笑ってもっと最後のLady きっとそっと願い届く

Update? (!)

boblemon — Mon, 10 Apr 2017 05:41:29 GMT

Hey all! Long time no see. I literally haven't touched livejournal for months, and last time I did was just to double check something I was messaged about on Twitter.

In light of the updated Russian user agreement, I just wanted to make clear what I was doing with my journal, because I think a lot of people are still following me on here, on my fanfic community, or on my sales journal (sushisalez).

I'm going to import my private journal and maybe my fics to Dreamwidth if that isn't a huge pain in the ass, just in case it gets deleted. Since that seems like the worse that could happen to me, not living in Russia, I'll leave everything else as it is, just like I have up until now. I'm trying to start a new blog for everyday life/photos/events I go to/selling my used stuff, but I still haven't decided where to do that. I'm active on Twitter and Tumblr for the most part, but those haven't turned out well as blogs. Dreamwidth doesn't seem to be what I want. I especially interested in something easy to use on my phone, so I know I've asked so many times for recommendations but I'm still open to them.

That's all! If people are moving let me know your new information, even if I don't think I'm going to get into Dreamwidth that deeply.

Arashi Are You Happy Tour report - November 12, 2016 Sapporo

boblemon — Sat, 12 Nov 2016 15:43:00 GMT

This report is a supplement to my previous report from yesterday. Please check that for the full set list and performance details. This report is just new things I noticed that changed from yesterday.

Today our seats were on the other side of the stand by third base. We were farther back so we had a good view of the whole set up and penlight effects. The crowd was really worked up tonight and screamed a lot during the whole concert. There were a lot of blue lights tonight (and yesterday there was too).

The concert started on time with the same vtr as yesterday. For Love So Sweet they all made the wo~ wo~ noises during the opening like they were messing around. Nino and Jun came by our section on the cart and were waving widely at the stands. When they got back to the front they got the card regularly but during Jun's solo at the end of the song Nino pointed his fingers at him as they walked back. For the last part they were throwing their hands up so the audience sang yeah yeah loudly.

The opening greetings were similar to yesterday but they added a few new things.

Jun: since yesterday I was only thinking of the concert. I'm pumped up. Are you ready? Are you ready to be happy? We're going to make everyone "happy"!!

Nino: Irradhaimase!
Let's have fun!
You're not loud enough!

Aiba: He said you're not loud enough!!
Are you excited!
This is the best!

Ohno: Hai~
Can you do it?
Shall we do the usual?
Sapporo Are you Happy matsuri...
Us: day!
Ohno: *in a cute nasally voice* yoroshiku

Sho: Sapporooooooooo
How are the upper stands?
How are the lower stands?
How's the arena?
(He paused for a second and raised his fingers to his lips)
How are the men? (They were much louder tonight than last night so I was surprised)
One more time, how are the men?
How are the women? (of course there were lots)
Sapporo, we are ready. How about you?

After we screamed the Arashi call, Sho said "louder!!" In English and that made me super excited.

For the opening of his solo today Sho stretched cutely like he had just woken up before he started singing. While the other members were singing Ohno was pointing and waving at the audience.

In the second half of the song when Aiba and Sho sing together Aiba was patting his shoulder and then they stood next to each other and out their arms around each other's shoulders. Then the camera went to Ohno, Jun, and Nino again who were also swaying together with their arms around each other's shoulders just like yesterday.

At the start of Drive Sho was holding the hand camera again and struggled to get a close up of all the members faces for their opening solos in the song. He was sitting a lot closer to Jun, probably because it was easier to get the three in he back from that angle. Unfortunately the hand camera kept breaking up and freezing so they only had it on screen less than half the time compared to yesterday.

About a third of the way through Sho stood up and leaned against the top of the windshield. He looked cool but made me worry for him falling. Jun got the hand camera next and when he did a close up of Aibas face Aiba gave us his signature wink. When they passed the camera back to Nino Sho started moving the chord back properly like a camera mans assistant. When Nino did a close up of Jun he winked several times too.

For Step and Go they made it to our side of the dome. Sho stood up first, then Jun did again and started shaking his butt like yesterday. Either Aiba or Nino reached forward and smacked his butt so Jun sat down again and turned around to glare at them for a minute, then suddenly gave a thumbs up and a big smile. At the end again during Sho's rap, Jun had the camera again. He went between Sho and the three in the back (that were doing rapper dances and hand gestures at each other) before they got out of the car. Then the other camera filmed Jun jamming to Sho's rap at he recorded him again. He was much more into it than yesterday and we were all screaming.

Jun and Aiba did their funny arm dance together again and then the camera went to Nino and Sho. Nino did a similar dance much more exaggerated while standing in front of Sho but Sho just laughed at him.

After Don't You Get It they had their short conversation while Ohno left.

Jun: I'm happy~
Sho: Are you having fun?

They thanked us for coming and asked how many people had seen the winning game for the Nippon Hams at Sapporo Dome this year.

Nino: At the start J was already saying it's hot in here.
Jun: Everyone is so excited.
Nino: You were saying you were thinking about the concert since yesterday. I think you were serious but this guy (Aiba) was laughing the whole time during your greeting.

Sho then asked who had listened to the album before coming. It seemed like everyone said yes but "despite creating an awkward atmosphere" he also asked who hadn't bought it or even listened to it. Who was listening to the songs for the first time. A few people yelled out loudly so Sho chided them for not taking Arashi seriously haha.

When they got to the main stage they introduced themselves by name but when Sho finished they looked around in confusion.

Sho: 1, 2, 3, 4...
That's not right.
He's not here!

They talked over each other a little bit about how he was missing and then Sho asked us to all call for him together so we did.

Bad Boy was just as great as last night but I tried to pay close attention to his happy dance. I laughed really hard again and it felt like it was over so fast.

Two to Tango was good again and very cool. Before Aokimi started Nino and Ohno were looking at each other. Ohno was holding out his hand to shake Ninos but Nino looked at it, hesitated and then smacked it away and left.

When Aiba came by on the cart he waved widely at our stands section.

Jun did a normal introduction to the next song except he left out the and said, Power of Paradise instead.

For the start of the MC they introduced themselves as Arashi then had Ohno introduce himself too. They teased he saying they didn't think he would suddenly disappear like that.

Sho: since it's today we'd better talk about it... I already saw some uchiwas too! How did you guys make them so fast?
Nino: I wonder whether they made them quickly or if hey just have a series prepared and then choose one when they need it?
Sho: it was only announced today in the news at 3 pm. Aiba is the MC for Kohaku! Please tell us about it.

Aiba: we were MCs as Arashi before, but I'm really nervous to do it alone. I hope everyone will support me. I think everyone is insecure about it but please watch it and support me!
Nino: How does it feel to change from hosting as an amazing group like Arashi to taking it over by yourself?
Aiba: It's not like it's my fault!
Ohno: when did you know you'd do it?
Aiba: About a week ago
Ohno: That's so fast!
Aiba: It was really sudden so I asked them if I could sleep on it for a night.
Sho: I get you. You'd say yes just because if you refused you'd always be thinking about the huge chance you passed up.
Aiba; exactly!
Sho: We did it before so it's fine.
Aiba: Yeah but I didn't have to do anything hard!

They made a comment about Aiba trying to get close to a famous singer during Kohaku or something but I didn't catch it.

Sho: You must fell pretty insecure.
Aiba: Yes, so everyone please come!

Sho teased him since it sounded like he was asking the audience we he was actually telling Arashi to come to the show with him. Nino and Sho said they were looking forward to seeing him.

Sho: We honestly want you to do your best but it would be so funny to see you have some small mistakes.
And there are so many athletes and stuff you work with so when they come on it'll be like "Aiba and all his friends"

Ohno: you said you thought it was a dokkiri? (Prank)
Aiba: Yes! But since the meeting was just with me and an important guy from the company I knew it wasn't.
Sho: I bet you got a lot of messages when it was announced today.
Aiba: Yeah! About 50?
Us: Ohhh...
Aiba: What's with that reaction? Isn't 50 a lot? Did you think a few hundred? On my birthday I barely get 10!!
Jun: Did Kazama send you one?
Aiba: Not yet.
Jun: Maybe he's working.
Aiba: I got one from Yoko and Hina from Kanjani. But no other groups.

After that they did their announcements for their shows and movies. Sho talked about his wheelchair drama and that it finished filming in September on Arashis anniversary.

Ohno: You practiced so much you had blisters on your hands.
Sho: I did but they're gone now.
Aiba: isn't it hard? The hoop is the same height as regular basketball right?
Sho: Yes. You played basketball right? But I could probably beat you now. If i played in a wheelchair.

Next Ohno talked about his ninja movie. He said they finished filming at the end of September and it took two months in total.

Nino also explained his movie a little in detail and Sho was asking him if it was enjoyable for people that couldn't cook at all like him. Nino said yes but Sho had to clarify that he meant to ask if they had recipes they could try like the "omulettuce" one he and Ohno saw on tv last night. Nino said there weren't really any recipes you could try at home, it was more about the history of one recipe. But unlike Ohno's their film was on a tight budget so they did Ninos part all in two weeks.

Sho told us about Jun's straightforwardly and then added that he was having a Zeus battle in a few weeks.

Aiba: Do yo my even participate yourself?
Sho: Not really... I'm like the coach of the team. *gestured like moving chess pieces around*

They did a band intro at the end and then went into Jun's solo. It was the same as before.

When they came up in the towers Ohno was the closest to us but he was still two or three sections away.

Ninos solo was great but I'm excited to see it up close on the DVD since our seats were far away tonight.

When Aiba came out next and sang the slow opening of his solo he was grinning widely the whole time and looking so handsome. I was worried when he did the head spin because he wasn't as well balanced as yesterday. He actually fell over and then was put on a stretcher. When he did his backflip too the landing was close and made me catch my breath.

During the introductions of Seishun Boogie, when Jun fell back after getting hit with the rubber band he did a sit up, turning to face the camera and smiling widely. (It reminds me of his exercise machine commercial they have over here for La Quad or something like that, so it might have been an impression.) I enjoyed watching them dance again and tried dancing along myself.

In the medley during Troublemaker, Sho stopped in front of our section on the large cart and jumped around a lot with us.

We didn't have to wait too long for the encore. They came out suddenly with A Day in our Life again, but I don't think the call and response was as long as yesterday. The camera zoomed in on Jun and Ohno too early before it was actually their turn to sing (actually they did this three times). When they finally started their part they were standing next to each other and Jun reached up to touch the side of Ohno's face again. Ohno turned to him expectantly when they were done but Jun left immediately.

Jun and Nino started walking to the cart on the opposite side together and did a rapper dance imitation together during Sho's solo.

For Gori Muchu, the cart with Aiba, Sho, and Ohno came by us. They were all waving at the stands a lot. Jun and Nino did their silly dance on the other side and just like before Nino fell to the ground. Jun follows him a minute later. When Ohno started energy song too, Jun and Nino were clapping high fives with both hands in time to the rhythm.

The ending greeting was similar to yesterday, an easy conversation between all of them, like they had fun and wanted to make us happy. I think Sho hit his teeth on his mic or something because he rubbed his lips sheepishly when he came on the screen and smiled cutely.

Sho: we want to ask you, are you happy?
Ohno: Did you have fun? That's all that matters.
But I'll ask one more thing.
Are you hungry? (That made us all laugh too.)
Jun: The album was created so we could all have fun.
We'd like you to bring those happy feelings home with you.
Let's have fun together again. I hope you'll all have happy days in the future.

They went right into Daylight so Jun didn't give us a chance to say ehh to the last song announcement. Sho and Nino waved a lot at the audience from their spots on the main stage. When they left and we're going down on the platform Aiba blew a kiss to us.

The concert ended around 8:30. Luckily we were near an exit so we got out and to the station fast. It's great to go to Sapporo so I hope I can come next year too!

Arashi Are You Happy Tour report - November 11, 2016 Sapporo

boblemon — Fri, 11 Nov 2016 14:14:44 GMT

Edit: I've updated this entry on the 12the after seeing the second show to add details I didn't notice before or mistakes I made in my report. For new or different things from the second concert please check the separate entry.

This was the first day of the first venue. I went to the concert with some friends (not yarukizero, for those curious she is into another group right now and not really up to date with Arashi). Our seats were 3-4 rows back towards the side of the stands (near 1st base). We had a great view when the carts came by and could see the stages fairly well.

The concert started a few minutes late. They showed the ads for their regular shows as usual every half hour before it started. I was surprised with how simple the stages were compared to their past concerts. The main stage just had square screens and there were no obvious back stage.

The lights dimmed and a vtr came on of the Arashi character with a mustache (like the goods). The vtr was about five minutes, like a documentary of preparing for the concert. They showed them practicing dancing, checking a miniature of the stage, eating food in the back room and things like that. There was one scene near the end where Sho was running Jun's shoulders as he sat in a chair and the audience screamed. They both looked at the camera like they though we would be and were amused by it. Nino had a sweat band across his forehead and his hair was sticking out each which way. There was a scene of Ohno in a massage chair and Nino said all he had to say was "Are you happy?" To please us. Sho wasn't around to practice with the other members so the four of them left a cute note for him on the mirror. When Sho found it he walked up to pull it off while smiling and reading it. At the end was finally a short clip of Nino in one costume, then Ohno practicing his solo, then Aiba outside practicing and Nino playing a guitar. They did an up close shot of their faces and then the lights went out again.

