It's apt that Rock in Japan takes place in between Fuji Rock and Summer Sonic. While Fuji sprawls myriad bands over a vast, scenic site and Summer Sonic hosts acts for a younger crowd in an exhibition hall and stadium, RIJ combines the best of both.
Staged at Hitachi Seaside Park in Ibaraki Prefecture, the slogan, as heard over the PA, of this year's event was "love, peace and freedom." It may sound trite, but you won't find a more relaxed festival. And yet RIJ is geared fiercely toward younger music fans, as a conservative lineup of the latest chart-topping Japanese bands, smartly designed official merchandise and mirrors on the outdoor washbasins attest.
We asked the punters — of which there were 49,000 per day over three days — what they thought of this year's festival, and even found a foreigner among the otherwise homogenous hordes.