Japan Trip Report - Week 2
• Monday, January 2nd 2012
We woke up quite early in the morning, because it was the day when Maria had to return back to Finland so we took her to Nippori so that she can get to the airport train safely. Then we got back to the hostel to get ready for my death aka JUMP concert!! It was the first concert day, and I wanted to buy goods before the concert so Susu agreed to go with me so that I wouldn't have to line up for hours alone. The concert would start at 5pm and we'd get in at 4pm, so we left early so that we'd be on the line several hours before, so that we would make it for sure. I also finished my self-made uchiwa, and we were ready to go.
We got to Yokohama Arena well in time. The line went almost around the building which was expected. We didn't have time to eat before leaving so Susu went to buy something from 7/11 as I stood in the line. I still hadn't got used to people staring so I felt really awkward lol. I was also wearing my Hidarime-scarf so I think I stood out even more lmao. After Susu came back we ate a little snack in the line, and the lining up took around 2 hours. It was super cold! But somehow we made it! When I saw the goods I got so excited, they were all so beautiful and I wanted everything!! Well except the hair tie lol. So here's what I bought (with an extra pin I got later from an idol shop that is now happily on my bag):
I wanted to buy some Chinen too but I had already spent money a bit too much lol. I do regret of not getting the clear file, though. Anyway, quite soon it was time for me to go line up to get in so I did, and Susu left to go back to Tokyo on her own. It was already over 4pm when the line finally started moving and I got in. It wasn't my first time there but it felt as surreal as it always does. I just couldn't believe where I was. My seat was in C block, which is far from the main stage but it's just in front of the front stage and the sidewalk was really close too. I had such a stressful time with crying and sleepless nights before the trip, when at first I wasn't even sure if there's going to be a tour at all (it was announced later than ever) and then if I could even get tickets (got unlucky at a fanclub ballot) and so on, so all I cared about was that I'm there and I'm close enough to see them with my own eyes, which means I will be close enough to see their faces even when they quickly pass by and not so far that I would only see their faces from a screen. And my seat was close enough, except there was one problem. Right in front of me was this gyaru with the _hugest hair ever_. I swear I couldn't see right in front of my because of that hair. Luckily the stage wasn't right in the front because I wouldn't have seen anything.
The closer it got to 5pm the more I started shaking and my heart was racing. I feel that even now when I'm writing this. Then the lights came off and everybody jumped up screaming. I was ready to pass out. Shadow boy started playing and the boys where standing on the main stage behind a gauze (is that the right word for it?) covering the whole stage. There was a video playing on the screens and reflecting on the gauze as the boys were dancing. When the song finished, there was that "explosion sound" and the gauze fell down and Beat Line started playing. That moment was pretty amazing.
I'm not going to write a full con report here or maybe not at all since I saw there were already a few around, and it's been so long anyway that I'm not sure if I remember enough for a report. But on the other hand I'm afraid I will forget more if I don't write, so maybe I'll do something after all... Anyway, overall the concert was amazing as expected. The first time when they started walking towards the front stage my heart was beating like crazy. There they were, my favourite boys, they were really there. The stage was so close I saw them clearly, but it just always feels so unreal, like I'm just watching a huge screen or something. I just couldn't believe they were there. I really do love them all and each of them being close makes my heart race. But I swear no-one - not anyone in the world - makes me or has never made me feel the same way that Yamada does. When he's close to me I can barely breath. It feels like I have butterflies having a disco party in my stomach except I feel that in my whole body from head to toes. My legs get completely weak and I can't see or think anything else. It feels like a dream. He literally takes my breath away. Everything he does from every smile to every dance move gets 100x more powerful when you see it with your own eyes. He is incredible to me. And everytime he goes away my heart breaks a little.
They held a press conference during the MC, yes, the one you see on news clips! They announced that "yesterday" they shot a new PV. The whole crowd went crazy. It's funny because the last time I was on a tour they also announced having shot Hitomi no Screen PV the day before :D Anyway, they also announced Asia Tour which has basically nothing to do with me because I don't live in Asia, but it's still a huge thing for the boys so I felt like a proud mama! Also Yabu announced he got into Waseda, which came totally out of the blue and it was pretty awesome of being one of the "first" people to hear it. I felt so proud and happy for him ♥ The highlight of the show for me was SUPER DELICATE. Of course by now everyone has already heard/seen it, but experiencing it live for the first time was incredible. The song, the lyrics, the dance, everything was so flawless I seriously almost cried. It's easily one of my favourite songs in the world now. It's perfect.
