I recently made my way back to Labyrinth — an underground techno festival deep in the mountains of Japan — and it felt just as raw and immersive as ever.
The venue is the beautiful Hodaigi Campground in Minakami, Gunma, surrounded by dense forest and fresh mountain air. It’s the kind of place where you completely disconnect from the city and drop into the music.
With a fully packed backpack, I headed out for a 2-night, 3-day trip — the kind of journey that already feels like an adventure before you even arrive.
We rented a car and picked up everyone along the way, loading up gear and supplies, slowly leaving the urban landscape behind as we drove deeper into the mountains.
There’s something special about a limited paper ticket.
In an age where digital tickets have become the norm, the texture, design, and the simple fact that you can keep it as a physical memory just hits differently.
With everything running on schedule, we picked everyone up and set off toward the campsite.
For a week leading up to the festival, I had been constantly checking the weather forecast.
And finally, the forecast for the day was…
The forecast path made such a sharp turn, I couldn’t help but laugh — like, “wait, it’s turning THAT hard?”
I mean, I’m used to this kind of thing by now… as long as it doesn’t turn into heavy rain and strong winds, we’re good.
Along the way, a dense fog warning kicked in — the sky was starting to look seriously questionable.
We made a stop at Takasaka Service Area for breakfast.
Kept it simple with a freshly ground coffee from one of those classic vending machines, paired with “Maruten” — a fried fish cake snack that’s perfect as a quick handheld bite.
I went with the shrimp mayo tempura — crispy on the outside, juicy on the inside, with that rich, slightly sweet mayo flavor hitting just right.
It’s the kind of fish cake that almost melts in your mouth — soft enough to feel like you could practically drink it.
Honestly, kind of perfect for a light breakfast.
We stopped by a nearby supermarket along the way, stocked up on supplies, and got everything ready for the trip ahead.
We were finally getting close to the destination.
The heavy rain from earlier had started to ease off — a good sign. At this point, I was just hoping it would stay dry while we set up camp. That alone would be a win.
We made it safely to the outer parking area.
Alright… this is where it really begins.
We pulled all our gear out of the car, loaded everything onto a cart, and headed toward the shuttle bus stop.
I expected it, but yeah… the line was pretty long.
Last time I came, I took a direct bus from Shibuya to the venue, so I never had to deal with this. But I remember friends who drove saying how exhausting it was — now I get why.
If you manage to get one of the limited on-site parking spots (only about 100 available), it’s probably way easier. But if you’re parking outside, it definitely takes time and a bit of patience.
After about two and a half hours, we finally made it to the front of the line.
At that point, I was seriously wishing someone would invent a motorized wagon cart or something… would’ve made life a whole lot easier.
We finally loaded our gear onto the bus and got moving.
After about a 10-minute ride, we arrived at Hodaigi Campground.
We weaved our way through the maze of tents, found a good spot, and set up our base.
By the time everyone had pitched their tents and we cracked open our first drinks, the sun had already set.
Good job, everyone.
Alright then — let’s get this little feast started.
Grilled sanma and a cold beer — doesn’t get much better than this.
Octopus ajillo.
Instead of anchovies, we used sanma liver and head — and it turned out to be a perfect call.
We even used the leftover oil to finish things off with a pasta dish.
Octopus and sanma pasta.
The umami from the sanma and octopus balanced perfectly — it was a big hit with everyone.
Ingredients
Garlic
Olive oil
Octopus
Sanma (Pacific saury)
Tomato
Salt
With a drink in hand, we finally made our way to the dance floor for the first time.
The rain finally stopped, and a soft mist began to drift through the air.
It felt like a surreal, natural stage production unfolding right in front of us.
A pleasant kind of exhaustion set in, mixed with a slight heaviness in the body.
Felt like I’d sleep well tonight.
The first night quietly and slowly faded away.
The next morning.
The irresistible food market street.
The smell of delicious food in the air was almost impossible to ignore.
Back at the base, we kicked things off with a post-bath beer.
For snacks, we kept it simple with chunks of fresh tuna.
With a generous hit of wasabi.
The crew who had been sleeping in their tents freshened up with a shower and joined us.
Lunch time — mostly built around ingredients we picked up at a local supermarket.
Grilled steak and shishito peppers.
We made a bunch of other dishes besides the pasta too.
I ended up being in charge of all the cooking, handling meals for five people.
Making sure everything was evenly portioned and fair every time… honestly, it’s more tiring than it sounds.
During the day, it was warm enough to get by in just a T-shirt.
We grabbed our chairs, a bottle of white wine in hand, and headed to the perfect spot.
Leaning back in my chair, stretching out with a deep breath.
I heard that this year’s sound system was the biggest upgrade in over a decade, with a serious focus on sound quality. Back in the day, they used to hang Funktion-One speakers from cranes, but this time the setup felt different — like the speaker placement had been reworked.
The kick drums hit deep, resonating through your body — that kind of low end that almost vibrates your organs. The bass was incredible.
That said, I can’t help but feel like the old Naeba days might have been even louder… or maybe that’s just nostalgia talking.
At one point, I randomly struck up a conversation with a really friendly guy — a white dude originally from Gabon, now living in Germany.
He was traveling around Japan for about a month with his girlfriend in a rented camper van.
Apparently, they’ve been all over the world, and he pulled out his phone, opened Google Maps of Japan, and asked me where he should go.
Then he just showed me the whole map and said, “Point somewhere.”
I was like… wait, what? That’s way too broad to answer on the spot.
I told him we had rented a camper van in Izu before and that it was an amazing area.
Then I pointed down toward Kyushu on the map — “The food there is great… like tonkotsu ramen…”
…and then immediately thought, wait, what if they don’t eat pork?
So I slid my finger up to the northeast — “Umm… Hokkaido is really nice.”
I told them it’s famous for seafood, so if they like oysters or crab, it could be perfect.
His girlfriend nodded, clearly interested, nudging him like she was already sold on the idea.
From their perspective, traveling around a small island country like Japan in a camper van for a month… honestly, that sounds like the perfect trip.
Everyone suddenly looked up at the sky, so I turned around…
A soft, watercolor-like sunset was spreading across the horizon, gently bleeding into the sky.
Hard to believe how rough the weather was on day one — this was easily one of the highlights.
When it comes to group camping meals, you can’t go wrong with gyoza.
We closed out day two with some sleep-inducing ambient sounds.
Feeling like I could get a proper, deep sleep tonight…
After a refreshing morning bath, we felt recharged.
On the way back to the venue…
The moment I hit the accelerator and took the corner…
Wait…?
W-was that… a monkey!?
It didn’t even flinch — totally used to people.
Then I remembered the staff warning at the entrance, saying there had been sightings of bears, and that we should use the shuttle or a car when moving between the parking area and the venue.
Yeah… I’ll pass on running into a bear.
Back at the tent site, the crew was waiting — clearly hungry.
Alright… how about we make some pizza?
After lunch, we packed up the tent site and headed back to the dance floor until it was time to leave.
As the sun began to set, it was finally time to pack up and leave.
Three incredible days filled with laughter and unexpected moments. Not quite ready to let it go, we slowly drove away, leaving it all behind.
Fin.