, doesn't it? In contrast, taking it apart is just breaking it, pulling it apart and laying it all where the Green Stage used to be. On the next day, the forwarding agent comes and picks it all up, and I usually see out this process. Including the three days of festival, it takes 20 days for the FRF site to go from flat and empty back to flat and empty again. Naeba is like an annual Summer festival, I think.

I haven't been to Naeba in the winter for 20 years. I went skiing way back then, because I didn't like to be in big crowds of people. I guess I know much about Summer of Naeba. There are some restaurants or bars that Mr. Hidaka (Taisho) first found and made friends with. Now, most of the customers there during the Summer are concerned with Fuji Rock. People ask me "Are you staff at Fuji? Do you know Mr. Hidaka?" And I answer "Certainly." Three years there put me on familiar terms with people there, so they smile and say hey when we meet.

【Something Extraordinary in a Plain Field】 Although I'm a rock fan, I had no chance to go see Woodstock because I was only a kid. But I watched the movie, 'Woodstock'. In my early days, hanging out at Shinjuku on weekends, the only choice I had was either that kind of movie or a porn film showing in a theater where I could stay all night. I sat over a single cup of coffee at Rock Cafe, and I requested a lot of records because I didn't have enough money to buy all of my favorites. I always had to choose only my most favorite to buy. I was living such a life when I was a student. It was when I started working in this business that I happened to meet Mr. Hidaka. He suddenly started to say that "I have an idea to do something extraordinary on a big field." He didn't beg me to help, but just asked me: "why don't you come see the place with me if you like?" That's why I joined him. It took about 2 years for Mr. Hidaka to establish the first FRF 1997 in Tenjinyama after his sudden idea. Tenjinyama in '97. The main staff included me and Mr.Terada (another key person of Fuji Rock). It was a group of less than 10 people, working throughout Tenjinyama. Still now I can picture the path from the convenience store at the bottom of the mountain. Also, I know the Naeba area like the back of my hand. I even know where the muddy spots are.

During the first year, I was so moved when I saw so many people coming, even in that terrible weather. I was pleased when I saw that they were looking forward to it as much as I was. I thought Fuji Rock would never come true if there were no enthusiastic people like them.The purpose of this whole thing is not to make money. Those rock fans are the real purpose. I was worried that those kind of people may not exist, but when the day came, I was so happy to see them all there.

Once it started, it went totally crazy, didn't it? That's because no one had ever organized such a huge concert in a open field, not to mention during a severe typhoon. Bands like Rage Against The Machine and the Red Hot Chilli Peppers- both of them have the ability to fill places as big as Yokohama Arena or Nippon Budohkan to capacity- made time in their schedule to play at MASA's (Mr. Hidaka's) Fuji Rock. And they tried to play as long as they could untill the power lines went down. I think that people there at that time were as highly motivated as those bands.

At the time, I guessed it would be impossible to carry out Fuji Rock five times, if the first one finished successfully. The second year we did it at Toyosu, Tokyo, but we didn't want the festival to be in town, like the Summer Sonic style. Soon after Fuji Rock last year, we did Asagiri Jam. Asagiri has a much freer atmosphere. No improvements in the infrastructure, I'm afraid. If you wanted something to eat, you buy vegetables from local farmers, and cook them yourself. Here is what I think an ideal festival should be : the special camp area should be open for four or five days, including the actual festival. That way, you can enter the campsite early if you have a 3-day ticket. You can sleep, you can gaze blankly at us working, something like that. I know you have to bring your own rice, water and some seasoning since there aren't any shops around there, and sometimes it costs more.。

【 Three Hundred and Sixty Degrees of Beauty】

At Asagiri, there is a log cabin owned by a local farmer. Three minutes by car from the midway, 20 staff members stayed there and cooked our own meals. With Mr. Terada and Mr. Uno from Omni (a company which treats marquees) who were in charge of renting the log cabin, I prepared meals for 20 people.