After around 2½ hours of having the time of my life it was time to return to Tokyo. I couldn't believe I would get to experience this again the next day.
• Tuesday, January 3rd 2012
It was the day of my 2nd JUMP concert. Susu was going to Sendai for the day to meet her friend, so she left early in the morning. This time the concert would start at 2pm so I headed to Yokoari so I was already there around 12.30pm. I just have to say that my outfit was perfect and my hair for the day was so much better than yesterday so I'm sad no-one was there to take a picture of me before I left lmao! Anyway, once again I went there, got stared at, waited in line, got in and found my seat. This time I would be on D block which had a good view on the main stage, the middle stage was pretty much in front of me and the side walk was really close. This time I didn't have a big-haired girl in front of me but there were several people who blocked me with their uchiwas when Yamada was close so there went the possibility of him seeing me, but at least I saw him and that's the most important thing.
The show started with Shadow boy again and it didn't feel any less surreal than the day before. There was actually a happening during Beat Line I have to tell about!! After Shadow boy ends the lights go down and Beat Line starts from "don't don't don't give up" as a capella. When the gauze falls down and lights come back they have changed their clothes. Well this time Yamada didn't make it! When the song started he didn't have his jacket on yet and he was without shoes!! But once again he was a total pro about it. I didn't notice the shoes at first, so when I saw him standing there having thrown the jacket on his shoulder I wondered if he was meant to do that (also he was wearing just the black undershirt so it's not like I was complaining). As the members moved forward he was throwing the jacket back and forth like it was part of the dance and it was pretty cool, I really love how he handled that!! Only when he quickly changed his shoes during the first instrumental part I was sure it was indeed accidental. He made it in time just before the dance started and continued like nothing happened. Well done, baby, well done.
The highlight of the day and my whole life happened already during the 3rd song. My 2nd favourite person in the world aka Chinen Yuri walked on the sidewalk and stopped right in front of me. He was pretty much scanning the audience like he always does, like I swear Chinen probably notices every fan in the whole place. When he saw me he stopped and stared at me for a while and then smiled. My heart was ready to explode, my body went weak and as much as I wanted to blow him a million kisses or well, jump like a frog over everyone to hug him, having my hands full because of uchiwa on the other hand and penlight on the other hand, my first possible reaction was to show him the peace sign. His reaction = CUTEST. THING. EVER. He turned his head away kind of shily while laughing and I saw him mouth "arigatou gozaimasu"!!! I swear that moment when they actually respond/react to something you do and you realize that they are actually there in front of you and they're real and they just actually did see you... I can't even describe the feeling. I can't. Closer to the end of the show while he was there again waving at the audience he smiled at me again ;_______; Chinen Yuri I will love you forever please never change and please always stay the amazing you ♥ x billion.
The show was pretty much the same except they were throwing the autographed cards towards the end and not in the beginning like yesterday. Also the MC was a regular one, but they talked about a lot of the same things than the day before. Like Risou no Musuko, Takaki being mazakon, SUPER DELICATE, Asia tour, Yabu and Waseda and so on. This time they also teached the moves for SUPER DELICATE. Well, it's not like they're that hard but they did it anyway so that everyone could dance with them! The idea of the hand movement is "to show and to not to show a face". Then Yuto continued to the instrumental dance part and everyone hurried to say that no no we can't teach that XD The whole show was as amazing as yesterday ♥ I'm also glad I got to see it from a different point of view!
When it was time to go back, at the same time I was happy about those two amazing days, but at the same time I felt incredibly empty. When I got back to the hostel Susu wasn't there yet so I couldn't even talk to anyone baww. So I slept for a while before she came back around 11pm. One of my Finnish friends as well as my school senpai was in Japan at the same time with her friend, and they had come to the same hostel, they arrived at the same time as Susu. We spent the rest of the evening hanging together in our hotel room, and actually got complaints from our next-door neighbour because of laughing too loud.
• Wednesday, January 4th 2012
Today I was meeting my friend Kumiko, and Susu was meeting her Finnish friend who was living in Japan, so we went to our separate ways. I met Kumiko at Hachiko around 2pm, and at first we went to eat okonomiyaki. It was delicious ahhh, I've had such a craving for the past few days... Anyway, after that we hanged out in Shibuya before heading to Shiodome to see Nittele Tower and if the shop would have anything about Risou no Musuko yet. Well it didn't, but I was hoping to see a big-ass ad outside in the station like there was one of Hidarime the last time, and oh yeah baby, there was one!!
