Chuo Dori

It has been a while since I have attended a major AKB48 event. If you don’t count TDC Hall, the last major concert I saw live was…Yokohama Arena? Wow, that was three years ago! But it isn’t really a big deal to me. Major venue concerts are not what AKB48 is about as far as I’m concerned.

Back in 2007 when I first started getting into the group, it was the “idols you can meet” and “theater experience” concepts that I bought into. So when I plan my trips over to Tokyo, I make these experiences a priority. There is nothing more fulfilling to me than spending the day shaking hands with and talking to Wasamin. Nothing makes me happier than to win a theater show and watching one of AKB’s teams performing up close. That is the AKB I know and love. It is the perceived intimacy that makes AKB so special. With huge arenas you lose that completely. In fact I would say the biggest thing that makes shows like that worth it are the chance that Togasaki might come out and make a surprise announcement…

But that doesn’t mean I wouldn’t go to a major venue event if given the chance. It just so happened that not one, but two major venue concerts fell into my trip window. Luckily, I won tickets for both of them! The first one I got was sort of “poetic justice”. Those of you who know me might remember that I won Google Plus’ Oshimen support contest last year, which included a trip to Tokyo to see the 2012 Senbatsu Sousenkyo at Budokan. Unfortunately I was in the middle of escrow on my house and couldn’t afford to leave the country for the trip. As much as it hurt, I had to pass up the prize. But the world works in mysterious ways…

AKB48 Festival + Senbatsu Sousenkyo @ Nissan Stadium 13/06/08

Almost exactly one year later I won a ticket to the event I so reluctantly missed before. Wow, Nissan Stadium. I have been there before, the place is huge! I sure hope I get a good seat…

I picked up my ticket from the conbini the day after I got to Tokyo. Most of my friends had gotten tickets in the lower stands. I didn’t know anyone with arena/floor seats. But for me, I was in section E26. Oh jeez, that is the Upper Deck! In fact I was nine rows from the top of the Upper Deck. Better bring my binoculars eh? But at least I was going to be in the venue.

The morning of the show arrived, and I had already received word from a friend that the lines for goods were unbelievably huge at Nissan. Before I gave up on getting souvenirs for the show I decided to try the group’s alternate goods venue in Tokyo, which happened to be the AKB48 Cafe. I got there around 30 minutes before opening and was about 50th in line. This was more like it. The show didn’t start for another five hours. There was no reason for me to hoof it out to Yokohama so early, especially for the planned concert/Sousenkyo 6-hour marathon. The Cafe-Shop had most of the goods being offered, only missing the t-shirts of the sister-units. So I was good to go, and still had a couple hours to rest before I headed out.

I got to Shin-Yokohama around 1 pm, and made the trek over to the stadium. Found a couple people selling binoculars, but they were ridiculously expensive AND amazingly ineffective. So I passed. BTW, all of the area restaurants were advertising “AKB48 Special Menu”, which I thought was kinda funny. Upon arrival I was surprised by the mass of food stalls and trucks stationed all around the venue. Jeez, they had everything! Even AKB48 got into the spirit with their own bento boxes. I decided to go lite and grabbed a quick snack and some tea. I spent the next hour people=watching and searching for some of my friends who were also there. But the place was so huge, I didn’t end up finding anyone. I decided to head in…

After grabbing lunch inside (Yes, even the concessions were open!) I climbed up to the top floor and found my seat. Sure I was high, but since Nissan has a curved-in roof I was in the shade. This was a blessing since it was a sunny and humid day AND I was already sunburned. Since it was daytime, they gave us little pink flags (along with the promised Rain Poncho) to wave instead of lightsticks.

Finally the show started, and I immediately realized two things. First, I was really far away. The girls looked so tiny on stage that I pretty much resigned myself to watching on the monitors. Next, the sound system was AWFUL! I’m not sure how it sounded in the rest of the place, but up where I was sitting was really bad. Echo, totally out of sync with the video monitors. I tried to find Wasamin a few times, only being successful once with the monitor’s help. But that was okay with me. I was there mainly to see the Sousenkyo.

The setlist seemed very pedestrian, including the top members (and interestingly Tomu Mutou and Meru Tashima) performing in the units. But I had a great view of the coming action. Why were the next group of girls coming in under a tarp?

I guess it was to hide Kawaei Rina, along with Haste and Waste performing BKA48′s new song. Actually, that is my favorite song and PV on the Sayonara Crawl Single! Other highlights included Tomochin performing 1% and NMB’s new single Bokura no Eureka, which I REALLY like! Happily, the concert portion came to an end so I bailed to the bathroom before the line got long….

Or so I thought. “Chotto Matte!” CinDy’s voice rang throughout the stadium as the graduated members came out to perform one last song. Unfortunately I was in a sea of people moving toward the exit so I walked as slow as possible so I could watch Meetan do her performance. Yes, that was the highlight of the concert of me!

The break was very short, maybe about 20 minutes before the Sousenkyo started. I made it back to my seat in time to watch the girls make their way onto the stage. Obviously management had planned in case of rain, as the girls’ seats were sheltered on the stage. Oh, and for those of you who watched the event online, the announcers did indeed get totally out of sync with the members coming out. I believe they were two teams behind at one point. I waited in anticipation, as the was only one thing I cared about at this moment…

When would Wasamin’s name be called? Where would she rank???

Once again, the speakers echoed badly up where I was. I swear I thought I heard the name Urano Kazumi at #62, it was only when I saw Nacchan on the screen that I realized who got called. However, the speakers were loud and clear when I heard who ranked at #56…

Much like Wasamin, the gamut of emotions ran through me when her name was called. I first felt excited, and admittedly relieved. After her preliminary ran at #62, there was no guarantee that she would rank at all. Although when I heard the lower ranked girls coming in at around 12K votes, I felt good about her chances. I know #56 is quite a drop from her previous rank of #33. But the competition was a lot rougher this year. There were a lot of newer members heavily promoted in ALL of the groups. Wasamin has had a quiet year when compared to her breakout solo effort in 2012. So frankly I wasn’t surprised that we dropped. That said, I am concerned about next year. Hopefully Wasamin will have some exciting goings-on to help her climb back up the ranks.

With that out of the way, I was free to enjoy the rest of the rankings. Hopefully there would be some awesome surprises along the way. Oh yeah, there certainly were…

I was rooting for a few more things to happen. I seriously doubted Meetan would actually rank, and I was okay with it. Would HKT48′s Marika Tani rank? I think we are a year away from that happening. What I really wanted was a shake up of the Senbatsu. Kaotan was so close to the Top 16 in the prelims, could she jump into Senbatsu? I seriously hoped so. I wanted to see WMatsui move up in rank. I wanted Milky and Sayanee. And most of all, I wanted to see someone OTHER THAN Yuko or Mayu at the top!

I wanted to see Sasshi rank #1 in the worst way!!!

It’s not that I am a huge Sasshi fan, but like a lot of fans I am tired of seeing the same 10 members constantly in front of this group. I am ready for the change that will take AKB into their next phase. To me, newer members like Paru, Milky, Kawaei and the like are much more interesting right now. So as girls like Mocchi, Kitarie and Umechan ranked lower, I held a glimmer of hope that the Senbatsu of the future could be coming. Not to mention the fact that I cannot stand antis. I think they are ridiculously immature, and a cancer in the fandom.

Once we got to the Top 16, it was clear who would be there. But in what order? The first breathe of fresh air was Suda Akari at #16. I can’t think of a more perfect girl to make her Senbatsu debut. She is awesome on stage, she is great with her fans. She is just a super-idol, and I am so happy for her.

After watching the NMB girls come in, Sae’s great speech, and who can forget Paruru’s lolzworthy speech at #12? Once again, it’s not that I am a big Paru fan, but I think her antis are a bunch of idiots. I have no expectations of her. So when she stands there with a blank expression I merely giggle. But now there was an interesting dynamic happening in the crowd. Even before the girls’ names were announced, some of the crowd would cheer when they would hear “AKB48 Team…” because they knew Jurina, Rena and Sasshi were even higher. You could see a lot of fans bowing down in prayer, and then pumping their fists. It was awesome, all the way down to #2 And when Yuko was called, you could hear a combined mix of ecstatic cheers and exasperated jeers. It was awesome, even the guy next to me gave me a big High-Five! I have never had so much fun watching the Top 5 ever before. I think quite a few people felt the same way.

