Passpogasm Editor: Are you going to recap your latest adventure?
Me: No. *prepares to take a two-hour nap*
Editor: Could you at least copy and paste your schedule?
Me: *copies and pastes schedule* *somehow this takes 30 minutes*
Editor: And add some notes.
Me: Alright. But the notes aren’t going to be interesting or entertaining or well-written or spelll checked.
Editor: Could you also add photos of the food you ate and souvenirs you bought/stole?
Me: Fine.
Editor: And bikini photos of your favorite idols.
The following is a quick overview of my summer trip (that somehow took five days to write).
When planning my trip, my focus was:
1. Jams Collection
2. QUEENS
3. iLiFE!
4. on the treat Super Season
5. Qumali Depart
After the trip, my interests changed slightly (in part because on the treat is ending). My new focus is:
1. Jams Collection
2. QUEENS
3. The Orchestra Tokyo
4. nonfic
5. Qumali Depart
The concert schedules of these groups will determine whether I return in the winter (50% chance I will, 52% chance I won’t).
Currency info: exchange rate was $1/140¥. (That’s good!) Twelve years ago, my first trip was $1/78¥. (That’s bad) And that was when I was in college and had less money to spend. Thank you Abenomics. RIP in peace.
Weather: Everyday was cool, with only a few warm days and there was light rain for about a week. I appreciated the weather because I know how brutally hot Japan is in July and August.
| June 2 Friday | Los Angeles International Airport -> Haneda (14:00 arrival) |
| June 3 Saturday | Check-in: JR-East Hotel Shinkiba Tokyo GIRLS GIRLS extra (18:00 QUEENS, necopla, Puella no Zetaichi) @Ebisu Garden Room Note 1: My original trip was June 7-June 26. Everything was set and perfect! But then Jams Collection announced shows on June 4 and 6, and I had to scramble to book a hotel for four additional days and rebook my flight. Traveling is more expensive this year and my new airfare went from $1400 -> $2300! Thank you Jams Collection! Thank you soooooo much! Note 2: All of the concerts I would attend this trip were S/priority/VIP/front area tickets. Note 3: There was a better show in Shinkiba this same day, and just ten minutes from my hotel (QUEENS again, Orchestra Tokyo, Devil Anthem, others), but I went to Ebisu instead because at the other concert, QUEENS performed at 12:00 and my flight wouldn’t land until 14:00, and I also specifically needed to see a group called Puella no Zetaichi. This group is relatively new and not very good, but one of their members is Asa Toyoda – aka one of the four members of Jams Collection who withdrew for violating their contract. She was my third favorite member (after Mirua–my favorite, also fired, and Koto–my second favorite, not fired but reprimanded for fan interaction) and this was the only time I would be able to see her. It really sucks that three of the four members who left Jams would later join other groups, all super-indie. They basically ruined Jams, and also ruined their own careers, because they clearly still wanted to be idols, but are now in tragically inferior groups. (Okay, this was supposed to be a quick overview and now I’m ranting about what happened to Jams Collection nine months ago.) Note 4: I literally arrived at the show and saw QUEENS, necopla, and Puella and then left. The 12 hour flight from Los Angeles to Tokyo is brutal, and in order to catch these three groups, I had to first stow my luggage in a locker at Shinagawa Station (I was concerned there wouldn’t be available coin lockers at Ebisu station since it’s smaller than Shinagawa) and then rush to the venue. And I still needed to check into my hotel later that night. The venue wasn’t glamorous at all, basically just a room with a stage. Ebisu Garden Hall is the main venue, and Garden Room is the much smaller venue attached to it. It was kind of awkward actually… there was no energy during any of the sets. I went to the front S-area and just stood and watched. Standing still and watching QUEENS is not the optimum way to experience QUEENS, but it was still QUEENS. (Are you going to mention that you just stared at Emiry and Rina the entire time without blinking?) I l only stared at them to memorize the timing of their dance moves. And to figure out their cup sizes. Note 5: JR EAST Hotel Shinkiba is a nice hotel, particularly if attending shows at Garden Shinkiba Factory, which is just a ten minute walk. The hotel is almost brand-new (opened in 2019) and is adjacent to Shinkiba station. It’s clean and modern, and the hotel’s restaurant has a nice breakfast buffet. I am a nerd when it comes to breakfast buffets. I take breakfast buffets veeeery seriously. |
| June 4 Sunday | Jams Collection & Cinderella Sengen two-man sponsored by Cinderella Sengen @WOMB 12/12:30 OPC Fes (QUEENS, On the treat Super Season, GILTYxGILTY, Chula, Quubi, sharply, others) @Garden Shinkiba Factory (9:30/10) Note 1: Cinderella Sengen sponsored three shows with different groups as a lead up to their tour finale (the first was with Jams Collection, second with iLiFE and Band Ja Naimon, and third with nonfic and AVAM). I’ve known of Cinderella Sengen since their debut and saw them during my December trip, but I’m not a fan. I bought tickets to all three shows because of Jams, iLiFE, and nonfic. For Jams set, I was second row. They wore their lavender outfits and performed for 35 minutes. Since it was a two-man, I had to stick around and watch Cinderella Sengen (it would have been rude to leave after Jams even though I wanted to go to OPC Fes). Their lineup is actually appealing, their music is just not very good. My path would cross theirs two more times this trip, which sucked because there were some groups that I wanted to see, but kept missing due to bad timing (for example, Devil Anthem. I had three tickets to shows of theirs and missed each one. Also missed INUWASI despite them being on the lineup of a show I was at–I missed them during my winter trip also. They aren’t high priority, but I wanted to see them–even if they are “annoying” lol.) Note 2: At OPC Fes, it was my first time seeing GILTYxGILTY (Haruka, former member of Harajuku Monogatari is in this group as a side project to nonfic) and first time seeing Quubi. For 20 minutes I fell in love with the short-haired girl in Quubi (Risa). Loved seeing On the treat Super Season (OSS) again. Because they are ending their current system with the graduations of Sena (my favorite member) and Mugi at the end of the month, they were high priority this trip. |
