Maasa, Risako, Momoko, Maimi and Chinami

The line went fast but I was able to go through three times and ended up saying most of what I wanted to say anyway. My first time through I just said something along the lines of “it’s nice to see you; it’s been a long time.” My second time through I mentioned that I’d see all of the Berryz girls at the concert the next day. This time around Chinami commented on my Japanese skill, mentioning that I had gotten better. I hadn’t said anything much complicated or anything, but it made me happy to get the complement from her. My third time through I just said a little bit, thanked them and went on my merry way.

Berryz Station

The next day was concert day in Osaka. I first met up with friends for lunch before things started, which is always nice. Before the concert I had bought some goods which I’m surprised that I am able to hold myself back from buying so much. From there it was concert time. I hadn’t been to a proper Berryz concert since the tour previous to the last, Berry Kou Fes, so it was nice to finally get back at it.

There were a lot of new songs played at this concert which turns out to be both a good and a bad thing. Good in that there were songs that I had never seen performed live before, it’s always good to see something fresh; bad in that, at least the first time around, it was hard to dance along to the songs. I’m only able to go to a day’s worth of concerts so it’s hard for me to pick up on the dance moves right away. I any case, even when I’m not dancing along, I’m enjoying myself all the same.

A couple notes about the performances of a few of the songs. “Shy boy” was kind of cool and didn’t really suffer from being overly autotuned. I really liked this song from the album and was surprised to see it appear on the setlist after not making it on the first round of performances.

Atarashii Hibi had a stand out performer in Saki, especially during the music break of the song. In the afternoon Saki had her hair down which looked great (in the evening she had it in a ponytail), during the break she was swinging her head and hair around wildly. There was just something fierce about it. The dance in general, Saki just killed it.

Yurushite nyan~. Okay there is something that’s a bit annoying about that if it’s used too much, but this time, well… Momoko had a whole song and dance dedicated to it and I’ll be lying if I said it wasn’t fun to dance and sing along with. Yurushite nyan~, Yurushite nyan~, oh my goodness, haha. You’ll have to see it to get how cute it was in some spots. I might say she was trying too hard, but I’ve come to conclude that that it just part of Momo’s character and it’s kind of grown on me even if it is a bit over the top sometimes. Also, Momoko is 20 years old? It’s almost funny the way she acts as a 20 year old, but as I said it fits her so I wouldn’t have her chance for anything.

Semi was on the setlist which was good to see. Semi is one of the songs I used to listen to way back when I first got into Berryz, so it kind of brought up a feeling of nostalgia.

Dakishimete Dakishimete with Miyabi dance solos. It really should have been Captain shining and rockin’ out on this one, but Miyabi held her own. While the other girls would pause and or do abbreviated dance moves at points, Miyabi would bust a move if you will. The setup was really interesting.

Rival is my favorite Berryz song, so it’s always good to see it performed here. Other great concert songs include Otakebi Boy and Icchoume Rock!. Overall it was a pretty solid setlist.

Chinami - Berryz Station

To finish things up, a couple of mentions about my interactions with the girls. Chinami and I were connected it felt like throughout the entire afternoon concert. I was sitting in the front row and we’d exchange glances and smiles as the concert went on. It really was great. As the concert ended too, I felt like I got a special goodbye from her as she was positioned right in front of me and gave me a nice big smile and a wave. Really, it’s great and I’m glad that I can sit up so close that these little interactions can take place. I felt that I didn’t have to fight for her attention or anything, I just had to be myself and we would connect naturally.

Now, I’ve mentioned my interactions with Risako in the past and this concert was no different. We have some sort of a connection I feel, I don’t know how to describe it. One thing that really stood out to me this time around though is something that made me feel like we really connected. Risako was up on stage, right in front of me, doing her normal serious pouty face (you’d know it if you saw it) when we locked eyes. Her gaze can be a bit intimidating at times, as it pierces right through you. Anyway, as we squared up I gave her a big ol’ smile. In reaction to this, she returned the smile with sort of a laugh attached to it. It may seem like I’m making a big deal out of nothing, but it felt so great to have that exchange. Little things like this make me feel just great.

So, back to the real world. I had a great time and I hope to do it again sometime. See you Berryz in New Jersey if I don’t catch you all before then.

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.

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.

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~

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.

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 Koubou at Sakura-con

Registration

Arrived with a friend at Sakura-con at 6:00 am on Friday in order to grab our id badges. Some other friends from Japan happened to arrive at the same time; they were there to queue for the Berryz autograph tickets, bright and early. They got in contact with some of the event staff and began organizing a list/line. A big thanks to them for putting that together. Closer to the time that the goods booth was to open up, and after some communication issues and a bit of confusion (an understatement), we were let in, and things were pretty smooth after that. I ended up being at the front of the line and was able to snag my tickets without issue. While there too, I bought a few goods, including their 7th anniversary photobook which I had planned to have signed.

