Hello! Project Festival

It’s not every day that you get to meet all the members of Hello! Project. Yesterday however, I was lucky enough to have done just that. (He says casually as if it’s no big deal). What, it is a big deal! I got to meet all the members of Hello! Project! Today on Thanksgiving, I can say that I am very thankful to have had the experience. Thankful for the experiences I’ve had and thankful that I’ve got friends to help me navigate how to get to these events and such. It was nice seeing a lot of familiar faces too. Thanks all!

Thanks!

Holy long lines Batman. The day started out after my arrival at Yomiuri Land, to which I was greeted with a long, long line. I wasn’t expecting to see so many people at the event. Apparently too, the staff wasn’t expecting that many people either. I should have arrived earlier but I was fresh off a bus from Osaka and didn’t have any extra time. Anyway, this line was about two and a half hours long by the time I got there, and grew quite a bit behind me. This was just to get into Yomiuri Land, once inside we were greeted with another line to exchange our preorder tickets for handshaking tickets. Four hours total standing in line, but I can say it was worth it.

So the handshake groups were broken into five: Mo, Be, Ki, Ma and Su. Each group had the leader of their respective groups in them (with the exception of Be, who had Momo in Captain’s place), along with a mix of members form the other groups. When I got to exchange my preorder tickets, they had already run out of Su group. Bummer, that was Chinami’s group. They had also ran out of Mo, meaning at the time I wouldn’t have been able to see all of the groups. It all worked out in the end however, I was able to get some tickets from a friend and trade a few with some others to get more of the Su group and one for Mo. Once again I am thankful. I ended up with 14 handshake tickets in total, though I only had time to use 10 of them.

Mobekimasu Handshake Tickets

Before the handshaking there would be a two hour live concert/event. They opened with “ALL FOR ONE AND ONE FOR ALL.” A great throwback to older times and a great group song, I’m glad to see it performed with the current lineup. Some highlights of the event were S/mileage performing a new song. I liked the beat and instrumentals and am looking forward to its release. Morning Musume performed “Love Machine.” I had never seen that live, so that was nice. Berryz did their audiance participation/a cappella version of “Rival,” which is one of my favorites. Other than that there was a mix of old and new songs performed, culminating with the new Mobekimasu single.

Tsunku made a couple of video appearances during the MCs. One of which he was talking about Saki. He had this long drawn out, filled with pauses, mentioning that Saki wasn’t there. You really got the feeling that he was about to say something big. But no, Tsunku was just trolling; he mentioned that she wasn’t there due to a conflict and that her birthday was the day before. Ah, you really had to be there to get a sense of the atmosphere when that happened. Interestingly, Tsunku made a second appearance too. When Risa mentioned that he was going to say something again, the girls on stage, or rather, Sayumi got really nervous. It’s like anytime Tsunku speaks, you get this feeling for the worst in the back of your head. What he had to say though, wasn’t to do with any graduations or anything, no big deal yeah, haha.

After the concert they prepped the stage for the handshake. There were a lot of people there and even after what, 4 hours, they weren’t able to get through all of the tickets they had given out (with multiple handshake tickets per person).

I first went to handshake the Su group. Leading the line there was Wada Ayaka. This girl seems to have a lot of energy. When I approached she seemed happy, and said “Hello,” as I proceeded to introduce myself.

Next up was Chinami. Of course the highlight of my experience was all of the interaction I had with her. A friend had tipped her of that I was coming a week or so earlier, so I hope she was looking forward to seeing me too. It was so great to see her after six months. All of the lasting memories we’ve built, I am very thankful for the experiences we’ve had. I’ll keep what I told her to myself, but it was a mix of Japanese and English, haha. On the English part, you could tell she couldn’t understand a thing I was saying. Makes sense, lol. Anyway, she told a friend who came up behind me that she didn’t understand, lol, so I later apologized to her. The whole series of interactions, as I went through her handshake line multiple times, was great. She always seems so happy to see me, and I too am happy to see her. What a great experience, and I can’t wait to see her again.