On the screen it showed "11.11 Sapporo". The first song was Ups and Downs but the intro was really long. The live band came up first and was playing for several minutes before a bunch of fireworks went off on the main stage and Arashi came up. They were wearing shiny jackets in various colors and patterns. Aiba was wearing a red shirt with a large black bow tied around his neck so I remembered it because it was cute.

Next was Supersonic (which I was excited to hear) and then I Seek. They got onto a moving stage that went all the way to the back of the arena. On the sides of the stage there were four spot lights that came up and down and shone the lights on the crowd as well as the members.

At the end of Oh Yeah they yelled out to the crowd.
Aiba: Everyone are you having fun? Are you happy?
Sho: Sapporo let's have fun! Say oh yeah~
Us: Oh yeah!

After doing the call they went into Love So Sweet. They were riding the tall carts and Aiba, Sho, and Ohno came in front of us. They were all waving generally but didn't seem to be pointing or noticing anyone particular. But I guess the girl in front of me got enough Sho fan service because she started crying when they finally left the front of our section.

When they made it to the front stage Nino and Jun came on the screens as they left their cart. They were stopped and both motioning for the other to go first. But Nino eventually put his arm around Jun's shoulder and they walked down to the front stage together that way. During Jun's solo Nino stared at him with his arm still over his shoulder so their faces were really close together. At the end of the song the five of them were waving at the audience and bowed together. The lights dimmed for a second and the Arashi character came on the screen to ask us "are you happy?"

The opening greetings were pretty typical so I'll keep it short. By the way, the pen light colors changed to match the member color for who was talking.

Jun: Hey~ It's been a while! Were you good? Welcome to Arashi's concert! Are you ready to have fun? Great! Are you ready to be happy? Are you ready to follow us? Let's have fun!!
We'll make you all "happy"! Let's have fun together.

Nino: Irrashaimasei!
The concert is here! Let's have fun! Your voices are so loud! He has something to say!

Aiba: oh uhh... more! (Nino suddenly passed on the speech to Aiba so there was no transition or timing for Aiba but he jumped right in to making us call to him)
Are you getting hot? Do you want to get hotter?

Ohno: Hai~
It's been a while! Can you do well on the first day? Shall we do the usual?
Sapporo Are you Happy matsuri...
Us: Day!!

When Sho came out he hand changed into a grey pinstriped suit.
Sho: Sapporo~
(He raised his finger to his nose in one of his weird imitation motions)
How are the men doing? (Choshi wa dou da; he suddenly started so it wasn't very loud, he asked again but there probably weren't many men, although one was sitting behind me and tried the best he could to yell out)
How are the women doing?
How is Sapporo doing?
How are the upper stands?
How is the arena?
How's the bottom?
How's Sapporo??
We are ready. Let us hear your voices! Say Arashi!

After the call Sho did his normal introduction in English to the concert, including the title and Sapporo. "Let's get the party started."

Next was Sho's solo. The main large screen turned into a house (so it looked like Sho was standing in the second level and there was a blue sky outside). He walked down to the main stage and the back dancers slowly came out one at a time. The dancing was simple and cute. As he walked down the main walkway they did an overhead view for us so we could see the floor looked like a road with a dotted yellow line down the middle. Flowers started blooming across the floor screen until we couldn't see the road anymore. When they got to the middle Sho turned around to call to his back dancers to come closer like they were his close friends.

After it was over the dome went completely dark again. When the lights came back on Sho was holding a smart phone up to his ear to start To My Homies. On the main screen they showed a vtr of him sitting in what looked like a living room looking through old photos of the members.

Ohno came up for his rap and old photos of him appeared on the main stream. The same happened for all the members solos and some group pictures in the middle. Their costumes were jackets that looked like they had been made from various patches and fabric. Sho's was my favorite costume of the night I think. He was wearing tight pants with a jacket. He white shirt was covered in some English writing I couldn't see well, but poking out from the short hem on the bottom was a blue dress shirt. He had a ton of pins on his jacket collar.

On the main stage during the Aiba and Sho duet of the song Aiba leaned over and smacked Sho's butt several times as they were walking together. Ohno, Jun, and Nino swayed together on the other side of the stage when it was their turn.

During the last part of the song the main screen showed a vtr of the five of them playing the game of life together in the living room. It was funny because Jun kept fanning himself with the money and apparently Ohno was losing. They were all smiling a lot and looked like they were having a ton of fun.

After the lights dimmed again we suddenly saw a bright light to the right of the main stage and heard an engine roaring nose. When the lights came on, a cart type thing came out with all the memebers. Actually it was a blue chevy car float on a stand so it was the same height as the big carts. Jun was driving, Sho was in the passenger seat with a hand camera that had a live feed to the main screen. In the back Nino was behind Sho and Ohno behind Jun with Aiba sitting up in the seat between them. The license plate said ARS 0915

For Drive, they went around the perimeter of the arena (right in front of us!!) Sho kept filming each member during their solos of the song so that was fun to watch. They were too busy messing around to really look at the audience on our side but that was fine. As they got to the back the car turned into rainbow (it looked like an electrical parade float) and Sho passed the camera to Nino. At the back fireworks went off and they stopped as if to watch them.

For Step and Go, Jun stood up for his solo at the start. Nino recorded his butt and even did a closeup as Jun swayed back and forth, then turned the camera to Ohno who was obviously watching Jun's butt. Nino switched back and forth several times between Jun's butt and Ohno's face before Jun finally sat down. Ohno turned and gave a big cheesy smile to the camera, and Nino passed the camera to him. As they went around the other side of the dome, Ohno filmed some of the fans in the stands with the hand camera.

Last it was Jun's turn to take the camera. He filmed Sho during his rap part and for a second another camera took a video of the scene and everyone screamed. Jun was jamming to Sho's rapping was staring at the screen of the camera he was holding.

For Don't You Get It the lights went off again and when it came back on they were all wearing sunglasses. We screamed of course but they threw them off after a few seconds and walked a little closer to the main stage. They stopped and a strong wind came on to blow their hair out of their faces. They did a sexy hip thrusting move and then started towards the middle of the stage again. Nino had really unruly hair after that that made me laugh. In the background the pv was playing along with the live videos of them dancing.

They were in the center stage when the song finished. There wasn't any music and the lights came on all the way so I almost thought it was the MC except for how early it was.

Jun: Sapporo~ Are you happy?
Us: yay~
Sho: are you having fun? In the first half we really danced!

They noted that Aiba's voice cracked and he sounded funny during his opening greeting.

Sho: Uhm... maybe some people think this is the time to rest but it's not
Jun: I mean, if you want to rest please do.
Sho: yes, but I'm not going to tell you to sit down now.

They started walking back to the main stage.

Sho: So today is the first day of the concert. But it seems everyone listened to the album because there was a good reaction when we started the first song.
If you didn't listen I'd be pretty sad.
Jun: Great solo, Sunshine.
Sho: Thank you!

Nino made a comment that Aiba was overly excited too, then they started talked in an over exaggerated voice. But we all got excited since they were using each other's first names without anything like san or chan.

Nino: What's the matter, Sho?
Sho: what do you think Kaz?
Jun: S.H.O.W. Sho what's up?
Sho: Maybe you noticed but Ohno is gone.
Nino: Ohno?
Jun: Ohno?
Sho: Oh no!!

Of course that led into Ohno's solo. It started with a vtr of him taking a shower and drying off. They didn't actually show his face at first, just close ups of his arms and chest. When he dried off his hair they finally showed his whole torso while he got dressed. He tried on a few pairs of glasses before choosing some.

He came up on the main stage dressed in a sparkly blue suit with red and silver accents. He threw off his glasses after the opening of his solo song. And did some cool dancing. He did a pantomime like he was stuck in box and I was impressed by the high quality of his movements (I shouldn't have been haha).

After the opening verse and leading to the chorus, Ohno's face came on the main screen but he made a stupid expression and then all the brightly colored lights came on. At one point the screen showed a vtr of his face being blown by a high speed fan with his mouth open awkwardly.

He came down from the upper stage to the main stage and on the screens behind him there were replicas of himself as the back dancers. At first there were only eight or so evenly spaced but as the song went on there were more and more. The funniest part was that one of the copies on the back screen kept messing up, either being behind on the beat or going the opposite direction. There was even one part that it fell over! Towards the end of the song there were more than a hundred all the way to the top doing the same dance. The weird choreography and dorky background made me think of Disco Star.

They went into Two to Tango next. The other members were also wearing blue suits with red and silver accents. There was a strange choreography with them holding their arms out and shaking their hands. Sho's rap in this was really cool too. The other four members fell to the floor in a cross and were reaching out to Sho as he stood in the middle as if they were fighting to stand up or move at all. At the end of the rap they had lunged at it and it looked like he pushed them off together. Of course some of the choreography was tango moves but not much of it.

Fukatsu Love was nice. Although they were sweaty the members all looked really pretty and they got some good close ups of them as they danced. They moved to the middle stage and then got on the small carts for Aozora no Shita. They moved to the back stage to do Power of the Paradise which Jun introduced. But on the word "Paradise" his voice rose into a girly tone like he was doing an impression.

During the start Aiba jumped over Sho as he bent over. A lot of people in the audience seemed to know the dance to it.

For the MC they went back to the center stage. They said stuff like "we're Arashi" and "it's been a while!"

Sho: So it's been a year since our last concert.
Did you enjoy the first half?
Us: Yay!
Sho: Ok, now is the time you can sit down.
I heard it's minus 4 outside. Is everyone cold?
I was watching the news earlier and they were showing the dome and interviewing people.
I was excited because when I looked at the information for the tv program it said "a digest on Arashi's concert in Sapporo"
So some people in this audience were interviewed, right?

Nino: They definitely were or else we'd have a problem.
Sho: They also interviewed some people they couldn't get a ticket either.
Aiba: I saw that, for people that have done 3 day concerts in Sapporo it was only Arashi. No other group does 3 days here.
Nino: Us and the Nippon Ham Fighters (its the local baseball team)
Aiba: when I heard that I suddenly felt nervous.
Nino: that's a lot to live up to.

Sho asked the audience who had seen a baseball game there. A lot of people called out or cheered. They talked quickly about the Japan baseball series and that the Ham Fighters had won at their home dome.

Sho: Even if you support a different team you can be moved during a game like that.
Jun: Yeah.
Nino: everyone can enjoy it.
Sho: like if I was watching a soccer match between Brazil and Portugal (I'm pretty sure I mistook the two famous teams he said but I can't remember now)

Ohno: So even if you don't care about either team...?
Nino: you have so sense for what we're talking about.

Sho: Everyone saw his solo right? That was something.
Nino: it's art right?
Ohno: Yes. I wasn't messing around. I did my best.

Sho and Jun asked the audience a few questions so we clapped in reply. Did we think it was cool? Was he messing around?

Sho: Who thought, when they listened to the album for the first time, that it was a joke?
Actually we all practice our solos separately so we didn't know what it would look like right up until the last minute. All 4 of us were watching like this. *pretends to look at a screen with wide eyes*
Nino: There's a message to your song right?
Ohno: yes.
Sho: Is it something you can talk about?
Ohno: Sure.
Nino: I don't think it's something they'll understand otherwise...
Sho: Seems like it's important for kids to listen to right?

Ohno: "Bad Boy" in Japanese is like useless (dame), but there's no such things as a perfect life. You'll always run into a wall, so it's about overcoming those walls. When I overcame my walls and broke free I did a happy dance!

He showed us his dance from his solo which was like kicking his legs out to either side. So the message was to overcome your walls and not give up.

Sho also mentioned Jun's high pitched Power of the Paradise intro as Jun left the stage. Then he went into their promotions. First he talked about his wheelchair basketball drama (that it had been two years since he's done a drama and couldn't remember how to do it well). He told us to take a nap in the afternoon before it starts because since it's over the new year holiday people will be sleep during it since it runs late at night.

Ohno and Nino both talked about their movies coming out next year. When they were finished Sho tried to say he was in a movie too and began describing it, but Jun cut in from back stage "that's my movie!"

Nino: It is quite possible that he might have exactly the same role as you
Sho: It's in my private life
Aiba: me too?
Nino: No.
Aiba: A story about my private life is ok right?
Yesterday I got locked out of my room again at 3 am.
I was in a t-shirt and underwear, but luckily I wore a mask to bed. So I walked out into the hallway and got locked out. (He was talking about sleep walking.)
Nino: why don't you lock the door or something so you can't leave?
Aiba: I usually don't sleep walk.
Nino: Only in Hokkaido?
Sho: you don't at home?
Aiba: No. I think it's because it was before the first concert and I was nervous.

Sho introduced the band and then Aiba yelled out to us to get us pumped for the second half.

Of course they went right into Jun's solo: he was wearing a trench coat that was orange/brown and white. He was wearing white pants with a blue shirt under his jacket. It was obvious he was singing live into the mike because of his slightly nasally tone. During his solo on he main screen they showed a bunch of his private photos of friends and him with babies too (not sure who they were).

For Miles Away they came up on the towers. We weren't really close to any but we watched Sho in the section over. During Hatenai Sora he finally started waving to some people before going back down to return to the stage.

During Wonder Love I had fun watching Sho's flowing shirt as he twirled around during the choreography. Hanging lights (they looked like thin polls hat had one end lit up) came down in white and eventually changed to a rainbow).

I was very impressed by Ninos solo since I thought he'd just play the guitar or something again. He was wearing the same white outfit from the previous song and had some great hip hop style dancing moves.