And this is why having Sasshi win Senbatsu is so great. Here it is a week later and the conversation about the Sousenkyo is still going strong. I highly doubt we would still be talking about it if “the usual suspects” ranked at the top. This is a great shot in the arm for AKB, and hopefully next year will see even more drastic changes. The fans seem to be embracing the new generation, and that is going to keep the AKB-family going strong for years to come.

Anyway, I jammed out of the stadium as Sasshi started her lap around the infield, and caught the Shinkansen back to Tokyo in record time. It was a good night. Wasamin ranked, Sasshi won, and I completely avoided the massive crowd trying to jam themselves into the JR Yokohama Line. I couldn’t wait to read the shitstorm that would await me on the message boards.

More to come!

CK in California

I have tried not to make a habit out of scheduling shows or events on the day I arrive in Japan. There are too many X-factors at play. Will my plane be late? Will I be held up at immigration for some reason? Will traffic into the city slow me up? I would hate to blow money on a show ticket, only to not be able to make it in time.

 
Only twice I have taken my chances. Once was an SDN48 show that was scheduled almost 7 hours after my plane landed. The other was a Matsuura Aya concert in 2008, which I barely made it to by the skin of my teeth. So yeah, nothing concrete planned for arrival night unless…

 
If I can get to my hotel by 3:45 I might have a chance to get into AKB48 no Anta Dare. For those of you who don’t know, Anta Dare is a show held at the AKB48 Cafe and Shop during the week. It is presented by NOTTV and features two comedians and four select AKB Idols. If you subscribe to AKB48′s Official YouTube channel you have probably seen select shows linked there on a weekly basis.

 
One of the things I love about Anta Dare is the fact that you have a considerable chance to win a ticket for the show…so they say. Last year I tried to get in a few times, and got skunked each time. But the odds had to catch up with me, right? They let 50 people in per show via lottery. On an average day you have 100-150 people line up. So at worst you will have a 33% chance. For this trip my luck definitely changes as I was lucky enough to win twice in three chances!!!

 
It isn’t often that I have guest writers (I think the last time was Ray Mescallado, and that was at least 3-4 years ago) But one of my partners in crime Tensai did a very nice writeup of my very first Anta Dare, so here goes!

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AKB48 no Anta Dare 2013/05/31

CK was flying in on Friday, so we decided to try to meet up for AnDare. The members performing today were:

Sato Amina
Maeda Ami
Miyazaki Miho
Uchida Mayumi

CK had enough time to check into his hotel and rush over to meet me at the cafe. We had to line up almost immediately, and ended up being assigned numbers 39 and 40. While waiting, had a couple people from overseas come over to ask what was going on. (this was a bit awkward as you aren’t supposed to be near the line when the numbers are called if you aren’t in the lottery – but I tried to explain as much as I could).

Sometime between Monday and Friday, they had changed the lottery process. For all my previous shows, the lottery was done by pulling paper slips from a box and reading the number on the slip. Now they were being randomly generated by an iOS app that the staff would show to everyone. (the girl who runs the drawing was explaining to everyone that it was supposed to be displayed on an iPad – but I guess they couldn’t get it working and had to use an iPhone).

Once again they got through all the seats without either my number or CK’s being called. We were kind of in a dead zone (not many called from the 20 – 50 range). With only a few standing room slots left, CK’s number 39 was called. I gave him a quick congrats, and had resigned myself to not making it. When the next number called was 40, the entire crowd remaining let out a big ‘Whoa!!’. Chance no Junban indeed.

I told CK to go to the left side – and ended up in pretty much the same spot I was for the Monday show. Again – really close and a really good view of the stage.

The MC’s were Top Reed. They went through the usual routine, including asking who was there for the first time. I poked CK to raise his hand. The MCs spotted us at that point, so when it was time to ask “Who’s from outside of the Kanto area”, they instead said “Let’s do this different today, who comes from somewhere other than Japan?” Our hands and another person’s went up (I believe they were from Taiwan).

When asked where we were from, I had CK go first. He said he was San Francisco, and when they asked me I said I was from there too (and that we were friends). They made a really big deal about this, and it would be the start of a running gag throughout the entire show. I lost track of how many asides and comments the MC’s made about “the guys from San Francisco” during the show. Then there was some practice for two of the segments. One was how to do a slow standing ovation, the other was splitting the room into two teams for applause (that second one never came into play on the show).

Amina read the rules of the show – and flubbed the first instruction. Which lead to a very frustrated growl from her that got everyone laughing. Then the show started and the members came running out. The intro’s focused on the fact that it was a ‘Mi’ show (all the members have ‘mi’ in their first name) – though that seemed to be flubbed a bit too. Then they called out the fans from outside of Kanto, and when they got to us it became a bit amusing. Aamin was either having trouble pronouncing San Francisco or confusing it with Shanghai, and

The rest of the intro segment focused on Aamin, because her 18th birthday would be the next day. They had her do another intro, this time talking with her eyebrows. This was also the last episode for one of the production staff, so all of the appeal segments were devoted to the girls talking about him. The main segment after were:

THE BEST: In this challenge, the members rank the other team members based a random question. The first was ‘Who is the best smelling member of Team K?’. Aamin did the ranking vs one of the MC’s. Myao was ranked high, along with Natsumi. Aamin’s theme was all the girls who smelled ‘tropical’? I remember there was a lot of discussion about Hawaii.

The second question ‘Who has the most beautiful body parts on Team K’. Ucchi and Amina did the ranking. Ucchi selected Sayaka and Mariyagi and I believe Abe. She really liked Sayaka’s V-shaped face. Amina picked Hirari as number one, followed by Aamin, and then Chikarina. When she had to explain her reasoning it was epic.

If you know Amina, you know she likes boyish girls, so she went off on this long explanation of how cute Hirari is in tight shorts (short pants). Talking and demonstrating how she looks at rehearsal and I swear she nearly started drooling. Everyone was dying of laughter. Then the MC asked why she hadn’t picked Sae, and Amina was like “well I haven’t seen her in short pants yet – but I want too!”

TOUGH CROWD: In this segment, the member has 1 minute to perform some random task to please a very unmoved fan (played by the MC). This is when we had to do the slow standing ovation. Aamin had to make a paper cut out silhouette of the MC, Myao had to craft something with clay (she ran out of time – and ended up making a pea pod), Ucchi had to do a dramatic reading from her photo book, and lastly Amina had to do a moe sketch. Once again, Amina was the star of the show doing a take of a girl chasing after the guy she likes to surprise him.
FAREWELL: The final segment was a farewell to one of the AnDare producers, Tanaka P. They played a slideshow of many of the photos from the G+ posts over the year, and everyone talked about their memories of the occasion or event.

When it was photo time – I wanted to ensure I didn’t have my head cut off again. But the person in front of us was very nice, he had CK and I move in front of him and stay there even when the girls went off stage.

Aamin did the closing announce (after the girls went off-stage), and took a moment to give special thanks to the ‘guys from San Francisco’.

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Thanks Tensai!!!

 
I tried again, this time with Pandadash to get on on June 4th, but was unsuccessful. I had one last chance to get in the night before I flew back to California. This time I would try my luck with Memorybreak. There weren’t too many people there when they started the queue, but it quickly grew to over 100 people. Just before they were going to distribute the number (they write it on your hand with a marker) I noticed that Memorybreak was in the spot to get my lucky number, so I asked him to switch with me. And whaddya know, guess who got picked?

AKB48 no Anta Dare!  2013/06/10

It would be my second AnDare in three tries. Unfortunately Darryl didn’t get in. To make it double heartbreaking, it was his birthday too. Sorry Darryl  For this show I was selected 10th, which would be a great seat! I would be getting a closeup view of:

Matsui Sakiko
Sato Sumire
Tano Yuuka
Sato Amina (for the second time)
The hosts for the night were ChikiChikiJohnny, who I have seen on television before. I swear J-comedians have the strangest names! At least with a new team they would be surprised by my being from San Francisco. There was also a guest from Hong Kong. So in the intro they made reference to the show having an international flavor.