I’ll briefly touch on everyone else. Of course Berryz all recognized me; it was good to see all of them again. Momo in particular seemed surprised to see me. Maimi and Risa were pleasantly surprised to see me too. I do stand out anyway, yeah. It was nice to meet them; Mano too. One handshake that stood out to me was Chisato. Not the handshake itself, but her smile. It was just too cute. Meeting Reina was nice too. Then there are a bunch of the new Musume and S/milage members whose names I don’t know, but they’re all simply adorable. Yeah, way too much for me to recall and say something about each of the [multiple] interactions I had with the girls. I’ll just conclude and say that it truly was a great experience to meet them all.

The past few years have truly been great; so many memories to be thankful for. I almost didn’t come to Japan this Thanksgiving, but I am oh so glad that I did.

So, until next time, whenever that is. I do know though, that I’ll be in New Jersey to see Berryz at AnimeNEXT. Perhaps I’ll see you there.

Discovery

It’s been just over four years since I’ve discovered Japanese music. A life changing event no doubt about it, but I’ve already told that story. The following is instead, a short about my latest trip to Japan. It’s just about Thanksgiving and so it’s time for my annual pilgrimage. I almost didn’t make it out here this year, but the calling from my second home was too strong.

First on tap for this trip was a train ride to Osaka, to see one of my favorite groups, Tokyo Jihen. “Discovery,” well that’s the name of their 2011 tour. As some may recall, this isn’t my first time seeing Shiina and crew, as I saw them on tour last year. This go ’round however, I felt more prepared than I was last time and what can I say, the Incidents didn’t dissapoint.

Got to the concert hall a few hours early after a bit of sightseeing; not too early though I guess, as they already had things setup to where you could buy goods. I had taken a little bit of a peak online to see what types of things they’d be selling, but actually seeing all of it, I was a bit overwhelmed. It’s not that there was a lot more than there was last time, but there was a lot of variety. In any case, I just grabbed a couple of flags, a t-shirt and a keychain.

Tokyo Jihen Discover Tour Flag

The flags are bright green, with Tokyo Jihen’s logo on them they really stand out. As with last time there would be much flag waving; it’s simple, yet a fun way to be involved with the others attending the concert, at the same time involved with what is happening on stage.

After buying my goods I was approached by a girl who was handing out cards, with an apple and a date on them. 2011/11/25. A note on the card indicated that that was Shiina Ringo’s birthday. Didn’t know that was coming up, so, Happy Birthday! Anyway, I was asked to write a message on the card, which I did; a mix of English and Japanese as I usually do when I fill out things like that. I like being involved with little things like that.

A couple hours of waiting and the doors opened up. My seats were decent enough and I had a pretty good, clear view of the stage. The stage was setup a bit larger than I remember they used for their last tour, and for good reason. I’d say that they were a lot more dynamic and there was a lot more movement on stage this time. This concert had a lot more energy I think.

Things opened up with a big screen where there was some animated, almost meteor like things crashing down. The screen was setup so that you could see behind it, quite clearly, but at the same time the things projected onto it were pretty clear too. So as these things are crashing down, Tokyo Jihem come out and start playing their first tune.

The music selection was awesome. You can’t go wrong with much of their songs anyway, but I feel that the setlist here was pretty great. There were a couple of songs I hadn’t heard before. I think one or two of them, from what I read, were new songs from Shiina. Anyway, just a few songs I wanted to being attention to. Himitsu for DJ – Awesome! The part in particular that I’m talking about is from Ukigumo, the guitarist’s rap. There was a screen brought up behind him, and stairs illuminated showing his name as he and their pianist came down front and rapped a bit about his guitar. After which Ukigumo climbed up the stairs and gave his little guitar solo. The energy and how it was all set up was just great. The audience was really into it too.

The last two songs I wanted to make mention of were during the encore. Gunjou Biyori, one of my favorite songs. It was a little, remixed I guess. This version was interesting, but not so different that it still was unejoyable. After that they played Atarashii Bunmeikaika, another one of my favorites. It was a great song to end the concert on with a lot of energy and cheers. It’s like things ended with the old (Gunjou) and the new (Atarashii), a great selection.

One final note is on the costume changes. There were what, three or four changes from what I can recall. Seemed like many more than the one that they had during their last tour. The costumes were great, and one that stood out was Shiina’s Native American looking headdress she was wearing towards the end.

Overall, great show; awesome show. While their last tour was great, this one seemed to have taken that greatness and made many more improvements to produce a much better show. I had fun and look forward to whatever Shiina Ringo and Tokyo Jihen have in store for us in the future.