Aiba came out on the middle stage for his solo. At first I thought he was wearing the tour shirt but it said "Amore" instead of "Are you happy?" He sang the first part normally but when it got upbeat him and his dancers lifted their shirts in time with the music. Their choreography also included running in a circle with their arms out like an airplane. Halfway through Aiba put on a white helmet. The back dancers laid down or bent over and Aiba climbed on top of them like he was riding a bike. On the main screen it added to the effect by showing trees and the road passing by. They the dancers all got down and he "surfed" across them with an ocean in the back.

Then the dancers made a circle around him and Aiba did a headstand using his helmet while twirly really slowly in a circle like a break dancer (but so slow haha!) when he laid back down on the ground two dancers wearing light emergency helmets brought a stretcher forward and loaded him onto it. They started back to the front stage but after a few steps they suddenly turned and threw Aiba back. He landed on his feet and then went back to the middle stage to dance out the rest of the song. By the way the crowd was all singing lousy to the yeahs and la la las.

At the end Aiba did a backflip and then made a heart with his hands across his chest.

That led into Seigshun Boogie. They prepared some set up about a school that you can only graduate from after you experience failed love "shitsuren". They did an introduction of the five students that have never graduated. I wish I could have taken note of the full intro but they went by way too fast.

First was Nino, a hikikomori that always plays games. On stage Nino was holding a game controller pretending to play while sitting down. He did his roll move and then laid on his side while still playing.

Ohno's intro said he was able to catch fish but not women. He had a pole he was fishing off the stage with and he "caught" a fish so held it up to show us.

Sho's had something to do with writting 4000 letters to the same girl and not being able to give up on her. On stage he was playing an ocarina sadly while a dancer behind him showered Sakura blossoms on him. He stopped playing for a few seconds but the music kept going so we knew he wasn't actually playing it.

Jun's intro was do-MJ. "I want to feel all of the pain of everything in the world". He was doing some stretching with a giant rubber band and asked for some pain from someone. The sounds he was making while exercising was a sexy "ah" sound.

Aiba was a stalker who liked a girl too much. so he peeped up his over the main stage from back stage a few times and made some lewd faces.

The start of the song had some lead in about them coming to Sapporo to eat Jingusukan and motivate people (like an oendan) before they started the proper music. Their outfits were a form of gakuran with a long skirt. They had a set of buttons across the chest and were wearing the hats too. The dancing choreography made a lot of use of hear gestures (shaping yours hands like a c or something and putting them together) and some oendan moves like from guts. They also had some that looked like martial arts moves. Under them were some drummers, not taiko but similar.

Then a vtr of the Arashi character came on and he announced their Happy Medley and asked if we were ready for it. When Arashi came back they'd done a costume change again. During Happiness we could see the penlights spelling out HAPPY and ARASHI. During Kitto Daijyobu Nino came in front of us in a small cart but he was a little hard to see from how high we were.

We all danced to Arashi and when Troublemaker followed we got worked up and a lot of girls yelled out. Each song was only a chorus or few lines so the medley went by fast. Before Love Rainbow started Nino was waving really big towards our section. At the end of kotoba yori taisetsu na mono they did the juniors introduction. The large cart came in front of us but since Sho had gotten off at a tower it was empty.

When Wild at Heart started some large balloons were pulled out of the back. There were some bow ties and top hats in member colors, a word bubble with the smiley icon from the foods, and two large word balloons, one that said HAPPY and one they said ARASHI. I could tell there was something inside when I saw underneath them.

They all went to the back for Kansha Kangeki Ame Arashi. Everyone danced to Ai wo Sakebe with them and the moving stage took them back to the front. During the close up at the end Jun blew a kiss and Sho, right after him, did his kissing his fingers and pointing at the sky impression. On the last few notes the stuff fell from the bottom of the balloons. At first I thought they were smaller balloons but I guess they were actually flowers.

As they left the stage they were all saying things like thank you and good bye. Jun called out "you're happy right?" As they left.

We cheered for an encore for about five minutes I think (it felt long but I was excited.)

For the encore they didn't even say anything before the music for a day in our life started to play. They did the call and response opening part like eight times before they actually started into the song. The members were in white jackets but they had the same English words of their favorite things like in the goods pamphlet (i.e. Sho had "rap" highlighted in red on his chest).

When Jun and Ohno sang their duet at the start they were standing together with arms over each other's shoulders. Jun started rubbing the side of Ohno's face. After they stopped singing the camera was still on them staring at each other: Jun leaned in a little and Ohno closed his eyes like he was waiting for a kiss but Jun left him before they fit any closer.

It seemed like Nino had a problem walking through all the leftover flowers (they had dropped on the front of the arena and the main stages).

They got on the big carts again for Gori Muchu. Jun and Nino came by us first. At the end of the song they this this silly dance while staring at each other. Nino gave up and collapsed after a minute but Jun kept dancing himself. Finally he collapsed next to Nino though so the camera was showing them lying on the ground.

When Ohno did the opening for Energy Song I got really excited and jumped around most of the song. Towards the end at the front stage Jun was standing behind Nino and slipped his arm around his chest their he was singing.

When it was time for finally speeches Jun started talking but he was so out of breath that we gave me a few seconds to collect himself. It was weird because they didn't so individual final greetings, it was more like listening to them have a conversation about how grateful they were they could have the concert.

Jun: I got energy (genki), courage, and power today.
Sho: I got love, courage, and cherry pie (ai to yuki to cherry pie)
Everyone seemed to have fun. They said that fun times are over really quickly!

Ohno said something awkward about the flowers representing their happiness.
Ohno: I can't believe it was he first day. The feeling of completion is so strong.
Jun: Amore, nice Amore!
Aiba: it was my first time to try doing some of those things
Sho: it was great. A 33 year old challenged doing a head spin. Usually you start that when you're younger.
Humans have such a wide potential.
Jun: It's all about overcoming walls.
Ohno: that's life.

They said they wanted us to enjoy the concert and thanked us for coming. Jun announced the last song and we all said "eeeh" really loudly. He cut us off like a conductor and said it again but the same thing happened. So he cut us off like a conductor again.

Nino: that's not how we're supposed to end this.
Jun: We're Happy if you got happy.
The last song is Daylight.

Sho was waving a lot at he audience from the main stage during the start of the song. They said goodbye at the end again and introduced the juniors and band. They thanked us for coming. Jun was going to do the "What's our name" call but his voice cracked so he had to do it again.

The streamers shot out with the same timing. Unfortunately we missed them by a lot. The section a few over near home for some and the arena right in front of us did but we didn't. The show ended at about 8:45.

I'm attending again tomorrow so I'll update this report with new details I notice. The report I post tomorrow will be about changes I find and the MC and things.

Pimpin' it

boblemon — Fri, 21 Oct 2016 00:23:37 GMT

Hello everyone! I am not dead! But I am here to tell you that I'm not using livejournal much these days (as if you didn't know). There's not many active people on here anymore, so I've tried to move to other social networking websites. So please add me if you haven't already!

My open Twitter account: @saigo_no_lady
My Japan sales/proxy service Twitter account: @sushisalez
(I also have a locked account for my private things, if you'd like that shoot me a pm or email)

And, in hopes of re-starting up a blog-type thing, I'm starting to post on tumblr again: https://www.tumblr.com/blog/nakedlink
I intend to combine advertising my proxy/goods buying service, as well as post pictures I take in Japan, and write short text blogs about life. It's not going to be overly personal because it's open to the public, so I might still post here again for something like that in the future.

On that note, does anyone else have recommendations of other sites?

And unrelated, I started to crochet recently and was hoping to sell some stuff online. I opened an etsy store but it seems like there are too many people selling similar things, so without paid advertising I'm never going to show up on the search results. I think it's better for me to sell in Japan but I don't know any handmade item selling sites here. Any advice on this front?

Japonism Report- December 24, 2015 Tokyo

boblemon — Thu, 24 Dec 2015 17:04:02 GMT

Report is finished but I still need to double check for errors!

As usual, for this report I'm only noting the things that were different from their previous concerts in Sapporo. Please check my other reports for the full details.

I wasn't planning on going to any of the Tokyo concerts since I couldn't find a ticket, but one of my friends had a sudden family emergency and canceled her trip to Japan so she gave me her ticket for today. I'm really sad she couldn't see it!

Anyway, the seats were in the upper part of the top stands. We had a pretty good view of the whole thing, although one of the big speaker towers was sort of in our way. We were near the middle and we could see them pretty well while they were at the back stage.

The show started like one or two minutes late. The opening was the same vtr as before, but this time they all had a line to say during their individual cuts. I didn't catch what Nino said but Ohno said "Nani wo miteiru" and Aiba said "Nani wo mamotteiru". Sho and Jun had the same ones as the previous concerts.

During Troublemaker when Ohno and Sho make a heart Jun just turned around so his back was facing the camera. They didn't say anything about it.

The opening speeches were similar to before:

Jun: Yeah~ (he called to us like ten times)
It's been a long time Tokyo! We wanted to see you!
Are you ready to have fun? x2
Are you ready to be happy?
I can’t hear you! X2
I can see you up there on top!
Come with us! X2 (Tsuitekoi yo)
We’re going to make all of you happy today!
Come with us to the end!

Nino: Irrashaimase! X2
Arashi is here! x2
It’s not enough! X3
Stay with us until the end!
(As Nino left the spotlight he did a little jump/skip.)

Aiba: He said it's not enough!
More! Hey! x3
(He smiled widely at the camera and made my heart jump.)
Saiko daze! (This is the best.)

Ohno: Hai~ x3
Can you make it?
Should we do the usual?
Tokyo Japonism matsuri...
Us: day!
Ohno: *In a nasally voice* Yorokoshiku!

Sho: How you doing Tokyoooooooooooo~ (We all tried to scream back but I think Sho beat us all with his long scream)
How are you doing Tokyo?!
How are the upper stands? X2
How are the lower stands?
How are the men? How are the boys?
How are the ladies? How are the girls?
It’s not enough!
We are ready!
How about you?
Let us hear more from you!
Ok say Arashi!
Us: Arashi!
(In English) Japonism two thousand fifteen, let's get the utage started!

For the end of Make a Wish, Aiba and Sho were dancing together. Aiba was behind Sho and they alternated leaning back and forth (so they were on opposite sides) and then last they did the circle train that EXILE made popular. At the end Aiba initiated a high five too. It seemed like they'd done this for a few concerts.

For the start of Nino’s solo he encouraged us to cheer for him again just like in Sapporo. He raised his arms for a cheer with a "yeah~" and the lowered them for us to be quiet. He did this several times and then "faked" raising his hands and then looked at the camera like he tricked us when we cheered.

Today I noticed that some of his scores on the dancing fame were "bad". At the end when they listed the final results there were 3 bad ones.

At the start of Jun’s solo there was a new vtr that I hadn't seen. He was running down a hallway that looked like an underground passage outside and kept looking over his shoulder anxiously. It flashed back and forth to a picture of him lying on the couch until his solo started properly.

Everything else was the same. For Happiness when they got on the carts, Aiba, Sho, and Nino were on our side first. Aiba was waving at our section a lot. For Hadashi no Mirai they asked us to dance with them, and Jun and Ohno came by us. Ohno waved up at us too.

The cutest moment happened during Guts. When they got back to the main stage but before they got off the carts Jun and Ohno stood right next to each other and did the simple choreography together. Ohno was on the left holding his mic in his left hand and Jun was holding it in his right. So during the "swinging the bat" move Ohno moved his arm back first and then Jun moved his over to be with Ohno’s and they hit it together. They did the whole second half of the song like this and it was so cute!! Ohno even made some cute watching the ball fly off faces. At the end they pointed at the camera together and then it switched over to Aiba and Sho who also were standing near each other and pointed at the camera too.

For Ai wo Sakebe during the close up in the middle of the song, Jun pressed his hand against his cheek in a cute pose and Sho made some cheesy kissy lips at the camera two or three times.

The MC:

Sho: Yay! x3
We are Arashi!
This is the second day of Tokyo. How is it Matsumoto-san?
Jun: Yes! Zenkochocho!
Us: Yay!
Sho: They're so excited.
Ohno: I felt their excitement before we even started.

Sho: How about you, Ninomiya-san?
Nino: It's amazing!
Sho: Yeah, in your solo I could hear them louder than the music!

Sho said he could hear us while we were back stage singing the part of Ninos solo after woah woah~ oh yeah Us: Yeah yeah!

Nino: Their energy is amazing.
Aiba: And there was that part where we sing "Arigatou~" (It took me a second to figure out he was referring to Ai wo Sakebe)
I mean "Omedetou" right?

They made fun of Aiba a little for his mistake before Sho changed the subject.

Sho: There's an unusual feeling here tonight. (The camera did a closeup of Aiba so we all knew it was because it was his birthday)
Us: Woooooh~

Sho wanted to ask who was an Aiba fan in the audience, but it got a little messed up. Sho wanted everyone to turn off their penlights and then turn them back on for who was an Aiba fan, but Jun pointed out the first color would be blue instead of green. So they asked us all to turn our lights on to green, and then people that wanted to could turn them off when they asked. But Jun clarified that anyone who was “Aiba’s fan, or a fan of all five of them, or anyone who wanted to celebrate Aiba’s birthday” should leave them on. So of course we all did!

Aiba: Thank you everyone!
Sho: Ok, who’s an Aiba fan!
Us: *pause and then some people yelled out loudly*
Sho: What was that hesitation?
Aiba: You took them by surprise. My fans are sort of laid back like that.

Sho wouldn’t let it go so he told Aiba to call out to his fans. He did so in a loud voice and as you would expect a lot of people cheered back for him. Aiba said he also saw a lot of uchiwas too but some of them said “Omedetamaki” (<I need to double check this because I didn’t get the joke)

Sho: The weird thing is that some people didn’t put the “omedetou” part so it just turned into Tamaki. Aiba may think that’s funny but it’s a problem for the rest of us.

