Originally published on metropolis.co.jp on October 2009

It’s been some years since this writer went to the Asagiri Jam festival—and I’d forgotten that traditional Japanese morning exercises are part of the fun.

So there I am at 9am Sunday morning, flexing my reluctant sinews as promoter Smash’s honcho Masa Hidaka leads early risers energetically through their rajio taiso paces. Helping the effort somewhat is the backdrop of a brightening Mt. Fuji on the second day of what is in fact Japan’s only major music festival near the iconic volcano (Fuji Rock Festival takes place far away in Niigata).

The scene nicely captures the spirit of Asagiri, which has a distinctly gentler, more local atmosphere than its larger cousin. Launched in 2001, the festival achieves the remarkable feat of selling out 8,000 or so tickets without even announcing the lineup. Fans come as much to take part in the good vibes at a dramatic location on the shoulder of Mt Fuji in Yamanashi Prefecture as they do for the bill, which lacks the star power of Fuji Rock.

The musical, as opposed to physical, peak comes soon after our Saturday afternoon arrival, in the form of Chicago collective Hypnotic Brass Ensemble’s irrepressible hip-hop/marching band mash-up, and Japanese alt-rock warhorse Yura Yura Teikoku’s ghostly psychedelia (above). Unlike Fuji Rock, with its relentless, all-night activity, things wind up early at Asagiri, and most campers are snugly back in their Gore-Tex lairs by midnight, when temperatures begin their descent toward the single digits.

The bill leans toward domestic artists, who comprise well over half the acts, compared to Fuji where they are a minority. At this year’s Asagiri, intriguing sets are provided on Sunday by multi-instrumentalist folkie Shugo Tokumaru and British-Japanese free-jazz-meets-bon-odori culture clash Setsubun Bean Unit, while performances by drone-metal banner wavers Boris, and Boredoms drummer Yoshimi’s side project OOIOO are less well rated.

An upside of the lack of big artists at Asagiri is the absence of major sponsorship, and the venue’s sylvan views are mostly unsullied by crass corporate logos or product branding. In Smash’s “Camp in Asagiri Jam: It’s a Beautiful Day” world, a happy scenario exists in which music has enough grassroots support that it need not answer to the demands of corporate strategists.

The one sour note comes when a play space constructed out of cardboard and newspaper at the Kids’ Land catches fire from a stray cigarette butt Sunday afternoon. Luckily, staff members are able to quickly stamp out the blaze before anyone is harmed, and as the sun lowers, fears are assuaged amid irie dub spun by Twilight Circus (a.k.a. Canadian trackmaker Ryan Moore).