Since this isn’t a handshake event, you don’t get much personal reaction from the girls. Although Amina did wave to me at the very beginning and Sakippe smiled at me. As for Suuchan, she was looking at me with this odd stare.

The highlight of the show was the girls doing voiceovers for one another in short skits. The first one involved Tanochan as a sassy schoolgirl with Sakiko as her mom. Suuchan and Amina were behind me, so I couldn’t see who was doing which voiceover. But since they are both AKB0048 members, they both did an excellent job. I just love Amina’s voice. I am pretty sure she was doing Sakiko. For the second skit it was some thing about Amina angry about a Weekly Playboy, and Suuchan getting a sexy bikini as a gift!

BTW, before the skit started Amina was leafing through the Playboy and exclaiming “woo hoo!” Too funny!

There were other segments, but because of my language barrier I really only got bits and pieces, and sometimes missed out on the context of the segment. But it was just fun watching the girls up close like this!

For the end of the show Tano won the Chance no Junban and got to do the ending announcements. Tano was interesting to watch. She was generally much more shy than the other girls, but would occasionally light up and be very funny.

 
And I had a great spot for the Team Picture!

What I love about this show is the general intimacy of the cafe theater. he overall experience is reminiscent of the old days of AKB, when winning a show was a good possibility. Plus the subject matter really gives the members a chance to relax and be themselves. Overall it is a lot of fun for everyone involved, and I can’t wait to do it again!

 
CK and Tensai in Tokyo

After all of the fun I have had this trip, the one thing I still hadn’t done was won a theater show. The tough part was with the Nissan Stadium show, most of the theaters were closed for the bulk of the week. That didn’t leave me too many chances to win. There was Komori’s final stage. I really wanted to win that, but no such luck. Anna Ishida’s birthday show? Got skunked on that one as well.  It came down to a select few shows…

This is my 11th time in Japan, and I have never come here without winning at least once. Would my lucky streak come to an inglorious end?

I finally got the good news when I returned from Nissan Stadium on Saturday night. I had won via Ippan to see the AKB Kenkyuusei and the 15th generation’s debut.  This was going to be great.  I was getting a first look at AKB48′s newest members in action!

I met Koba and Pandadash in the afternoon. Our plan was to hit the Sousenkyo museum , and then I would cut out for my theater show. When we got to the museum the line was super long. I seriously considered bailing on the museum (I have already visited once) and just get my theater ticket. But I stuck it out since they have a bunch of new post-election exhibits. I will post about the museum later. Finally at 5:15 I jetted out of the museum, and jumped across the street to the Donki.

Paid for my ticket, #154. I jumped downstairs for a quick smoke where I met a couple of young fans who also love Wasamin. I love this Sousenkyo t-shirt I bought at the cafe! I have been wearing it everywhere and getting endless comments and thumbs-up. Anyway, I wished them luck on the entrance lottery and headed back upstairs.

Went though the usual formalities with the queuing process. In fact I saw a bunch of what looked like parents being led in as special guests.  I am thinking these were the moms and dads of a few of the new girls.   But now it was time for the lottery. First up…
150-159. Oh hell yes!!! First row again! This was my 31st theater show. For my first 27 I never made it closer than 4th row. But three of the last four have gotten me a 1st row seat. And this was the second time I have been front row center. This show was going to be awesome, except…

I am not as well versed in the kenkyuusei as I should be. Sure, there are some that I know about and like. But the majority of them are a mystery to me. Throw in the 15th gen debut, and I was seeing a lot of girls I knew nothing about. This could be a huge problem with me in the front row. I better figure them out quickly, or I am going to feel like an idiot. So here was the plan…Pay close attention during the opening set, listen attentively during MCs, and go from there.

Show begins, the crowd is giggling because they screwed up the opening chant in Shonichi. Right off the bat, Miki Nishino is in my face. 30 seconds in and I already love this girl. But I knew she wasn’t a new member. I spent the first two songs wondering which were the new members. I knew Komiyama Haruka was new since she was so unique looking. But what about this super tall and skinny girl? Was she new? She keeps trying to get my attention. There is one gangly looking girl, and what about this intense looking one? Then I found her…

One girl kept looking at me. I wasn’t sure if she was new or not. But I thought she was extremely cute. Just something about her made me want to pay attention to her the entire time. Not too young, but a very pretty face…

During opening introductions Miki took the lead. Now my first reaction was to go for her. But I could tell she was extremely popular. I like underdogs. The tall skinny one who keeps looking at me? Maeda Mitsuki…not really my type. Super-intense girl? Okada Nana. And the foreign looking girl? Shinobu Mogi. So now I knew who the players were. Oh yeah, the one I was totally into???

Tsuchiyasu Mizuki. Oh wow, she is brand new. I am going to have fun with her tonight!

On to the units, and I was having a great time playing with any girl who landed in front of me on stage. I was pointing, doing the hand motions, cheering, doing all I could to get their attention. Although it is pretty easy for someone like me. Big gaijin with a goatee, not to mention my Wasamin shirt. I might as well have been wearing a neon sign. Then came Kogami no Naka no Jeanne d Arc…

Oh my, my new love is already centering a song! Yeah, she is good. I am totally focused on her, and she is totally focused on me. She couldn’t stop looking my way. For the rest of the show it was more of the same. Not to mention other members were also looking right at me, and I didn’t want to be rude. Maeda Mitsuki had her eyes on me all night as well.

Now I am sure many of you want to hear about the other 15th gen members. All of them were there except for Nana Owada…

I’m sorry, Owada Nana must have been off of my radar, because she was indeed there. Struggling to remember. I believe I thought she was cute, but I was thinking she was 14th gen.

I already mentioned Komiyama Haruka. Very cute, always smiling. She will be great after she gets more comfortable.
Yumato Aimi. Reminds me of Haruu. Not my type at all.
Fukuoka Seina is a lot like Nakky looks-wise. But kind of quiet.
Ichikawa Minami was very good. I was surprised she was a debut member.
Mion and Kiara were both very cute, but look extremely young! I try to avoid the baby-girls

That said, they all did a great job with the performance.

Anyway the rest of the night was me looking at Mizuki, Mizuki looking at me, me trying not to look at Mizuki. Looking at Miki, looking back at Mizuki since she is looking at me. For me, being in the front row means I want to make as many of the girls feel acknowledged as possible. And with the 15th gen, I wanted to carry them through the show. Not that they needed it.

The setlist finally ended with Sayonara Crawl. I screamed “Omedetou!” to the 15th gen and Maeda Mitsuki nodded to me in approval. As they left the stage every girl came up to me at one point, Mizuki found me twice. But not to be outdone, Okada Nana came up to me and blew me a kiss! (???) Then came High Touch…

once again, there are times when it is great to be a foreigner. High Touch is one of them. At least half of the girls exclaimed when I came by them. Nana held my hand tightly, as did Miki. they were all great, but I was looking for one girl…

She saw me coming from two girls away. I slid by the two girls in front of her (not sure who they were, sorry) and gave Mizuki a big congratulations. It was a great interaction! Her reaction was just as awesome! I am so happy that I got to be her first major fan experience. In fact I feel so lucky to be able to make such an impression on the 15th gen in their debut! The bummer is that I go back to California in 2 days. I would love another chance to interact with Mizuki. Oh well, it will have to wait. Hopefully I get back to town soon. And if I do, Mizuki will be on my handshake shortlist. Nana and Miki may make the cut as well!

Just don’t tell Wasamin I was looking at other girls! 

EDIT: Ya know, I forgot to put anything of real substance about the 13th-14th Kenkyuusei in the show…

Nishino Miki: was my favorite to watch. She clearly reminds me of Jurina when it comes to skill and intensity. She commands your presence and is great at interacting with the audience. She was in front of me quite often and I enjoyed her performance immensely.

Okada Nana: My first thought was that she was sort of intense and introverted, kind of like Tomochin or maybe Mariko. Very cute, and the more I watched her the more I liked her. And of course she did seem to react to me quite well!

