Upcoming Japanese Summer Music Festivals in July 2025
List of Contents:
Summer Music Festivals in Japan: July 2025
Preparing for a Summer Music Festival in Japan
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Summer Music Festivals in Japan: July 2025
The MusiQuest 2025
The MusiQuest is all about musical diversity and discovery, spotlighting new sounds alongside big names. For its 2025 edition, the festival moves to Yoyogi 1st National Gymnasium in Tokyo and brings a high-energy lineup featuring Hyde, Yuta from K-pop group NCT, the theatrical visual-kei rock band Shintenchi Kaibyaku Shudan: Zigzag and rising Korean boy group TWS. Expect a blend of J-rock, K-pop and new talent.
Date & Time
Jul 05-06・
Price
Regular: ¥13,000, U18: ¥7,700
Location
Yoyogi 1st National Gymnasium
More Details
Ocean Peoples '25
Set at Sunset Beach Park Inage in Chiba, Ocean Peoples is Japan's go-to beach culture music festival. With the theme 'Save The Beach, Save The Ocean,' this weekend event mixes environmental awareness with laid-back coastal vibes. Performances take place near pools and beach areas, while food trucks and markets round out the experience. Def Tech, headlining the second night, is known for its surf-inspired island pop, which matches the festival's relaxed, sun-soaked atmosphere.
Date & Time
Jul 05-06・
Price
One Day: ¥9,800 | Two Day Pass: ¥15,000
Location
Sunset Beach Park Inage, Inage Seaside Park, Chiba
More Details
Inspire Tokyo 2025
J-Wave's Inspire Tokyo is a city-wide culture and music festival built around the theme 'From Tokyo to the World.' Taking place across four days, the event includes free outdoor concerts, installations and pop-ups across Yoyogi Park, Shibuya, Harajuku and Omotesando. This year's live lineup includes soulful multi-instrumentalist Taro Kawahara, known professionally as Tendre, and genre-blending pop vocalist Furui Riho, among others.
Date & Time
Jul 10-13・
Price
Location
Yoyogi Park Event Plaza & Keyaki Namiki, Line Cube Shibuya, Tokyu Plaza Harajuku (Harakado), Tokyu Plaza Omotesando (Omokado)
More Info
Free live performances take place July 12–13.
More Details
Talking Rock! Fes 2025
Organized by music magazine Talking Rock!, this Kanagawa-based festival is a summer staple for fans of Japanese rock. Hosted inside the massive Yokohama Arena — with additional sets held at its neighboring live house stage, New Side Beach!! — the event focuses on guitar-heavy acts, from indie heroes to headlining rock veterans. This year's lineup features major acts such as Kana-Boon, Super Beaver and Frederic.
Date & Time
Jul 12-13・
Price
￥11,000
Location
Yokohama Arena, New Side Beach!!
More Details
Osaka Gigantic Music Festival 2025
Known as 'Jaiga,' Osaka's largest hometown festival shifts locations in 2025 from Maishima Sport Island to the spacious Expo '70 Commemorative Park. Jaiga is known for huge, high-energy crowds, multiple stages and a festival-ready mix of chart-toppers and energetic live acts. Past years have featured some of the biggest names in J-pop and J-rock, and 2025 promises another dynamic bill of artists, including the likes of Indigo la End, Imase, Awich and more.
Date & Time
Jul 19-20・
Price
Adults ¥11,500, Elementary School Students ¥5,500
Location
Expo '70 Commemorative Park, Osaka
More Details
Fuji Rock Festival '25
Japan's most iconic music festival returns to the lush mountains of Naeba for a full weekend of world-class performances. Known for its sprawling outdoor setting and genre-spanning lineups, Fuji Rock 2025 features acts such as Vampire Weekend, Fred Again, Tatsuro Yamashita, Haim, James Blake and Radwimps. The festival welcomes a range of bands, creating a cross-cultural, multi-genre experience. Rain or shine, Fuji Rock is a rite of passage for any serious festival-goer in Japan.
Date & Time
Jul 25-27・
Price
One Day Pass: ￥25,000 | Three Day Pass: ￥59,000
Location
Naeba Ski Resort, Yuzawa, Niigata
More Details
Preparing for a Summer Music Festival in Japan
Expect Heat, Crowds and a Lot of Walking
Japanese summer festivals are intense. July temperatures often exceed 30 degrees Celsius with high humidity. Most festivals are full-day or multi-day events, and many are outdoors. Expect packed schedules, multiple stages and large crowds. Whether you're in a city park or a ski resort, you'll be on your feet a lot — so prepare for long days.
