110714

Fighting for change the Fuji Rock way

by Japan Times

Faced with the nation's worst disaster since World War II, Fuji Rock Festival founder Masahiro Hidaka had to make a choice back in March - whether to hold Japan's biggest summer music festival this year or not. He decided that the show must go on. "It may not be a very conservative Japanese way of thinking, but festivals are festivals, they create good things for people," Hidaka, president of Smash Corporation and chief producer of Fuji Rock, tells The Japan Times from his company's headquarters in Minato Ward, Tokyo. This year will mark the 15th installment of the annual gathering. Though the inaugural bash was held with the iconic Mount Fuji as its backdrop, the party has since moved to the valleys of Naeba, Niigata Prefecture, more than 150 km away. (Japan Times)

Son starts national energy initiative

by Japan Times

Masayoshi Son, president of the Softbank Corp. telecommunications conglomerate, and governors from prefectures nationwide launched a council Wednesday aimed at reducing dependence on nuclear power by promoting renewable energy, such as building solar power plants on idle farmland. Of the 47 prefectures, 36 have already signed up to join the alliance led by Son, including Fukushima, which is grappling with the crisis at the Fukushima No. 1 nuclear power plant. (Japan Times)