Maeda Mitsuki: My first thought was that she wasn’t my type of idol. Kind of reminded me of Yurina Kumai from Berryz Kobo. But she is super-genki and energetic on stage. Paid a lot of attention to me as well, so I will give her props for some excellent fishing-work! 

Aigasa Moe: Gets a lot of attention from the fans (and the other girls) for being super-cute.

It was another awesome theater experience.  I am so happy!  I am coming toward the end of my trip.  Hopefully I can find a few more idol-ly things to do before I head back to California.

CK in Tokyo

Just flew in from San Fran. Eighteen hours later I began a two day extravaganza of handshakes for the So Long! and Sayonara Crawl singles. The weekend at Makuhari Messe was filled with fun, sweet, and insane moments. There were many lessons to be learned as well. I had 48 (hehe) tickets for the entire weekend, including 18 for Wasamin. So there is much to talk about. I wasn’t alone either. Accompanying me to the event were Tensai, Memorybreak, and Pandadash. We also ran into Jouttex, MecchaMelon, Shining Ojisan and Drazaar!

This is going to be a long ass post, but totally worth the effort….

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The Sayonara Clusterfuck…
As busy as we were on Saturday, nothing could have prepared us for the insanity of Sunday’s Sayonara Crawl Event. It seems that management wasn’t totally prepared either. Slots were running overtime for just about every girl, which meant the next slot would start late. Everyone was missing out on handshakes due to overly long lines and late starts. I missed out on using 4 tickets. However three of them were due to my chance to get a 2-shot with Togasaki. Yes! Togasaki 2-shot FTW! And his English is pretty good too.

Trying Something New…
This trip I had resolved to meet a lot of new girls. I have lost a few faves to graduation, and frankly it is fun to mix it up a bit. The following members were among the girls I had first-time handshakes with. They were all very nice, although it was pretty standard faire…

Old Reliables…
There are certain members that I will always enjoy saying hello too. Moeno was on that list, but unfortunately she is gone. Haachan is also on the list, but I lost every time I tried to win a ticket for her. So I guess talking to Haa wasn’t meant to be this trip. I did see her once, but I ducked so she wouldn’t see me.

These are girls who always acknowledge that they know who I am, which is nice.

SATURDAY
Yokoyama Yui (AKB Team A): is always a good handshake. I told her I was sorry her concurrency with NMB ended, since I loved Kitagawa Kenji. She kind of laughed it off like “Don’t worry about it”
Ichikawa Miori (AKB Team B): She never really says anything, she just “Oohs”, “Ahhs” and bounces around. It is adorable. Later on (after my meeting with her) she changed into her OKL48 outfit. I was so bummed I didn’t get to talk to her while she wore it, although I got a closeup look since she was right next to Wasamin.
Oya Masana (SKE Team S): Was wearing the cutest shirt. I asked her about it, and she responded in English “This is me!” pointing to the cartoon character. I then realized it was her birthday shirt. Duhhh.

SUNDAY
Ishida Anna (SKE Team KII): Looked absolutely gorgeous and dare I say, Sexy! I have long felt she is one of the prettier members. Similar to Yui, I told her I would miss her in Team B.
Hirata Rina (AKB Team K): Actually this is only my second time meeting her. I have resolved to calling her “Arizona”. Anyway, I congratulated her on her promotion and told her that the foreign fans were rooting for her. She is getting really popular. Her queue was pretty busy, unlike the first time I saw her. Then again, it WAS Sunday.

—–

Now for the most notable experiences. These are the moments I will remember for a lifetime! And I am starting with the best (or worst) experience depending on how you look at it…

The Craziest Handshake Ever! (Saturday, Slot 7)
Not surprisingly, it was Matsumura Kaori (SKE-kks). But it wasn’t only Kaotan that made this experience so insane. As I queued up I assessed her surroundings. Kaotan was wearing an oversized t-shirt. Quite casual for a handshake event. Then again, most of the AKB kenkyuusei were wearing pajamas, so…

The Party known as Tani Marika! (Sunday, Slot 3)
“Shot Out of a Cannon” is the most apt description for her. Tani Marika (HKT-kks) walked out of the back area, screaming hello to every queue, the guards, the other girls…everyone! Passed her lane, went down to yell hello to more people as the guards rush over to bring her back to her own lane. Like the rockstar that she is, she proceeds to address not only her queue, but the queues on both sides of her. She, like a few of the other HKT-kenkyuusei were wearing sexy maid outfits. She looked smokin’ hawt.

Every fan is getting a handshake filled with shrieks, screams, squeeing, joking, sexy posing. As I got up there I told her that I thought she was great and that she is my favorite member in HKT. She responded “Honto??? I Love You!” Once again, the other fans are laughing. A lot of fans love to see how the girls react to foreigners. She is awesome!!! Just everything about her. She is so over the top that she almost makes Dasu look like Paruru by comparison…I swear!

Oh, and did I mention she is Smokin’ Hawt?

Now here is the even funnier part. Later on I am standing outside the Wasamin queue. A local fan asks me if I am the guy who loves Wasamin #1 and Marika #2. Huh? where did this come from? I found out after my handshake ended that this rumor began floating around the HKT queues as later on another fan asked me the same thing. Too funny. Oh well, I guess I will have to make it true…

CK’s Ranker (Updated)
1. WASAMIN!    
2. MARIKA 

—–

 

More Great First Impressions…
Kawakami Rena (NMB Team M) (Saturday, Lunch Slot) Not that we said anything of major substance. But she is absolutely adorable, and that baby-girl voice of hers is insane!

—–

The Paruru Experience (Saturday, Lunch Slot)
Paruru completely lived up to expectations, meaning that you should have no expectations when meeting her. Now I love Paruru exactly as she is, and I have been saying for months that I hope she gives me the classic “Salty Paru Experience”. I walked in, she had her usual distant smile on her face. I greeted her…no discernible reaction. I told her where I was from…no discernible reaction. I told her that she is great on Saturday Night Child Machine…she sort of raised her eyebrows in acknowledgement. I said something like Paruru is perfect…she softly responded “Arigatou” as I got pulled out.

Let’s Go Fishing!
It’s not a complete handshake event without being fished a few times. I assured myself of getting fished a bit with Suda and Milky tickets. But it is also fun when you get fished unexpectedly. Girls like Kaotan and Marika are “over the top” fishing girls ala Dasu. Then sometimes you get the subtle approach like Milky, and surprisingly, Nattsun.

(Saturday, Slot 1) Kojima Natsuki (AKB Team B) fishing? You bet she does. She is super sweet, and so nice. She greeted me and asked where I was from. Then she asked if my Japanese was good. When I told her it wasn’t she switched to broken English. Thanked me for coming while batting her eyelids. She definitely put me under her spell.

On to Watanabe Miyuki (NMB Team N) (Saturday, Lunch Slot) I have never met Milky before, but I have heard from others (including Tensai) that meeting her will leave you dizzy. I walked in and she gives me that classic Milky look…weaving her magic spell I guess. I am saying whatever I am saying, and she just breaks in with a soft “I love You”. But I was expecting that, so I deflected it and kept going with what I wanted to say. That’s fine with Milky, she will just keep “upping the ante” until she nails you. So as I continue she then cuts in with “Cute…You Cute” while pointing to her dimples. I stopped dead in my tracks and said “kaaawaiiiii” as I got pushed out. Milky Wins…as always.

Suda Akari (SKE Team S) (Sunday, Lunch Slot) Judging by handshake queues you would think that Dasu is the Top member of SKE. Her line totally dwarfs Jurina’s, and is easily as long as Rena’s. This was the first “Sayonara Crawl” event, which we knew would be insane because of the huge amount of theater versions sold.

So yeah, over one hour in Dasu’s queue. It didn’t help that she was 40 minutes late to the slot either. Good thing this was the lunch slot, which has a break afterwards. Standing in that line left me woozy. The air is so thick inside Makuhari Messe. I just wanted to get out of there. They were pushing fans through quickly as well. Frankly I forget what even happened. I think I told her it was nice to see her again. Oh, and that her preliminary rank was great! Dasu was her usual over the top-genki self. And the next thing I know I’m pushed out. So I raced outside for a little oxygen! It was too bad she didn’t bark at me like last trip.

