Becoming One With Nature

Tents Are For Wimps

One of the things people seem to enjoy the most at FRF is the abundance of nature. Surrounded by dense forests filled with huge trees and countless mountains Naeba Ski Resort truly is a sight to behold.

Admittedly, most major cities in Japan don't have a lot green space so when you have the chance to enjoy so much of it at once, you definitely have to try and make the most of it. With this in mind, it's not uncommon to see people rinsing themselves off or walking through the beautiful, crystal clear stream that runs throughout the site or even wandering into the woods to examine and/or "water" the trees (the latter tends to be done more by men than women). In fact, some people love the surrounding so much here that they opt to sleep outside without tents!

Actually, that may be more to because of exhaustion and being unable to get home as opposed to loving the great outdoors. Day tickets for the festival are valid from around 9 am until 5 am the following morning. I think the last train leaving the city takes off before the headliners on the main stage finish each night. Thus people have to decide if they want to leave early and miss the big name acts or stick around, pull an all-nighter at Fuji, and catch one of the first trains back home in morning. All-nighters tend to be the norm. With music playing on a few of the stages until the sun rises there is plenty to do and see. However, some people tend to tire easily after a long day of dancing and singing along to all the great music. For these individuals, the only option is too lie down wherever they can find space and try and get a few hours of sleep. Some were prepared with tarps, while others simply pulled up the hood on their jacket and tried to find a spot that wasn't too wet and muddy to rest their weary head. Sleeping with the grass, muds, and bugs? Now that's what I call truly becoming one with nature.