| June 5 Monday | Nothing idol related. I did “teacher” work that I brought with me and worked from my hotel. |
| June 6 Tuesday | Girl’s Bomb (Jams Collection, nonfic, My Dear Darlin, Maneki Kecak, Hana Iroha, C;ON, Say-la, 2o Love, festive, others) @O-EAST, 13/13:30 Note: Jams wore their denim outfits, which are my favorite. Nonfic would later become one of my favorite groups, but I don’t have any memory of them at this show. This was my first time seeing Maneki kecak‘s new lineup. And I like it better than the original, outside of Chiai. I’m not a fan of the group, but Hina (purple member) is really cute. (Is cuteness all that matters to you?) (Yes. And we did this bit before.) This group is impossible to ignore because they are at so many shows. I usually watch a song or two before leaving, since they are usually scheduled last. Performing last (called “tori”) is the best way to watch a group at a taiban, because by the end, the non-fans have left, freeing up floor space. And the worst time to see your favorite group is when they are on right before a really popular group. It’s because they are so often scheduled last that I hate when Maneki Kecak is in a lineup. At two shows this trip, Nankini and QUEENS closed, and it was so fun because there was so much space and the vibe was so chill by that time. While waiting for Jams, I discovered a group called Hana Iroha (linked is a very cute/funny video of them. They post a lot of entertaining behind-the-scenes videos like this) I never heard of this group prior, but as they performed, I noticed the blonde member and just watched her the entire time. During their intros, I learned her name is Rinka. Super cute and I fell in love. The blue member was also cute, but she is graduating soon (they are currently auditioning new members). After doing research on the group, I also fell in love with Maina. Rinka and Maina are best friends in the group. The whole group is full of hotties and their music is acceptable, it’s basically bubble gum pop, but it’s done well. They could be in my Top 10, it really depends on how stable their lineup is. |
| June 7 Wed | Check-in: Hotel Asia Center of Japan (Akasaka) Note: I’ve stayed at this hotel often, including my very first trip to Japan in 2011. Just wanted to mention their breakfast buffet used to be much better, back when they had an on-site bakery. I am a nerd when it comes to breakfast buffets. (Yes, you mentioned that.) They demolished the bakery when they renovated the hotel several years later. This hotel is also a few minutes from Aoyama-Itchome station, which is a direct connection to Shibuya, just two stations away. I don’t particularly like Shibuya, but that’s the location of most concerts, so it is convenient in addition to being a nice hotel in a very quiet neighborhood. I didn’t appreciate the quiet until I changed hotels to Roppongi where there were police sirens every night. |
| June 8 Thursday | iLiFE! tour finale @Zepp DiverCity 16:30/17:30 I saw iLiFE! two times during my winter trip and neither time did I pay much attention to them. When they first debuted three years ago, I happened to watch the stream of the concert and I didn’t like them at all. Therefore, when I saw them in December, I didn’t watch them too closely, but I did notice they were popular and performed one song I liked. When I got back home, I watched some of their music videos and live concerts, and became a huge fan, especially of the member Ice. She is very– (Cute. She’s cute right??) Please do not interrupt my very-quick-overview that is not-a-recap, but is taking waaaay longer to write than I anticipated. Anyway… she is very, very cute. As well as super-long kawaaiiii. *adjusts imaginary glasses* For this concert, I had to use a proxy service (thanks Tobi for the recommendation) since they used e-plus. I was going to buy an SS ticket (front row, 40,000Y), but there was a good chance they would do an ID check. I bought an S ticket (14,000Y) instead, which was still risky. It turned out that they did ID check for the SS tickets, but not the S tickets. That was lucky. As for the concert, it was… just okay. Afterwards, I realized that this is not a priority group for me. However, since they were a priority when I planned my schedule, I had purchased tickets for three other shows with them. I ended up not going to two of those concerts, since they conflicted with other shows that ended up being announced. Not using tickets I purchased happened frequently this trip. |
| June 9 Friday | Philippines Expo (Nankini, nonfic, Hana Iroha, Cinderella Sengen, Candy Tune, Maybe Me, FESTIVE) @Ueno Park special stage 13:45/14:00 Note 1: This was the only outdoor show I would go to this trip and it was my third favorite. This is the concert that made me a huge fan of nonfic. This concert was different than others, it was a Girl’s Bomb that was part of Philippines Expo (a three-day event at Ueno Park). I had a VIP pass for the front area and attendance was really low, maybe because it was a weekday and because it wasn’t a high profile event. There were seats set up and it also rained the night before, making the tent area a little uncomfortable at first. I arrived prepared though and was able to dry the water on my chair with a pack of tissues. Most people in attendance just sat down on the wet chairs. Because of the low attendance, we were able to sit every other chair so there was plenty of space to move around and place our bags. And the front row was free for whoever was a fan of the group performing–people would just rotate in and out. This is how I would later get front row for nonfic. When I first bought tickets to this concert, I mainly wanted to see Nankini, with nonfic, Candy Tune, and Maybe Me being secondary. I was only interested in Candy Tune (sister group of Fruits Zipper) because one of the members was my favorite former member of Akishibu Project. Unfortunately, Candy Tune are really, really bad. Bad music, lineup, choreography, and outfits. I should mention that I remained seated for all of the groups, until nonfic, Hana Iroha, and Nankini performed. After discovering Hana Iroha at Girl’s Bomb a few days before, I was completely infatuated with them. I had watched a lot of their online videos and had learned several songs and choreography to prepare myself for their set. They were great and I will continue to be a fan of theirs as long as Rinka and Maina are in the group. It was also amusing how each group talked about the Philippines during their MCs–either talking about their individual vacations to the country (usually Cebu), Filipino food–hilariously promoting the food stalls at the expo, or different members of groups explaining that they happened to be part Filipino (or had a Filipino grandma). The food in the stalls did smell good and the tent area was surrounded on all sides by food vendors. When I left the concert, I ate ramen at Tokyo Station though (which almost led to a disaster, to be explained later). Although I have been a casual fan of nonfic since their debut two years ago, this is my first time seeing them. Their original lineup added two great members, one of whom being Colne who is in a duo with Ice (my favorite member of iLiFE). She is a fantastic addition, great performer and super hot. (Is she also cute?) Yes. And no more questions. My favorite member will always be Haruka, but they are both oshimen level. Since attendance was so low, this was an extremely rare chance to see nonfic from the front row. They aren’t super-popular, but they are the second-ranked Heroines group (after iLiFE), so they do have a following. Unfortunately, I didn’t know any of their choreography (they have a lot of dance practice videos on their youtube channel that I later memorized–what idols call fans doing their homework before a live). They were so good, and one of my big regrets this trip was not prioritizing them and doing my homework before the show, because their choreography is great and knowing their dances would have made the experience a lot funner than just standing and watching. Every time I saw them afterwards, the venues were packed, but I am still fortunate for seeing them and opening my eyes to their greatness. Of course, now I am annoyed that iLiFE gets pushed so much more than nonfic, considering nonfic has a better lineup and arguably better material. |
| June 10 Saturday | on the treat Super Season @ I had purchased a ticket to Devil Anthem‘s teiki kouen (which also required joining their fan club in order to purchase the ticket), but a week later on the treat Super Season announced a birthday live for Nina (the “cute” member of the group, who resembles Makoto from PASSPO) for the same day and time. Since OSS will be disbanding in August (at TIF) and two members are graduating in a one-man on June 26, obviously I could no longer go to Devil Anthem’s show. I try to always focus on positives, but this day was annoying for a few reasons: (1) conflicting lives, (2) birthday concerts are worse than normal concerts (the setlists are usually shorter to make more time for the after party, and involve solo songs from the birthday girl and longer MCs, often with crying), and (3) Jams Collection would later announce two concerts in Nagoya for this same day (which I wouldn’t have gone to anyway even if I had I known in advance, but it was still annoying). The good thing about this concert was lifting and crowd surfing, which normally occur at OSS shows were banned, which is a huge plus imo. This concert was also supposed to be at Shibuya MilkyWay (a venue OSS uses often), but a scheduling conflict forced them to relocate to Shibuya Ring (because of the change the group paid for the drink cover fee). I’ve wanted to go to a show at Ring because it has a unique layout that is similar to a colosseum: an arena space in front of the stage and then two curved raised platforms surrounding the inner arena. I bought my ticket for the show the minute it went up and was ticket #32. All of my OSS and QUEENS tickets were between #28-37 because I was able to purchase them within minutes of being available. I chose the right side of the arena area, because for most of their songs, Sena is on the right side. Yes, I have studied this. (The same is true for Emiry for QUEENS.) *adjusts imaginary glasses* Also, when queuing outside, a nice older fan passed out pink disposable glowsticks to everyone. I love OSS’s music and Sena, who I will refer to as the “hot” member, is one of my top ten idols. She is so uniquely beautiful and when Jams announced the withdrawal of the four members, I really hoped that somehow Sena could join them, she would have been a perfect fit. Anyway, it was a fun show, but short and the feeling of sadness with this group was already settling in, knowing they would be disbanding soon and didn’t accomplish many of their goals (as is the case with all the great groups that didn’t achieve the popularity and success of much lesser groups). Looking back at my winter trip recap, I even commented about the group’s longevity. I didn’t think the end would be this soon though. |