—–

And the hottest outfit award goes to…

Tanabe Miku (AKB Team B) (both days). To me she is always a winner when it comes to outfits. I must admit that while I was slightly disappointed with her lack of cosplay on Saturday, she totally outdid herself Sunday as she came out dressed as Katsuragi Mitsato from Evangelion. Red leather jacket with the matching hat. Skin tight black from her midriff down. It totally accented her slender body. I know Tanamin isn’t that popular. But jeez, when she cosplays she is Uber-Sexy! Sometimes I am at a loss what to say to Tanamin because she never gets much to do within the group. In fact on Saturday I think I slipped and accidentally called her Wasamin. But on Sunday I managed to ask her about her cosplay, and she told me the character and the anime. It is always great when I can have some sort of actual conversation, although she said the name of the character so quickly that I had to look it up later.

—–

The Dawn of Komorin
Komori Mika (AKB Team B) (both days) I am so happy I am getting the chance to say goodbye to sweet and adorable Mikapon. I am really gonna miss her unique personality within AKB. Komori is notoriously “spacey” during handshakes. But I have seen her enough that she usually acknowledges me as a familiar face. This weekend was a new experience…

Persistence Pays Off!

Takagi Yumana (SKE Team E) (both days) I first talked to Yumana over a year ago when she kept engaging me while I was queued for Wasamin. That set up a funny experience last year at the “Kiss Datte Hidarikiki” event in Yokohama. After an awkward exchange on Saturday when I said it was nice to see her again and complimented her on her outfit, it left me thinking “Hmm, maybe I don’t connect with her as much as I thought I did” I had two tickets for her on Sunday. I was comtemplating skipping them as I was afraid of more awkwardness. However, the two encounters were great. She acted really excited as I walked up. I talked to her about her KII transfer. I told her how she got my attention when she made AKB Undergirls. It was very smooth and we both were happy. So I’m glad I didn’t skip her.

—–

Now for my Belle of the Ball…
Iwasa Misaki (AKB Team B) (both days, all day) Jeez, 18 handshake tickets. This is by far the most I have ever had for Wasamin in one weekend. I have always said that I could do an infinite amount when it comes to her, but truthfully I was scared I would run out of stuff to say. The second problem was Wasamin had been posting that she was under the weather. Oh no, was she going to miss out on the weekend? Would I have to eat 18 more handshake tickets???

This is why these events are so important to me. Everything else, all those other experiences are just gravy. But my time spent with Wasamin is complete bliss. This weekend was beyond perfect…

Just don’t tell my feet, knees, thighs, Achilles which are all so sore from walking on that concrete floor for two consecutive 12 hour sessions. This is why I am spending half of Monday writing, I can barely walk!!!

Another handshake event in the books. I hope I can do it again soon!

CK in Tokyo

So one of the problems with visiting the same city over and over is finding enough new stuff to do.  Not that Japan lacks in cultural and leisure activity.  But I am always happiest when I am doing something idol related. So how does one keep it fresh when they have done the traditional idol stuff over and over?  That’s where it’s advantageous to have a solid network of friends…

One of my friends, an old AKB48 fan and I planned a meetup.  Although we had spoken online before, this was the first time we were going to hang out together.  He is a somewhat well known fan, so I was excited.  What I didn’t know was that he had a little tour planned for me that I would never forget!

CK’s Sacred AKB48 Sites and Meetan Hometown Tour 2012!!

I took the train out to Chiba where my friend picked me up.  To start this day he would be treating me to a nice Yakiniku lunch, my favorite!  I had never hung out in Chiba before, but it wasn’t lost on me that this was not only the hometown of Ohori Megumi, but also the hometown of Wasamin.  I was getting a chance to see firsthand the neighborhoods they experienced growing up.  This idea helped me feel even more connected to them than before.  My friend explained to me that he shared the same Alma Mater with Meetan, so our first stop was going to be Meetan’s High School!

My first thought when we arrived was “So here is where she learned to be so pervy!”  Next we drove around the neighborhood looking at houses.  We had no idea where Meetan lived as a teen, but it was fun knowing that we probably passed through her neighborhood.  We also passed through an area known as “Chiberly Hills” which is known for it’s large and lavish houses.    Later we came to another school where Meetan’s first Image DVD was filmed.  However, we couldn’t go in since they seemed to be holding an event that day.

Along the way my friend decided to tweet at Meetan telling her that he was showing me her old neighborhood.  She actual tweeted back something nonsensical, but we took this as a “10-4″.  So Ohori knew I was on her turf!  Eventually we ended up at this bakery…

According to my friend Meetan has often recommended this place, especially for the Curry Pan.  Of course we had to try it out.  I sauntered right up to the counter and ordered “Ohori Megumi no Curry Pan o kudasai!”.  The girl behind the counter laughed, as she knew exactly what I was talking about.  As we continued to browse the shop we asked the owner if she had seen Meetan in there lately.  She said she had seen her before, but not lately.  We took our breads to go as we were both still full from lunch.  In fact I didn’t even try my curry pan until that evening…

The review???  Ohori Megumi no Curry Pan is excellent!!!  Later that week I tried curry pan at a couple of other places, and it wasn’t nearly as good.  So thanks for the awesome tip, Meetan!

We wound our way further East and headed for the coast.  I was a beautiful drive, passing beach resorts and surf shops.  It was definitely a part of Japan I had never seen before.  Eventually we found the beach we were looking for.  You see we weren’t looking for any beach.  We are idol fans.  So what better beach to go to than the one at which they filmed the Bingo! PV.

This was November, so there weren’t too many people around.  My friend said it was called “Desert Rose Beach”, named after the song that played on a loop outside the building in front of the sand.  The building?  You know, the one the girls are in at the end of the PV!

Anyway, it was neat to feel the energy of the ghosts of AKB PV’s past.  But it was getting late, and we had one more destination.  Frankly, all of the driving was wearing me out.  We also kept stopping so I could re-stock on Vitamin C.

I couldn’t believe how long this drive was.  It was getting dark.  All of the sudden I asked myself “How well do I know this guy?  He is driving me into the middle of nowhere!”  He kept saying we were getting close but an hour later we were still driving!  As panic began to set in he assured me that we were just about there…

And there it was.  I could see it over the hill.  For AKB48 fans this might be their version of Mecca…

“The Aitakatta Lighthouse”!

We parked our car at the bottom and began walking up.  In a way it reminded me a bit of San Francisco’s Coit Tower.  We finally got to the staircase where two Obasan’s were chatting by a conbini.  My friend explained I was a foreign AKB48 fan, to which they responded amusingly.  Yah, I get that a lot in Japan.  Anyway, we traversed the long staircase until we final reached the top…

First of all, the entire space was tiny, and a bit torn up.  It is amazing that they filmed so many scenes of the PV in this little space!  But the view was spectacular!  You could see all the way across to Yokohama.

By this time I was exhausted and just wanted to get back to my hotel room.  So we made the long drive back to Chiba where I would catch a train back to Tokyo.  Along the way my fever made a huge jump, causing me major dizziness and horrible chills.  I am sure I looked absolutely awful as I got a few curious stares from the other passengers.  But I made it.  I survived the day, as well as the next one with Momoclo.  And even the following day when I won a Team K Waiting Stage Show.  Sure, it is my least favorite of the three teams.  But these days fans should be happy to win anything!  Hopefully on my next visit I will get to see Wasamin and Team B.  Or maybe even an SKE win.  Now that would be awesome!

So I think that wraps up everything I have to share from last Fall’s trip.  I will try to be more timely and descriptive when I head back late Spring/Early Summer.  I will leave you with photos I took of the birthday flowers for the two Kenkyuusei Okada girls.  Their fans did an excellent job!

Just lovely.  The one with the lights is great!

