On Sunday I cycled over to Miashima, where the Hundertwasser designed waste treatment plant is located, for the Mai-asia music festival. Despite the weather having been good all week it decided to take a change for the worse just for festival day and rained heavily for most of the day.
Despite the bad weather, everyone donned their brightly coloured raincoats and continued to enjoy the day. I had primarily come to see Takkyu Ishino play, for the second time this year but enjoyed many of the other acts as well. Surgeon was especially good, as was Oorutaichi who I haven't seen play for some time. Dancing in the rain in the evening kind of added an intensity to Surgeon and Takkyu's set and I went home exhausted, drenched but thoroughly satisfied!
This week saw the start of Golden Week and a much needed holiday. We had heard about the Nagisa Music Festival that was being held just down the road in Maishima, where the Maishima waste disposal plant is situated (see here). Although I had not heard of most of the artists playing (apart from DJ Krush and Tei Towa) I thought it was worth checking out and a great way to begin the holiday.
The journey took about 50 mins by Bicycle and we could see the festival as we rode over the huge bridge which connects the island to the main city. It was a beautiful day and the music could be heard drifting across as we left the bridge. It's been about four years since I last attended a music festival so I felt quite excited at the prospect, but at the same time wondered if my body could still handle it!
The approach to the festival, across the bridge.
We arrived at the festival around 12.30 PM and there were already many people there. We spent most of the afternoon just wandering around the different stages, listening for a short time to one artist then moving on to another, just soaking up the atmosphere. Maishima is the perfect place to have a festival as the surroundings mainly consist of industrial warehouses so no chance of irate neighbours! Having said that, the area is surprisingly picturesque, surrounded by water with the mountains in the distance and plenty of green areas.
The music consisted mostly of techno and trance which was reflected in many of the festival goers outfits, with a lot of brightly coloured clothing on display, took me right back to music festivals of the 90's!
One of the main stages.
For me the highlights of the show were DJ Krush and Tei Towa who were headlining. The last time I saw DJ Krush play was about 12 years ago in Brighton when his music was predominantly laid back hip-hop but seeing him play at the festival I was really suprised to hear how much he has changed! This time round his music was far from laid back as he bombarded the crowd with a full on, old school drum and bass set. Despite my worries of not being able to handle the bodily punishment of a festival, I could still just about manage to keep up with the crowd, although my left knee was giving me some trouble by the end! The final performer we saw was Tei Towa (formerly of, Deee-lite), who I had looked forward to seeing the most. I was not disappointed as he played a great set that ended the festival on a high note, his many years as a DJ evident in his ability to move the crowd (check out the small clips below).
Overall, a great start to Golden Week! The festival has left me hungry for more music events in Osaka and I look forward to attending Summer Sonic, a music festival which is held in the same location. I was generally impressed by the organisation and cleanliness of the whole event, although I have to say one thing, it seems like wherever you are in the world, festival toilets are always going to be a hit or miss affair!
Today we paid a visit to the Maishima Waste Disposal Plant which lies in the eastern port area of Osaka, an hour cycle from our home. Visiting a waste disposal plant may not be at the top of your list of exciting things to do but the plant is well worth a visit, and is quite a sight to see!
The exterior was designed by the late Austrian artist Friedensrich Hundertwasser, known for his organic structures, and was designed to symbolize harmony between technology, harmony and art. The whole building looks like some strange theme park attraction with huge orange stripes representing flames on the outside.
We booked a guided tour around the plant, which took around two hours, and got to see the whole waste disposal process in action. The interior looks like a scene from a seventies sci-fi movie complete with machines with big dials and flashing lights! There are also plenty of buttons to push and the obligatory cute animated characters to keep kids happy.
Overall, a fascinating tour and well worth checking out, even if you only get to see the exterior!
The plant from afar
The Claw!
One of the control rooms
Not sure what he is supposed to be!
A model of the plant.
This reminds me of a scene from 'Aliens'
Another giant claw.
Not why this is here but it looks pretty.
Colour coded dispatch doors.
Osaka has more bicycles than any other city in Japan. Soon to be a few less.