Why did Kumiko laugh when I said I want it... lmao well okay it's a bit too big for my room, baww. After drooling over it for a while we decided to head for Ueno to see if there's something interesting there and have some coffee. We went to see a shrine whose name I forgot, and my camera's battery decided to die so I only have one picture of it and even that is not good. We hanged around there for a while before going to get some coffee, and then we just sat in the cafe talking for a while before I had to go.
Me and Susu were planning to go to a club with the senpai friend in the evening so we got back to the hostel quite early. I came before Susu, so I hanged out in their room for a while before it was time to go back to our own room and slowly start getting ready. But suddenly something happened inside me. I sat down on my futon and started crying. Ever had that feeling when you're trying to sleep or just be alive but your heart literally feels so heavy you just want to rip it out and throw it out of the window? That's how I had felt the last 24 hours, but for some reason only now that feeling started pouring out. I asked Susu to go ask our friends if we can go on some another day and she did and they were okay with it. I've never liked crying in front of people, I hold it in as long as possible because I don't want to worry others too much and I hate angsting. But Susu saw right through me, and she said that if I want to cry, I should just cry and I'll feel better after. And I did. I cried for like 2 hours. The reason? Obvious or not? The person I love more than anything but I'm not going to see again for years. The person I love too much, and it's too much when it gets that painful. How can I go on like this? How can I live being so far away from him? It's painful to live like this, but it's impossible to live without. It's incredibly pathetic maybe, but that was - and is - my honest feeling.
• Thursday, January 5th 2012
We were going to leave for Osaka today, but our plan was to meet my friend Ruriko before that, so we checked out and left our suitcases to the hostel to pick them up later. Via Akihabara's idol shop we went to Shibuya to meet Ruriko at Hachiko (yes we like to meet everyone at Hachiko just because it's Hachiko) and at first we went to get something to eat. After that we headed to our favourite karaoke place!
Just because. Lmao! It was fun and I started slowly feeling better after the rough night. After that we already had to leave so that we'd make it to the train. We went back to the hostel to pick up our stuff and headed to Tokyo Station for a shinkansen going to Osaka. While I was waiting in the line to the shinkansen (we didn't reserve tickets so we had to line up) Susu went to buy food for us and she got me the best bento in the world, this one:
Tonkatsu: the food-love of my life I swear. It was so good. So good I could've cried just over how good it was.
It was already pretty late when we got to Osaka but luckily we found our hostel pretty quick. It was in Shin-Imamiya and the station is part of Loop Line, and the hostel was really close to the station, like we just crossed the street and walked forward for like a minute and there it was. It was in such a good place. And it got better. We had prepared 11,000yen each for 3 nights but it ended up being 11,000yen IN TOTAL. And we even got a discount because our room was right next to a railway (which wasn't even a problem). It was so incredibly cheap, yet it was so close to a Loop Line station, free showers, free coffee in the morning, and the rooms were huge:
And there was a TV and a refridgerator to use. If you're going to Osaka I have three words for you: Chuo, Hotel, Osaka.
• Friday, January 6th 2012
I've been to Osaka before and tbqh I don't have much interest in it. The people there are really nice and everything, but it doesn't really have places I specially want to go to. Today was our Osaka day, but we were both tired and sleep-deprived so we decided to sleep as long as we feel like. Soooo... in the end we got ourselves ready to leave the hostel at *coughs* 6pm. We went to Umeda, but had no idea which exit we should take to actually find something so we tried our luck. But outside we just saw skyscrapers and... that was pretty much it. No stores, no restaurants, nothing! So we had to ask some people where we could even find food lol. So they directed us to this place that had a lot of different small restaurants. We went to this omurice-place!
Oh btw I didn't tell that buta-usagi joined us. It actually happened on Wednesday when Susu's friend had won it from a game machine so Susu gave it to me :D After that it travelled with us. Anyway, the omurice was amazing. SUCH. A. CRAVING. Omurice is one of my favourite Japanese foods, I do it at home sometimes too but it just will never be the same.
It was already late when we had finished eating, but I knew Yamada's Oshare hair -magazine was out that day so I had to get it. We asked people if there was a big bookstore somewhere near, and there was but it was only open for 30 more minutes so we had to run. But I found it ♥ And to my surprise duet, Wink up and Potato were already out too, although they're released on the 7th!! So I left the store happily with 4 beautiful magazines in my bag:
And it's totally okay to pay 780yen for a magazine about men's hairstyles with only 4 interesting pages. I regret nothing.