CK in California

As I said on my last post I want to begin writing on this blog again.  I have been brewing up a particularly venomous post regarding the reactions to the latest AKB48 scandals.  But I have usually stuck with positive posts, so that particular entry may not see the light of day.  Anyway, as I predicted the Miichan controversy has already died down.  We’ll see if there is anything to this supposed Yukirin story.

In the meantime…

I have not booked a trip over to Japan this Spring.  I have opted instead to wait until early Summer for my next visit.  This is due in part to AKB48′s crazy handshake scheduling.  Can you believe they are still doing UZA handshake events?  Eien Pressure is already old news and they haven’t even started that one yet!  I have opted for the So Long events, which will be happening around 4 months from now.

But I never completed my report from last Fall.  I mainly focused on the handshake events.  But I didn’t really touch on some of the special things that happened this time around…

Momoiro Clover Z Live at Budokan, Otoko Matsuri 2012/11/05

I had been relatively unlucky when I came to Momoclo Z.  At least when it came to seeing concerts and obtaining tickets.  I DID happen to run into the entire group walking down the street last year.  But as far as a performance was concerned I hadn’t seen them since Pinky Jones was their new single.  That’s two years almost to the day.  But my friend Peter and I tried our luck at the ticket lottery, and sure enough we pulled it off.  I was finally going to see Momoclo again, and at the legendary BUDOKAN!  With all of the trips I have taken, I had never been there.  So I was doubly excited!

We decided to head over extra early for goods.  The trouble was that I had spent the previous night shivering from fever.  Plus, it was cold and rainy.  It took plenty of medication, an endless supply of vitamin C, and every bit of strength, but I was going to make it through this day.  I missed a Momoclo show in 2009 because of the flu.  It wasn’t gonna happen again.

We decided to get into the monstrous goods line, which stretched all the way around the venue, down the stairs, then down the road, then into a courtyard near the park entrance where it looped around 4 times.  I had no idea what I wanted.  But after 2+ hours of queueing I decided to go hog wild and picked up the Tank Top, a Momoka Oshi Towel, a light stick and a cell phone case.

After a pasta lunch we decided to people watch for a while.  This was Otoko Matsuri, which meant “No Girls Allowed”.  However, that didn’t stop legions of female supporters from parading around the festivities.  That’s okay, the girls had Onna Matsuri the previous month.  And I am sure there were plenty of jealous guy fans hanging around the venue that evening.

We had 6th row seats on the first level above the floor.  They seemed like decent seats, although we had no idea what the stage arrangement would be.  So we were totally jazzed when we saw there was no floor seating at all, and there was a stage ramp all around the venue.  So 6th row 1st level actually was 6th row!  We would actually be pretty close to the girls!  Oh, and just before showtime Yamachan showed up to huge applause!

What an awesome looking stage!  The floor also doubled as a screen.  The show opened with the girls “drawing” Otoko Matsuri on the floor with giant paintbrushes.  There was so much around the stage floor, we had no idea how they were going to utilize all of the space.  Then came the Momoclo Z Overture.  By the way, I love their intro!  I remember when they were an indie they would come out to the Universal Music theme.  But what they do now is totally insane. Frankly, it blows the AKB48 overture away!

One amazing thing about this setlist was the amount of “old songs” performed.  Saikyou Pare Parade is one of my favorite old songs they perform.  Shortly after came Supergirl, along with Momoiro Punch and Mirai e Susume.  But what I really wanted to hear were some of my new favorites!

Unfortunately for me most of my faves didn’t get performed that night.  But they DID do Bionic Cherry, which might be my favorite Momoclo song of all!  The real fun was in all of the shenanigans going on between the songs.  This was Otoko Matsuri, so they filled the show with stuff “guys like”…I guess.  Ninjas, bodybuilders, taiko drummers, judo masters, pro wrestlers.  At one point just before the encore Momoka took a huge header down a ramp.  You could tell she wanted to cry, but Shiori grabbed her, dusted her off and our little giant got back to business.

By the end of the show my fever felt almost completely gone.  Even so I was really looking forward to hitting the sheets.

I must say I enjoyed the show immensely, even if they didn’t perform a lot of my favorites.  It is so interesting the way the idol phenomenon works.  Here is a group I used to go see when they had trouble getting 25 people to watch them.  And it was so much fun!  The interactions we got to have with the group were amazing.  Autographs, two shots, the girls feeding you lunch…

Some Momoclo goods, among other stuff

But now they have grown up and have become a huge success.  It is so bittersweet.  I am happy that they are doing so well, but the good old days are gone for good.  Now they play in huge venues and events aren’t nearly as intimate as they used to be.  This is the way of the idol world.  Like with AKB, most of the original fans are probably gone.  Once the masses discover an idol act, it changes everything. But it’s inevitable. Even though the newer fans will never really get to experience a big part of what was so special about the group to begin with. Oh well.

Pardon me while I go reminisce over my old Momoclo 2-shots and autographs.  Momentos from a time gone by. I just hope it isn’t another two years before I get to see Momoclo again.

CK in California

I must admit, I have been thinking about resuming this blog.  Especially lately…there is so much for me to talk about!  With my previous oshimen (Ohori Megumi) getting married, and Wasamin putting out her second solo single.  Even my favorite member of Hello! Project, Tanaka Reina announced her graduation.  These are momentous occasions, and I need to be commenting on them!

Also, thanks so much to those of you who have been requesting more posts from me.  I am glad to hear that this site has left an impression after so many years of contributing.  That said….

It’s someone’s birthday today!!!  And look what I got…

Actually, I don’t have it in my hands yet.  But that is the Wasamin birthday shirt.  As I write this I know the team is wearing it in preparation for her birthday show tonight at the theater.  As it turns out, only one of the birthday committee members actually won the show.  I can’t wait to hear her encore call when the LOD comes out.  I know she is going to be great!

But wow, eighteen!  Wasamin had just turned 14 when I first laid eyes on her at that Team K show.  It has been an awesome four years of being her fan.  And the last year has been an especially wild ride.  All aboard the Wasabus….

And then grab the Wasatrain…

A Top 5 debut single in Mujineki
Placing 33rd in the AKB48 General Elections
Center Position for “Do Re Mi Fa Onchi”, which placed 57th in AKB48′s Setlist Top 100 concert.
Winning the AKBingo! Diva contest not once, but twice!
Another Top 5 solo single in Moshimo Watashi ga Sora ni Sundeitara (but the way, did everyone get their copies yet?  The cover songs she recorded are especially beautiful)

And what is this?  Wasamin on guitar???  She has just hit another level of cool!  Apparently NagaraPro has some exciting stuff going on with their stable of talent…

Kinda reminds me of “A Mighty Wind”

2012 brought me together with Wasamin on 4 different occasions.  Collectively I had around 20 Wasa-handshake tickets.  Not to mention I got to declare my love for her on Fuji Television.  For 2013 I have scored 9 handshake tickets for an upcoming event.  In the meantime her birthday present is on the way.  I hope she likes what I got for her!

Happy 18th Birthday Wasamin, you are the best! 2013 is going to be awesome!

CK in California

So there wasn’t much rest between the AKB48 handshake event I posted about previously and the SKE event the very next day. So I was off for more idol interaction 12 hours later. But before that…

These reports are completely out of order anyway, so why not throw this little chance encounter. Petelechem, Memorybreak (friends from Nihongogo/Stage48)  and I spent the better part of Monday cruising the shops for various pics, magazines and whatnot. This was all in preparation for the NOTTV lottery later in the afternoon. Memorybreak was our sole winner, the lucky bastard…

Running into idols in public…

Anyway, Petelechem and I headed back to the Donki from the cafe to handle a few errands. When we were about to cross the street in front of UDX a taxi pulled up. I grabbed Pete and told him to stop as I saw  Ichikawa Miori, and then Takeuchi Miyu jump out of the car. It is theater taboo to bother the girls when they are entering/leaving the theater, so I made sure we kept our distance until the girls got inside safely. That is the fifth time I have run into an idol in public. So to those of you who have asked if it happens…indeed it does! But it is always best to give them their space!

