Ok, before I completely forget about my experience I thought it was time to post a long overdue report.

I got to Nippon Budokan at 2pm because I was worried that I wouldn't be able to find the place, but it was pretty easy to find. Budokan is in the middle of a park and the nearest subway stop is Kudanshita. The actual Budokan is really cool.

( Report and rambling with photos! )

... but they're not great seats. Even though I was at Lawson waiting for the clock to count down to 10am so I could be the first one to get tickets released to the general public, they ended up being stand seats right up the back because all the good seats seem to have already been sold to people during pre-sale.

I'm kind of disappointed, because once you experience a concert up close, you can't go back to the stands. I sound really spoilt now, don't I?

I wanted arena seats. Especially since I'm going to fly all the way to Tokyo from Nagasaki, which at the very least will set me back 25,000 yen for a return ticket.

I am in the process of acquiring an arena C block seat for Budoukan but it'd only be a single seat. I love going to concerts, but going alone isn't as fun as going with a friend. I hope this seat works out though because I'm buying it from a fellow fan who isn't ripping me off - at least I don't think she is.

That's the problem with large venues; even arena seats might not be fantastic but it sure beats a stand seat up the back on the 2nd level. Why is the Budoukan so damn large? : S

But you know what else... the tickets sold out by this evening.

Well, I thought about how broke I've been in Japan despite having lived here for more than a year on a decent salary and realise that I need to prioritise what I want to see while I'm in Japan or I won't have enough money to buy new shoes (which I actually need). I've travelled a fair bit this year, including going to Tokyo, Osaka, Okinawa, Hiroshima and even Korea.

So I've decided that I'd fly to Tokyo to see Arashi (if flailinginlove hits tickets), KAT-TUN (although I already did see them twice now), flumpool (my current favourites) and even NEWS (because I missed the Winter Diamond Party Concert last year because I was going to Singapore) but as much as I like Hey! Say!, the furthest I'd travel to see them is to Fukuoka, which is a 2.5 hour/4000 yen bus ride away. Besides, I am going home to Australia for Christmas this year, because it'd be another year before I got to see my family again and I miss them. The flight to Australia isn't so expensive, but flying back will be pretty steep.

I renewed my membership to You&J (the fan club which includes KAT-TUN, Kanjani8 and NEWS) and I'm hoping there will be many more concerts between now and the same time next year. Come on, NEWS! At least release a new single or something... oh, and I'd really like to see Kanjani8 again, but they only just finished touring so it'll be a while before their next one.

Oh man, I really want to go to this concert on September 13th, but how can I justify the flight up to Tokyo? Not to mention the leave I'll have to take and accommodation for the weekend (I wouldn't want to go for just one day). Plus there's always a chance I'll only be able to hit shitty stand seats because the Dome is so huge.

But Yamada Ryosuke is so pretty. And who knows when they'll be touring again. It might not get the chance to see them again while I'm in Japan.

Argh... I'm torn.

On Thursday July 30th, I went to Kyocera Dome in Osaka to watch the final show of the Kanjani8 (関ジャニ∞) 'PUZZLE' tour. Honestly, I was never that interested in Kanjani8 because I hadn't listened to much of their music. But when flailinginlove got tickets and invited me to go with her, I couldn't resist because I'd recently become a Nishikido Ryo (also a member of NEWS) fan after watching him act in the fairly recent drama series Ryusei no Kizuna (Bound by Shooting Stars). She managed to hit Arena seats, which were absolutely amazing as we were literally one metre away from the moving platform that went around the main stage. I was so close to Nishikido Ryo and as he went by on the stage, I felt like we made eye contact. Or it could've been with the girls behind me or next to me, but well... it was pretty amazing. His gaze is even more smouldering in real life!

I sneakily took a photo of the main stage (mobile phone usage was prohibited inside):



This girl sitting in front of me had this ridiculous palm-tree hairstyle which was totally obstructing my vision during some moments, but I was too chicken to say anything *sigh*.

The concert was great! I actually bought their latest album in preparation so I would know some of their songs and not look like a complete idiot.  I was also familiar with the other members names and faces by the end of the concert. One member, Okura Tadayoshi reminded me a lot of Kamenashi Kazuya from KAT-TUN. I'm not sure why but possibly because they both have sharp facial features.

Because it was the last concert in their home city of Osaka, the concert went for more than three hours. They also recorded the concert and are planning to release it on DVD in the future. I feel pretty fortunate because they sang a new song and had the audience sing part of it for an actual recording for release. We couldn't actually buy any concert goods because they had already sold out by the time we got to the stalls... that was kind of a let down.

... but possibly a blessing in disguise because it means I'll have more money for the next KAT-TUN Summer Concert I'm going to in two weeks. I managed to get Arena B block seats for a daytime show in Fukuoka. I'm hoping my seats will be as good as or better than my Kanjani8 seats because if I could see Jin up close, I'd probably cry (like the girl next to me in the Kanjani8 show did when she saw Yasuda Shota go past). Here's hoping!

Thanks flailinginlove! I had a great time. Let's go and see HSJ together next time. We can be old audience members together... ; )

Yesterday I got on the bus and headed off to see flumpool live in Fukuoka. The bus ride from Nagasaki to Fukuoka is a little over two hours. I go there early, so I went shopping and bought a new dress from my favourite boutique Heather. I wish I had the capital to open one in Sydney because I know it would do well. The designs are great, it's reasonably-priced and everything is really well-made.