| June 11 Sunday | Qumali Depart @Zepp Haneda (17/18:00) /// Hype Idol ( Another day of idols, another day of conflicting schedules. Hype Idol had a fantastic lineup, but this was my only opportunity to see Qumali Depart. This meant going to Hype Idol in the morning for the first half of the show and then going to Zepp Haneda for Qumali Depart in the evening. Usually, the first half of a taiban are the groups I have no interest in, but this one included several I wanted to see: Shissou Crayon, MOVE, falench, and YOYOYO, followed by nonfic in the early afternoon. I had to endure a lot of groups I had no interest in before nonfic though. And Colne was sick, so she wasn’t in the lineup. I knew of Shissou Crayon because I did research on them before my trip and I liked them much more than I thought I would. Azusa immediately became my favorite. I was so impressed with the group, I considered buying tickets to their teiki kouen (they had two scheduled during my trip). I’ve been in these situations before to know these regular shows are too much for a casual fan though. I was also going to see them again at the Mini TIF the following week. Because I missed QUEENS, iLiFE, Devil Anthem (again), and Yakousei Amuse, this meant the Qumali Depart one-man had to be as good as those four groups. And it was! They performed most of my favorite songs and the whole production was really classy. There were moments when the lighting was so perfect that it felt magical. My three favorite members: Mei, Sao, and Fuka were amazing. Even though getting to Zepp Haneda was a hassle (it rained that day) and my ticket was the normal type (in retrospect, I should have purchased a VIP ticket instead of regular), I’m glad I decided to go. It was honestly a hard decision to leave Hype Idol. |
| June 12 Monday | Nothing idol related. Continued the work that I brought with me and worked from my hotel. |
| June 13 Tuesday | Considered going to a women-only onsen, but I had work to finish. |
| June 14 Wed | iLiVE (iLiFE!, nonfic, Cinderella Sengen, Yakousei Amuse, Anthurium, Merry bad tune) @VeatsShibuya 14/14:30 Before iLiVE (a series of concerts sponsored by iLiFE), I went to Tokyo Station and bought a shinkansen ticket to Osaka for the upcoming Jams Collection concert. The night before, I decided to go to their Osaka concert and purchased a ticket. With that out of the way, I went to Veats, which I dislike greatly because it is such a small venue that is booked so often. Obviously clubs are expensive in Shibuya, but the iLiVE lineup had too many known groups for such a small venue. I had a ticket for the front area, but it was so congested, it took 20 minutes just to get to the stage, because there was a queue for the front area. It was worth it to see iLiFE and nonfic (Colne returned from her illness), but overall it was too crowded to be truly fun. |
| June 15 Thursday | QUEENS MECCHA @Chic Hall 19/19:30 /// Meccha is QUEENS new teiki kouen that they began in April. The show is more than 60 minutes of non-stop music (focusing on songs they don’t frequently perform). I had been waiting patiently for them to put the tickets up for sale and they finally did so on June 9. I’m not sure why they presale some of their concerts more than a month in advance and some only a week. Anyway, I was at the Philippines Expo that day and then went to Tokyo Station for dinner and shopping and the next thing I know, I am on the subway heading back to my hotel when I am reminded that QUEENS Meccha concert is about to go on sale. I had totally forgot! I’ve never used my phone to purchase tickets before (I always use my PC or macbook because usually you have to refresh continually to get through when a ticket goes up) and I’ve had difficulty purchasing tickets in Japan with my credit cards (usually fraud alerts blocking the charge). Everything went fine though and I was able to purchase a ticket on the train using my phone the moment it went on sale. There was also a Marquee Festival that I couldn’t go to because Marquee Fes uses e-plus smartphone tickets and day-tickets are usually not available because the shows sell out. This sucks because Marquee Festivals are the best imo (Jams are often the headlining act). I knew in advance that QUEENS would perform a lot of b-sides and lesser known songs at Meccha, but I was still surprised by the lack of heavy rotation songs. I didn’t know the choreography to half of the songs. I want to keep this summary short, but the venue was really small. I know QUEENS aren’t super popular, but Chic Hall was ridiculous. I also made a mistake before the show even began. It was raining again and I had trouble finding the place. I arrived 5 minutes before they opened and since I had never been there before, I just stood on the stairs with other fans and I didn’t know where to go. I felt it would be rude to walk past these fans who were already waiting and I figured I would be able to hear the staff calling numbers from where I was. I didn’t realize until later that there was a lobby below where most fans were waiting. After a while, I couldn’t hear anyone calling ticket numbers, so I walked down the stairs, and they were already on B tickets! My ticket was A-37. And the ticket guy was talking super quietly, so there was no way I would have been able to hear from the stairs. This was an important reminder for me to not be so courteous and be more assertive. So, I kind of effed up, which wouldn’t have been so bad except for what happened later. Again, it’s a super small club and everyone is in their spot (there are markers on the floor to keep things organized and everyone was standing on one). The show starts and after one song, two complete idiots literally squeeze their way right into the area that me and another guy were standing, which was right next to the PA/mixing booth. Both of us were annoyed, I mean who the eff does that at a one-man. I held my ground though and refused to give them even an inch because what they did was absurd. The two morons were squeezed up against the wall the entire concert which was hilarious, but they also encroached on my space. Even though they had it worse, I could no longer freely jump around because of them. And this all went back to me missing my ticket number, because I shouldn’t have been standing there in the first place. I did a count, and I should have been in the third row (not the fourth), had I entered when I was supposed to. I was upset, but I was responsible, so I resolved to not let that happen again. This is only relevant to hardcore fans, but I was standing right next to the most hardcore QUEENS fan. I see this guy on every QUEENS concert stream. He is a tall, older gentleman who knows all of the choreography and is super intense. Whenever I didn’t know what to do, I just watched him and followed his lead. |