SKE “Kiss Date Hidarikiki” Individual Handshake Event at Pacifico Yokohama 2012/11/11

This was my third handshaking event of the trip. I was going to see a few old friends, and a few new girls too. Funny thing, of all the girls I had tickets for the one I was most excited about was a lower tier Team E member. The forecast was for heavy rain, so it was a great day to be spending inside a venue for 8-10 hours! Leading off…

Matsui Rena: This was my first time actually getting to talk to Rena. I was wondering, did I make the right choice? (Choosing Rena over J) But in the end Rena was very sweet, and a good experience overall. When I told her where I was from she exclaimed something to the effect of “You came from San Francisco? Sugoi” BTW, all of the SKE senbatsu were dressed in the outfits from the single. Kind of a royal blue seifuku.

Matsumoto Rina: Another first time meeting. But it was strange. Rina looked much different from when I have seen her before. I’ll say no more. But when I got to her she said “Oh, Hello!” I told her I was from the US. She said “I am Japanese”, to which I responded that I was not Japanese. (hehe)

Takayanagi Akane: As much as I like Churi I always seem to be at a loss for what to talk to her about So I just asked my standard Churi fallback question. “Genki desu ka? Papitan genki?” Any time you can steer your Churi convo into a bird convo becomes instant success.

Oya Masana: I had two tickets. On the first one she exclaimed ” Aitakatta!!!” That’s so neat, she wanted to see me! But by the second ticket she looked tired (sick?). I asked if she was okay, and she said she was cold. I told her I would see her in 2013. she repeated it back…oh hai hai!

Matsumura Kaori: Kaotan’s line reminds me of Nachu’s line when SDN was around. A lot of manic and comedic action going on. But this time Kaotan took it a little bit easier with me compared to the previous day in Tokyo. “Push Push? Watashi? Push Push?” She is great! Later on I made sure to sign a birthday card for her.

Hiramatsu Kanako: I haven’t done a handshake with her for a while. I did the “Myuku Myuku” catchphrase with her, and asked if her leg was better. She was standing, which is a good indication. She pointed to her leg and gave me the “OK” sign. Good to know. She looked so sad the last time I saw her.

Takagi Yumana: Okay, this was great! On my last trip she was positioned next to Wasamin during the GM5 event. She had nobody in her line, and every time I looped Wasamin’s line I would wave to her. She waved back to me every time. So I waited for her queue to empty, then I went for it. Was there a possibility she would remember that exchange 7 months ago? She did, and she laughed so hard when I told her that! Anyway, it was a great official first time meeting. I will surely go back to her next time I have a chance!

Ishida Anna: Is always so sweet and cute. I told her I loved the Shirogumi song, which she was wearing the outfit of. She had a few more people in her queue than before. So perhaps her popularity is getting a small rebound after her promotion to Team B. I hope so. Anyway, I wished her luck in AKB

Yagami Kumi: Like last week in Nagoya, I wished her luck after graduation and told her that I hoped to see her again.

Suda Akari: First of all, this was the last slot. Normally the most popular members are getting pretty tired by now (see Masanya) But not Akarin. No way! She had made these little towel dogs., which she had lined up in front of her. I asked “Kore wa?”, and she started barking. “Arf Arf!” Typical Akarin…on fire! I told her she was cool, and cute. She is such a blast to talk to!

Hata Sawako: My last ticket of the event, Shawako is always going to be a fun experience. I congratulated her on the new theater and told her I wanted to see KII3, she tried to say something in English but got tongue tied, while holding me back from the guard. Eventually the guard won out and Sawako didn’t get to tell me what she wanted to say.

Oh, and…

Kato Rumi: called in sick to the event, so I didn’t get a chance to say hello

And that was it. My handshaking events were completed for the trip!

CK in Tokyo

(Note:  I never made a proper report on my Momoclo experience.  I may do that in the very near future, so watch for it!)

Okay, so I am really skipping around.  During the week I visited a few sacred AKB48 spots.  Went on what I like to call the “Meetan Childhood Tour”.  I took in an AKB show at the theater.  Oh, and who can forget Momoiro Clover Z live at Budokan!!!

But to me the highlight of this trip had to be this past Saturday.  My relationship with Wasamin, and her dedicated fans definitely rose to another level…

AKB48 “Gingham Check” Individual Handshake Meeting at Tokyo Big Sight 2012/11/10

Finally…After being In Japan for over a week I am going to have a chance to talk to Wasamin. I mean damn, I know it is hard to win shows these days. And I was lucky enough to win a K show. But it’s frustrating knowing Wasamin is down the street from me and I can’t see her.

But I had Saturday. I decided to try a new tactic for this event. Instead of getting multiple tickets for a few girls, I would get single tickets for more members. This would give me a chance to meet some new faces. Of course I still had 7 Wasatickets!

I also wondered how many fans would recognize me from the Fuji show. Anyway, here we go!

Slots 1-3
(sandwiched around all of my Wasamin tix, which were also slots 1-3)

Tanabe Miku: Tanamin always dresses cute, and I always tell her that. She has a such a pretty face! But the best part was when I came out and met a guy from Tanamin’s birthday committee. Turns out they were giving away gifts for people who signed birthday cards, including a poster of her in uniform as a Safety Officer for Shiga Pref. So we hoofed it over to her birthday table, where it turned out quite a few of them had watched the Fuji special. So they knew I was a Wasafan but they didn’t know I liked Tanamin too. I ended up hanging out with them for quite a while.

Sato Natsuki: First time I had ever spoken to Nacchi. I told her that I enjoyed her guitar playing, which she enjoyed hearing. Very nice girl. And as with all idols, she looked even cuter in person…wearing an oversized sweater.

Oya Masana: I asked her how she was, and she gave me a really long response. 99% of which I didn’t get. Something about being nervous about something…I think. I have two more Masanya tickets for Sunday. I need to think of some good stuff to say!

Matsumura Kaori. Dressed in the Joysound promotional outfit. Kaotan is like “shot out of a cannon”. She does this crazy cross-handed shake with you, and she holds onto you tightly until the guard has to drag you out. She did this with everyone. Anyway, when I told her I loved Do-re-mi-fa-onchi she went nuts. Joysound??? I said, Next Girls kakkoi! Then she went all the way with “Oshimen??? Oshimen???” pointing to herself. Man, Kaotan scared the shit out of me with her oshi-power play. And I have another ticket for her tomorrow? Sheesh!

Slot 4

Katayama Haruka: Wearing a cute and classy black and white outfit. Very Haa-like. My friend told me she had a rabbit named milk-kun with her. So I went in expecting to see this rabbit. When I didn’t, I asked her where milk-kun was. She said he was at home? Eeeehh?

Ichikawa Miori: I walked in and did her greeting from MG3, which made her giggle. I mainly told her she was great on Majisuka this season. Miorin is always adorable.

Komori Mika: For starters, I got an English “Hello” from Mikapon. That’s new. Mika always looks “sporty-cute” at events. She had on a letterman sweatshirt, with a cute little hat and tight pants. I told Komorin that I saw Tokyo Runway, and that I would support her all the way as a Model. She responded “Kakkoi!” Later on I saw her again and told her I hoped she gets to perform in a lot of B shows. her response? “Kakkoi!” Komori is so funny!

An aside…Once again it makes me sad that Komori has her share of antis. She is sooooo sweet, and soft, and demure, with that look of wonder in her eyes. If you ever meet her you would know there is absolutely nothing to hate about this girl!

Slot 5

Nakamata Shiori: I had never met her before, and to be honest I was at a loss for what to say. So after I introduced myself I think a rambled something off about smart girls being cool. Anyway, she probably thought I was odd. Sorry Shiori!

Nito Moeno: Poor little Moeno, looked soooo sick. I asked her if she was okay, and she of course said yes. But I knew better. I spied her later on with other fans, her eyes were literally rolling back into her head. I noticed she didn’t blog last night, probably went straight to bed. I heard later that she was up all night doing a radio show. So perhaps she was merely tired.

Slot 6

Yokoyama Yui: In the past Yui has always asked me where I was from. This time I walked in and she immediately pointed to me and said. “Whoah! California!” “Sugoi!!” I said. I spent the handshake being flabbergasted by that exchange. I also told her that her Kyoto TV show was beautiful.

Sato Amina: Black and white dress with a studded collar. I had been watching Amina all day from other queues. I decided to reintroduce myself since the only time I had met Amina was at New York, and that was ages ago. When she noticed I was looking at her collar, she immediately pointed to the fact that it said “Eat Me”. I just went, “Uh oh, Eccchi!” and she giggled. Suffice it to say that hearing Amina proudly say “Eat Me” was one of the highlights of the day.

And the best for last (Slots 1-3)…

Iwasa Misaki: What can I say that I haven’t already said in previous encounters with Wasamin? She is my oshimen, and she knows it. I have noticed I get fewer “I love you”s from Wasamin as she gets older. Instead I get “Hello Chris-san!” She seemed to be proud of the fact that she remembers my name now. But we had lots of fun. During my 7 tickets she sang for me (Do-re-mi-fa-onchi), she danced for me, I congratulated her on her 2nd single. Oh, she asked me to come and support the release. Uh oh! I hadn’t planned on coming back that quickly. What to do??? I can’t disappoint Wasamin!

But the best exchange was the last one. By then I had been talking to a number of her fans. And they were telling her about my TV appearance. Thet also told her I said she could speak English, which she vehemently denied! So when I got to her I told her she had the best fans. She responded “I love them” So I said “And I love you Wasamin” She put her arms out and said “I Love YOUUUUUUUUU”, which got everyone in the queue laughing. It was the perfect finale to the 7 tickets!

Later on I was asked to be part of the Wasamin Birthday Committee. So now I am an honorary member! Kyaaa!!!

So there ya go, an awesome day!  I lost count of how many strangers came up to me saying “Christopher-san?” as a result of that show.  So a nice 15 minutes of fame for me, hehe.

BTW, other members I got a close look at due to booth proximity: Myao, Suuchan, Micha, Miyupon, Kana, Reinyan, Minarun, Mariko Nakamura, Akarin, Natsumin, Sakippe, Ayarin, Harugon, Kato Rena.

Sunday was SKE handshake day. I will also post about that soon!

CK in Tokyo

Yeah, I know I haven’t been blogging much at all lately.  Frankly, I think I lost my enthusiasm for it.  Not to mention there are so many great forums to use as an outlet for the fandom.  So what have I been up to?

I am still as much of an AKB fan (and Momoclo) as ever.  But I was preoccupied this past Summer with the purchase of a house.  It is a major commitment, both monetarily and time-wise.  But I love my new place, which I have dubbed the “Casa de Wasa”  The entire upstairs is decorated with AKB and Wasamin paraphernalia.

I also appeared on both of the Fuji television specials that focused on foreign fans.  I wasn’t invited to Japan, but they filmed segments from my house.  One of them featuring Fuji TV talent Fukuzawa Akira.  That was so much fun!!!

Finally I did appear in a web radio show the day after AKB48 announced their latest Team Shuffles.  Old news, I know.  But I thought we did a good job.  You can check it out at the link below if you like…

Stage48 Link to the radio show

So there ya go.  And in the meantime the next few posts will feature reports from the various events I went to on my current trip…

11/4/2012 SKE48 “Kiss Datte Hidarikiki” National Handshake Event at Port Messe Nagoya

When this event was announced I debated making the trip. I don’t have a Railpass this time around, and it is my first full day in Japan. But two things compelled my to go to this event…

1) Kuumin’s sudden graduation announcement. I really wanted to be there so I could see her announcement in person.

2) The fact that AKB’s stages are brand new will make it even harder to win a show, so I better jump on any event I have access to!

Anyway, grabbed the 6am Shinkansen out of Tokyo, which would get me to the exhibition hall around 8:15 if all went well. The queue was pretty big, around 2/3 of the way around the venue, and as I queued up I heard someone talking to me in English. After a brief conversation I found out it was someone who was friends with a member of the forums. So cool! I have someone to pal around with for the event!

As I entered we drew tickets to see which section we would get to stand in. Luckily I got section A which was the closest to the stage. It was half-full when I got there, but most everyone was right down the middle, so I got a spot on the left side right behind the women’s section. Perfect view! Nobody of significant height in front of me! Now it was time for the two hour wait for the show to start while sitting on a concrete floor. PAIN!!! These standing-only shows on a concrete floor are just murder on my ankles!!! Each section began to pack up, and eventually it was time for the show to begin…

Kuumin did the Kage-ana, which drew a lot of reaction from the crowd. First two songs were Banzai Venus and Chime wa Love Song, great songs to begin the show. Banzai Venus is my favorite SKE single, and it drew memories of going to that release event in Tokyo a year and a half ago! It took me a minute, but I finally found Masanya dancing in the back. Churi and Kuumin were right in front.

After the first two songs Yuasa came out and made the announcement about the new theater, then it was time for Kuumin’s oficial announcement…

She didn’t really cry, but she seemed to be at a loss for words. Very long pauses and she kept looking at Yuasa-san with a sort of “Help Me!” look. But eventually with the help of the fans she got through it.

We were then treated to two unit songs. First was Namida no Shounan, which I don’t believe I had ever seen performed live before. I love that song. It was tight quarters, so it was tough for me to do the hand movements. BTW, Yuria was center, and Shawako seemed to be second lead. Aside from Kato Rumi, I don’t remember who else participated. After that was Ookami to Pride performed by the two birthday girls, Ogiso and Kanon! Masanya’s birthday is on Tuesday, but I think it is bad luck to prematurely celebrate?

The birthday girls got flowers, and notes read to them. Yukiko read a note for Shiori, and Rena (!?!) for Kanon. The crowd seemed surprised by that. Airi pretty much lead the MC, which I thought was pretty neat. Oh, and when they read the prize winners, I almost thought I had won the 2-shot. I was one digit off, too bad!

The girls finished with the Akagumi song, and Kiss Datte. Too bad Anna was in Tokyo, the Shirogumi song is my favorite on the single!

Everyone took a one hour break. Then it was time for handshakes. I had four tickets, which was probably perfect since I needed to get back to Tokyo before 7pm (or so I thought) Evreryone got one handshake to start, then when everyone was done you could go back as often as you had tickets. There was also a goods line, with some really cool stuff. But the line seemed insanely long. So I skipped it for the time being (going to another SKE event next week)

Handshake #1: Kuumin and Yukiko. I just knew Kuumin’s line would be insane, and it totally was. Even more than staff expected. They had to redesign the queue to accomodate the fans. These handshakes are so quick that you basically can say one little thing and move on. I congratulated Kuumin on her graduation, and for Yukiko I simply told her where I was from since I had never talked to her before.

#2: Masanya and Shiitan. Oya’s line was pretty small, I got greeted by the ole’ “long time no see” Masanya asked me how I have been. Kinda chummy, I like it! Shiori was a first time meeting, so I basically told her that Team S is great!

#3: Shawako and Seira. Last time I met Sawako she made a big deal out of the line “Nice to Meet You” So I came in and sang it with her. She sang too and laughed. That was fun! Aas for Seira. I couldn’t just come out nd tell her she looks sensational in a bikini, could I? My friend thought I should, but I didn’t want to get slapped! So I went with “Seira-san no solo PV sugoi!” She really liked that I said that. I think I need to make Seira part of my regular handshake rotation!

#4: Churi. I had plenty of time, and one more ticket. Since my new friend was a Rena fan I decided to queue with her over there. After all, the line was moving pretty well. However, they closed it for Rena to take what seemed like a never-ending break! So we bailed and went for Kaotan, but her line was really long too. I wanted to go to Akarin, but I think her line was longest of all. So I went for Churi who had a very short queue all day.

I wasn’t sure what I wanted to say to Churi, so I basically said that her Solo PV was cool too. I am not sure if she remembered me or not (Masanya and Kuumin did, Sawako may have) But she was very sweet and focused on what I was trying to say.

The only bummer of the day was that I ended up not needing to get back to Tokyo so soon after all. So I could have stayed for goods and more handshakes. But that’s okay. I am going to SKE’s event in Yokohama next week.

Anyway, I am still dead tired from the jetlag so it was probably for the best. Hopefully I will have more fun stuff to talk about in the next couple of weeks!

CK in Tokyo