Q&A

Next up was the Berryz Q&A. It was nice to finally see Berryz (I had skipped the opening ceremony). The interactions with the fans were great and I’m sure Berryz felt great as well. On somewhat of a side note, at the end of the Q&A, the host mentioned that we weren’t allowed to touch the girls during the autograph session, as expected, tho we could give her [the host] a hug if we wanted. Anyway, I thought that was amusing.

Autograph Session 1

Chinami Autograph 1

Wasn’t too worried about lining up early for the autographs as I had the autograph ticket. The line for those without a ticket was pretty long, I’m not sure how far Berryz got through it. So anyway, Berryz come out and they’re seated from Saki to Risako, in descending age order. As I was getting closer to the autograph table, there was a spot on the right in the line where you could get a good view of the girls as they waited for the next person in line to move over to them. At one point I waved to get Chinami’s attention and she waved back at me. Then her face lit up and she did a little bit of a gasp as she recognized who it was. Happy~

When I finally got to the autograph table, before moving on to Berryz, there was the host/translator/manager from the Q&A standing there. Well, I got my hug. Thank you manager-san~

For getting the 7th year anniversary photobook signed, I had tabs setup for each of the girls pages, tho I didn’t end up using them. Rather I just flipped through the pages as I was talking with each of the girls. Delay tactic success! In the end it really wasn’t necessary however, there was no push to get through the line.

The time spent interacting with each of the girls during the autographs almost seemed like an eternity compared to the little bit of rushed time allowed during handshakes back in Japan. My chats with the other girls were relativity brief, but I was able to spend a little bit of extra time with Chinami. I told her it was nice seeing her again, asked her about her hair (she had posted on her blog not too long before that she got some new extensions), and some other little chit chat (in Japanese, tho her responses were sometimes in English). Before the event, I ended up writing ケンタッキー (Kentucky) on my ID badge after a little bit of discussion with friends; with the extra time I had talking to Chinami, I was able to clarify that I’m from Kentucky. Though I had already mentioned it to her in Hawaii, she really got it this time, haha. I felt I could just stay there and keep on talking as there was no pressure for me to move on, outside of the fact that Maasa was there waiting for a little bit for me to finish.

Guest Reception / Hello! Party

After the autograph session, I headed over to the Red Lion hotel for the guest reception / dinner, where Berryz were supposed to make a brief appearance. Some people were wondering if the reception would be worth it and I can say, it definitely was.

After waiting a bit, they started introducing some of the guests as others had yet to arrive. Eventually, during a lull, out of the corner of my eye, an elevator opens up and who’s there? It’s Berryz. Promptly however, the doors close. Amusing. I and a bunch of other Berryz fans maneuvered ourselves over towards the elevator door, so that we’d be ready for them when they eventually did come out. A few minutes, later and it was Berryz Timez.

Oh, my goodness, like a deer in headlights, Berryz seemed a little frightened from what I could tell as they were coming out. The setup was pretty closely packed, so yeah. Once they made their way to the front however, things calmed down a bit and everyone relaxed. We were given the opportunity to take their pictures, before each of the girls would introduce themselves and say a few words.

After the girls left, we’d grab dinner and periodically they’d introduce more guests as they arrived.

Later in the evening they would begin holding a raffle for the opportunity to meet the musical guests back stage after their concerts. exist-trace is not a band I had heard of before, but I’ve seen and heard some snippets of their stuff, perhaps not my style but interesting none the less. They were pulling out names for exist-trace, tho it was somewhat amusing that no one seemed to want them, including me. I myself won a ticket, for exist-trace, not for Berryz, haha, bummer. My friend however… “I’m going to win,” she said. The confidence and seriousness in her voice was almost eerie. A few seconds later, as the last number is being read off, it is her number! Amazing!

I have to say, throughout the whole conference I really enjoyed hearing people tell me about their first experiences meeting/seeing Berryz. The nervousness, the excitement, the happiness… as happy as I was to see Berryz again, I was perhaps just as happy to see and hear everyone else’s reactions.

In general, I took the opportunity to ask people about their experiences as much as I could. It never gets old. On the flip side, throughout the con, it was interesting having people coming up to me, recognizing me from here or there. Putting faces to names and names to faces, although the time was brief, it was a nice bonding experience with everyone there.

Later that evening I checked into Hello! Party for a bit before calling it a night. It had been a long day.

