I know it's not easy to come to Naeba from long distances, but Kenichi, thank you for coming. Perhaps many people in Japan have the same feeling. Even if they want to, they have to give up because it's too far away. All we ask is "please come here once anyway". I've been going to the Glastonbury Festival in England (biggest in the world, #2 is FujiRock) for the past 17 years and still go. The last few times I've gone I haven't seen the performances as much as just hanging around. (ha!) I seem to be drawn to festivals...
We're still accepting reports, so please e-mail ORG-master. The word count should total no more than 400-1000 charachters in Japanese, or 180-450 words in English. Please title your e-mail "FRF report".
Reported by ORG-master and translated by ORG-yuko and ORG-kaoriwith a help of ORG-jason (March 28, 2002)
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Every year I thought about going to FRF. But at the same year when FRF changed the location to Naeba, I had returned to my hometown, Hokkaido, the most northern part of Japan. It wasn't easy to go there now. Transportation to Naeba from Hokkaido is worse and more expensive than flying to Okinawa. What I could do was just read the magazine articles and feel jealous. That is, until FRF 2001.
Then one day in April, I think it was the next day of the announcement of the artist line-up, I read the newspaper and found out that Neil Young and Crazy Horse would play FRF! After I saw that, my decision was immediate. I called my girlfriend and said:
"I'm going."
"Really?" she said, "But..."
"There's no BUT," I replied, "I promised myself that if Crazy Horse performs outdoors in Japan, I have to sacrifice everything for seeing it!" From there, there was only silence and my girlfriend seemed to lose her words...
Yes, Naeba was far. The highway was a pain when I had to drive along the Sea of Japan and then return to drive through the mountains again. If you add the time of the ferry, it took about 16 hours to reach Naeba. At the highway exit, the highway staff asked me "Festival?" and I said cheerfully "Yes!" but he grinned when he saw my number plate. At all events, I can't explain my happiness when I saw FRF on the right hand after driving through the last tunnel to the site.
We arrived at the camp site after having a few small problems. Was it because we bumped the busy time?, I'm not sure anyway the shuttle buses were running incessantly and didn't stop to make some room for us go through in the parking area. Or since we had the one-day ticket, the parking was far away. Or we carried the stuff too much. And then, oh no! my girlfriend was crying! The only spaces left at the camp site were on the scary hillside.
And the circus was so noisy,screaming"Hachikona!" When I was half asleep, people from Tokyo started to arrive and I couldn't sleep anymore. Usually all these things are painful, but here it was just so funny.
I have nothing to say about the performances, except that it was a pity that Soul Flower Union and Patti Smith performed at the same time at the different stage, and I couldn't see Shibusa Shirazu in the Field of Heaven until the end because I had to prepare for Neil Young at the Green Stage. I was so tired that I couldn't stand still at the last part of Neil Young, but it was just great anyhow!
I spent a lot of money - so much that I could have gone to Okinawa. I had to take a few days off, as well. But on the way home, we already began to talk about going next year as well.
We are definitely going to FRF this year too!! There's no choice but going!!
P.S. At the river near the White stage, I met a guy proudly saying that he came from Aomori by car. But the next moment I told him that I came from Hokkaido by car (small type not a sedan), I'll never forget the look on his face.
letter from Kenichi (March 27, 2002)
