When Atsushi Maeda talks about rural, he doesn’t use the language of festivals. He talks about zones: sonic, emotional, mental. Places you didn’t know existed until the music took you there. “I would like to bring something that makes surprise for the audience,” he says from Tokyo.
“This thinking is the same for rural and for my DJ sets. We’re not presenting specific genres. We’re continuously rethinking how music is experienced.”
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It’s this philosophy — quiet, persistent, almost monastic — that has shaped rural over nearly two decades.
What began in 2009 as a gathering of friends in the mountains has become one of Japan’s most respected techno festivals, known less for scale than for something harder to quantify: the quality of listening, the integrity of sound, the sense that what happens here matters.
This July, rural returns to Camp Nowhere in Fukushima’s Numajiri Highlands for its third year at the site. The first wave of artists includes Willikens & Ivkovic performing together, Al Wootton making his Japan debut, NDRX from Tbilisi’s Bassiani, and Japanese talent including YAMA, YAMARCHY, and SAMO. It’s a lineup that reflects Atsushi’s curatorial instinct: anchor artists he trusts, then build a four-day story around them.
The pursuit of astonishment
“rural is a space built around music that carries a techno-oriented way of thinking,” Atsushi explains. “Broadly encompassing techno, ambient, experimental music, house, and breaks. But what we’re really interested in is continuously rethinking how music is experienced.”
This approach comes from his time in Vancouver in 2005, where he experienced local raves in mountain settings. “I really like the sound going to the mountain,” he says. “It’s like an echoing drum.”
That image of sound moving through landscape has stayed with him. It’s why rural has always sought mountain locations, even when noise complaints forced the festival to move venues multiple times.
“There aren’t many years where I feel we fully achieved what we set out to do,” Atsushi admits.
“But that’s exactly why it’s worth continuing. rural isn’t a completed festival. It’s a space that’s always in the process of becoming something else.”
Sound as sacred practice
If rural has a religion, it’s sound quality. Not as audiophile fetish, but as fundamental respect for the music and the people listening to it.
“It was maybe 2013 or 2014 when Void Acoustics arrived in Japan,” Atsushi recalls.
“We heard the sound and thought, this is what we want for rural. What followed was years of incremental refinement with Tokyo Sound System Laboratory. Step by step we built our relationship around sound. We made so many minor changes each year.”
The OtOdashi crew are, in Atsushi’s words, “sound geeks”, people who customise TWW Audio systems and test them in mountains and beside rivers.
“They’re very stoic,” says Atsushi. “They’re always researching how to get the best quality sound. Always tweaking, customising.”
Atsushi nods. “Even now they’re trying to use portable generators because the electric current is much more pure. These kinds of very geeky things but this is very important to create quality sound.”
“I don’t think good sound has a fixed definition,” Atsushi says. “It changes depending on context: the role of the stage, the type of music, the time of day, the surrounding environment. We tune the sound system to the landscape itself. Our PA team constantly monitors output, making fine adjustments for each artist.”
The relationship has deepened beyond technical partnership. The OtOdashi team runs their own festival, Paramount. Atsushi helps book international artists. The owner and Atsushi now run a company together. “Personally and in business, we’re very much connected,” he says.
From Vancouver to Asia
rural’s origins were humble. “We started with my old friends from elementary school,” Atsushi says. “It was really purely just let’s do this. Super simple.”
For years, rural existed in productive isolation, a Japanese festival with limited connection to underground scenes across Asia. Covid changed that. In 2022, Thailand’s Sunju Hargun visited rural, which led to Atsushi attending Karma Kastle later that year.
An artist cancellation resulted in an unexpected invitation to play. “I was the only one who played really, really techno techno,” he laughs.
That set sparked connections with artists like Midnight Traffic from India and conversations about building stronger ties across Asian scenes. “Japan, location-wise, is too far east,” Atsushi says. “We felt something delayed in terms of connection to Asia.”
The result was Lapita, a company Atsushi runs aimed at helping Japanese artists navigate international bookings. “Some Japanese artists, it’s very difficult to communicate in English,” he explains. “We want to help these local talented artists get to other countries.”
This year, rural is taking that philosophy to India with a two-weekend tour in Goa and Mumbai, bringing one of the sound engineers from rural sound team. “This is almost my first time as rural to bring our sound approach abroad,” Atsushi says. “I’m really excited about this.”
July 2026: The next chapter
Rural 2026 runs 17-20 July at Camp Nowhere, an old ski resort in Numajiri Highlands with a natural amphitheater shape. Mountains nearby help contain sound while letting it echo into open air. The main outdoor stage, powered by Void Acoustics, runs from evening to morning. The indoor stage features Danley Sound Labs and hosts programming during the day’s heat.
For the first wave, rural has announced Willikens & Ivkovic, the celebrated duo who’ve both played rural solo before. UK artist Al Wootton makes his Japan debut with both live and DJ sets. From Tbilisi’s Bassiani comes NDRX. Spekki Webu performs back-to-back with OCCA. YuY joins from Taipei’s scene.
From Japan: YAMA, who’s performed at London’s Fabric and Thailand’s Wonderfruit; YAMARCHY, regarded as essential to the new generation of psychedelic house; SAMO from FULLHOUSE; and LEVOLANT, connecting Japan’s scene with Asia.
“When we programme, we start by choosing anchor artists, people I already trust,” Atsushi explains. “Then we build the whole story of four days. For international artists, I want to hear live recordings, what they play on timetables at festivals or clubs. For domestic artists, we try to go to their gigs as much as possible.”
Moments that stay
When asked about moments across 18 years, Atsushi describes two venues. In 2017-18, rural took place on a mountaintop with panoramic views. He recalls a friend playing during heavy rain, “people were still on the dance floor”, and Lena Willikens bringing “a very hazy set with morning fog.”
In 2018, Caterina Barbieri performed under clear skies full of stars. “The sound was going to the whole sky of the mountains.” The day before, Phew played in thick fog. “Completely the opposite feeling, a very mystical atmosphere.”
Then 2022, right after Covid, in an abandoned hotel by the ocean. “Waves almost reaching the window. The combination created something very magical. I cannot forget the excitement.”
What’s next
As rural enters its 18th year, Atsushi thinks about new generations. “After Covid, many new people attended rural last year as their first time. They spoke to me about their experience, I could feel something like going to another zone for them. I was glad because I would like to create this kind of experience.”
For 2026, the focus is updating that experience while staying true to rural’s core. One priority is expanding chill-out spaces. “As much as possible, we’d like to create space to spend time with friends in a very comfortable situation.”
What keeps him going isn’t nostalgia. It’s the belief that electronic music, done right, can open zones of experience that don’t exist anywhere else. That surprise and emotional impact matter. That sound quality is respect for listeners. That a festival should always be in the process of becoming something else.
“rural isn’t a completed festival,” Atsushi says one more time. “It’s a space that’s always in the process of becoming.”
rural 2026 takes place July 17-20 at Camp Nowhere in Fukushima, Japan. The festival is accessible by car (3.5 hours from Tokyo) or official tour bus from Shibuya (four hours). For tickets, lineup updates, and extended-stay packages, visit ruraljp.com.
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This article was first published in City Nomads.
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