Japanese music festivals are probably the cleanest and most well organized in the world. There is plenty of staff checking that everything goes smoothly, and it’s actually quite common to see the audience themselves helping to collect trash with large waste bags in hand after the shows.
But more than that, the main summer festivals – Fuji Rock and Summer Sonic/Sonic Mania – usually have very neat line-ups with plenty of options for most musical tastes out there. However, the organizers not only invite a bunch of big names, but also excellent upcoming artists which are yet to be known to a wider audience.
Fuji Rock Festival, Naeba Ski Resort
July 27th-29th, 2018
This is a 3-day festival, not too far from Tokyo (closest train station: Echigo Yuzawa). With around 100,000-150,000 attendees every year, it is definitely the largest in Japan.
This years acts include Kendrick Lamar, N.E.R.D., Skrillex, and Vampire Weekend.
Ticket Info
Advance (“Early Bird”) tickets for customers abroad:
ticketflap (English/Chinese) – 3-day & campsite tickets only
iFLYER (English/Korean) – 3-day & campsite tickets only
eplus (English) – all ticket categories
GAN-BAN (English) – all ticket categories
If you have trouble purchasing tickets from the sites above and cannot purchase from the Japanese sites either, you can also contact our affiliated shopping service.
In case tickets are sold out, resale tickets might still be available here on Viagogo.
Summer Sonic, Tokyo & Osaka
Sonic Mania, Tokyo
August 18th & 19th, 2018 (SummerSonic)
August 17th (SonicMania)
Summer Sonic is a twin-festival that takes place in both Osaka and Tokyo. It’s a two-day festival and (most of) the artists who play on day one in one city, will play in the other city on day two.
Since a few years ago, the festival ground in Tokyo also holds the opening all-night event “Sonic Mania” on the day before Summer Sonic starts. Note: separate tickets are necessary to join that event. Nice thing about Summer Sonic: it’s so close to central Tokyo that you can go back to your comfy hotel bed without missing the next festival day.
This year’s Summer Sonic lineup includes names such as Beck, Chance the Rapper, Tame Impala and Noel Gallagher’s High Flying Birds. Nine Inch Nails will play Summer Sonic in Osaka and Sonic Mania in Tokyo.
Ticket Info
At the point of writing (Feb 16), advances ticket sale for international visitors has only started for Sonic Mania (see here) but not yet Summer Sonic.
However, tickets for all days are already available through Japanese sale (eplus or Lawson tickets). If you have trouble purchasing tickets from the Japanese sites (for example because you don’t have a Japanese credit card), you can also contact our affiliated shopping service.
In case tickets are sold out, resale tickets might still be available here on Viagogo.
Disclaimer: *** Information as of Feb 16, 2018 but subject to change without notice / more dated might be added later / accuracy of this information is not guaranteed / make sure to double-check if you are planning to attend these shows ***
Image credit: ogiwaratakao, used under CC license