Birthday Hour GO!GO

Happy Birthday Chinami! For the second year now, I’ve been able to spend part of the special day with you. Seeing your smiling face makes me happy, and on this day, and every day, I hope that you can be happy too.

A big thanks again for all who helped me out here. I had an awesome time as expected. Just a few highlights and quick comments.

Berryz Hour GO!GO =3

Takoyaki Saki, with her hair in a pair of buns and a big pair of glasses on looked cute. Her style, energy and cool all wrapped up in a neat little package is just great to watch.

More Momoko and Chinami back and forth. It’s so fun watching these two go at each other. Momo’s personality is so unique, it’s cool to just sit back and watch her interact with the others and the audience. As I was in the front row for the second performance, she really was enthusiastic in getting me to dance along with the songs. Fun, fun.

After interacting with the audience for a little bit and making their way through the event hall, Berryz would hit the stage. For the second run of the event, you could tell that the girls were surprised to see me sitting out there in front. On stage, things opened up with a performance of Rival. During the last part of the chorus, with Chinami up front and on the side of the stage that I was, we danced the last part of the chorus together as she looked my way, full of smiles. 1つ・・・さあ行こう〜 Rival being one of my favorite Berryz songs made it extra special.

During the first handshake, “Geoffrey~” Chinami said as I approached, which took me by surprise, as she had struggled with it a bit the day before. Happy! Even tho it’s not that big of a deal, I’m happy that she put in the effort to remember it~. After that, I forgot what it is that I wanted to say, but I eventually got it out, ha. The second handshake was just as fun, and I stalled a little bit to say a few extra things to her as the staff were pushing us through.

King Maasa retains her powerful stage presence which I’ve always enjoyed. During Tomodachi wa Tomodachi Nanda! in particular she stood out to me for some reason. She had some sort of a cool attitude for a little bit which was fun too. She didn’t do the full time MC bit this time around, but in the parts that she did take the reins she was great.

Mayabi had used some English during her turn in one of the mini games they were playing, so during the handshake I said to her a couple of things in English, to which she returned in kind. She also greeted me as Kentucky, as she’s done in the past, with a smile whilst putting a finger in the air, indicating that she remembers me. One other note, as Miya lost one of the games they were playing, she had to make a sales pitch about one of the Berryz goods (whilst wearing a goofy nose/glasses/bow). Let’s just say, SOLD! Good job Miya; she was great on stage.

Yurina took the MC spot from Maasa this time. Her little bouts of being a bit air-headed are still there, wich makes watching her and the casualness of her performances cute. She was sweating a bit during one part of the event and Momo brought her a towel. They didn’t make a big deal out of it or anything, but I thought that the interaction was nice.

Risako continued her coy, umm, you know, “that thing she does.” I’ve pointed it out before, but the way she dances on stage really has improved over the years. Just watch, and while she might not be as sharp &c as some of the others, it’s got it’s own unique flow that meshes well with the rest of the group. Some of Berryz latest songs too, really seem to fit Risako’s style.

So Berryz, until we meet again; and Chinami, Happy Birthday! I hope you had a good one. To all my friends back in Japan and elsewhere, see you when I see you~

Addicted: Three Times The Heroine

I was talking with my Japanese teacher a few weeks back, we were discussing how I work on programs for people who might have drug or alcohol related issues. As the conversation progressed, she suggested that perhaps similar to how some of the people in the program may have issues with addiction, I was addicted to Berryz Koubou. She was joking of course, but it’s an interesting thought to consider, is it not? My teacher and I had talked at length on previous occasions about my interest in the group, so she was familiar with my travels and what not to see them, and it’s fun to chat about my passion for J-Pop with people outside of the wotasphere. On one level herself, being Japanese, it was both familiar and foreign to her. In the past I’ve had similar conversations with people from Japan. The seem to find my passion for the group to be interesting to say the least.

With regards to addiction, there is this sort of high that going to these concerts and events bring about in me, something unique I’ve not been able to find anywhere else. And then, it’s somewhat funny that I have enablers, friends who support and encourage my behavior; in the midst of papers and projects due, I’ve taken time off school and work to go see them; all the money I’ve spent, the time invested, &c, and while it hasn’t come close to a point where I would consider it an addiction, it’s become so much a part of my life. In some aspects, I would say it’s not too out of the ordinary at all; I’ve heard of plenty of people who follow their favorite bands all over the world, yeah. To be so enthralled by this relatively unknown idol group from Japan however, to travel out there to see her, is at least at the foundation, a different story.

