OCTOBER 2, 2000 VOL. 156 NO. 13

Detour
By PETER FREDENBURG

TRAVEL WATCH The Fine Art of Shopping for Fine Art Abroad Buying art can be one of the great pleasures of traveling. Short Cuts The G@llery Evason opened in Singapore in September, trumpeting itself as Asia's first "Design Hotel." Detour Good-time Charlie Nagatani got his first earful of American country music in 1956, on his 20th birthday. Travel Watch Archive: Browse hundreds of Asian travel tips

Good-time Charlie Nagatani got his first earful of American country music in 1956, on his 20th birthday. "A neighbor who worked at an American base nearby brought a Japanese country band to play at my party," recalls Nagatani. "I fell in love with the music, quit college and joined the band." This fall Nagatani expects some 20,000 fans to help him celebrate his 45th year in country music at the 12th annual Country Gold International Country Music Festival. The gala takes place Oct. 15 at Aspecta, an outdoor venue overlooking scenic Mount Aso, an active volcano in Kumamoto Prefecture, at the lonesome heart of the southern island of Kyushu. Performing at the afternoon-long concert will be Brad Paisley, the Wilkinsons, Chalee Tennison, Claire Lynch and the Front Porch String Band, the Derailers and Country Gold's perennial opening act, Good Time Charlie and the Cannon Balls. Equally entertaining are the many Japanese fans who turn up for the event—and at Nagatani's honky-tonk nightclub in Kumamoto City—dressed in full Western regalia: cowboy hats, embroidered shirts, fringed leather vests and pointy-toed, fancy-stitched boots. Giddyap!

Kumamoto City is linked by air to Haneda, Kansai, Osaka, Nagoya and Okinawa. The international gateway is Fukuoka: from there, it's a two-hour bus ride (or 80-minute express train trip) to Kumamoto. Then you'll need to take another hour's journey—by train or bus—to Aspecta. Tickets for the festival cost $65.50; you can pay at the gate. Get travel details from the tourist information center at JR Kumamoto Station, tel: (81-96) 352-3743.

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