Photo/Illutration Pink Floyd performs at the Hakone Aphrodite rock festival in 1971. (Taken by Noriaki Nagatani)

Great news for the legion of Pink Floyd fans in Japan who wish they were there. Rare footage has emerged of the first outdoor rock festival held in Japan that contains what many consider to be a legendary performance by Pink Floyd.

The Hakone Aphrodite event, held in 1971, was staged on the shores of Lake Ashinoko in Hakone, Kanagawa Prefecture, Tokyo’s western neighbor.

Japanese organizers were hoping to emulate the massive success of Woodstock two years earlier.

The Aphrodite event is considered the trailblazer of future annual music events, such as the three-day Fuji Rock Festival now under way in Niigata Prefecture.

No audio or video recordings from Aphrodite were thought to exist, so those who attended the event passed on by word of mouth about what took place, including Pink Floyd performing while dense fog fell over the venue.

The 16-mm film discovered was taken by three young Japanese who befriended the group's staff backstage and were given special permission to capture the performance on film.

The footage includes songs from the “Atom Heart Mother” album as well as individual members on stage and off.

One of those who filmed the performance was inspired to take things further after reading an interview that appeared in The Asahi Shimbun in 2014 with Nick Mason, Pink Floyd's drummer.

That led to discussions with a record company.

Technical work to filter out noise from the film was undertaken while negotiations were held with Pink Floyd, which had a longstanding policy of not allowing their original recordings or video to be converted into commercial software.

After years of negotiations, approval was finally given to make the film available for sale.

Music critic Kenta Hagiwara went to Aphrodite when he was still in senior high school and he described the event as “the first year of Western rock concerts” in Japan.

“That was one of the first legends for Japanese rock fans,” Hagiwara said. “That was a time when it was still not considered normal to shoot film outside of movies. It is very valuable that such clear video footage remains. I am just so appreciative that it has been kept in storage for all these years.”

He added that such live performances aroused greater interest among audiences and contributed to the development of Western music culture in Japan.

“Pink Floyd led people to believe that pop music was an art form on the same scale as classical music or jazz,” Hagiwara said.

The CD and Blu-ray dvd set, "Genshi Shinbo - Hakone Aphrodite 50 shuunen kinenban" (Atom Heart Mother - The Hakone Aphrodite 50th anniversary edition) is on sale at CD stores around Japan.

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