As they walked back to the main stage some fans in the arena started screaming so Arashi thanked them casually. Aiba was about to comment about another uchiwa he saw but as they approached the front stage a cake came up in front of them. It looked like the stage (it had two red pillars on either side and a white “screen” that said Japonism on it). There was a wide cake on the bottom holding it up. There was also a white Christmas tree behind the table holding the cake.

Jun asked someone get a camera so they could take a picture together and then we all sang Happy Birthday. There were some lights shining on the ceiling to spell out Masaki Aiba Happy Birthday 33. At the end of the song Aiba kept saying thank you and basking in the attention, twisting his head around with a goofy smile on his face. So the other members got mad at him.

Nino: Blow out the candles!
Sho: You’re supposed to blow it out as we finish the song. Now we’re going to have to do it again.
Aiba: Seriously?!

So we sang just the last line again from “Happy Birthday dear Aiba~” but the same thing happened again (Aiba basking in the attention).

Sho: You idiot!

Then Nino ran over and bent over to blow out the candles for him. Aiba wasn’t even close enough to stopping his so he just backed up and looked at the camera like, “Okay let’s clean up now.”

They posed for the picture next, Aiba sitting down in front of the cake. Jun was in the back and he held up a Japonism blanket in front of him. They messed up the first one because Jun was messing with the blanket so they had to take a couple of pictures.

After that Jun pointed out that there was something on the camera filming them so Aiba came closer and looked up at it curiously. He got really closed to the camera so we all screamed. The thing on top of the camera was a wire that had been shaped into “Happy Birthday 雅紀相葉” in a square pattern. It looked pretty cool!

Aiba: Thank you so much everyone! I never dreamed that I could celebrate my birthday like this! Since, when I was a kid my dream was to be a shacho (company president)! I had the wrong dream then. This like this in my 34^th year…
Us: Eh?!
Aiba: I mean, as I face turning 34…everyone, please continue to stay with us and suppose us! I’m so happy to be here today, thank you!
Jun: That sounded like our ending greeting. We still have more to do.
Aiba: Thank you so much.

Ohno: The cake looks good.
Jun: You should try to explain the flavor. It’ll improve your jyoshi-ryoku (girl power)

So Aiba and Ohno both went to the cake, one on either side. Someone gave them forks and so Aiba was trying to decide where to take a bite out of while Ohno kept saying that it looked good to eat. It took a moment of thinking but Aiba finally decided he would eat the red pillar part, so he tried to cut it with his fork but it wouldn’t budge, so he pulled it off with his hand. The whole thing came off and Ohno laughed and pointed out that it was held up by disposable chopsticks. Despite that Aiba still tried to take a bite out of it, showing us that he putting effort into it.

Jun: Can you actually eat that part?
Aiba: … It’s cardboard.
Nino: You’re an idiot.

Aiba took a bite of cake properly from the bottom and shoved it in his mouth. Before he had swallowed he told us it was really good, and Ohno took a bite too.

They played rock scissors paper again to see who would do the MC first. Jun left, and Aiba and Sho ended up on the same team together.

Aiba: That’s amazing!
Sho: We’re in sync! It’s because we’re both 33 now! Yeah~
Aiba: Yeah~

After the left with their arms over each others shoulders, Nino and Ohno were left on the stage alone. They stared at each other sheepishly for a second which made us laugh.

Ohno: Good for us.
Nino: It’s nice to have your birthday on a concert day, huh.
Ohno: Yeah. Mine was when we were in Osaka.
Nino: Awesome. Mine is in July.
Ohno: So we can’t celebrate it…
Nino: Yeah probably never.
There’s no holidays in July and it’s not even the season for that.
Ohno: It used to be the same for me. (Birthday not on a concert.)
Nino: Lucky for you that changed.
Ohno: So you can’t celebrate your birthday. That’s why you’re working so hard lately.
Nino: *holds back a laugh at Ohno’s unskilled change of topic* Thank you.
So can I talk about my promotions?
Ohno: Please, go ahead.

As usual Nino really quickly told us about his movies and dramas coming up. Suddenly Sho could be heard screaming into his mic and him and Aiba came running out on the stage after changing.

Sho: Please give him a chance! Let him have an audition!
Please!
Aiba: That was the fastest I’ve ever changed!

Sho was bowing politely to Nino as he kept asking him to give Aiba a chance, so Nino waved him forward. Aiba asked if we’d seen Nino’s movie “Haha to Kuraseba” yet. He wanted to do an impression of Aiba’s character for us, so he kneeled down and slouched a little like Nino does (it was so cute to watch him mimic Nino!). Then he leaned forward and smiled before saying “Machikogane?” I haven’t seen the movie yet, but I guess this is one of the first scenes Nino appears in.

We all cheered for him, and Aiba said we needed to see the original so he made Nino sit down and do the scene again. He did it a little faster but fully in character. He was planning on making Aiba apologize to us after that, but then Jun came out too and did the impression. Sho sat down next to him and did it too and then last was Ohno. All three of them made exaggerated faces so it was funny to watch.

Jun: Out of all the scenes that was Aiba’s favorite.
Nino: Why?!
Aiba: Well, it was near by the beginning and it just sort of stayed in my head. Why do I have to explain the things I like?

Ohno and Nino left after that so Sho asked Aiba about his birthday.

Sho: Did you get any messages from other members?
Aiba: Members… Oh, from Leader.
Sho: When?
Aiba: The day after my birthday.
Sho: Tomorrow?!
Aiba: I meant early this morning.
And then during rehearsal this afternoon Sho-chan sent me one. Even though we were in the same room. And… *looks at Jun*
Jun: Congratulations. *with a sheepish smile*
Sho: Just like a dad or something!
Aiba: Well yes, we’re all together today so I can understand why (he didn’t message)
As for Nino, during some of the songs when the dancing wasn’t hard, as he passed he would whisper “Congratulations” to me.
Sho: And some juniors gave you presents right?
Aiba: Yeah! Guess what I got? I huge stuffed animal dog (he held his arms out to show us how big it was and it seems like almost a meter. XD)
I wonder what the juniors are thinking of me?
Sho: The animal-loving big brother!
And what else?
Aiba: You gave me a preset like 2 months ago. You were the first.
Sho: Yes, I did. I was the first.
I gave a mofu-mofu (I believe this is referring to a scarf)
Sho: In our break room during filmings there are always a lot of magazines. I was flipping through them and saw it and thought it was made for you. So I bought it and gave it to you.
Aiba: Even though it wasn’t my birthday yet.
Sho: I gave it while it was the freshest.

Jun: I’ve been trying to buy a present for you for a while. I’ve been out shopping with the intent of buying you a present at least three times, but each time I can’t find something that’s quite right. I just keep ending up with more clothes for myself.

Ohno and Nino came back out so they joined.

Ohno: I have no idea what to give you.
Sho: Aiba has very specific tastes.
Nino: I’ll ask directly. Is it ok?
Aiba: What?
Nino: To just give 30,000 yen in cash.
Jun: How about you use the goods envelope and put one bill in each to give to him. That might be better.
Aiba: Well, I mean…
Nino: What? Then tell us what you want.
Aiba: It’s fine, but the nice thing is knowing that you put the thought into coming up with a present for me.
Nino: Ah, I got it!
Ohno: What? Tell me.
Nino: No.
Ohno: We can give it to him together. (Nino started walking away from him so Ohno followed behind, crowded him.)
Nino: I can’t say it here. But I have an idea.
Ohno: I guess I’ll keep thinking about it.
Nino: That’s late! His birthday is today!

Sho made some more announcements for their holiday shows, Music Station, Kohaku (a Star Wars collaboration), Shiyagare, and the Kotatsu de Arashi segment.

Sho: You might have to buy a new recorder (hard drive) to fit it all.
Jun: How many of you buy the penlights? Thanks to that we were on the news yesterday.

He gave his usual speech about Japonism being a review of Arashi’s 15 years and Johnny’s Entertainment. As he was talking he noted that, since they were in Tokyo, they had some new juniors that were young.

Sho: They’re really small! Don’t you remember our junior days?
Ohno: Sho used to be tiny! Like this tall! (He held his hand up to about his waist)
Jun: He couldn’t have been that small! He’d be like 3 years old!

Sho said he was about 137 centimeters when he entered Johnnys, so he was small.

Aiba did the “let’s get pumped up” call and ended it with the phrase in English “Music Start” with a cute kime pose.

For Maka Fushigi I saw that on the left and right of the large screen they had the typical Johnnys tower of squares and juniors were dancing in them. They were wearing red on the bottom and top and the middle row was in white.

Their solos after that were the same. Sho looked cool and didn’t make any mistakes so it was great to watch again. And Aiba’s solo was nice too. I really want to watch that choreography up close!

For Funky no member was particularly close to us. Nino was nearest, but he was at least one section to the left so I just danced while looking at the main stage screen.

Bolero was fun again. Nino and Jun danced at the back stage as usual. First Nino did his solo and then Jun, then they posted together at the same time. Sho did a cheesy smile after his solo and Aiba did the Disco Star running for his. At the end of the song, Sho and Nino were facing each other and dancing at the center stage.

For the start of Ohno’s solo a lot of people around me were saying “Ooh~” and “Ehh?!” for the magic tricks.

The next few songs were the same. During Sunrise Nippon Jun did the junior introduction as usual. For Oh Yeah Sho came up right in front of our section. I was trying to watch him, but Ohno and Nino were waving at each other and playing around so I ended up watching them a lot too. Ohno was waving at Nino and Nino was asking “who me?” while pointing at himself.

For the first half of Believe when Jun walked to the middle stage the group of juniors there dancing were crowded around one boy who was doing summer saults in place over and over again. Jun watched him for a minute but then continued walking without joining in.

When they got on the moving stages Nino didn’t sit down tonight. Jun was singing to the arena . Ohno and Nino both waved at us when they walked by, and Sho’s rap at the end of the song was so cool, just like before. He got really into it and was gesturing a lot at the camera on him.

Ending greetings:

Sho: Thank you everyone. *bows*
It's been a year since our last original album. Was it fun today?
Just like we said in the MC, we could feel your excitement and how happy you are. For a birthday it’s a little different atmosphere in here. Last year in Tokyo it was Aiba’s birthday too right? We wrote his name with the penlights.
If you’re interesting in seeing it, please check out the making in The Digitalian DVD!
During our 16^th year together we decided to look back on our past. Sometimes in order to move forward you have to pause or look back.
This year is almost over, but with our newly charged power we can make it through another year. So please continue to follow us.
It was fun today! Thank you!

Ohno: Thank you everyone. *bow*
It was over really fast.
When I was over there on the tower I think I strained my arm. It was that much fun.
It doesn’t hurt so don’t worry.
I did mask magic for my solo. It was nostalgic.
I did the same thing in Kyoto 11 years ago.
I didn’t think I would ever do it again, but it was still good.
Well this year is almost over. At least be careful not to catch a cold.
Put on a mask.
Today is Aiba-kun’s birthday, so I was to give him a message.
Aiba. Happy Birthday. (He said it in a slow voice like a proud father which made us laugh.)
Aiba: Thank you!
Ohno: Thank you. *bows*

Aiba: Thank you all so much! *bows*
Really, thank you!
All I can say is thank you!
Today I’m so happy… I’m so happy, but I’m a little light headed.
During my solo I went up too high (because he got excited). I gave a higher performance than usual.
Today was perfect!
But I can’t believe my first piece of cake as a 33 year old was cardboard. I thought my teeth would break.
Thanks to all of you I had an amazing day! I’m going to go home and relax in my futon.
Arashi mo korekara mo yoroshiku onegashimasu!
Thank you very much! *bows*

Nino: Thank you for today! *bow*
Did you see? The last part of Aiba’s greeting.
(Nino did an impression of Aiba’s last bow where he put his hand over his chest with emotion. Aiba called out to him not to joke about it.)
Nino: I thought that was great. We can’t have a concert on my birthday. I mean we have November, December, August, and January. Something is always scheduled in those months. I’m in July. It’s like someone will get hurt if they schedule something then.
It’s Aiba’s birthday today. On my birthday I don’t think I’ll ever be told happy birthday at a concert.
Us: Happy birthday!
Nino: It’s not by birthday so it doesn’t count!
Us: Ehh~ (everyone started chattering or call out happy birthday again)
Nino: I understand that you want to say it, but… maybe someday.
When I see him being so happy about it… I want it too.
Well at least I made another great memory.
He just made such a good face.
Finally, I want to give Aiba a message.
Aiba-kun, Merry Christmas.
Aiba: …Merry Christmas.
Nino: Thank you all very much! *bow*

Jun: Thank you very much! It was fun. *bows*
First, about Aiba’s birthday… I’m glad we could all be on the same stage together as a group.
Aiba: Thank you. Kore kara mo yoroshiku.
Jun: It’s the 16^th year that we could dance and sing on this stage, and a lot of people came. That makes me happy. At the start of Japonism there was a question, “How will you live from now on?”
If you could become a little happier, a little more positive, that would make me happy.
What we want you to feel is how you’re connected to other people. Through Japonsim we wanted to convey our feelings about the road our sempai have paved for us, and how we are connected as kohai. After 15 to 16 years, how have we experienced Johnnys Entertainment.
What we want to pass on to you is a positive feeling that you can pass on too, and be happy.
For 17 years we’ve been Arashi and we want to continue with these five members in the future.
We still have a lot of time together in the future.
Please continue to follow us from now on too.
Thank you. *bows*
This is the last song.

