Nagisa Music Festival

Posted on April 20, 2007 by Christopher Davis

For all you anthropologists out there, you could attend a flower arranging ceremony or get flogged by a monk somewhere but I chose the Nagisa music festival last Sunday where although I saw many locals flogged, there was not a monk to be seen. At 120 decibels though, it was hardly ‘zen’. I must say though, that after being so impressed by the technology here and having seen Jodie Foster’s movie ‘Contact’, I had rather high hopes for the Tokyo Teleport but alas, it was just a venue. It was either the beats from within, the burly gaijinJapanese word meaning "outsider" commonly used to describe foreigners. Considered somewhat impolite. security guards or Japanese efficiency that got us through a kilometre long cue in 20-30 minutes but I was happy - and limber after the long walk. The Tokyo jungle was in mating season, various species of Tokyo sub cultures adorned in their many and varied styles, colourful plumages and, at times, bizarre mating dances. Where was a pith helmet when you need one?

There were people who dressed up, there were people who dressed down and some people who looked like they’d eaten a box of crayons,thrown up and rolled in it. Derrick May was one of the foreign acts but I’d seen him Brisbane a few times so opted for some of the local talent including house DJ’s Shinkawa, DJ Wara and Kawamura. Flawless beats and the bands were great too, with too many names to mention here. In short, if you’re studying the language, get into the music scene – whatever your tastes.

It was strange seeing dogs and kids in a festival. By kids, I don’t mean the little terrors at our festivals trying to trade their underage armbands for drinking age armbands, but rather toddlers – lots of them. Start them young I say. There were tents with different local and Thai foods on sale, tents with lots of smoke coming out of them and a lot of ‘genki’ in the air, or the water, or...something like that. There were ShibuyaOne of Tokyo's 23 wards and a center of business, fashion, and nightlife. girls with ‘taifu’eyelashes and tassled hips wagging to some goth/hop, big haired ShinjukuOne of Tokyo's 23 wards and home to the Tokyo Metropolitan Government Building and the world's busiest train station. punks. Hippies with glamours, trash with flash and gays with straights. As I said, a United Nations of youth culture all hands voting ‘aye’ to whatever motion passed with a cool bass line. It seemed everyone lived up to the festival motto ‘Clean for smile, dance on Earth’, which means ......something. Kind of.

Japanese public events are cleaner than others I’ve been to. One can actually see the ground by the end of the night. The toilets however, supported my conspiracy theory, that wherever there is a festival held, the ‘Secret Society of Bowl Missers and Projectile Bombardiers’ are sent out to thwart any hope of a single toilet being soil free by the end of the night.

By 6:30, they had run out of most of the alcohol and thus it was decided that if we didn’t shift soon, we’d really be disappointed with the dispatch speed of the Tokyo Teleport. As a seasoned veteran of festivals, take my advice, ALWAYS leave early. Sure, everybody’s smiling while the music is playing but when they get into that stark subway light and see what they really look like, the ‘genki’ will forsake them.