Apart from hiking in North Alps, another big agenda of our Japan trip was the Fujirock Festival. It was Asia’s biggest open air music festival drawing in international big names in the 3 days of non stop concerts. The last and only festival I did was Glastonbury 2002, and FJR certainly lived up to my expectation.
First evening, we were united again with MUSE, who visited HK
only back in March. It was definitely on top of our to-see list. Their powerful music sored through the valley, and the 3 gigantic plasma screen, displaying some really cool graphic that amplified the meaning of every song. The song “Invinsible”, which I have shared the powerful lyrics before, was my personal pinnacle, image of mass demonstration went hand-in-hand with the words ‘Together we are invincible!”.
Second day, Kaiser Chief, set the stage alive, Ricky Wilson, the lead singer was a chubby guy on the outlook, but he demonstrated so much energy that I though he must be steroid. He jumped off the stage and launched himself to the crowd again and again, bemusing everyone but the security guards.
On the final day, we waited for an hour to make sure we are in front of the stage when Mika came on. Martina danced wildly to her idol. Chemical Brothers came on in the penultimate concert. I heard they were good before, but I was never into dance music. But it turned out to be my favorite concert in the whole festival, the techno x laser x computer graphic on the plasma screen simply brings the week’s experience to a whole new level. Green stage was turned into a gigantic dance club or a massive rave party. Their set last for 1.5 hrs and after which we were so exhausted.
Here are some advices for anyone who stumble to this post and is planning to go in future:
1. If you can afford it, consider to stay in hotels instead of camping, as the camp site is outside the gate of the festival anyway, it makes little different to your experience if the tent is just a spot you go back to at the end of the day.
2. Even if it didn’t rain, bring a pair of boots with you, the Kate Moss festival look has imply caught on so well in Japan.
3. Don’t miss the cable car ride to the mountain top, the “Day Dream and Silent Breeze” stage was a real treat for us. Plan to spend 3-4 hours there away from the crowd.
4. There was some romantic installation art in the forest board walk, don’t miss them, especially in the evening.
5. Japan has a great system to courier heavy stuff anywhere around the country, people simply sent their camping stuff ahead of them.
6. Unlike Glastonbury, we were able to enjoy hot bath in Onsen, the quality of the festival food was excellent, the toilet never overflow, have a great time!
Wednesday, August 08, 2007
Fujirock Festival 2007
Sunday, August 05, 2007
Japan Hiking Photos - Takayama
For you to enjoy, photos from our hiking trip to North Japan Alps:
Murodo Takayama Region
Created with Admarket's flickrSLiDR.
Monday, July 23, 2007
Climbing the Hotakadaka
The plan was to trek the entire way from Murodo to Kamikochi, the classic North Japan Alps traverse, but many elements made us change our mind. With typhoon and earth quake happened just before we started our walk, we had not idea what the 6 day routes will be like. Also the snow patches have been very resilient this year, due to short of rainfall. The trek may not be too enjoyable for Martina. Maybe a project for future years. So our hiking trip became a two parts affairs, we did a one day walk in Murodo a plateau at over 2o00m attitude then transported to picturistic Kamikochi to climb the highest mountain on our original route, Hotakadake at 3190m.
To do that Martina had to walk up an one hour long snow field to get to a beautiful mountain hut in the Karasawa valley. Complain of the harshness of the condition as she may, she did find the valley to be incrediblly beautiful, with towering peaks cradling three sides of the snowfield. The hut, Karasawa Hutte sits right in the middle.
The next day, I went up the peak on my own, over an interesting rock scramble to another mountain hut that sits at a saddle point on a ridgeline. Climbing up ladders and chains, I finally got to the top. On a good day, I will be able to see every single peaks from Tatayama to Hotakadake, the journey that we planned to have taken. But the cloud rising from the valley, I have to be content with the sea of cloud beneath my feet.
Hiking in Japan is an enjoyable experience, the mountains are beautiful of course, but the huts located at the remote mountain top and alpine meadows provided us with comfort and good food is what impressed me the most. Got to come back some other time.
Saturday, July 21, 2007
Japan Alps Brief Update
Just finished the hiking part of our Japan trip. Climbed Hotakadake (3190m） the third highest in Japan. Gonna write a bit more when I got back to Tokyo.
Tuesday, May 01, 2007
2007 Freeyasoul Adventure - Japan Alps
We are now planning the long awaited Japan Alps trip in mid-July, you might have already got my invitation already, here some more pictures to temp you to this 6 days hike. Our trip will begin in Murodo and ends in Kamikochi. Reserve your holidays now!
Tatayama - 立山
Gosikigahara - 五色ヶ原
Kurobegara-dake - 黒部五郎岳
Yari-ga-take - 槍ヶ岳
Oku-Hotaka-dake - 穂高岳
Kamikochi - 上高地Wednesday, October 25, 2006
Planning a Japan Adventure
Finally I've got my future settled this week, I am moving on to a new job in mid November and will finished with my current company after this month. That gave Martina and I about a week to go on holiday before rushing back to do the Trailwalker. We've chosen to go to Japan this time, I've not been to Japan despite my adventures all over the world. I have been a third world countries travel specialist for all these years and Japan just doesn't quite fit into my profile. But with only a week to spare, it was a rush to some of my projects in store.
Though it has been an amazing discovery to find out what adventure can be done in Japan. I have learn that there is a strip of mountain called the Japan Alps in the mid north of country in the Nagano Perfecturewhere there are some beautiful alpine scenery. There is a 6 days traverse across the alpine ridges and finsihed in a moutian resort town called Kamikochi. The beauty is you don't have to carry too much as you can stayed in moutain huts at above 2000m high, with food and bedding served to you.
Though unfortunately as I though I have found the highlight of the year, the local hostel, Nishiitoya Mountain Lodge, told me it was a too late the time of the year to get some reasonable hike, snow is due by November. May be something for the next Freeyasoul Adventure.
Now I am planning to do something less ambitious and explore the Odaigahara plateau in the Mie Perfecture near Osaka and Kyoto. This time I am hoping to do a 2 days route from Osugidani to Odaigahara, it would be up a gorge with steel chains bolted on the cliff side for us to pull on, 8 waterfalls and river crossing by traditional boats along the path. Though a local hiker from IOC Kansai has informed me that due to a typhoo 2 years ago, the route was still a closed. So right now, I am a bit stuck, but reading throught the walking guide of Japan by Lonely Planet, there are tones of day hike around the Kyoto region.