Hello! Party 2

Concert

On Saturday, the only Berryz related activity on the schedule was their concert which would begin until 7pm. We got there early again, at 8am. Perhaps a bit too early, but what the hey. Tried to do the list/line thing again, but it kind of fell apart as we were moved from place to place. There were a lot of people lined up for the concert beforehand, which I was glad to see. In the end, I made it to the font of the line anyway, and eventually I positioned myself at the front of the concert hall, smack dab in the center.

The concert itself was great. It wasn’t as long as a normal one, but it was still a pretty full setlist. They opened with Ai wa Katsu. Icchoume Rock! was cool, tho it took me a second to catch on to the choreography. There was a costume change about two thirds of the way through the concert, which was a bit unexpected. The Miya / Chii / Kumai led CLAP! was a lot of fun. They finished things off with an encore, including the audience participation version of Rival and All For One and One For All.

Captain was dancing up a storm as per usual. Her smiles and plays to the crowd were awesome. You can tell she really wanted to make a good impression.

“Mo.mo.chi ka.wa.i.i.” I seriously roll my eyes when she does this stuff, but at the same time, I love it. Momo was, as usual, her characteristic self.

Chinami~. Chinami disappeared during the second MC, so I was thinking, what was she up to this time. She comes back with a fish costume, the one from Medachitai. Genius! Instead of saying things in Japanese like the other girls had been doing, she was speaking in English. Ahhh, love~ it. What more can I say about her, her presence on stage was awesome. Interesting to note is how a lot of people told me afterwards of how much they enjoyed watching Chinami in particular. Chinami love~

MC Maasa was absent from this one, but the king did shine on the stage in any case. She remains one of my favorite girls to watch.

Mama Miya. What an elegant young lady, with a lovely voice, something I tend to tell her every time we talk. As with everyone else, she just seemed to be having a lot of fun on stage.

Yurina ENJOY! Her energy seemed higher than normal and it was really fun to watch her, and to hear her speak.

Risako and I didn’t connect at the concert as we usually would, I am disappoint, lol. Must’ve been too many new faces for her to play with. That, and the whole experience must have been a roller coaster of nerves for the girls. In any case, she was great on stage. Like Captain, it felt like she was putting in a bit of extra effort with this one. She was having a lot of fun.

After the concert was a “fan march.” So much excitement as everyone cleared the concert venue and walked through the halls towards the other side of the con floor. Singing and shouting, pumped from the concert, full of enthusiasm. It was truly an unforgettable experience for many.

Autograph Session 2

Autograph 2 - Kentucky x Chi

Some people had asked me why I wasn’t wearing a Chinami t-shirt, or any other swag or anything. While I do usually wear that stuff at the concerts and occasionally just in rotation with my other clothes no matter where I am, I don’t really make an effort to do it when meeting Berryz. In particular, Chinami knows she’s my girl, and it’s how I’ve always presented myself to her and the others, just by being myself. I guess, I just show my support in different ways. Anyway, since people asked, I thought I’d throw it out there.

A friend and I had lined up so that when he was talking to Maasa, I could be there talking to Chinami. By the time I got to Miyabi however, he had already moved past Chinami to talk with Maasa (the order the girls were in was a bit unusual). With nothing to do, Chinami called out my name and started talking to me, even before I had a chance to say anything to Miya. That’s fine by me however. I ended up talking to Chinami for an extended period of time, while occasionally turning to Miya to tell her a few things as she was signing her photo. Back to Chii, I was telling her that her English was good and that I could be her teacher. She seemed happy about that. For this round of autographs I was speaking in English for most of the time, and she was replying in kind for the for the most part. We continued to talk as she signed her name, and added a little extra, “ケンタッキー” :)

Once through with all of the autographs, we were allowed to hang around for a bit as they were going to allow us to keep our autograph tickets as souvenirs. During that time I was able to continue to wave and talk to Chinami when she had gaps between signings. A friend I was with had a pad of paper and wrote little messages to Chinami during that time as well.

Closing

After the autograph session, we went over to the HelloStoreUSA shop where they were going to raffle off some signed goods. Captain showed up to pull the tickets. As she read the numbers off the tickets she picked she was so cute. Anyway, I didn’t win anything, but a friend won a signed Chinami card/photo. Lucky.

Berryz showed up for the closing ceremonies, saying thank you and also presenting the money they had gathered for Japan aid via donation/promotion they had going on. I think it was nice the way that they presented it. The whole gesture was a nice one to complement the Japan aid theme they had going throughout their time at the con.

With that, Sakura-con came to a close. As I said, I had a great time. Berryz and friends, see you when I see you.

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.

