Union flags have been flying across the site, and many Japanese fans have got into the spirit with British-themed outfits over the three-day festival. British acts including The Courteeners, Hard-Fi, Primal Scream and headliners Underworld shared the main stage with Japanese performers.
But while the event is unashamedly based on Glastonbury, Fuji Rock is a totally different experience. "It might be inspired by Glastonbury, but done in a Japanese way," says the festival's international organiser, Johnnie Fingers. His real name is John Moylett, but he is better known to many as a founding member of The Boomtown Rats. He has been working in the Japanese music scene for 15 years, and has been part of the Fuji Rock team for six of them.
Middle East News - Authorities in Iran have denied that singer Chris de Burgh is to play a live concert in Tehran, according to an Iranian news agency. It had been reported that the Irish singer would perform with Iranian pop group Arian. But IRNA reported that the Music Office of the Ministry of Culture and Islamic Guidance had not received a request for the show, nor issued a permit.
A spokeswoman for De Burgh said efforts to bring him to Iran were ongoing. Official permission is required to stage a concert in the country. If the concert went ahead, De Burgh would be the first Western artist to play a concert in Iran since the country's 1979 revolution.
News in stereo - Unique recordings by the inventor of stereo have been cleaned up so the public can hear them properly for the first time. They include Sir Thomas Beecham conducting the London Philharmonic Orchestra (LPO) at Abbey Road Studios in 1934. The recordings were made by Alan Blumlein, an EMI research engineer, whose contribution to the invention of stereo sound is only now starting to be appreciated.
The early recordings have been re-engineered using digital technology so their true quality can be appreciated. Sound engineer Roger Beardsley who was responsible for the digital transfers called the recordings "incredibly historic". He added, "They have never been properly reproduced, but we've recovered the original information that was there." Blumlein lodged the patent for "binaural "sound, in 1931, in a paper which patented stereo records, stereo films and also surround sound.
Good News - Deaf children have been testing software that enables them to see a visual representation of sound waves. Called Lumisonic the software translates sound waves into circles that radiate on a display. It creates a real time representation of sound and is designed to elicit responses quickly in the human brain.
The project to develop Lumisonic involved the London Philharmonic Orchestra, whose musicians performed with deaf children at Whitefields School in East London. The children played instruments to see how their actions influenced the circles appearing on monitors. "It gave them a way of interacting with sound and music, with musicians who are highly skilled. It enabled them to work with music in a way they haven't been able to before," said Dr Grierson.
(Jim Evans)