• Saturday, January 7th 2012
Our Hiroshima/Miyajima day! We decided to leave quite early in the morning so that we wouldn't have to hurry at all. We took a shinkansen to Hiroshima, and there we bought a 1-day ticket for a tram. It was really old so it was quite interesting. At first we wanted to get something to eat so we headed to the famous Okonomi-mura (Okonomoyaki village).
It was a special Hiroshima-style okonomiyaki, so it was different from what I was used to but as expected, it was also delicious! As a city, Hiroshima looks like any other city. Idk, I guess because of the history you kind of expect like it would be more old-fashioned or something (even though it was rebuilt after the war), but basically the tram is the only old thing you see there. Well, besides the A-bomb Dome, where we headed next.
I'm interested in history and this is one of the places I really wanted to see. It's such a beautiful place with such a sad history. It's like, you see this building and everything around it, but it's just impossible to comprehend what actually happened there. It just doesn't feel real at all. But it is. I've read about the atomic bombs a lot and I've even written an essay about them. In the museum there were pictures and names of all people who died because of it and there were also things like their personal belongings like burned shirts and the like. There was also a video playing telling about stories of 3 victims, but we couldn't watch it. We would've cried all day, so we left pretty quickly.
The Peace Park. Random comment but 'heiwa' (peace) is one of my favourite Japanese words. Somehow I really love how it sounds plus added meaning. :) There were also these 3 old Japanese ladies who came to talk to us. At first it was nice to talk to them because they were interested in Finland and asked about things like our studies, but then they started to ask our opinions about world peace and such and when one of them opened their bag, I was like "please don't be the Bible, please don't be the Bible", but it was... the Bible and we looked at each other all "oh crap". Then she started lecturing how Jesus is the only one who can create peace and we used the first possible situation to say that sorry but we really had to go and basically ran away lol.
Then we took the tram to Miyajima port, it took about 30minutes from the A-bomb dome, and we took a ferry to Miyajima. The ride took around 10minutes.
Miyajima is really beautiful! There were wild deer around the island and they were so cute and very used to people, they weren't afraid at all. We took like a million pictures of the torii. I don't have much else to say. It was just beautiful to see. We hanged around there for a while so it already became dark and we were kind of hoping for that too, since we wanted to see the place with all the lights as well.
And that was pretty much our day. We were back at the hostel around 8pm so we bought something from a konbini to eat and then we just relaxed watching TV and staring at our stuff and talking the rest of the evening. The next day we would have to get up early again.
• Sunday, January 9th 2012
Today we would take a shinkansen back to Tokyo via Nagoya where we were supposed to go buy Arashi's tour goods for Susu. At first we wanted to visit Osaka's Mandarake though to check their JE selection, so we checked out and left our luggage to the hostel again. We headed to Umeda, but this time we had directions so we knew which exit to take. We still managed to get lost but found the place after asking directions a few times. We also ate there and then went back to get our luggage and took a shinkansen to Nagoya.
All the coin lockers at Nagoya station were full so we had to take our huge suitcases with us when we headed to Nagoya Dome. It took one train and a change to subway. But we were in luck, because the concert had already started so there were no lines! So we managed to buy the goods - well Susu bought - quite quickly and I have to say everything went better than expected.
It was really late when we got back to Tokyo and we were pretty tired. We went to a different hostel this time, one I've also never been to. It was in Asakusabashi, which is one station forward from Akihabara. We found it quite quickly, but the place... well, let's say after that luxury in Osaka, nooot so nice. I mean, the place was pretty clean and everything, but our room was really small, there was a bunk bed, no TV, not even a table, nothing. The most annoying part was we weren't allowed to take any food to our rooms but we had to eat at the common room upstairs. And especially since we were tired, we really weren't in the mood to socialize and people in those places aren't usually that much fun but just plain annoying, so were this time. It didn't help that there was an annoying wiseass Finnish man there and his room was next to ours. fml.
But we'd be fine. We were in Tokyo and it's not like we'd be spending much time in our hostel room anyway. And we had a fun last week ahead.
IN PART 3: Karaoke, purikura, friends and more good time, partyin' partyin' yeah, meeting Takeru!! aka an adorable guy who looks like Sato Takeru sokkuri, a wild duck appears (not literally), and that awkward moment when I'm 12 years old.