Anyway, all that exposition builds to the fact that here I am, back in Japan; to see my Berryz. To feed my addiction if you will. Honestly, at times it feels like maybe it’s a bit much. Ah, but I’m not going to venture down that train of thought. I’m having the time of my life! I know it won’t last forever and therefore I’m going to continue to enjoy it while I can; and hey, it’s okay, I’m a wota.

Berryz Koubou - Heroine ni Narou ka!

Mini Concert

As I tend to do, I have to first of all say thanks to those who made this possible. The people I’ve met and befriended in Japan really seem to go out of their way to help get me to these events. I am very thankful, and as with most of my words, I really feel that that is an understatement; but it’s really great to have people who support me in this.

So then, the precursor to the main event was today in Nagoya, where I’d get to watch Berryz at their “Heroine ni Narou ka!” release event. Not once, not twice, but three times. The release events are relatively short, but actually ended up a bit longer than I expected. The mini concert opened with Heroine ni Narou ka!, and had a nice selection overall with Maji Bomber!!, Icchoume Rock!, Otakebi Boy WAO! and Rival. All great songs to see and dance along with live.

Since the seats were random, I wasn’t able to get too close to the stage, but still, about 8 rows back and center isle seats for the second and third go rounds gave me a great view of things.

Not much has changed with the girls since I’ve seen them last. Well, it has been less than a month, so what’s to expect, right. Chinami and I had or nice little moments here and there. I really feel a connection with her whenever I see her, and just watching her dance around, goofing off a bit, playing off of the other girls on stage, and all the in between, just makes me smile from ear to ear. Maasa continues to excel with her presence on stage and her MC ability; Captain continues to dance up a storm and have a fun time doing it; everyone was putting in a great effort and I enjoyed watching all of them do their own thing.

I’m happy to report too, that that spark with Risako that was missing in Seattle is back, haha. I don’t think I need to elaborate much, but one point that really stood out for me was when they do that little monocle thing in Heroine (Otakbe too); Risako zoomed right in on me with a big ol’ smile. It’s funny how I missed it in Seattle, and now it’s back, the point of conflict in which I’m in my head telling her to stop, yet at the same time, it’s just plain fun so I just go with it.

Handshake

At the end of each of the events was the handshake. I have to say, I’m somewhat running out of things to say to some of the girls. I mean, there are only so many ways I can tell Miyabi that I love her voice and or like her in Buono! and what not. But even without much to say, just being there, holding their hands and looking into their eyes is enough. Anyway, during the first handshake they really rushed us through so I didn’t get a change to say but a quick thank you and not much else. That said, my interaction with Chinami was a lot of fun as usual. This time as I attempted to convey to her my real name, she leaned in to get a better listen and we repeated it back and forth a couple of times. By the next time I had talked with her, she had lost about half of it, haha. No worries, I’m good with “Kentucky.” It’s got a special meaning and history behind it.

Celebration

After the events, some friends and I headed to Osaka for a little party. Well, just a get together, dinner and what not, tho in celebration of Chinami’s birthday one might say. I made a toast to Chinami, her happiness and her smiles and or some such. We had wine ’round midnight and overall just had a good time relaxing. To avoid sounding like too much of a broken record, thanks all for the comradery, these are a great group of people.

So, one down. One to go. See you tomorrow, or, today. I’m looking forward to it.

Seattle Side-Story

Berryz and a Lucky Penny

After Sakura-con, friends and I were doing a bit of sightseeing and such before heading off to a dinner reservation. We would eventually make our way towards Pike Place Market, where unfortunately there were a bunch of closed stores because of Easter. No matter, we’d drop into the various open shops as we were walking and what not. We had eventually split off a bit from each other and it was left with me and one other. As we were walking towards the market, we saw Seattle Shirt Co. across the street and my friend asked if we could stop in. We weren’t in a hurry or anything, so yeah, why not. As we cross and get to the other side, and begin making our way towards the store…

“Momoko?” my friend says to me. I hadn’t realized it, but Momoko and a Berryz staff member had just walked past us. We paused and turned to confirm, and could see the two walking away. A few steps later and Momoko turns to looks back, we catch a glimpse of each other and she recognizes us and waves, as we then wave back. A chance encounter, tho we were curious as to why she was out by herself.