| June 16 Friday | Check-out/Check-in remm Roppongi I had to change hotels because it had been impossible to find a good hotel that was available for a three-week period. The hotel I changed to was just five minutes from my previous hotel. Remm is a new hotel that opened in 2017 and is located directly across Tokyo Midtown. The rooms all have massage chairs and the breakfast buffet is good. I also fell in love with the waitress at the restaurant, but that probably doesn’t need to be mentioned. She was super cute and always working hard. I ate at the hotel’s restaurant ten days in a row, any normal human would have fallen for her. |
| June 17 Saturday | mini TIF (nankini, MOVE, Rafu x Rafu, Shissou Crayon, sharply, notall) @Garden Shinkiba Factory 11/11:30 Keeping this short: Saw Shissou Crayon again. I was still in love with Azusa. (Did you jump around a lot to show your love?) Yes. You better believe I jumped around a lot. They also performed my favorite song Hot Chocolate which Azusa is the co-center. Saw Rafu x Rafu (Rough Laugh), another group I researched before my trip. They are the type of group I would see again if I had the chance, but I wouldn’t go out of my way. I watched notall mainly because I follow Yui. The real surprise of the day was Malcolm Mask McLaren. I’ve seen them before (original gen and 2nd gen), but this was the third generation of MMM and… *drum roll* I fell in love with a member! (Sigh, not again.) This was not planned. I repeat, this was not planned. Her name is Yumeka. She is totally awkward, but completely adorable… in a nerdy way. And because I have such great luck, I wouldn’t be able to see them again because of time conflicts (they were at the upcoming Idol Koushien but I would still be on the shinkansen back to Tokyo during their timeslot.) Yumeka!! *howls at the moon* Nankini was scheduled last and I watched them from the front row. Fell in love with Hikari. I’ve followed her for years and she is so much cuter in person than photos. And there was much jumping on that day. |
| June 18 Sunday | SUPER GiRLS release event @LaLaport Yokohama, 15:30 This was random, I went to SUPER GiRLS release event in Yokohama. The final thread of my SG fandom is Yuu. The new members are cute enough and it was just nice getting out of Tokyo. I didn’t buy their single, I watched from the non-priority area. It was a beautiful day and they had a nice turnout (it was an outdoors stage). Afterwards, I went to Shin-Yokohama to eat dinner at the Ramen Museum and buy souvenirs (I’ve been to the Ramen Museum several times and yes, I buy ramen souvenirs). Today was also Rina’s (QUEENS) birthday concert. I bought a ticket, but after Meccha I needed a break. Obviously, I was conflicted about this decision. She is my second favorite member, but I hate small venues and birthday concerts. At Meccha she mentioned she would play drums, which just makes her even cooler. She later uploaded footage and its super-long kawaaiiii. |
| June 19 Monday | Nothing idol related. I was able to finish the work that I brought with me. |
| June 20 Tuesday | QUEENS, The Orchestra Tokyo, PRSMIN, mirror mirror, Chula @Shibuya Pleasure Pleasure, 17:40/18. I had already purchased an S-ticket to the iLiFE/Cinderella Sengen concert, but chose to go to the Pleasure Pleasure concert instead (not a fan of the Pleasure Pleasure name btw). Shibuya Pleasure Pleasure used to be called Mt. Rainier Hall, and I’ve been here in the past for predia and Doll Elements concerts. I love this venue because it was previously a movie theater, therefore the floor is sloped downward, which improves visibility of the stage, and the seats flip up, therefore you can sit and chill when you want and then stand and have a lot of space, since the seat retracts. This is so much better than the folding chairs that a lot of taibans use, since those types of seats stay open and completely restrict your space. Anyway, this show was incredibly fun, my favorite by far this trip. The lineup, venue, and number of fans was perfect. The first two rows were reserved for VIP tickets and the very front row seats were covered and off-limits, which was really smart of the organizers to prevent fans from camping out in the front row seats. The staff were also on top of things, because they kept removing people who had snuck into the VIP section (VIP tickets holders wore wristbands). I sat second row, center aisle for most of the show and just casually watched, until a group I was interested in came on and then I went to the front row, which would be for The Orchestra Tokyo and QUEENS. When Orchestra Tokyo came on stage, I instantly became a fan and I completely fell in love with Mei. She is so cute. But not just cute, she is also pretty. And sexy. I’m so infatuated with her that on Apple Music, I bumped her solo song “Bery Gyutto Meichan Desu” to #1 on their Top Songs ranking. Which unfortunately shows that very few people are listening to them on Apple Music, if I could single handedly bump the song to the top after listening to it just 30 times or so. The song is one of the cutest ever though. They performed six songs and despite not knowing their music, it was fun AF. The crowd was really into them and it was just perfect seeing them for the first time from the front row. Can’t wait to see them again. And because I like to torture myself, I reviewed my December trip, and I could have seen Orchestra Tokyo two different times–at Roppongi Idol Festival and Leading Premium! [Editor: Instead of complaining, why don’t you go back in time and fix your mistake?] (I’m too lazy to build a time machine! I don’t even want to write this recap and you think I’m going to build a time machine??) QUEENS ended the concert, which meant jumping around without restriction. This was my favorite time seeing them ever since it was from the first row. They also performed six songs. There was just a really good vibe at this venue the whole time. Orchestra Tokyo also tweeted that it was their first time here and they thought it was a perfect fit. Side Note: Randomly, at Shibuya crossing before the concert, I came across one of my favorite idols, Hinano from MOOOVE (formerly in YOYOYO) who was handing out flyers. It was surreal, I’m basically navigating through all the people and then suddenly she was right in front of me. I know I had a star-struck look on my face as she looked at me. Fortunately, I didn’t make an idiot out of myself and I just told her I’m a fan. I know idols aren’t supposed to talk with fans when doing work like this, so I continued on my way and I didn’t even take the flyer she was handing out (I already realized she was promoting the MOOOVE/YOYOYO concert that week.) Another weird thing about this: I never take the Hachiko exit and thereby bypass Shibuya crossing, but for some reason I took that exit this time. Had I taken my normal station exit which is closer to all of the Shibuya clubs, I would never have seen her. |
