Fuji Rock Festival is the biggest event on the calendar for many Japanese and foreign residents alike. Sure, it costs a stack of cash to go, but the festival is not your typical commercial venture. Word on the street is that it has been anything but a money spinner for concert promoter Smash Japan. Instead, think of it as one man's idea of how to throw Japan's biggest (and best) party of the year. That man is Masa Hidaka, head of Smash. As the event is about to turn 10, he talked to The Japan Times at his Hiroo office about love affairs, creating chaos and his old friend Joe Strummer (R.I.P. 2002), the legendary Clash guitarist and patron saint of Fuji Rock.
Some say that you brought the rock 'n' roll experience to Japan.
Oh, I don't think about that. Our company policy is "If we love this music, then we want [to promote] it." That's it. When I started Smash in 1983, most of my favorite musicians were not coming [to Japan]. The only ones that came were Billboard [magazine's] Top 10, that kind of thing. And we couldn't stand at a gig. Even when the Clash came, we had to sit down! We had to see rock bands in locations that were really for classical music. But we wanted to dance! And now we can.