With that behind us, we headed into the store as originally intended.

As we’re a few steps inside, “Chinami,” I said. I was certain that was her hair I spotted all the way at the back of the store. My friend hadn’t seen anything at this point, so she was a little confused as to why I was saying her name. I repeat myself, after having stopped in my tracks from moving into the store any further. I motion and say, “over there,” or something to that effect. Then I see, Captain is back there too… and Miyabi… and Risako. Wow! High tension.

Still a bit frozen, about now is when Chinami briefly turns towards us, smiles and then turns back to Miya/Rii/Captain. At this point I can’t recall my reaction, but the tension had continued to build for sure.

Just then, “Kentucky-san ga iru,” Chinami says, her voice carrying throughout the store. Berryz know both me and my friend pretty well, and with that they all turn to us, smile and wave. Wow, wow; another chance encounter, yeah. We wave back, I recall saying konnichiwa or some other similar greeting and not much else, then my friend an I went back to shopping around a bit and Berryz did the same.

We walked around to the side of the store, somewhat away from where Berryz were (didn’t want to interfere with their free time or anything like that, you know). As we were walking away my friend asked where’s Yurina (her favorite member). I realized we hadn’t seen Maasa either.

As we turn a corner, what would you know, it’s Yurina. This totally freezes my friend for a step. What should we do? She was facing a wall looking at some stuff but eventually would turn and say hello. We’d continue looking at things and Yurina did the same. My friend was looking at some cute keychains and picked one out, she then proceeds to call Yurina over to ask her opinion of it. She wasn’t too far away, and came over to us to oblige without hesitation. We didn’t tie her up for too long and went back to browsing the store.

My friend decided she wanted to buy the cute keychain and recommended I get something as well; something to remember the experience by if you will. It didn’t take long for me to find something. A lucky keychain. I feel lucky to have had all the experiences I’ve been having over the past years, and that day, I felt so lucky to have had met and chatted with Berryz in such a casual way.

Lucky Penny

By this time, Berryz were back to the front of the store, my friend and I were making our way back there as well. What followed as we caught up with them was a few minutes of conversation; Miya and Yurina were checking out at the front desk and eventually joined in. Although I’ve been pretty verbose thus far, I’ll skimp on the details here, yeah. Tho one thing, Chinami ended up pulling out her iPhone, showing it to us and explaining the cute design on the case and such.

Ah, what a great experience. Lucky~

My friend and I said bye to Berryz and then went ourselves to checkout. As we left the store, we noticed Berryz outside going in the direction we had planned on going. In an effort to not follow them, we took an alternate route thinking they’d possibly be gone or inside a store by the time we circle around. As we were now coming up the street, we’d pass the Chocolate Box, where Berryz were inside. We wanted to go in, but wanted to wait until Berryz were finished doing their thing. Anyway, not too long after that, Berryz went off to Starbucks and we continued to shop around for a bit before heading back for dinner.

A nifty little side story to cap off the experience with Berryz in Seattle. The entire trip has been more than awesome.

Until we meet again, Berryz Koubou.

Berryz in Seattle

What a great weekend. Berryz and friends, I had a great time.

Berryz Koubou at Sakura-con

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Cake Day 4.0

Moo! Moo! Moo! Moo! Moo!

Excuse me, what?

Are You A Cow?

Ah, well, it’s a question I had been asking myself for the longest time. I mean, when you’re first introduced to Japanese music, it is quite possible for some crazy questions to pop up in you head. And, you are what you eat, yeah? No matter, thanks to International Wota, I was able to find the answer! Oh, and I made a cake:

Angel Food Cow Cake

Happy 4th Anniversary International Wota. Thanks for the continued effort of bringing the international Asian music community together. Sharing peoples stories, opinions, musings and what have you; allowing people to connect with new and interesting peoples throughout the world, explore and discover new music and other interests. What you all do, I can say from my experience, is greatly appreciated.

Thanks.