| June 21 Wed | Nonfic, Cinderella Sengen, AVAM @O-West, 18/18:30 I skipped the Cinderella Sengen show with iLiFE the previous night, but went to this one in order to see nonfic. I’ve seen AVAM before and not a fan. Since this was the last time I would see nonfic, I was really hoping for a perfect setlist including my favorite song which is very rare, but it didn’t happen. I would have to go to a one-man to see that song performed. |
| June 22 Thursday | Another day, another wasted S ticket. When I bought the ticket for ChulaMachuri (a Chula sponsored concert), I wouldn’t have predicted that something else would come along that was better. But then QUEENS scheduled a two-man with on the treat Super Season. Sigh, I was looking forward to seeing iLiFE, Devil Anthem, and INUWASI. This was the third time I would not see Devil Anthem because of a schedule conflict. They aren’t high priority anymore, but I still wanted to see them at least once. I’ve seen several streams of QUEENS BBQ in the past because they often broadcast these shows on their YouTube channel. It’s basically a two-man with one of their “friend” groups; there isn’t an actual BBQ involved. They mentioned trying to get OSS in a two-man for a long time and it finally happened. Obviously my two favorite indie groups made this automatic for me (I bought the ticket the minute it went on sale), but it was still frustrating to miss another concert that I had a ticket for. My ticket was in the 20s, which was good for the second row. Finding the venue, Kin Mirai Kaikan, was a little difficult–I had never been there before and it’s tiny, but it turned out to be just a minute away from the Kua Aina (burger shop from Hawaii) that I always go to. I also had a little scare before the concert began: when I went down the stairs to the venue, I lost reception on my phone and my ticket wouldn’t load. This trip I used an eSIM from Ubigi, which uses docomo’s network, and it was usually reliable, but every now and then speeds were really slow (3G speed, instead of 5G). In order to load the ticket I had to leave the queue, go back up the stairs, and go outside, and even then, the reception was still bad. I was worried because I didn’t want to mess up again, like at Meccha. It turned out a lot of other fans also had trouble loading their tickets because several started walking outside with me. Once the ticket loaded, I took a screenshot just in case, and returned to the queue in time. Lifting and moshing were allowed during OSS’s set, so I had to be alert, but it was extremely fun. They performed seven songs non-stop and Sena continued to be hot. During the MC, Mirai mistakenly thanked “Quubi” for inviting them. She was immediately corrected that it was QUEENS and apologized. QUEENS then performed 9 songs and I enjoyed their set much more than the one at Meccha. The setlist was less B-sides and there was a lot more space in this venue compared to Chic Hall. Having space to move is so important for a group like QUEENS. My goal was to jump around like an idiot for every single Emiry solo… and I almost achieved this stupid goal, I missed during one song. I just lost my concentration. This was my second favorite show of the trip. I would see QUEENS and OSS a final time at different concerts a few days later. |
| June 23 Friday | Jams Collection @Zepp Namba, 18:30/19:15 /// The Osaka Jams Collection concert was a mistake from beginning to end. To begin, the S lottery tickets went up for sale on Tiget on June 4, which was about 8 hours too late, because my flight was in the air at this time. So, I had to wait until the next day when I arrived in Tokyo to try the lottery. The problem is I’ve had difficulty with Tiget in the past when I’ve attempted a purchase in Japan, since they block my credit cards. This doesn’t happen in the US though. This is why I was hoping they would make the tickets available sooner, so I could make the purchase when I was still in the US. Once I got to my hotel, I tried all eight of the credit cards I brought with me (I came prepared for a situation like this), but each was declined. Basically, my bank would send a security code to my phone to verify the purchase, but the code would be blocked because it was SMS (my eSIM doesn’t do SMS). Had the tickets been made available just the day before, everything would have been fine, because I would have entered the lottery and gotten tickets (tickets were guaranteed, the lottery just determined the ticket number). Since my lottery attempt failed, I should have just forgotten about the concert. That’s what a normal person would have done. But I couldn’t forget! I’m not a normal person!! This dilemma would have been a lot easier if I could have purchased a ticket to Takane no Nadeshiko‘s tour finale. Unfortunately, Takane use e-plus smartphone tickets for their concerts, so buying a ticket was impossible. So I kept thinking about the Jams concert like a crazy person. Two weeks later, the remaining S tickets were made available on general release. I decided to try again, thinking the purchase would be declined again, so what’s the harm. However, this time the purchase went through on the first try. Oh my… this was both great and completely stupid!! While I was happy to get a ticket, the order of entry for the concert was S lottery (S1) and then S general (S2). And there was no logical reason why Tiget would decline my lottery attempt, but then approve my general ticket. This turned out to be significant because my ticket was