"Go for it, guys!" the staff on the wristband checkpoint shout as people file past. "Have a good time!" As the day wears on, they grow more enthusiastic. High-fives are exchanged, with the more ebullient customers even getting a hug.

You know you're a long way from Tokyo when the people tasked with a job only marginally more entertaining than toilet duty seem to be having the most fun. Such is the case at Rising Sun Rock Festival, a two-day extravaganza where goodwill is taken to occasionally ridiculous extremes.

Held in the fields surrounding Ishikari New Port, 15 km outside Sapporo, the northernmost of Japan's major music festivals is a singular beast. What started in 1999 as an all-night event with a single stage now spans seven areas and pulls in around 120 acts — but it hasn't lost the intimate feel you'd expect from an event a quarter of the size. Putting even the nocturnal shenanigans of Fuji Rock to shame, all but two of the stages keep running until dawn on the second night, meaning that — weather permitting — the "rising sun" bit is a given.