We visited Asagiri for the first time about a month after Fuji Rock '97. We inspected the area around Mt. Fuji to find somewhere else we could hold Fuji Rock. We looked at places like where the Ground Self-Defense Force practices firepower exercises in Gotemba, and a place called Fuji Panorama Skiing Area in Yamanashi where there is actually no sight of Mt. Fuji. The hotel is situated around a central courtyard where The Alfee (Japanese three-piece band) held a concert a long time ago. Out of all these places, the most impressive was Asagiri but it was also the most difficult, too. It had the most beautiful view. This was its blessing as well as its curse. You had this incredible, 360 degree view with no power lines, just nature. After all, Naeba is fairly developed and has power from the ski area, so we could make the festival together.

I wish that we can organize a festival for a week or so in Asagiri, with the cooperation of local people someday. For instance, the biggest traditional festivals in Japan such as "Danjiri" in Kishiwada, Osaka or "Nebuta" in Aomori started before legal regulation was established, so they can carry on their festival in their own way. Unusual things could happen there. But on the other hand, we at FRF started within legal regulations, so we need to apply to the administration for many things.

【Fuji Rock to last at least a decade】

If Fuji Rock becomes a fixture, many people will continue to discover how nice it is around there, resulting in a revitalized local economy. However, we at the festival have to maintain its momentum in order to gain that result. To accomplish his dream, Mr. Hidaka is traveling all over to find a better place - if there is one. Japan is a difficult place to put on something of this size and scale, and the logistics of it all run close to impossible at times.That being said, I still believe we should go on. All profit aside, I want Fuji Rock to last at least a decade.

If Mr. Hidaka tells me he can't pay me, I would say "Meals and bed are enough." If he said "no bed", then I would bring my own tent. If he said "no dinner for you", I'd say: "then give me some potatoes, rice and salt." Even if I had to work under such harsh conditions, I would still continue to do it for 10 years. Of course, after each festival, I mull over whether it was successful or not, but I'm sure that when I look back at all of them after a decade, it's possible that we could have established some kind of rules or ways of the festival. It takes a decade for a person to grow up, like going from a high school student to a full-grown adult. Therefore, I hope those who go to FRF now will continue for another decade. 5 years is barely the beginning of something incredible. What's needed is at least 10 years. So I have asked Mr. Hidaka to keep it up for a decade. I know it's very difficult, though.

【Music Immersion - Throw Us In the Deep End】

At these kind of events, someone has to be at the entrance gate, addressing what you can and can't do.However, I want to terminate that kind of system that inhibits someone's freedom. What I really want is for people to gather in the middle of nowhere, live freely, beer in hand, and immerse themselves in rock music under a sky full of stars for a few days... I wish people could enjoy such dreamy moments.

If you have a question or problem you want our staff to solve, before asking, think first. The staff should do the same. They shouldn't tell you what to do before being asked, like "This is the right answer, so you have to do it this way." It makes a festival less enjoyable. For example, I would punch someone if they told me "The haunted house here is too scary" before I even enter. If you were watching a movie and someone said: " A zombie will appear in the next scene", you would say "Shut up!", wouldn't you? Therefore I hope everyone doesn't try to answer questions before they are asked. Statements like "Do as I say" have no place in an event such as this.

Also, I don't think hotels are necessary. Beginners need hotels, but if you know how to camp, you should do that, making your own fire. Actually, fires aren't allowed since the campground is a golf course, but my point is that everyone should have fun and feel free.

My dream is for everyone to be drenched in music for days on end. This takes your job, homework or other worries out of your mind. You might not be able to take a shower even when you get dirty, and you might get a hangover. But I wish I could have experienced that in my youth. Unfortunately, there was no such opportunity. But those dreams gave me the chance to take on this job. I cherish my friendship with Mr. Hidaka and other people.