S2 #207 and the S tickets sold out soon after they went up (there were 220 total S tickets). My S2 ticket sucked! No offense S2 ticket! (S2 ticket: it’s okay *cries into a pillow*) Anyway, I spent too much time writing about the above situation. And it probably doesn’t even make sense. After purchasing the ticket, I had to purchase a shinkansen ticket (explained earlier) and also book a hotel in Osaka. I found a good hotel within five minutes of Zepp Namba. The whole ordeal was so annoying though, considering I could have purchased a Japan Rail Pass had I known I would be going to Osaka. On the day of the concert, I took a shinkansen to Shin-Osaka (2.5 hours using the Nozomi train). I checked into my hotel and then went to Jams Pop-Up shop. I intended to purchase a Koto cushion and Koto acrylic figurine/key chain. And yes, the “cushion” is basically a mini-body pillow of Koto. When they first announced this product, I thought “No way, I can’t buy that.” It just seemed weird and only later did I think about the difficulty of taking it home in my luggage. But then I learned that the cushions are vacuum sealed, meaning they were flattened and would easily fit in my bag. At that point the pervy side of my brain decided it absolutely needed the cushion. And the more I thought about the cushion, the more I wanted it. It took me an hour to find the Pop-up shop and of course the Koto cushion was sold out!! I literally just stared at the menu-board with a stupid look on my face. Koto is not a popular member, I mean how many pervy Koto fans are there?? Well there could be a lot… she is incredibly hot, but my point stands! There is no way they produced a large number of Koto cushions. I’m thinking less than ten. How dare they underestimate the demand that badly. What an outrage! What an injustice! They can’t do this to Koto fans!! And this was only the shop’s 2nd day (it would be open for three more days). With no more Koto cushions! The store clerk actually tried to cheer me up because I looked so devastated. Still in a state of shock, I went back to my hotel and got ready for the concert. It was a quick five-minute walk to Zepp Namba. While waiting, they announced two really stupid things: (1) they were doing ID checks. The hell? This is Jams Collection, not an exclusive fan-club-only SMAP reunion concert. The concert didn’t even sell out! [Editor: Koto cushions did though!] and (2) the S seats were numbered. This was just complete stupidity#. I had my ID (CA drivers license), so I wasn’t worried about the ID check, however that would have been a real issue had this been a ticket purchased through a proxy. Just thinking about that angered me. The bigger problem turned out to be the numbered seats. What the EFF were they thinking? No other group numbers the seats at a concert like this, that is just complicating something that should be simple. And do I need to remind you that my seat number sucked!! The worst part was I got into the arena quickly since I skipped the bar and Japanese people just tend to be slow-moving, and I could have easily secured a nice seat had it been free-seating. I’ve been to a ton of concerts like this and they are always free-seating. And there were so many no-shows in good seat locations that no one was able to move to. And the seats were so tiny and close together, there was no room to move whatsoever. What really bothered me was how this screwed over some fans who had really good ticket numbers. Looking at the seating chart, ticket #44 was on the far outside edge of the 2nd row, while ticket #45 was in the direct center of the third row. Which meant ticket 45 was better than ticket 44! Furthermore, a lot of fans with S tickets had worse seats than the A ticket holders, who got to choose their seats. And I went back to my photos of the Nagoya concert, and they did not number the S tickets for that concert. In the six months since that concert, someone thought it would be a genius move to number the seats. And why are there even chairs to begin with?! Just let us stand and move around. And how the F-junk did the Koto body pillows sell out?? The concert itself was okay, basically like any Jams concert. The two new songs are great, but they only performed 11 songs in total (A few days ago, I purchased the stream of their Tokyo concert on Twitcasting and they performed 12 songs. That concert also seemed better overall). Back to this concert, I noticed that one of the new members Ruka (a relatively popular YouTuber) already seemed bored. I hope I am wrong, but I am concerned she won’t stick around and the group has had soooo many lineup issues already (they have been around two years and already have three generations of members). Now that it’s been a week since the concert, I can reflect on all of this rationally with a clear conscious. I still think about the lottery situation though… That’s normal right? I mean, who knows, I could have gotten ticket #1 had my lottery attempt gone through. (Yeah, because you are a totally lucky person. Three words: Koto’s body pillow sold out. Think about that for a moment.) (I’ve already thought about that for a moment. I’ve thought about that for many, many moments!!) |
| June 24 Saturday | Idol Koushien (QUEENS, #2i2, Yosugala, Kingsari, Quubi, nankini, Merry bad tune, I was finally able to see Yosugala, #2i2, and Kingsari. I skipped the first half of this concert, the only group I wanted to see in the morning timeslot was Bunny La Crew (sister group of Jams Collection). This was my first time in Shinjuku in years. I hate Shinjuku and never venture there unless there is a concert at BLAZE or ReNY. They did a great job renovating the area around BLAZE though (although they got rid of the Namco VR center). Keeping this short: Yosugala was fantastic. I love their music and lineup, especially Nagi. #2i2 was fantastic as well. My favorite Toomi gave me a lot of nice looks that momentarily made me forget about Koto body pillows. First time seeing Kingsari, and liked them as well. Because I had an S ticket, I was in the 2nd row for each of these groups. For QUEENS I was able to get front row on the far edge. By the time they performed, I was pretty tired though. I had seen a lot of groups by that point so I wouldn’t be jumping around, but I still danced along with their choreography for most of their songs. Great show overall, more energy than any of the previous taibans, mainly because it was a Saturday night. |