At the end of Bokura ga Tusnaideiku Aiba mouthed “arigato” at the camera when all five of their profiles were on the stage. The birthdays and debut date of Arashi came across the screen and then turned up to the current time, 20:38:21.

We only waited 2-3 minutes for the encore to start. As usual, Jun, Ohno, and Aiba were on one cart that came out on our side first. Jun waved up at us as they passed and then Aiba did too when they were in the back of the dome.

They had the camera on the cart again, so Jun got in for some close-ups during Love So Sweet. But he didn’t pull Ohno over today. Nino and Sho were running around in a circle in front of their camera as they reached the main stage. When Sho came at the camera he flapped back the sides of his vest like a bird or something.

Finally at the end of the song before they got off the cart, Jun pulled Ohno over for a double shot in front of the camera. For the last part Sho and Nino were leading the front of the arena in pumping their arms to the woah woah parts. For the last “love so sweet” lyrics Aiba did the gesture of raising his thumb into the air.

For A.Ra.Shi. Nino followed Sho to the side stage for his rap part. The camera was farther back than in Sapporo so he got them both in with no problem. Sho was squatting down to rap while Nino danced behind him kicking his legs up and doing gang signs. At the end he squatted down next to Sho and then did the same gestures of him throwing his arms up for “fly away”. The look on Sho’s face was amusing like he was surprised Nino had been watching him close enough to know what he was going to do before he did it.

When they did the intros of the juniors and bands, Nino and Sho knelt down to play with the taiko drummers. Nino was funny because he played all the way to the end even when the samisen players were having their solo, and he was perfectly in sync with the taiko players.

Last, Jun asked us, “What’s our name?!” and when we screamed Arashi the streamers came out.

When they left the stage Sho was doing the disco star run in place and throwing the sakura flowers over his own head. When Aiba came on camera Nino and Ohno started sprinking him with the flowers as much as possible. Jun tried to help but he only had a handful. Aiba yelled out “Minna Daisuki dayo!” (I love you all!” as they left.

The last thing to be seen was Jun’s hand so he gave us a peace sign. The concert ended at 8:53, so it was a little longer than usual.

Luckily our section was let out first so we didn’t have much trouble leaving or getting on the trains.

Japonism report - November 15, 2015 Sapporo

boblemon — Sun, 15 Nov 2015 13:47:04 GMT

Finished!

Once again this is a supplementary report so I'll be skipping the performances that didn't change. Please check my previous report for full details of the concert.

We arrived really early today and waited outside the dome to go in as soon as the doors opened. Our seats were probably the highest yet, halfway up the top section. We were just to the right of center stage so we could see everything well. We went with two of our other friends so all four of us wore a matching tunic that had a Japanese type print on it.

Today they didn't show the special concert version preview of Manabu (probably because it aired yesterday) just the regular generic one they had before.

The show started on time. When the lights dimmed and the penlights came on it seemed like there was quite a lot of blue ones. I don't know if that meant Ohno fans or people that couldn't figure out their penlight settings (since blue is the default color).

The opening was the same. During Wild at Heart when Sho and Ohno made their heart, they leaned back really far again and kind of missed (their fingers on top slipped so it didn't really look like a heart). When the camera zoomed in on their hands Jun moved out from behind them completely and waited at the side but I guess he had to get into position because he walked back on while the camera was still zoomed up. He covered his crotch and covered his mouth scandalously while looking at the camera.

After yesterday's MC I was watching Sho specifically. He seemed to be dancing normally during Aokimi but I think the other members were going out of their way to let him walk through the middle. They never said anything about it though so maybe it's just me. During the solo for Sho and Ohno at the end they were pointing at the camera.

Juns speech was almost the same as yesterday except he added it was the last day. He still did the "I can't hear you" gesture.

Nino's was the same too. Aiba started out the same but added "tarinai tte iwarechattiru yo" (literally "You're being told it's not enough!" But for me the nuance means we should try harder.) He also did a yeah~ call but it sounded like eh~ instead.

Ohnos was also the same. Sho was too, asking about Sapporo, the upper, above the upper, lower, and then did the Arashi call. He ended with his English line again.

Back on he moving stages they were all waving a lot at everyone. Just like yesterday Aiba came up behind Sho during his solo and wrapped his arms around his shoulders from behind. Today he moved his head back and forth from Shos left to right and eventually began rocking both of them sideways each way. When he backed away he hit Shos butt and then tried to poke his crotch while Sho jumped back out of the way. Aiba ran away before Sho could get revenge.

When Nino came for our his solo he was teasing us again. He did a sample of his tap and then when we all cheered he raised one hand in thanks. He let his hand down and then raised it up again to cue us to cheer. We did so then he held both arms out to the side in a stop sign. He repeated that all again while grinning the whole time.

For Jun's solo they had the MJ cam again and also one on another stuntman just like before. I think I liked watching the stunt mans cam when he's trying to catch Jun the best.

When Happiness started Jun put his arm over Ohno's shoulder when they were walking to the cart but after a second Ohno left to get one the cart first.

During Hadashi Mirai they were all waving a lot and Jun was leaning on the railing but he didn't look as tired as yesterday. During Guts Nino was dancing whole heartedly and using his mic probably like we were using our penlights for the bat swing choreography. For their solos Jun and Ohno stood next to each other and then immediately after, the camera switched to Aiba and Sho standing really close next to each other.

Jun was able to stand without Ohno's shoulder for Ai wo Sakebe but he was staring at Leader the whole time like "look at me I'm doing it!" But Jun did crowd closer to Ohno on one of the close ups I think. For the middle close up solos Jun blew a kiss like usual but after him Sho touched his fingers to his lips and raised them up to the sky. It was his impression of a famous soccer player he always does on VS Arashi.

The MC:

Sho: Yeah! x3
We are Arashi!

They all mumbled their thank yous and bowed a few times.

Sho: Today is the last of our three day concert in Sapporo. How was it?
Nino: Hot!
Sho: You mean it was hot outside?
Jun: Outside is cold!!
Nino: No, our prep room was hot.

They decided to do the men vs women call because Ohno and Sho said they saw a lot of men today. They told Ohno to do it and chatted about what they should have them call out before they did it. Since they were men they decided on "omaera". (a very slang term for "you" used by men because it's vulgar/unrefined for women to use in Japan).

Sho: So when Ohno says "ready..." you yell "omera!"

We waited a moment for Ohno to go but after about two seconds a really loud man yelled out "omaera!" And made us all laugh.

Ohno: That was too early!!
Sho: As I said, Satoshi Ohno will say "ready..." And then you say it!

They tried to do it again but before Ohno could say anything at all a man yelled out "ready..." in his place. I think Ohno thought it was funny but I know that's the kind of thing that irritates Sho. XD

Sho: You are not Ohno!!

Anyway they did it properly the last time and had all the men yell out. It really did seem like a lot. Judging from only voices like 30%.

Sho: Next the ladies. You do it Jun-
Jun: Ok my beautiful warriors! Are you ready? In the name of the moon...? Can you do it?
Us: *cheer*
Jun: In the name of the moon...
Us: I'll punish you!
(For those that don't know this is Sailor Moons catch phrase.)
Sho: Ok last let's have everyone together. Aiba?
Aiba: Let's have them say Arashi!
Ready...
Us: Arashi!!

They finally told us we could sit down for the talk.

Sho: A wide variety of people came today huh.
Aiba, how's Sapporo?
Aiba: It's so exciting here!
Sho: Was there any trouble today?
Ohno: Just barely none.
Nino: Was there trouble?
Ohno: It's okay.
Sho: Kazunari-san?
Nino: I was fine.
But Aiba said something stupid during his greeting.

Nino did an impression of Aiba's garbled "tarinai tte iwarechattiru yo."

Nino:What are they supposed to say to that? Do you want them to cheer at that comment?
Aiba: It wasn't just me. Ohno suddenly changed the final pose of his greeting.

I guess Aiba and Nino copy his pose which is raising both hands up like yeah! But today Ohno just put one hand up like he was pumping his fist. He showed us a demonstration of what he changed.

Sho: Was that something people noticed had changed?
Us: ...
Sho: Well, who should I ask for that answer??
(I for one didn't realize he was directing that at the audience...)
Well, Ohno, is that something you expect fans to copy and do with you?
Ohno: They don't have to. Unless they want to, then please do! Or you can do it really small. Or all the way above your head. (He demonstrated with gestures.)
Or you don't have to do it.

Jun: Someone messed up during Troublemaker (pointing at Nino and Aiba).
Nino and Aiba: We didn't do anything! :3

Jun: I was trying so hard today. When the heart was made.

Sho and Ohno got together and made the heart and we all yelled out.

Sho: Is that really so exciting?

He pulled away and then made the heart again and we did the same thing so he crushed their hands together several times to see if we could keep up with him. They explained what they had talked about in the MC yesterday with Juns crotch being in the heart.

Jun: So I just got out of the way instead.
But when I walked back into the frame I was drawing attention to myself (because he was walking) and I realized that my crotch was right there! So I covered it.

Sho was laughing so hard at the explanation.

Sho: Can I ask about something that happened before in the prep room?
Aibas been eating a lot of kaki (persimmons).
I asked him why one day. Tell them.
Aiba: At Waku Waku we learned about eating fruit and vegetables when they're in season. So right now the seasonal fruit is kaki.
I also peeled some for Ohno and shared. "Oh-chan~ I finished peeling it!"
Jun: Lately Aiba is acting so girly! I heard him say, "oh right, let's have some cake~" the other day. (Jun's high pitched impression of Aiba sounding like a girl was cute.)

Nino: What's the seasonal fruit after kaki is finished?
Ohno: He peeled the kaki for me but I couldn't eat it all...Aiba ate the rest.
Sho: Since I asked about it I suddenly had kaki on my table too.
Aiba: By the way, if you eat kaki when it's turning red (meaning it's overripe since kaki is usually orange) it's really healthy! It'll keep the doctor away.
I want everyone to eat kaki. I'll bring some for everyone next time.
It's just a pain to peel and it has seeds.
Jun: You could try making juice.
Nino: I can just see that! Aiba running around will his arms full of kaki looking for a mixer! (He did a gesture to show what he meant.)
So after kaki is... Mikan? (A Japanese Orange like a tangerine.)
Aiba: I'll peel Mikan for everyone next time!

They went to change and they shooed Jun off first. They said they would tell us why later but I don't think they ever did. The last four played rock paper. Tonight Nino and Aiba stayed out together first.

Aiba told him to do his promotions and Nino finished all three of them in about twenty seconds, just saying the days and times.

Aiba: Please watch them, everyone.
Now it's free talking time.
Let's do a quiz! A Japonism quiz! What's this sound quiz!
I'll got first.
Nino: I have to do it too?!

Aiba made his sound but it was kind of mediocre and he couldn't get it all out. To me it sounded like a cat meowing haha! Nino fell down on the stage as a joke to show how bad he messed up.

Aiba did it again, first making a high pitched beeeeew sound and then flicking his lips with his fingers into the mic. It was quite cute to see him trying so hard.

Nino: Is it the farts of a really sick person?
Aiba: No!! (Aiba smiled really happily and made me swoon a little. These two were so adorable!)
Aiba: It's the first question so the quality is pretty low. Let me try again.

He did it again and I could tell what he was going for. He asked us to yell out the answer which I did, fireworks.

Aiba: That's right!

Nino looked shocked that we got it.

Nino: It's not your fake phone on vibrate mode?
Aiba: I already told you my phone isn't a fake!!

Sho popped out of the doorway looking excited.

Sho: I came back fast. It seems like you guys are having fun.

Ohno came a few seconds after and Nino saw his escape.

Nino: Ok you two can try it then!

After Nino and Aiba left the other two were sort of quiet as they decided what to do next.

Ohno: What Arashi song is this?
Us: Huh?!
Ohno: What corner are we doing again?

Ohno being clueless was really cute. His expression was fun.

Ohno: Ok here I go, ready?

He made a small popping sound with his lips and then tried it again because it wasn't very loud. Jun had come out by then and was sitting on the stairs.

Jun: Ok! It's a marble glass bottle being opened (the kind of bottle ramune comes in- I also thought that's what it was.)
Ohno: No.

Sho tried to imitate the popping sound Ohno was making but couldn't do it well. He held the mic close to his lips and leaned his head back but it didn't change anything. Apparently he still didn't figure it out.

Sho: A bottle of champagne when it opens?
Ohno: No.
Sho: What's the answer?
Ohno: The sound effect when you get a message on Line. (Line is a messaging app that's popular in Japan)

Actually some girls had been yelling that answer out behind us but they never asked the audience unfortunately.

Next they asked Jun to give a question and he thought about it for a moment.

Jun: What is this corner anyway? *thinks hard*
Sho: This is probably the calmest MC of the entire tour so far.

Aiba and Nino came back out and Nino teased them, "I was thinking backstage, what the hell are those guys doing?!" (I laughed because Nino had managed to escape having to make a question.)

Jun: I wanted to do a Johnnys quiz, not a sound effect quiz.
Aiba: That's fine!
Jun: Are you sure you're Johnnys?
Aiba: I am!
Jun: Okay, raise your hand if you know the answer. Johnnys Entertainment is celebrating it's 50 anniversary. What was the first official group that debuted from Johnnys Entertainment?

The other four raised their hands at various speeds but Jun claimed Nino was first.

Nino: The first group was called "Johnny"
Jun: ... Nope!

