Carstay to Deploy "Moving Hotels" at "rural 2026" Music Festival in Fukushima

Carstay Inc. (Headquarters: Yokohama City, Kanagawa Prefecture; Representative Director: Koki Miyashita), which operates Japan's largest vanlife*1 platform business including shared services for campervans and overnight parking spots, vehicle manufacturing, and renovation, will deploy up to five campervans at the venue of the "rural 2026" music festival, scheduled to be held in July at Numajiri Plateau in Inawashiro-cho, Fukushima Prefecture, as part of its "Moving Hotel Dispatch Service"*2, contributing to the alleviation of local accommodation shortages.

rural Inc. (Headquarters: Suginami-ku, Tokyo; Representative Director: Ami Tsunoda), the organizer, will begin accepting reservations for campervan accommodation from 9:00 PM today. Each campervan can accommodate approximately 4-5 people, and the fee is 250,000 yen (tax included) per vehicle for 3 nights and 4 days.

Since rural will be responsible for the dispatch and return of some vehicles this time, "moving hotels" will be offered at a lower price than usual. The campervans will be dispatched from Tokyo, Saitama, and other areas and are scheduled to be set up at the venue the day before the event.

Many musicians performing at "rural" are from overseas, and there are frequent inquiries regarding accommodation for international visitors. Therefore, an environment will be created where participation in the event and accommodation can be seamlessly completed. By utilizing campervans, a common mode of travel in Europe and the US, an easy-to-use accommodation option will be provided for international attendees.

During the "rural" festival period, accommodation facilities in and around the venue, including 9 surrounding locations, often become fully booked early, and inquiries about accommodation continue to pour in until just before the event each year. With the increase in international visitors, existing accommodation facilities have been unable to cope. In response to this challenge, rural decided to introduce campervans, leveraging their advantage of being able to flexibly provide accommodation "anytime, anywhere" simply by moving them to the venue.