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

The photo makes sense with that little bit of a background tied to it, tho I was told that Berryz themselves were a little bit puzzled by the 3 finger pose. This is where things kicked off, after early morning meet up and a five or so hour bus ride to Izu, we were taken to an orchard estate on top of a very large, steep hill. Berryz greeted us and we had a toast to start before going in to get our pictures taken. Berryz looked stunning in their dresses, I felt a bit underdressed actually, as did others, but no matter. As with Hawaii, Chinami takes a spot right behind me, I think the photo turned out well.

Later that evening we’d check into our hotels and have dinner before heading out to the live concert. In the morning we did some strawberry picking, a special gift to Berryz. Followed up was a group shot along with some fun interaction with the girls and then moving on to the fan meeting where things would wrap up with a handshake. I had an excellent time meeting my girls again.

Captain

For the tour photosets, Captain had on some huge glasses. Cute, but kinda dorky, haha. Her longer hair also contributes to a new look of sorts.

Captain put together the live concert, which had a looser feel than usual, which is part of what made it great. One thing I like about Berryz is their lack of perfection. These types of events, really give a feeling, however slight, that you really are getting to know the girls and not just some actor of sorts. It was nice to see Captain, kinda more leadery, but still having a lot of fun.

Momoko

Momo was the same as always. She’s really a unique kind of idol, and as I’ve said before it seems people either love her or tire of it. I just say keep on keepin’ on Momo. After the group shot, because Risako was feeling sick that morning, Momo had her own little interaction session alone. She really has a personality and presence that can stand on it’s own, yet works well in the groups she’s in. She gave me a cute and animated handshake, as if she was genuinely happy to see me.

Chinami

Lucky number 7. Wow. There’s so much I could say, but as I’ve done in the past, I’ll try and exercise some constraint, heh. After the group shot, we were led into some rooms where groups of Berryz would come and give us a little presentation / interaction along with prizes to a select few. Maasa and Chinami came together, my two favorite Berryz mind you. At the end of their presentation, Chinami revealed what their prize would be. Chii had specially decorated an item, a bag of, ah, I already forgot what it’s called. Some tomato looking stuff you can put on curry &c.

Gift from Chii to Me

To reward the prize, Chinami picked a random seat. She turned around and said she’ll first start on the right side of the room, in the back (I was in the front on the left, so you could probably imagine my feeling of pending disappointment at this point). Because however, it was their seventh anniversary, she said she will pick the person seventh from the right and seventh from the back. As they were counting the seats from the back, I realized that they were in my row and when they finally stopped on me, I was totally surprised and excited! I was chosen by Chinami! Lucky!

I stood up and moved to the front of the room and of course Chinami, genius as she is, had to throw out some English during the exchange. “I’m Chinami,” “Thank you,” “Delicious.” As she was saying thank you for the second or third time, lol, she moved in close, hand raised in an attempt to give me a high five. I had then raised my hand too, before the staff had stopped her, lol. Ah, she was so excited, and so was I! We ended up giving each a remote high five a couple of times, haha. It was just great!

At the handshake later that evening, Chii continued where she left off, with some more thank you’s. OMG Chinami’s voice is so sugary syrupy sweet, haha. What an awesome experience. I’ll not downplay how happy it made me feel.

Maasa

Aww, Maasa was hurt before the concert and couldn’t dance on stage, tho she was still Ms. King MC as per usual. As the concert started up with Heroine ni Narou ka, she kinda looked sad on stage, sitting in a chair, doing the upper body motions to the song, singing her parts butting nothing else. As things moved on however, the girls would go over to her and dance and such, especially Chinami who gave her a few bumps and bops on the head. They were all having a good time in the end.

Miyabi

Miya seemed a bit more active than what I usually remember of her. Her voice is still in top shape and she’s a really well rounded idol. During the fan meeting she won the little DO-RE-ME tournament thing they were doing. She was given a trophy and then Yurina took pictures of her holding it to give to some of the audience. She was having a lot of fun with it.

Yurina

Kumai had a couple of mess-ups during the concert, which continues to contribute to the view of a bit of an absent minded personality that I’ve seen in her as of late. Now, that is not a dig, it’s great actually, her personality and stage presence are ever growing and not going unnoticed.

Risako

I say that I’m pretty good at reading people, but it’s more than a possibility that my reading is off a little in this case. That said, Risako continues to send me all sorts of subtle messages when she looks my way, followed by a smile and or what not. During the concerts or whenever, it’s quite amusing as she’s half way coy with it. During the handshake, the way she looked at me was, ah, I don’t know. She was looking so deep and intently, lol. As I’ve said before, we just kind of click on some level, then again, maybe it’s all in my head. Anyway, good show.

As I told all of Berryz when I had the chance: See you in Seattle!

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.