I of course didn't know anything about the topic but I guess that was the expected answer. They all looked thoughtful but then Ohno raised his hand and guessed "Four Leaves". Jun stared at him really hard and asked in a Japanese accent "final answer?" Ohno replied in his best America accent with a smile, "final answer." Jun kept staring at him and the camera zoomed up in his face. He opened his mouth slowly with wide eyes and the camera changed to Ohno waiting in anticipation with a cute o: expression. Finally Jun said "that's correct" and explained that the group "Johnny" was formed before Johnnys Entertainment existed, so technically Four Leaves was the correct answer.

Jun: So do you have a question Aiba?
Aiba: This is too sudden!
Jun: It can be about Johnnys, or about you. Just not when you were a kid.
Aiba: How about when I was a junior?
Jun: Of course.

Aiba started to form the question and then said that Nino couldn't answer and pulled him over to stand by his side. Of course some girls screamed.

They sat down in the bottom steps like they were squatting and Aiba explained, when he was a junior, they were sitting like that at the station.

Aiba: An old man walked past and did something to us. What was it?
Okay we need the old man! (Sho ended up getting picked and he came over to stand in front of them.)
Aiba: We were sitting like this and you walked over. If you were an old man what would you do?

Sho demonstrated his answer by smacking Aiba across the top of his head.

Aiba: ... That's right.
I was being really loud so the old man hit me.
Sho: What did you do when that happened Nino?

Nino demonstrated by just staring forward and avoid eye contact with Aiba (pretending he didn't know him).
Aiba: You always pretended not to know me or ran away when stuff like that happened!

I guess they ran out of time because Jun went right into his speech about the Japonism tour and that the second half would be more of a tribute to Johnnys Entertainment.

The second half started out the same. I was really focusing on watching for the backflips in Nihon Yoi Tokoro.

When they came on for Funky, Jun was directly in front of our section. I noticed he danced the same dance we were doing (I feel like the others were doing the special Arashi version that looked cooler). I can just imagine Jun watching the video to do his concert research and doing it the same as us for that reason. :)

For the end of Bolero their solo dances were the same. Jun and Nino did a "dance battle" at the back stage, Sho did a solo on the front stage and then pointed to Aiba to do the last one.

During Ohno's solo when he disappeared behind the red curtain as it fell we could see a whisp of his hair as the curtain hit the ground (not sure if that's because we were up high or the timing was off).

After the junior introductions in Sunrise Nippon, Ohno came up in the tower in front of us. He was very relaxed and waving at everyone (or doing the fishing gesture). During Oh Yeah I noticed Nino (in front of the section to our right) was waving towards us instead of the section he was in front of. After about ten seconds Ohno finally noticed and looked over. Nino waved wildly at him and Ohno pointed to himself like "who, me?" Nino nodded and waved again while we all cheered and Ohno waved back happily with wide movements.

During Believe Jun was doing that background dance with the juniors at the center stage as he passed. Nino still sat down for his solo on the moving stages and Sho did the rap similar to yesterday (starting out softer and then getting passionate).

During the speeches its usual for everyone to change their penlight color to the member color of who's talking but I noticed the ones that didn't change were all blue tonight... Something was weird about all the blues I'm the crowd haha.

Sho's closing speech was almost exactly the same as the previous nights. He just noted a piece of rap lyrics he wrote (I'll have to double check the exact ones) 6-7 years ago that fit his theme well.

I'll go ahead and write the rest since they were only half the same.

Ohno: Thank you! *bows*
The Sapporo dome tour went by so fast.
I did a lot of Johnnys-like things like the masks, and backflips, stuff I did a lot as a junior.
Everyone was happy and cheered for us so I'm happy too.
I realized I could still back flip so from now on I'll continue to do backflips.
I will.
And I'll keep moving my body. It's a way that I can communicate with you.
Please continue to support us.
Thank you.

Aiba: Thank you! *bows*
Was it fun?
Us: cheer
Aiba: Funky was so beautiful. Everyone was dancing in sync together. I was actually looking at you while dancing instead of having you look at me.
Thank you for remembering how to do it.
There were fun parts of the concert and parts I was nervous.
And parts that I thought "If I let go I'll die."
Since you were all cheering for me I could climb really high. Thank you.
I want to say thank you for creating this place for me.
I want to be grateful to my kohai. And everyone living.
Please continue to follow us from now on too. (Kore kara mo yoroshiku.)

Nino: Thank you. *bows*
So many people came, today and the other days too.
It was a fun, good concert.
That's what I think.
This concert is awesome.
Arashi is awesome.
There are a lot of feelings that you get during a Johnnys concert like this. Fun, excitement, suspense (hara hara) ... Heart fluttering (kyun kyun), fuzziness (moya moya).
This is Johnnys.
It's an awesome company.
They did a great job. (yoku yatta)
It's been 51 years... I mean 15 years! Sorry I suddenly raised the bar.
We grow year by year, change the way we do things. We want to be able to look back and feel satisfied.
Although as we get older the Cc will get longer and longer, like 20 minutes long.
Our Leaders speech will get longer too I bet.
But please come even to our 51st concert. That's the kind of group I want to be. I don't know about other groups but I think you and us are really close to each other.
Let's continue to get together and make happy memories together.

Jun: It was fun, thank you. *bows*
We've made it 16 years as a group. For this concert we looked back on Johnnys, us, our sempai and the path that we have followed them down. We're sempai too. We're getting more and more kohai and juniors.
For the concert we made after looking back, we danced a lot. We sang and danced. We're challenging ourselves to make our own original concerts, working in our own style. That's why we took this time to look back on our past and think about our history. We're retrying some old things and doing things we never had the chance to back then. This isn't a common form of entertainment.
If you could take something positive from our performance and pass it on to another person everyone could become happy. What we want to say is were all connected to someone else. If you're connected a new road will always open for you.
16 years have passed but well continue as the five of us from now on too.
Reaffirming your roots is an important step to making a new path for yourself.
Please keep spending this time together with us.
*pause*
We're waiting for you.
This is the last song. We hope it reaches you.

Bokura ha Tsunaide Iku ended at 18:32:38.

The songs for the encore were the same but today on their carts there were cameras attached to the corner rail!

Sho gave us a big wave as he passed with Nino. For Love So Sweet Jun went up to the corner camera and started to sing his solo while looking at it. Ohno stepped up behind him looking curious so Jun pulled him in and they sang together at the camera. It was really close since it was right next to them.

Sho and Nino also did their airplanes again before getting off, but they showed it from the cart camera. When they passed it Nino looked straight at the camera but Sho was looking ahead of him. When they got to the main stage for the last yeah yeah yeah part Nino and Sho were pumping their fists fists in time with the music as usual and then started jumping too.

For the last rap part in A.ra.shi Nino came up behind Sho again and looked over his shoulder at the camera while pointing at Sho like a gangster with cute furrowed eyebrows. The camera was nice enough to focus back and forth between them.

When they did the last introduction of the dancers and bands, Ohno, Sho, and Nino were sitting down on the stage this time in front of the taiko drummers. When their solo came on all three of them started immitating them from where they were sitting.

When they were about to leave Sho did the Disco Star pose again and Aiba shot him an amused look. When they were descending down the stage I saw Sho pick something up off the ground. When it zoomed up in Nino he was waving goodbye while Sho dropped some of the discarded Sakura petals over him for effect. Ohno had some too and blew them forward when the camera focused on him.

The concert ended at 7:50 or so. We yelled for Arashi for a while. When the staff started to make an announcement it suddenly got really loud, but they didn't come back out for a second solo.

Overall they were all energetic and excited tonight so it was fun to watch!

Japonism report - November 14, 2015 Sapporo

boblemon — Sat, 14 Nov 2015 13:53:14 GMT

All done!

This is a supplement report! I'm going to skip the things that were the same so please check my report from yesterday.

We arrived as early as we could today and waited outside a bit for the doors to open. Our seats were on the left side of the stage about halfway up the stands. I'm glad we were closer to the main stage because we could actually see them when they were there to some extent.

The commercials were the same but I noticed today Aiba Manabu did a specific commercial for the concert. Aiba and his two regulars talked for 30 seconds like, "This is playing before Arashi's concert! Say something!"

The show started on time the same as usual. The opening vtr was the same too but some of the crowd laughed at Aiba having a baby on his back. Actually the crowd was really loud and noisy tonight compared to the other days I went. When Arashi came out we could see them come behind the curtain from our seats.

The first few sounds and greetings on the red carpets were the same. While riding the moving stages to he back, Sho was waving at just about everyone in the crowd. Everyone was waving by the time they got to the back but Sho specifically seemed excited.

During Troublemaker when Sho and Ohno made the heart, Jun was standing behind them but instead of making a face he just stood there like he wasn't amused and stared at the camera. At the end of the song some people screamed but I didn't see why.

The opening speeches were similar to usual:

Jun: Yeah~ x4
It's been a long time Sapporo! We wanted to see you!
Ii ne! Ii yo!
Are you ready to have fun? x2
Are you ready to be happy? x2
(He made an "I can't hear you" gesture so we screamed back, but apparently we weren't loud enough.)
One more time! Are you ready to be happy?
Let's make all 50,000 of you happy! (Shiawase ni shiyou.)
Follow us! Saigo made Yoroshiku! (Stay with us until the end.)

Nino: Irrashaimase! x3
Arashi is here! x2
Can you make it to the end?
Okay let's go to the end together!
Saigo made yoroshiku! (Stay with us until the end.)

Aiba: He said it's not enough! x2
More! More!
Saigo made yoroshiku! (Stay with us until the end.)

Ohno: Hai~ x3 (the last one Ohno's voice squeaked a little like he had a raw throat.)
Can you make it?
Should we do the usual?
Sapporo Japonism matsuri...
Us: day!

Sho: How're feeling Sapporo?!
How are the upper stands?
Ah I see you upper upper stands!
How are the lower stands? (Choshi wa dou da?)
How are the lower stands? (Choshi wa ikaga?)
How is Sapporo?
We are ready!
How about you?
It's not enough!
Let us hear more from you!
Ok say Arashi!
Us: Arashi!
(X3)
(In English) Japonism two thousand fifteen, let's get the utage started!

When they got back on the moving stages Jun was waving at us and Sho was waving at the opposite side. When they got to the middle stage and the stages lowered Nino gave us a big wave before disappearing to prepare for his solo. Sho stood on the center stage for the second half of Make a Wish, and Aiba came up behind him. He leaned against Sho's back and wrapped his arms around his shoulders for their closeup. When he walked away I guess Aiba slapped Sho's butt but unfortunately I missed it... Sho gave us a big wave at the end of his solo in the song. They were all really energetic at the start of the concert.

Nino raised his hand as he came out on stage for his solo and waved with a smirk. A lot of people screamed for him so he put his hand to his mouth in a be quiet gesture. When he raised his hand we screamed again so he did the same thing one last time before starting his tap dancing.

His solo was the same but I did see where they were counting the combos on the main screen. He got a combo of 178 (5 more than the first day in Nagoya).

During Jun's solo they used the MJ cam again. There was also another camera on one of the stuntmen but they only showed it while they were chasing Jun in the second half.

For In the Room Nino was watching the camera most of the time but he also used the mirror to adjust his shirt once or twice while singing. Sho stood up and paced in front of his chair at the start but sang the rap sitting down as usual. At the end of it he said ha~ in a loud but sexy way.

Jun was dripping sweat when it came to Masquerade. At the end of the song when they do the water thing, they pulled a flask out of their front packet and used that to drink out of this time. It didn't stand out as much as the first night in Nagoya but at least I noticed today!

When they walked to the large carts for Happiness, Jun flung his arm over Ohnos shoulder and they walked the length of the stage together.

Aiba, Nino, and Sho came by our side first and they all waved at us in the stands at least once. During Guts Jun was leaning heavily on the railing of the cart like he was tired, but for his solo in the song he found Ohno and they stood together.

And also during Ai so Sakebe at the center stage, during the choreography where they lift their foot up Jun reached out and balanced himself on Ohnos shoulder again like he did yesterday. He must have been really tired! During their close ups Jun blew a kiss and Sho did as well, but after Sho just stared at the camera with a blank look on his face.

Sho: Yay~ x3
Once again, we are Arashi!

They all bowed a little and mumbled thank yous and such.

Sho: Day 2 of three days in Sapporo. How is it Jun?
Jun: Ah... It's hot!
Sho: Even though it's November...
Jun: It's hot!!
(He looked really sweaty and tired.)
Sho: How about everyone else?
Us: Yay~ (to say we were hot too haha)

Sho: How about you Aiba?
Aiba: I have something to apologize for to you, Sho.
Everyone, during Aokimi there's a part where the stage goes up higher. I bumped into him during the choreography then. And Sho suddenly stopped dancing properly.
Sho: I thought I was going to be sick.
Aiba: You suddenly stopped moving a lot. Your actions were so small. (Aiba did his impression of Sho barely moving his legs to the choreography.)
Just so they know you should tell them you were scared.

Jun started to speak but he had taken off his shirt so he was only wearing a tank top so some people screamed.

Jun: Oh, yeah. There's a part where we all go towards the center and Sho was in my way. He was in my walking path.

In the end they all had to demonstrate what he meant. They got into their formation for that part and when Jun started to walk towards the middle of their circle, he showed how Sho walked through the center instead of around the outside like he's supposed to.

Sho: I was scared. When it's that high up I don't want to walk near the edges.
And just like Aiba said I can't lift my feet off the ground so I just do this.

Sho did the choreography to show us. The original is them stepping in place and raising their hands along with their feet but the version he showed us was him just jerking his thigh a little and raising his hands.

