The story
Summer Sonic in Tokyo / Osaka
Summer Sonic began in 2000 at Fuji-Q Highland before relocating to Chiba in 2001 and adopting its signature dual-city format with Osaka from 2002 onward, with artists typically alternating between both cities across the same weekend. Acquired by Live Nation in 2014, it now draws crowds exceeding 350,000 and has expanded into a three-day format spanning venues across both cities.
Summer Sonic began in 2000 at the Fuji-Q Highland resort in Yamanashi Prefecture, an unusual amusement-park setting for what would become one of Japan's defining international music festivals, before relocating in 2001 to Chiba, just east of Tokyo, where it has anchored one half of its now-signature dual-city format ever since.