| June 25 Sunday | On the treat Super Season one-man: OSS to the Tempest @Shibuya Womb 16:30/17:15 It is kind of surreal that I went to this concert. When I became a fan of on the treat Super Season back in December, I started following them pretty closely and they announced this concert months in advance, either January or February. At the time, I remember thinking, “Too bad I won’t be in Tokyo in June.” I thought my summer trip would be in July, so I never considered buying a ticket. Things may have turned out differently had I purchased a ticket earlier. By the time I did buy a ticket, it was #50. Having a good ticket was important for this concert (well, it’s always important), but for a different reason than usual. Because OSS allows lifting, moshing, crowd surfing, and stage diving, a good ticket would have allowed me to choose a better spot to avoid that stupidity. Initially this concert was just their 2nd Anniversary one-man, but later turned into Sena and Mugi’s graduation concert after they announced they were leaving. The group not making much progress was one of their reasons. To have an anniversary concert at a small club like Womb shows zero progress. This concert should have been at O-West at least. I want to think that OSS is a legendary group, but they were more lightning in a bottle. They had awesome, unique material and a miracle lineup. Unfortunately they had bad luck when they lost Minami, the heart of the group, in January. She was on hiatus for months due to illness and never recovered. When entering, I received a group photo (for buying a priority ticket). I knew the concert would be chaotic, so I didn’t even consider going to the middle of the floor to watch. I didn’t want to hold up the wall either though, because this is the last time I will ever see Sena, so I strategically chose a spot in the 2nd row, near the edge of the stage, but still not super close to the wall. OSS has a decent number of girl fans, and most of them made sure to stand on the sides. A few of them were extremely brave though and just mixed in with the crowd. I mention this because there was a ton of lifting and crowd surfing the entire show and it was disgusting constantly pushing off sweaty idiots. By the end of the live, people were drenched in sweat and there were multiple injuries. It is amusing to me that most of them would soon be queuing for chekis in that condition. I know that I am too narcissistic, but I think it is reasonable to want to look nice when taking a photo with an idol. Before the concert began, I had a feeling they would perform all of their songs, because that is the type of group they are. And they did just that–20 songs almost non-stop, split by two short breaks, and then returned for a one-song encore. The concert was great and I appreciate their hard work, but I know that if it was a clean concert, 90% of the audience would have enjoyed it more. There was just waaaay too much focus on the lifting and surfing. And it was basically the same 15-20 idiots, with everyone else just wanting to watch the show. I know it makes the group “hardcore” but it’s just mindless stupidity. |
| June 26 Monday | Haneda -> Los Angeles 4:45 //2:30 I did final souvenir shopping at Haneda airport (they have nice shops and restaurants throughout the airport) and I miraculously found something that I had been looking forever for but had given up on. |
Important Souvenir#
For more than five years I’ve been searching for the ear gag to use in my classroom and I randomly found it at a toy store at Haneda airport. They had everything at this store! (Did they have Koto body pillows?)
Important Confession
As explained previously, I bumped Mei’s birthday song “Bery-Gyutto Meichan Desu” to the top of Orchestra Tokyo’s “Top Songs” ranking in Apple Music. This song was ranked in the 30s, but I listened to it over and over and over and now it is their #1 song. You’re welcome Mei.
Jams Collection POP-UP Shop in Osaka
When I arrived in Osaka, I was surprised that there was an advertisement for their Pop-Up shop at the train station. It wasn’t super easy to find the shop, but I finally found it. Only to be disappointed/devastated that they sold out of Koto cushions aka Koto body pillows! (Editor: Please stop admitting that you wanted a Koto body pillow.) (I will never lie to my readers!)
Food: Part 1
I happened to go to the same burger place that Shoko went to (Burger Revolution in Roppongi). Although I rarely mention Shoko or =LOVE, she is one of my all-time favorite idols.
Editor: How much would you pay to have had dinner with Shoko?
Me: I don’t know. That’s a weird question.
*5 minutes later*
Me: Would she be wearing a bikini?
Bonus Shoko Photo: Summer Edition
Food: Part 2
When I went to Japan in the winter, getting breakfast was a different experience because hotels had to make a huge effort to be sanitary and it was recommended to eat in your room. Things were pretty much back to normal during the summer.
Food: Part 3
Some of the food I ate during my trip. My favorite food in Japan is ramen, curry, tendon, and burgers.
Concert Stuff
Concert Flyers
On the treat Super Season and Sena: Images to help me remember this great group and idol
The Orchestra Tokyo
One Piece Encounters
Drink Recommendation
I haven’t gotten sick the past five times I’ve been to Japan and I think it is because I only drink bottled water (even at restaurants) and whenever I felt like I was on the verge of getting sick, I would drink one of these and I felt fine the next day. On average, I drank 3 or 4 of these a week (they also taste great, especially the grapefruit peach one.)
Only in Japan Part 1
Only in Japan Part 2
The weirdest thing about this was the arm with the glowstick actually moved. Tax dollars at work! Literally and figuratively! (What a nerdy way to end your recap.)
The End
SUPER GiRL Talk 