Sho: But the biggest trouble ever happened during Troublemaker. Did you see?
Me and Ohno make a heart sign right? Today we wanted to do it over the top so we both leaned out really far before bringing our hands together.

Ohno got together with him to show what they meant. They both leaned really far out to each side and then thrust their hands together into a heart. When he camera zoomed in on it a few people let out a Wooooh ~ sound.

Sho: So we came from outside to make the heart. (He showed us again with Ohno.)
Us: Woooh~
Sho: We don't need the woooh.
So, this time Jun was standing behind us. At Nagoya he put his head in the center of the heart and made a face. (They all showed the example, how it looked yesterday with Jun putting a hand over his mouth like he was shocked.)
But today we were messing around and I guess we put it down too low. And something bad happened.
We won't show you because otherwise Jun will be in trouble!

Basically what Sho was trying to say was that, because Jun was just standing their plainly, that they made a heart over his crotch in the background.

Jun: Actually, the camera we use for that is the one at the back. Compared to Nagoya it's up just a little bit so it's pointed down on us. For me to be in the middle of the heart I had to crouch down far yesterday, so I just gave up.
Nino: I thought you were acting pretty cool during that part.
Sho: Did anyone noticed the mistake we made? (their heart placement)

Only a few people responded and I didn't think of that at all, just that Jun was standing straight and looking unamused hah.

Sho: Oh good!
Jun: We just wasted a lot of time on nothing.
But I was wondering why Sho was grinning so much earlier.

They headed back to the main stage and had a short break in conversation before Sho asked Nino for a comment. I really wonder what they would do if Sho wasn't there to lead the conversation all the time.

Nino: I'm so glad my solo is over! Being the first one done is really nice!
Sho: Yeah, you're rarely first. Usually we have Aiba or someone really energetic.
Aiba: I'm the energetic one?
So you're having fun now?
Nino: So much fun! I don't have to worry about my solo and can enjoy my time more.
Jun: I'm glad I lived until the MC.
Nino: It's a really good thing!

They went to change. Jun went first so the rest did rock and paper. Today it was Ohno and Aiba that stayed out. Sho offered to let them go first but Aiba said they could do it alone, even if neither of them had any promotions to do.

Aiba: If it's us we can do it. (He put his arm around Ohnos shoulder and had it there the whole time until they started walking.)
(After sho and Nino left:) Let's look at the wall Jun used.
It's over here right?

They walked to the left side of the stage where there was a mat Jun used climb up the side of the stairs.

Aiba: It's the Matsujun wall.
He got up this whole wall with only one step!

Aiba tried to mimick Jun by climbing the wall but of course he couldn't.

Aiba: Watch out its slippery!
He just used this and then grabbed that bar up there.
Ohno: He goes all the way up to the top.
Aiba: It's a good thing he lived!
Ohno: He's amazing.

There was an awkward moment where they laughed at each other and then Aiba made Ohno try too. Ohno barely got off the ground so he must not have been trying hard. But he did rub his back like he pulled something as they started to return to the center of the stage.

Aiba: Be careful!
Ohno: Right, we're not finished yet.
Aiba: They still haven't come out yet...

Obviously they had lost their topic and didn't come up with a new one so Aiba said the first thing that came to his mind I guess.

Aiba: By the way everyone, we have a special guest here tonight! It's rare to have special guests come all the way to Hokkaido but we have one!
Ogura-san is here!!

The audience got really excited and they showed Oguri-san on the main camera. He was in the vip box at the very top and in the center of the other vip boxes. He had a penlight in hand and waved happily at the stage.

Aiba and Ohno:Tthank you for coming!
Aiba: It's really unusual huh.
Well, should we do some promotions then?

Sho finally came out and it looked like he was hurrying to save the MC.

Aiba: Oh they're back!
Nino: (as he arrived) You two can leave now!
(They left right away.)
Sho: I guess they were trying to copy Jun's solo.
Nino: Wow!

Sho easily started to interview Nino about his promotions. First Nino talked about his movie, Haha to Kuraseba, but Sho asked us all to watch it as if he were the one appearing in it. Nino reminded him it was his movie, not Sho's and then talked about one of the press release interviews. He said the director was so happy they could film it in Nagasaki because that's where the original setting is. The last question one of the mass media asked was how many times he's been called "Sayu" < need to double check this because I didn't understand it.
Nino thought he could relax but said it was a hellish last question and kept sweating after that.

I guess his costar Sayuri Yoshinaga started watching all of their TV programs out of consideration for Nino.

Nino: One day I came in and she said to me, "Ah you lost yesterday!" I kept thinking "What did I lose?!" I even asked my manager and he was like, "I don't think you lost anything." We only figured out later she meant VS Arashi from the night before.

Jun came out as Nino started talking about his Rakugo drama and was stretching by the stairs.

Sho: You look like a girl (because both legs were to one side like a girl wearing a skirt sits in Japan)

Lastly he talked about Botchan. The only interesting thing was its supposed to be based on the original work not a new story. Aiba and Ohno were back by then.

Nino: I didn't say anything earlier but an awesome guest is here tonight. (Somewhat sarcastically.)
Usually special guests don't come all the way to Hokkaido!
Oguri-san!
This is his introduction.
Why did you guys do it alone?
Sho: While I was in the back changing I was suddenly like "ha?!"
Nino: All five of us should be here for these things!
Aiba: Okay let's do it all over again. (He pretended to leave the stage but Nino stopped him.)

Jun gave us the short speech of using this concert as a way to look back on their past. He replaced the words from yesterday with "We want the second half to be more Johnnys-like with sparkles (kira kira), handsome smiles, and hip dancing. He gave us a nice smile to demonstrate what he meant and Sho made fun of him. Aiba got us going with a cheer again and then said "music start!" In English with big bravo.

The next solos were the same and I still enjoyed them the third time. For Funky we were halfway between Ohno's and Nino's tower stands.

Jun and Nino met at the back stage for Bolero again. They danced in sync and then turned to point at the camera after their solo was over. For Sho's pose at the end of his solo he raised his arm into the air, and Aiba made his weird thrusting pose that was similar to Sho's actually.

During the opening of Ohno's solo, when he popped out the cofetti string he moved his head back and forth like a snake or dragon. Otherwise everything was the same as yesterday. But I was really happy to see him dancing live on the center stage. Yesterday we were too far away so I had to watch the screens, which only show his face or upper half at best. We were still not that close but at least I could see him dancing live well enough!

I realized that the Sakura trees that come out for Japonseque must be a set piece. I thought they were just on the screen but when they zoom up on Arashi they look real so they must be 3D or something. Anyway they're quite pretty and add to the song atmosphere. I was trying to see their kimono patterns tonight but we weren't close enough for that. Another problem of watching the screens and only seeing their faces.

During the karada yurase lyrics they did a closeup of Sho doing a cute dance rolling his wrists that made me squee. I realized yesterday but the choreography for this song is actually quite adorable, more so when you add their brightly colored kimonos.

After that was the same. Jun did a quick intro during Sunrise Nippon. When they went up in the towers Aiba was directly in front of our section. He gave us a lot of attention, waving and shading his eyes like he was looking at us closely.

When they were back in the stage for Believe, Jun was doing the jumping around dance along with the juniors. (While Arashi was supposed to be walking to their next position.) On the moving stages Nino sat down again on the inner side and sang his solo to the arena. For the rap part towards the end, Sho started by almost singing it. His voice was monotone but softer than it usually is during his rap. For the second half of the rap though he got really loud and aggressive, ending it with a passionate tone.

When the dome went silent for their part speeches some people yelled out (as I said it was a noisy crowd tonight and they were often people yelling out to the members when the music died).

The ending speeches were similar to yesterday:

Sho: Thank you everyone! *bows*
It's been a year since our first original album. Was it fun? Our theme was, after our 15 year anniversary to look back on our history. When we started I always wanted to try new things, to do things no Johnnys had done before. But now we returned to our roots although it feels a little strange to me.
Sometimes you have to stop in order to continue to move forward. Sometimes you have to look back in order to move forward.
Let's make and design and draw our big dream together.

Ohno: Thank you. *bows*
Today went by really fast.
I was moving so much.
Today my theme was the masks. It was about 20 years ago but I did this before. So I remembered about it for this performance.
Because of my practice then, I can do it well now. So we shouldn't forget our past.
I thought, "I can still move!" So I'll keep moving.
Because eventually I won't be able to move well.
I'll do my best until the end of the tour.

Aiba: Thank you. *bows*
Was it fun?
There were parts that were fun for me and parts I was nervous.
Parts I thought, I can't let go!
I tried the ribbon acrobatics. I was training for one to three months.
When I first started practicing I could only hold onto the ribbon for three seconds, but now I can do the whole performance.
So not giving up is important, remember that kids!
Dreams can come true!
I learned a lot from this.
Thank you for giving me this opportunity.
I want to be grateful to my kohai, and everyone in the world. Thank you!

(When Nino stepped out a few girls began calling out his name as loud as possible so he waved vaguely and started his speech.)
Nino: Thank you! *bows*
The specific thing I did for my solo... Well it wasn't the tissue thing.
Aiba: It's hard! Don't joke about it!
You try it next time!
Nino: I would die!
Anyway, I did tap dancing. 17 years ago Leeader did tap in a butai wearing a kimono and geta sandals. I used the same teacher that he had back then, so this performance was somewwhat nostalgic.
Through a lot of practice and rehearsals we were able to make this performance.
Like Sho said, for the sake of moving forward sometimes you have to stop and look back.
If you were able to enjoy this concert, that's what matters the most. This many people get together every year for our concerts.
I want to make as many fun memories as possible with you.
When we come and you say "kya~" I feel like I can try hard for another year.
(We all started cheering so he saluted us before leaving.)

Jun: Thank you, it was fun. *bow*
It's been 16- no 17 years now. It's not our 15th or 20th anniversary but we chose this timing to look back on Arashi's history. What kind of concert can we make now that we're all more than 30 years old?
Aiba had a difficult corner, but we all did our own thing and that made me really excited.
It was great to live with passion.
If people watching our show could enjoy what we're doing I'd be happy. I wanted to make a nice concert.
I'd be great if you understood that.
We also did a cover of Nihon Yoi Tokoro. Some people might find that nostalgia and some people may have heard it for the first time.
We came to Sapporo and wanted to discover what we could share with you. Our theme is to connect to you in a positive way, and then hopefully you connect to someone else and share that happy feeling.
So everyone can live happily everyday.
We can be close to you here.
If you come to the concerts, we can meet you.
I want to continue on with these 4 men. *bow*
This is the last song.
We want it to reach you.

Bokura wo Tsunaide Iku was sung live again and he same timelines on the screen. The ending time was about 20:28:10.

The encore was the same. On the large carts Aiba was waving a lot. For Love So Sweet Jun and Ohno were once again facing the camera and pointing at it together for a full ten seconds. Sho was leading the crowd in raising their penlights to the beat.

Before they got to the main stage Nino and Sho did their airplanes again.

For Sho's rap part during A.Ra.Shi that Nino kept bothering at, today Nino stood behind him as he rapped and made wide eyes at the camera while pointing between it and Sho, and raising his arms like a gangster.

They did the junior and band introductions again. When they introduced the taiko members Nino and Sho were kneeling on the ground mimicking the taiko arm movements. When they went up to the top stage to leave Sho did his disco star impression again with his arm over the side of his head like he was stretching. Nino was jumping when the stage descended all the way.

I checked the time tonight and it was 8:44. The timing for everything was almost exactly the same as yesterday. Because we were closer to the side, we got to leave early so me and yarukizero rushed to the station and made it back to the hotel in record time!

Japonism Report- November 13, 2015 Sapporo

boblemon — Fri, 13 Nov 2015 14:24:47 GMT

Finished!

Our friend ended up with extra tickets for today luckily me and yarukizero got to go even though we didn't plan on it. The seats were in the front of the upper stands, so we could see the whole set really well. Especially when they came to the back stage. I was excited because me and yarukizero were matching without meaning to, in our blue and red flower 24 shirts and black sweaters and light jeans.

Before it started they played the regular commercials for Nino's movie, dramas, and VS Arashi and their other usual programs.

Just like Nagoya the show started with the big Japonism flag falling down in the center of the stage. The opening vtr of them seeing themselves in traditional Japan was the same as before. I noticed this time that they were all wearing their member colors and the background was also their color during their section.

After the vtr the rainbow flag fell down on the main stage and Arashi came out the same as before. The first song was Sakura again and as far as I can tell they did the same greeting, welcoming us to Sapporo and their tour and then knelt on a red carpet.

Jun did the same Kabuki type opening in a high pitched voice which made some people laugh.

Next was Miyabi-night and I noticed that the main screens had a gold motif of a Phoenix like on a paper screen door at the start. Wild at Heart had the kabuki opening with them jumping around with wide legs but the rest was the regular choreography.

When they were on the moving stages to go to the back Sho was shaking his hips cutely. He was also waving widely at the stands where our seats were, and Nino was waving similarly at the other side of the dome.

For Troublemaker at the back Ohno and Sho did their regular heart move and Jun was waiting behind them again. He did the same O: face as I saw in Nagoya while covering his mouth. The second half choreography was the same as Nagoya with the swinging hand movements but I had to say again how cute this is!! I love that kind of dancing!

The wifi on the penlights kicked in for Aozora no Shita, the same as the previous concert I saw. At the end of the song Aiba leaned on Ohnos shoulder.

Opening speeches:

Jun: Yeah~ x3
Ue no ho! (Upper stands!)
Shita no ho! (Lower stands!)
It's been a long time! We wanted to see you!
Are you ready to be happy?
Thank you for letting me say this every time.
We're going to make all 50,000 of you happy!
Let's have fun! Let's have fun! Yoroshiku!