At 4pm, I went to the venue to buy concert goods and there were so many scalpers asking if I had any spare tickets or if I wanted better seats. They were so dodgy-looking. I bought a sports towel, tour t-shirt and pamphlet. The pamphlet is really well-made. It's really small, about the size of a CD but a bit thicker, but made to look like a magazine. It has interviews, facts and pictures of the band. They are definitely my current favourite!

Anyway after buying the concert goods I had more time to kill before the actual show so I wondered into Mandarake, a kind of otaku superstore. I was actually feeling kind of uncomfortable walking around in there because it was filled with shady-looking geeks. They had one section with retro games, which was pretty cool. I was really surprised to find Nintendo Game & Watch handhelds going for 20,000+ yen a piece... which is crazy since I am pretty sure I have two lying around at home in Sydney, both in working condition. I remember when my mum gave me Super Mario Game & Watch one Christmas. It was probably the start of my love for video games. (My sister got 'brick game', a Tetris imitation)

I was in the middle, 14 rows from the stage, so I was pretty close to the stage and could see their faces clearly. Genki (bass) is so fashionable... all the girls kept screaming 'kakkoii!' (COOL!) from the audience. Ryuta's voice is excellent, even performing live. He even hit all the high notes with ease. I was totally blown away by their performance. It was flawless. The funniest member is probably Kazuki (guitar), he kept cracking jokes and got hit on the head by a large (1m) paper fan by Genki. Before his solo during the encore, a male voice from the audience called out his name and Kazuki was like: "Awww, why is a guy calling my name?" It was so funny because shortly after the same male voice shouted "I love you!". At the end of the concert, Kazuki threw guitar picks into the audience and I CAUGHT ONE. Well, it was really dark so when he threw it, nobody knew where it landed. I heard it hit the ground softly behind me, turned around and there it was! SCORE!!

Oh well, I'd better go. I'm off to watch a baseball game! Fukuoka Softbank Hawks vs. Orix Buffaloes. Gooooo Hawks! Tomorrow I leave for Osaka and Kyoto to meet up with Kara (a friend from Sydney), who is visiting Japan for the first time. I'm really excited to see her. : )

Just thought I'd post a link to my J-adventure ramblings here: nagasakibaby.blogspot.com

Yeah, it's ugly. But I like blogger in the way that it's parent and non computer-savvy people friendly, so I can keep in touch with people back home. Nobody really reads it though... haha.

I'm going to keep LJ going because I have a paid account. I'll probably use it for fandom/geek-related topics such as...

Concerts I'm going to in Japan

Sunday, May 10. 2009 - Aqua Timez in Nagasaki

I only got standing seats for this one, but I'm really excited as it'll be my first concert in Japan.

Friday, May 15. 2009 - KAT-TUN in Tokyo

OMFG. All I can say is 来たぁ! I've been waiting for this ever since I got to Japan (and missed out on the Queen of Pirates Concert). I joined You&J as soon as I got to Japan, balloted for tickets and got a pretty good seat. I need to pick up my copy of the new KT CD. I pre-ordered it but was in Okinawa when it was released. To be honest my obsession with KT isn't as strong as it was when I was still in Australia, but going to the concert will no-doubt renew it.

Monday, July 27. - flumpool in Fukuoka

I only discovered this band after one of their songs 花になれ (Hana ni nare) was played non-stop on TV as part of an AU Lismo commerical (a cell phone network in Japan). Their first album 'Unreal' is one of my favourite albums ever.

I actually went to two events over two days. The first one was Russell Peters and friends on Thursday night, held at the Sydney Opera House. I originally bought the ticket for my father who later decided that he was still too unwell to go anywhere. Right.

Anyway, Russell Peters. If you don't know him, you should check Youtube. He's comedian raised in Canada of Indian descent.  Most of his jokes are centered around racial stereotypes and his impression of Indians and Chinese people cracks me up. Be a man. Do the right thing. I bought relatively good tickets, circle seats in the middle. Surprisingly the highlight of the evening wasn't Russell himself, but one of his supporting acts, JoKoy. Unlike Russell Peters, JoKoy's jokes are rarely at anyone's expense except his own and it's mostly observational comedy, which I find hilarious. Russell Peters even said when introducing JoKoy, that he was one of the only comedians that [Russell] would hate to follow the act of at a comedy club; he was that funny. I laughed so hard.

The next evening was the BSB Unbreakable World Tour, held at Acer Arena Homebush. Now I wouldn't consider myself a huge BSB fan but I loved all of their songs back in the day. Even now their legacy lives on by being a standard part of the karaoke repertoire. When we got to our seats, we were amazed at how good they were. My friend Lisa five tickets as soon as they became available online, so they were one of the better A-Reserve tickets. The girls behind us were die-hard BSB fans with one of them constantly screaming "I love you Brian!" and "B-Rock, I want to have your children!" It turns out B-rock is Brian's nickname. I also didn't realise that one of the BSB had left the group, so there were only four performing.

When the concert started, I went crazy. I was so overwhelmed that I screamed and jumped up and down with more enthusiasm than the other fans around us. Hearing their old songs made me feel so nostalgic and their newer songs weren't as bad as I thought. The group have been around for 16 years. 16 years ago, I was just 8. Most of their fans were my age or older, which means we're all old fans who have kind of grown up with the BSB. Can said it was kind of sad, because people only cheered and got into it when they sang their older songs and kind of sat back down for their newer songs, which kind of shows that their hey day is really over. Right after the concert, I was in a daze. My throat was croaky from screaming so much and it felt so surreal, like I had never gone.

Some photos: