16th Nijinomisaki Matsuri

２００６
にじのみさきまつり
(The End of the Rainbow Festival)

Aso Sunset © 2004 Florence Nobuko Smith

Everyone I know who has gone to this festival has been excited about this year's all winter long.

It's officially Spring, though you might forget we just had Hanami Season with all this rain we've been having!

Anyway, this year will be my 4th time going and I can't wait! Nijinomisaki Matsuri signals the beginning of Festival Season for me here -- yeah!


Information in English on this Festival is almost nonexistent, and as I am a firm believer in lots of fun, comfort and good camping, here's what I know about the Nijinomisaki Matsuri and staying comfortable while camping:

Location:

The closest train station is the very small JR Akamizu St. (赤水)
(Aso-cho 阿蘇町, Kumamoto Prefecture 熊本県).

The festival site is 赤水百姓村牧場
(Akamizu-Hyakusho-mura)

Here's a Google Map to Akamizu St.
There's supposed to be a marker indicating the station, but it seems to have disappeared. Just keep hitting the magnify + button until you see あかみず on the train line.

I'll try and post train times to give you an idea how long it will take and how to get there from Hiroshima (later).

The campsite is the size of a couple of football fields, with a large stage set up in the middle. Majestic Mt. Aso can be seen from the site.

When:

The festival is officially from May 1-5, 2006.

The culmination of the festival is Children's Day on May 5.

Kids are an integral part of the joy of the festival.
It's always wonderful to see so many young children having so much fun, behaving so well, being so curious, and generally helping to clear away any built-up cynicism.
There's always a huge tug-o-war on the last day.

(I'm sure many people will keep on camping through the weekend, just with no scheduled stage performances)

Live music is scheduled for the stage every day of the festival from usually late morning/early afternoon til dark/around 9-10ish.

It's a very family-oriented festival, so while lots of music will be played at campsites throughout the night, the amped shows are scheduled to finish for families to have a regular bedtime.

Cost:

The festival costs 2500 yen per person.

That 2500 yen is for the duration of the festival, making it the cheapest big amazing party I know.
After you pay, you'll receive a performance schedule and a simple hand-made amulet to indicate that you've paid.

It's possible not to pay, but really, so much work goes into putting this together, it's just really uncool to cheat like that when they've made it so cheap.

Food and Drink:

There are always people selling a variety of food and drink (including alcohol).
Prices are reasonable and the grub is good, but if you plan on not doing any of your own cooking at all, you'll end up spending a fair bit of money to keep yourself fed and well-hydrated.

Even if you've brought your supplies with you, but run out of food or beer/wine/sake, you can stock up on a short drive to town.

Both the sake and the shochu in Kumamoto Prefecture are excellent because the water is so good!

Don't miss out on Mongol-pan (savory tofu or tuna wraps) made by the members of Seikatsu Circus (they're playing on the 3rd this year!)!!

Water:

There's fresh water (a large communal real sink) set up near the entrance to the festival.
You'll want to bring containers to transport your water from the sink to your campsite. The water is very fresh and tasty, so there's really no reason to buy water from stores for this festival. PET bottles are littering the planet enough already.
Runoff from the sink makes the area around it pretty muddy pretty quickly, so if you're not comfortable with having muddy bare feet, then bring wellies or shoes you don't mind getting muddy.

Showers/Baths:

There are no showers at the site, but you can easily walk to Aso Farmland (the hot spring baths are at the far end, past the huge complex of souvenir shops), drive to a local public bath, some nearby hotels to use their hot spring baths, or venture further (possibly facing terrible Golden Week traffic) to the incredible Kurokawa Onsen town.

Toilets:

For the past couple of years, there have been latrines dug for festival-goers' communal use. Not porta-potties, but latrines dug with closed cabana-style privacy. These have candles for light at night and there's toilet paper. They can get pretty full near the end of the festival (especially now that more people know about and are going to the festival).

While there's usually TP in the latrines, it's always a good idea to have your own supply of TP/tissue handy just in case.

Surely well-intended, the past couple of years have also seen an increase in people setting up their own personal latrines throughout the campsite. While I'm sure this means the communal latrines get full just a little less quickly, it just seems pretty gross to me to have someone's latrine set up right next to where someone else is camping.

Going in the woods alone or with friends can have its own pleasures. Whatever your reasons, if you decide to go in the woods instead of using a latrine, just make sure you don't leave behind any "white flowers".

What do I have against "white flowers"? "White flowers" = the little wadded-up tissues littering and stinking things up!
Yuck yuck yuck!

Wiping is good, so just bring a plastic bag for your used TP.

If you've just peed, then put your TP in your bag and take it back to your campsite to throw in the latrine. If you've had to poo, then put the TP in a bag and carry it back to throw in a latrine. If you're too squeamish to carry it back in a bag (or you're in a situation with no latrine at all), then use as little TP as you can and use a stick to mix it up with the poo, the dirt you dug out of the hole to poo in, and bury it all. Burning your TP is also an option as long as it's not too wet to burn. I'm not a fan of burning simply because it means that I'm holding on to and having to look at my used TP for longer than I'd like.

Here's a good site about taking care of toilet business in the woods:
Adventure Network Hygiene Questions

Here's a good site about building latrines if you're interested:
How to Shit In The Woods

The info on the site above is all related to the Rainbow Festival and has some really beautiful photos of some serious festival people.