Berryz Seven, Solo San

Happy 7th Anniversary Berryz Koubou, I am glad to have spent the days to celebrate with you. For me, it’s been a bit over three years since I’ve fallen in love with Berryz and Japanese music in general, and to put forth that this discovery changed my life is something I can say without hesitation. I’ve also been blogging over the past three years, although sparingly, it’s been fun sharing my stories and opinions on something I am so passionate about.

A big thanks to all of those who made this trip possible. To say that I had a great time would be an understatement. Once again, the wota, friends, the staff, everyone involved, thank you.

Berryz Koubou's Seventh Year Anniversary; 8Shot

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Beri Kou Festival!

Well, ’twas Thanksgiving break, the time for my annual fall pilgrimage to Japan to see mah Berryz, yeah. Just a few thoughts and highlights…

Welcome to Beri Kou Fes!

First off, shout out to my fellow wota and friends in Japan and from other places around the globe. Some I’ve met for the first time, some I haven’t seen in a while. I’ve said it before, but these guys and gals really are a great group of people; I really do feel a sense of pride associating myself with ‘em. I’m very lucky to be able to follow my interests and travel, pursuing my passion for Japanese music, and in turn, to meet other people who have a similar passion.

On to the concert… finally got to see Dakishimete Dakishimete. I had been wanting to see that one for some time. Kimi no Tomodachi was pretty cool too, another one I was looking forward to. The rotating setlist gave me the opportunity to see a few different combinations of the girls and songs too, which was an nice little bonus of sorts. Cutting the music and having the audience sing along with Rival, one of my favorite songs, was an awesome little experience too. Great concert overall, I wouldn’t expect anything less.

Two Chinami solos! Yea! Maasa and Captain too. The random selection worked in my favor I would say, haha. The solo performances were cute, with the rest of the Berryz as backup dancers/cheerleaders.

Chinami and her genki self was great, her smile lighting up the stage. What more can I say man. The girl has got me hooked. MC Maasa, always running the show. She really is the King of Berryz, great at leading the troops. While Captain is Captain, coming with her sharp dance moves and high energy as always.

Kumai really is a beauty. That’s nothing new, but her presence on stage has been grabbing a little bit more of my attention lately. Miyabi’s voice is as solid as ever, tho she did miss a bit of a line at one point. She continues to keep her skill in top form.

Ahh, Risako… I felt like Risako was dancing -for me- for a lot of the night on Saturday, heh. Like we kept locking eyes as she danced right there, me in the front row, we kept smiling back and forth at each other. I’m not gonna say it was awkward, but at some points I was kinda like thinking to myself, just stop, lol, this is too much. Yeah, maybe that doesn’t make much sense, but anyway, we always seem to connect at these concerts. Risako’s Ibu-sama character was cool too. She really seems to naturally fit that role and her performance was decent. Also, and maybe this will kinda come off as somewhat of a backhanded complement, but I didn’t really feel that she was dancing all that lazily this time, ha. Baby steps, yeah.

Poor Momo, always getting picked on during their little skits and such. A good chunk of it coming from Chinami as I’ve mentioned here before. It’s not only Chii that picks on her tho, each of them are in on it in their own way. Momoko is just too cute sometimes, haha.

No idea when I’ll get to see them again, but this past experience was a blast. Till next time.

Happy Summer Vacation

Happy Summer Vacation? More like Epic Summer Vacation, yeah. Though before I go on any further, let me just say right off the bat…

THANK YOU!!!

For convincing me to go. Believe it or not, it did take a little bit of encouragement, I was initially hesitant. School started last week and so I’m missing the first couple of days. On top of that I had just come back from Japan not too long ago, and my money supply was more than a bit limited, heh. It didn’t take too much prodding however; I mean, how could I pass up the opportunity?

ありがとう！！！

For setting this all up for me. Filling out and sending in the applications, waiting on the mail to deliver the various documents you needed from me, answering my questions. I could go on an on, but I’ll just say that I am very grateful for everything that has been done for me to get me here.

Then there’s the friendly and helpful staff, to everyone involved. Thanks all.

Now, if by the title of this post it’s not obvious as to what it is that I’m talking about: I got to go to the Berryz Kobo Fanclub Tour in HAWAII! Or I guess, technically I’m still here, but the main events have since concluded. I had intended to keep this really short but, no matter, I just wanted to share some of my experience.

Happy Summer Vacation - Goods

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