Friday 08.12

Flying Kamoshika presents Sea to Sky at the Ruby Room in Shibuya's Dogenzaka area. DJs on the main floor are Matto, Coldring and Kemix. And on the chill floor are Emiko Noso and Clem. Starts at 10 p.m. At the door it's 1,500yen (plus a drink).

Friday 08.12

Psychology presents Monthly Psycology at Stage2 in Chiba. Special Guest DJ Tokage of Sirius Records, plus Ryu, Oji and O.K.K. Men pay 3,000 yen at the door (plus one drink) but it's free for women. Find more information and the flyer (for 2,000 yen admission), see the Psycology Web site.

Friday 08.12 -- 08.14

Stargate's Utage festival starts today at the Pine Ridge Kandatsu ski resort in Niigata Prefecture, one minute from the Yuzawa IC on the Kan-Etsu Expressway. Gates open noon and the music starts at 6 p.m. Tickets at the gate are 13,000 and parking is 3,000 yen (1,000 yen for motorcycles). Full information and a Flash map of the festival site can be found on the Web site. Plan ahead for some soggy fun.

Saturday, 08.13 -- 08.15

Mother Records presents "Space of Sound (S.O.S.)" at Hakuba Tsugaike Kougen in Nagano Prefecture. Live acts Atomic Pulse, Domestic, Logic Bomb, Pixel, Pop Stream, Protoculture, Psycraft, Synthetic, Wizzy Noise. The lineup includes an impressive list of DJs and a chillout and freestyle site. Tickets at the gate are 12,000 yen. Parking is 3,000 yen with free shuttle service to the free gondola service, which will operate from 7 a.m. until 9 p.m. Gates open at 13:00 and the music starts at 6 p.m. Mother has done an excellent job on providing useful information on their Web site. When the party ends on Monday, the O-bon "U-turn" traffic heading back to Tokyo will be heavy, so give yourself plenty of time.

Saturday, 08.13 -- 08.15

More underground but closer to Tokyo is the Asahi Matsuri at the Namesawa campground in Yamanashi Prefecture. This event features live acts and DJs from Earthcore Japan, Zerogravity and Manas. Entrance to this party is a cool 2,000 yen (parking is 1,000 yen). Namesawa is a beautiful forested campground with lots of covered barbeque cabanas, no keitai service and some seriously aggressive bugs.

Full Moon parties on Aug. 20:

* Sirius Summer Blast Open Air at Norn Ski Resort in Minakami, Gunma Prefecture. Live acts Psysex, Hujaboy, E-jekt, Paranormal Attack and 40%. Advance 7,000 yen (or 8,000 yen at the gate). www.sirius-records.com

* The Moon is Read Open Air Party at Hinokimaru Biiriainomori Camp in Yamanashi Prefecture. Artists listed Ray Castle, Masa, Ree.K, Uni and Toshiyuki. Advance 3,500 yen (or 4,500 yen at the gate). www.geocities.jp/tukuyomix2943/

* Mountain High Full Moon Psychedelic Trance Party at Funayama Kougen Camp in Takayama, Gifu Prefecture. DJs Morio, Yuu, Kei, NME, Teppei, TKC, Tak, Vojakk and Dobo. Advance 3,000 yen (or 3,500 yen at the gate). (e-mail [email protected] for more information.)