For those of us who do not partake in the toking of the stogies, and who therefore want to enjoy the fresh, clean mountain air of Naeba while listening to some tunes, I was very pleased to see Fuji Rock again this year taking steps to make the festival as a whole more enjoyable and green for everyone.

There is really nothing worse than standing in a large crowd to watch your favorite band, and have the person(s) immediately next to you light up and steal your breath away before the band even has a chance to.

Now, I got nothing against smokers, plenty of my good friends like a little nicotine kick now and then, but when you light up in a crowd, you are essentially shitting on all those around you. Air is a community thing, so we ought to treat it as such. As a smoker, do you ever consider the person next to you might have asthma? Or that people might simply be averse to the idea of breathing your cancerous second hand smoke? (Second hand smoke has been proved to be even worse than first hand smoke, so please always be considerate of those around you and definitely respect the No Smoking zones as they are for everyone’s benefit.)

Me and plenty others who want to enjoy the smell of the forest, or the cool night air, have to cough instead and hold our breath as clouds of poison waft our way, and as in a crowd, we are helpless to escape.

That is why, I thank thank thank Fuji Rock for making (well, at least posting signs to try and make) so many high-density festival zones non-smoking, the pit in front of Green Stage for example and the entire Field of Heaven. Also, encouraging smokers to toke by the trash, where there are conveniently huge barrel ashtrays, it keeps the festival grounds free of stray butts.

Unfortunately, not everyone respects the festival family around them, or the friendly signs requesting “No Smoking” in this vicinity, and I still had to move away from two terrible tokers in the crowd at the White Stage. Perhaps next time I should take it upon myself and tell them frankly to respect my air space and the festival rules? They would probably respect that forwardness. But why should I have to make an awkward atmosphere for just breathing, a simple human necessity, when the festival now attempts to do that for us…?

So Thanks Fuji Rock! Big ups for that! Now I can breathe deep and enjoy fully the mountains, fresh air and great music.

Next let’s tackle the problem of that rancid stank from people pissing all weekend by the Heineken tent…