Just so you know, don't expect a bunch of naked people at the Nijinomisaki Matsuri (from my experience, hippie-style Japanese festivals seem to be non-nudist. They're not exactly prudish, I've definitely seen some naked people, but it's just not common. Personally, I'd like to see more people being totally comfortable with being naked. Most people just get their naked fix by going to the fabulous hot springs or baths nearby)

If you're menstruating, then consider using a DivaCup or Keeper to avoid dealing more than you have to (I wholeheartedly recommend them):

(If anyone wants a new, smaller-sized Diva Cup, let me know: I have one that was given to me and it remains unused and in the box, looking for a home)


The Elements:

Temperature:
Daily temperature can range from really hot to really really cold at night so be prepared.

Sun:
Beautiful forest surrounds the site, but there isn't any shade to speak of around the stage area, so if we're lucky and we get lots of sunshine, it's important to bring a hat, sunscreen, and an umbrella/parasol to keep from getting sunburnt/staying cool.

Not only do UV rays age you, but you know they cause skin cancer.

My father has skin cancer -- but that's because he's spent all of his adult life working outdoors ...

so I just don't understand why so many people confuse partying outdoors with willful ignorance of and resistance to the simple preventative measures of hats, sunscreen, and the classically beautiful parasol. I understand that parasols might be too girlie for some, but come on, sunscreen? a hat?

Even smart people get drunk and forget to put on or reapply sunscreen, so always bring aloe vera gel. It'll help cool down and heal sunburns as well as campstove accidents.

Cold:
The best way to stay warm and comfortable is to layer.

Bring several pairs of warm socks. You can save on packing space by bringing a couple pairs of good thick outer socks (my current favorite is Smartwool) to re-wear a few times and bringing a fresh pair of thinner inner/liner socks to wear for every day you want to have the feel of fresh clean socks.

Bring a fitted synthetic (see below under Rain) or silk (it feels so good!) as an inner layer to wear next to your torso.

Bring longjohns (again, synthetic, not cotton if possible).

A fleece vest with pockets is a good way to carry your essential stuff with you (money, tissue, headlamp/flashlight, lipbalm, personal chopsticks) and stay warm without necessarily having to wear a lot of clothes if it's just chilly, not outright cold.

Bring a hat, scarf, and gloves.
Keeping your head and neck warm keeps you significantly warmer.
And who likes cold hands?

Rain:
It's liable to rain a whole helluva lot. Anywhere from daily constant drizzle to full-on huge storms that completely flood/blow away poorly pitched tents.

Proper raingear and fleece are your best friends.

If you only bring jeans, you will likely find yourself cold and damp.

I had a conversation with a friend the other day and realized that not everyone realizes why fleece, performance fabrics like capilene/polypropylene and even wool are superior to other fabrics (like cotton, corduroy) for outdoor comfort. Briefly, performance synthetics (and to a lesser extent, wool) will wick away moisture from your body, keeping you dry and warm even when it's really damp and cold out.

This site is intended for runners but does a good job of explaining performance fabrics.
Keeping your body warm and dry is as important for campers as it is for runners.

Bring rubber boots/wellies because if it does start to rain hard and long, cold damp feet suck -- no matter how cool the people/party.

An umbrella is always a good idea for when you don't feel like wearing raingear and you're just going from one campsite/teepee to another.

Tents and rain: A well-pitched tent and properly laid ground sheet will ensure a dry tent interior.

Two problems I keep on seeing (it really can rain a lot during festival season in Japan) are:

1: Problems with rainflys.
Even if it's just a light drizzle, it's really important to go back to your tent and make sure that the rainfly is zipped up, no matter how far away your tent is or how much fun you're having where you are.

Staking out your rainfly so that it's taut and not just lying slack next to the actual tent walls will mean that any moisture which seeps through or collects due to condensation will only be on the rainfly, not soaking through your tent and creating a damp/wet interior.

And 2: Problems with groundsheets.
A groundsheet is essential.
It can be tent-specific (sold with your tent), tarp, or cut heavy-duty plastic.

If it came with your tent, then you're set. Even if it's not raining, using it will prolong the life of your tent.

If you're using heavy-duty plastic, then set your tent up before you set out and cut the plastic to match the footprint of your tent. Trace around the the edges of your tent, then cut it so it's just a little smaller than the actual footprint.

It's important that the groundsheet not actually extend beyond the edge of the tent so that when it rains, water won't collect at the edges and then pool under your tent, creating a little pond under you and all your stuff.

If you're using a tarp, just make sure that it's folded under (so the edge is next to the ground, not next to the tent floor) and doesn't extend beyond the bottom edge of the tent walls.

Here are a few sites if you're interested in learning more about tents:

For backpackers

For if you wanted to know the things that Scouts know

For if you're thinking of buying a tent/general tent info

For probably more than you ever wanted to know

Trash and Waste:

Bring your own trash bags and be prepared to cart away all of the trash that you create.
There is no place to dump your trash at the site when you leave.

If you buy something from a stall, you can take the trash or empty bottle back to the stall where you bought it.

Disposable chopsticks (as well as fresh-pulp TP) are one of the saddest uses of trees that I know.

Be prepared and bring your own to re-use. You can re-use any kind of chopsticks, but here's my favorite {you can buy them at Tokyu Hands in Japan, at Kojitsu (basement campstore on the sidestreet at the corner of Lawson on Hondori), or through REI.com}:

They're a little pricey for chopsticks, but you can use them forever.


I think that just about covers it! Being prepared means you can have more fun!

People come from all over Japan to enjoy the Nijinomisaki Matsuri.
It is a fantastic place to meet like-minded folks and spend some quality time with the people you love.

The free-spirited Caroline has written an excellent piece on the festival for GetHiroshima and you can find it here:

And the Amazing Nicky has some great photos of last year's festival here:

I think I've covered just about all the essentials, but feel free to email me if you have any questions.

peace and love,
flo