What To Wear
Lightweight, breathable clothing is essential. Opt for quick-dry fabrics and avoid heavy cotton. Bring a hat, sunglasses and sunscreen to handle long hours in the sun. For rural festivals like Fuji Rock, waterproof shoes or sandals with a good grip are smart as sudden downpours are common. Always carry a rain poncho or compact umbrella.
What To Bring
A reusable water bottle (many venues have refill stations)
A small towel
Portable phone charger
Cash (some vendors don't accept cards)
Earplugs
A foldable chair or blanket
Buying Tickets
Festival tickets in Japan are typically sold through local platforms like
e+ (E-plus)
,
Lawson Ticket
or Rakuten Ticket. Some festivals offer English-language sales via their websites. Buy early — many events sell out. If attending multiple days, consider camping or booking a nearby lodging well in advance.
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Where many animated films rely on adapting existing intellectual property, 'KPop Demon Hunters' is original. And it comes from an original perspective. 'It's not completely Korean, it's not completely Western and it's kind of right in that middle,' says Kang. 'It's like not pulled from one side; it's kind of flavors of both. So, I think that's what makes the movie feels a little different.' And 'the core story is what's drawing everybody in,' says Kang. San Francisco-based cosplayer and content creator Nanci Alcántar, who goes by Naanny Lee online agrees. 'It's not only a K-pop group, but it also tells a story of their journey, of how they transform into powerful warriors,' said Alcántar in Spanish. For her, it goes beyond K-pop — it's about the narrative. Kang's approach to cultural authenticity, too, may have contributed to the film's crossover appeal. Rather than explaining Korean elements like HUNTR/X's visit to a traditional medicine clinic or translating K-pop light stick culture for Western audiences, she opted for full immersion. 'We just wanted everybody to just accept that they were in Korea,' Kang said. The director said this method of 'throwing people into the deep end of a culture' breaks down barriers better than heavy-handed explanation. 'We just wanted to keep everything feeling normal,' she explained. 'If you don't shine a light on it, it just becomes more easily accepted.' Zabrinah Santiago, a San Diego-based longtime K-pop fan and freelance illustrator who goes by ItmeZ online, was so inspired by the animation style of the movie that she raced to make fan art. She sold illustrated fan cards of HUNTR/X and Saja Boys at her booth at the Los Angeles Anime Expo, held in July, two weeks after the movie was released on Netflix. And she wasn't the only one. A search of #kpopdemonhunters on Instagram yields thousands of fan illustrations of HUNTR/X and Saja Boys. Japan-based Youtuber Emily Sim, also known as Emirichu online, says the character designs and original plot drew her to the movie. Sim, with more than 3.5 million subscribers on YouTube, posted a 35-minute video about the movie. In a week-and-a-half, it garnered nearly 450,000 views. 'I love seeing all the fan art and just the ways that this movie has creatively inspired people,' Sim said. Kang says for 'KPop Demon Hunters,' her team wanted to bring together demons and Jeoseung Saja — the grim reaper in Korean mythology — for a film that could look both very traditional and modernized — what she says is common in K-dramas but not in animation. Herman compares the movie to another Sony animation: 'Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse,' which also attracted a broad audience with its creative animation. 'And it's a fun, animated musical, which we haven't had in a while,' she says. 'It's campy, it's engaging, it's universal.' Santiago was initially skeptical of the title 'KPop Demon Hunters.' 'I feel like with big companies they kind of like to use K-pop as a bait. They kind of like to take advantage of K-pop fans' sincerity,' said Santiago. 'But I felt like with this one, it was such like kind of a love letter to K-pop fans.' Indeed — if the film wasn't authentic to K-pop fans' experience, or mocked them, it is unlikely to have become so popular, says Benjamin. Instead, there are Easter eggs for the dedicated K-pop listener. Herman agrees and says that the film has in-jokes for K-pop fans, not unlike a children's movie that features some humor meant to appeal specifically to parents. 'Figuring out what makes K-pop tick in a way that resonates with musical fans was really important to this movie,' said Herman. For Kang, that was always at the heart of the project. 'Fandom plays a huge part in the world being saved at the end of the movie,' she said. 'So, we were really confident that we were doing that justice.'