If people ask you "How can I spend the time there?", you shouldn't give any specific answer. Because it's up to people how they survive, how they enjoy music, and how they spend their days.I don't want Fuji Rock to become some kind of Tokyo Disneyland that has a systematic manual which labels staff as the cast and the concertgoers as customers. Two years ago, the "Rock in Japan" festival (one of the biggest rock festivals in Japan) was undertaken by the Fuji Rock team, and I went merely as a spectator last year. On its operation guidance, we established some basic rules. Making the basis in the first Fuji Rock at Tenjinyama has been the most difficult so far.

Everyone who has helped organize Fuji Rock for the last five years can imagine the scenery no matter what kind of grass fields they see. They can scale the field with a measuring tape using only the sunrise, sunset, which way the wind blows, and where people come in and go out. The brainstorming is so much fun, saying things like: "If we cut the grass here, people can walk through". We did it at Asagiri, as well. Even though the artists play on outdoor stages, we would like to prepare for them with the same infrastructure they use for huge venues like Yokohama Arena, Budokan and Tokyo Dome. The point is that they do it in Naeba's dynamic natural environment. I think everyone who comes is happy because they can feel both the nature and the music.

I'm planning to take part in Fuji Rock as a customer after ten years, leaving my job to the younger people. For convenience I'll go by car, not by train, and apply for a three-day ticket with parking and the campsite. I hope I could someday.

I'm not willing to work unless I can hold any hope in my job. I don't want to be involved in any routine work. One you acquire some skills, you sometimes have to challenge yourself more. If you can do much more than expected, then you should do it. This is not the matter of comparing yourself to someone else.

I believe this is the matter of motivation. So it depends on how high your motivation is. No one complains about our job, even if our work is very tough. We can simply be happy whenever it's nice weather, which encourages us. At the same time, we are encouraged when everyone there is having fun. Even if rains, we keep our thoughts positive and simply think as the rain won't rain that hard.

What I thought about when I first began this job was the connection between people. Bands, staff and customers were all equal. I was in an amateur band when I was a teenager. Someone in a famous band might have been just a fan of music in the past. There may be a future super star in the crowd this year or any year. Who know?

Rock fans can see a lot of bands, artists can be satisfied with playing, and staff can experience the accomplishments. FRF may be the place where everybody's demand is put together.

Everyone regards Fuji as something special. We don't go through all this for my pleasure, nor for Mr. Hidaka. We have to do it for everyone's happiness. We know we all have the same feeling at Fuji Rock. We're all there to enjoy ourselves and help others to do the same. For example, even Neil Young played twice as long as scheduled, and everybody was pleased. All of those who were there were fans of Neil, and got excited when they saw Neil's smile. I barely saw any of his performance, but I was so happy to be there.

Mr. Hidaka always wants to make the ticket much cheaper. But it's quite difficult. If we did, we would have to work with no bed. I guess this is the deadline we have encountered, so finally we should find spare room in our heart and work in much severe situations. At Asagiri, we carried on a test case for these situations with a cooperation of those who don't complain about it.

【Nothing But the Best】

The most impressive moment at FRF for me was when the first person entered the gate at the first Fuji Rock. The rain had started falling the night before, but we opened anyway. Also, I got excited when I saw Naeba for the first time. Now, we have all experienced Naeba three times, and we're getting used to it. I think Mr. Hidaka is a great promoter to raise the idea of launching a rock festival - something without precedent in Japanese history. Actually, when I first met Mr. Hidaka, I plugged myself to him, saying: "I really really want to do it with you." I'm very happy that I had a chance to know him through Fuji Rock. Even if he says he doesn't like Naeba anymore, I keep asking him to make Fuji last for at least five more years. I enjoy my work very much. I am only half way from achieving my goal of putting on a rock festival for a decade. Wonderful artists and great shows, that is what I always hope to see in next half, as well.

Footnote：

Here is an extra episode which wasn't recorded. "After the Patti Smith's show, she was waiting for Neil Young. Neil appeared and Patti said 'Hi, Neil!', and they gave each other a big hug. Then Neil Young went up on stage."。

Reported by ORG-nob  (Feb 15, 2002)