Nino: Irrashaimase! x3
Arashi is here! x2
More! More!
Saigo made yoroshiku! (Stay with us until the end.)

Aiba: He said it's not enough!
Can you do it?
Us: yeah!
Saigo made yoroshiku! (Stay with us until the end.)

Ohno: Hai~ x3
Can you make it?
Really? (He mumbled something after this but we didn't know what to do so we made a half hearted cheer.)
Sapporo Japonism matsuri...
Us: day!

Sho: How you doing Sapporo?!
How are the upper stands?
Ah I see you upper upper stands! (Note: the vip boxes were up above the top of the stands so that's what he was referring to but there was only about 3-5 rows of seats.)
How are the lower stands?
How is Sapporo?
We are ready!
How about you?
Ok say Arashi!
Us: Arashi!
(X3)
(In English) Japonism two thousand fifteen, let's get the utage started!

They got back on the moving stages to return to the front during Make a Wish. Jun was giving us his closed hand wave and Aiba was waving wildly at the stands. When Nino got off the stage I saw him skip a bit before disappearing down one of the side stairs.

While they were at the center stage Aiba and Sho kept getting closer until they finally put their arms over the others shoulders for a moment and sang together.

For Ninos solo I noticed the main screen was different but I'm not sure how much actually changed. I could see well tonight but when I went to Nagoya I couldn't see the main stage screen very well.

Anyway tonight Nino started the same way, showing us his sounds and colors. When he started singing and got to the center stage I noticed that blinking circles were coming to the center for him to hit with his feet (like Dance Dance Revolution). When he hit them he built up his gage but there was no combo like before. I think maybe I could see because they did a straight down angle tonight instead of from the side. He got a fever like before and ended his song with the squeaking sound.

Jun's solo seemed a little shorter but I couldn't actually tell you why. Tonight they had an MJ cam that was hooked to his head and played on the screen more than half the time so we got a first person view! He still did the trick jumping and climbing and collapsed on his couch exhausted at the end.

Today for the opening of In the Room Nino was looking at himself in the mirror most of the time, straightening his jacket and stuff. The Sakurap and Nino's no no no solo were both excellent! I really enjoyed this performance again.

I liked Masquerade again too but at the end I didn't really catch when they spray the water out although I think they must have done it.

For Happiness they got on the carts. Aiba was waving a ton. When Jun and Ohno came by after Ohno also gave a huge full arm wave to us.

I danced along with Guts. During this song, Jun and Ohno looked at each other and then Ohno was the one to put his arm around Jun's shoulder this time! Nino also nailed his solo in the middle when usually it's a little off key.

During Ai so Sakebe during the lyrics including super lady, Jun was staring pointedly at Ohno as they danced and Ohno barely noticed before the camera panned away. During the ending verse Jun had a hand on Ohno's shoulder and for their close ups, Jun blew a kiss to the camera and then Sho did exactly the same thing! It was very cute.

Sho: Yay!
Us: Yay!
Sho: We're Arashi!

Sho then did a "Genki desu ka?" impression of Antonio Inoki.

Sho: Ah, it's the first day of Sapporo. Thank you all for coming!
Ah it was so hot once we got inside even though it's Sapporo!
Nino: Are you hot?

(I think they were hoping for a cheer but only a few people did so they moved on.)

Sho: Ok I have to say, I was watching the local news channel (some people screamed when he said the channel name) yesterday in my hotel room. I was laying on the sofa (he gesture that he was laying with his arm propping his head up) and saw "a storm is coming to Sapporo!" So they made a joke with our name, making a double meaning. I was sort of shocked.

Sho talked about the program a bit, saying they showed the dome at around 4:30 of people coming inside. The best was Shos impression of the person who was ducking out of the way because they didn't want to be filmed. He had such a cute shocked look on his face.

Sho: How about you Ohno?
Ohno: My manager was so worried. He told me it would be so cold and that I needed a down jacket.
Nino: Yeah, I brought one too.
Ohno: But it's not cold.
Sho: Don't get sick
Ohno: I mean, usually when we do rehearsal in Sapporo it's freezing in here...
Is anyone listening to me?
Sho: of course we are!
But I do have to say, this year at rehearsal, you were wearing really loud shoes.
Jun: Ohno Satoshi wore boots, everyone. The guy that only wears stuff bought by his mother was wearing proper boots.
Ohno: They're the same as these boots but brown. (The camera showed us the ones he was wearing but they looked pretty plain, like dress shoes.)

Ohno explained that the boots were really light and comfortable so he wanted a pair of his own. The other members teased him for growing up a little. They confirmed that he was wearing them because they were nice not because he was expecting Sapporo to be cold.

Aiba: By the way your phone case also changed.
It's the kind that opens to put a train pass in.
Ohno: Phones these days break so easily! I knew that case could protect it. It's the same one as Shos!
Sho: Mine is blue, though.
But I know what you mean. Yours looks like a Japanese Passport or something (because of the red color).
Ohno: It's the same as yours! I saw yours and I thought if I had that it wouldn't break for sure.

The other members explained that his old one had a holographic image of a tiger on it, like if you shifted it left or right it'd look like it was moving. Nino showed us by shaking not his hips slowly.

Nino: It's because you made these changed all at the same time. It's sudden and we noticed.
Ohno: I'll try or make them more gradually from now on.

They asked the other members what kind of case they had. Jun said his had a Michael Jackson motif, Nino and Aiba said they had no cases.

Nino: I think Aibas phone is a fake though.
Jun: That phone can't be from Japan.
Aiba: It is!
Jun: Ok, there's a motorcycle tone. The usual one goes like boo~n. Aibas makes a sound like vrmm buhpabuhpa. (Jun actually mimicked the sound effects.)
Aiba: That's the regular one! Its on everyone's phones! I bought it properly at Ginza!
Us: Oooh~
Sho: Ok, so Aiba told me he wanted to buy and iPhone and asked me where he should. I recommended a shop and literally an hour later he sent me a photo of his new phone at that shop.
Aiba: To show you I went to the place you recommended!
So if my phone is a fake so is Sho's!

They started back to the main stage and made light talk about their ridiculous conversation.

Sho: There are so many people here. How many did you make happy again?
Jun: 50,000 people should gradually be getting happier by now.

He said it in cute embarrassed way and had to add that it was easier to say with the background music to help.

I think they also said that Arashi has a record at Sapporo some for having the most people in at the same time but I didn't catch it all. Because during baseball games there's no arena or anything.

They played Rock Paper Scissors again to see who would change. It was Ohno and Nino again, so they stayed behind. Sho told Ohno to properly ask questions about all the stuff that Nino had to talk about.

Ohno: So how many promotions do you have to do?
Nino: You make it sound like a lot.
Ohno: You go ahead and start, I know how many.
Nino: First my movie, Haha to Kuraseba.

Nino gave the information quickly while Ohno was pacing around. He was adorable because it seemed like he was trying to interrogate Nino at first.

Ohno: Did you actually live with your mother?
Nino: Doesn't everyone?

He asked a few more simple questions and finally "What was a fun memory from filming?"

Ohno: Oh sorry, I guess it's not a fun movie. A strong impression you had.
Nino: That's really hard.
Ohno: Okay, did you have to go early to film? Did you end at like 8 pm?
Nino: I worked from 9 to 5 every day.
I got to leave early. (Nino was cringing at Ohnos ridiculous specific questions but kept answering.)
Ohno: Why did you leave early?!
Nino: It's just the decision the direction made. We work exactly 9 to 5.
Ohno: What's the highlight of the movie?
Nino: Actually I'm only in the family related scenes.
Only some "moments."

Ohno: Okay next.
Nino: This is the pace we're going at?
Sho (who was back and sitting on the steps): This is your pace?
Ohno: Hurry up and answer.
Nino: I'll also be in a drama called Akamedaka.
Ohno: Is it interesting?
Nino: I play a young rakugo artist.
Ohno: Was it fun to film?
(Aiba was back with Sho now and they mumbled to each other about Onno's question.)
Nino: Uhm, yes. I'm in it with Beat Takeshi.
Ohno: Who does Takeshi-
Us: Kya! (Because Aiba has started to stretch his legs out to either side while sitting down, like he was trying to do the splits.)

Ohno: Okay, so number three.
Nino: A special drama, Botchan.
Ohno: Which you're still filming now right?
Nino: Yes.
Ohno: What's the storyline?
Nino: You don't know Botchan?
Ohno: No.

Nino gave a basic Wikipedia explanation of it for Ohno. I'm surprised he didn't know it at all since it's the Shakespeare of Japan.

Ohno: Uh... Was it fun to film?
Nino: It's not over yet, but yeah.
Ohno: Ok, let's go change.

Sho jumped right away into his Best Artist program but he was trying to say how long it is (8-9 hours) and couldn't remember so he was counting it out on his fingers over and over again. He said they were doing a medley of Johnnys love songs and asked Jun and Aiba what "the love song they wanted to hear the most right now" was.

Jun gave a thinking hard frowning face and Sho told him not to be so upset. He asked Aibe too but he didn't have a quick answer either. Jun said they had a lot like their new one, Ai so Sakebe, but he wanted to hear Meikyu Love Song. Aiba chose Love Parade which a few people applauded. Sho said his answer would be Live Situation and at least half of us screamed.

Jun: That was also ranked high in Arafes. Why do you guys love that song so much? For the dancing?

It was funny because at his question a lot of girls around me starting talking to their friends about the reasons, like it was cute or the dance moves.

Sho: Anyway, a lot of Johnnys groups will sing their love songs too so let's look forward to it.
(Sho to Aiba in a whisper) Tell them about that thing!

Aiba: Oh! Today after rehearsal when we tried to enter the area where the dressing rooms are the guard stopped both me and Ohno!
Sho: I'd understand if you were alone, but there were two of you!
Aiba: The two of us were walking behind another staff. They had a pass to get through the gates so we were going to follow them but suddenly the security guard put his arm down to stop me. (Aiba demonstrated the gesture for us.)
I looked at him and said "I'm a member" and he let me through but stopped Ohno who was right behind me!!
How about you guys?
Nino: I went a place without a gate.
Sho: You can't do that!
Nino: I heard about the trouble they had.
Aiba: Someone needs to get me a pass!
Sho: I also heard about it. I came in with my manager and the security guard was checking his face really closely as we entered. That guard is so strict!
Aiba: He was so serious! We should all feel safe.

To lead into the second half Jun gave the same speech before about Arashi looking back on their anniversary and over the history of Johnnys. They wanted the 2nd half to be more johnnys-like and include singing, dancing, and beautiful sweat. Jun asked Aiba to get us excited but Aiba insisted we needed a warm up. Which means he chatted for a minute about nothing and then asked if we were getting pumped up. We did a yelling call and then the music started for the next song, Nihon Yoi Tokoro.

Just like Nagoya and music station they did backflips and I think the performance was the same. I really wish I could see a better recording of it to watch in slow motion because he flips are over with so quickly.

Kimi e no Omoi was the same too, with the timelines of Arashi being shown on the main screen. They showed a picture of Miyagi but the very last picture was the one in the road they retook last year in Hawaii.

Sho's solo was amazing tonight! Compared to Nagoya he was much more confident and didn't look like he was nervous at all. He did a really cool intro although I think it was shorter (or just felt that way because it was smoother) and the rap part in the middle made me swoon. For all their solos I'm trying to get over my disappointment at the lack of dancing and Sho's solo definitely did that for me this time! The last part with the line of people drumming was also a lot smoother and confident than before so I was really impressed.

Aibas solo also went smoother. I think it was really choppy at the first concert but today the transitions seemed a little more intentional. I also noticed on the main screen that there were pictures of Disco Star being covered up by Mr. Funk (like they were being pinned on top of them). The dancing made me laugh again and I really enjoyed this performance too. I forgot to day before but besides Aiba changing into a white shirt he also took off his shoes so he had bare feel and rolled up his pants to his knees to prepare to do his final trick. Someone also sprayed his hands and feet with something. Maybe it was just me but he didn't look like he went as high as the first night.

I was ready for Funky to come next and danced enthusiastically. It seemed like almost everyone knew the dance, and by the way about 90% of the audience had the venue penlights which made it pretty awesome as an effect.

Nino came up on the tower stand right in front of us. During Funky he was shaking his hips back and forth pointedly.

When Bolero started the tower went back down and Nino waved at us wildly before he left. He and Jun went to the back stage right away on carts and were dancing at each other for a minute before the middle dance solo came on. Jun did the first solo, kicking his legs up, while still looking and Nino, and Nino did the same back. Then they went to the other members that were near the main stage but the only thing I remember was catching Aiba waving his arms in big movements and then ending with a half hearted thrust.

Ohno's solo opening seemed shorter than before too. I don't know if they cut out something but I couldn't tell you what. For the opening it was the same, pulling umbrellas out of his sleeves and popping a streamer. He twirled some scarves around too and then used the red curtain to disappear to the side stage, and then to the other before coming out in the center walkway. He pulled the masks off and then discarded his kimono for the black suit underneath. The dancing was the same and I really wish I could have seen it up close. I felt like for his solo I was missing a lot of tiny things because of the limit of the screens.

There was a musical interlude the same as before with the taiko and samisen players and the dancers. I noticed tonight there were two large dragon floats like you see at Chinese New Years.

Japoneque was the same although much more enjoyable this time since I could actually see them on the back stage. Kokoro no Sora was too, and then at the end of Sunrise Nippon Jun did the junior/dancer introductions.

When they came up in the towers, Sho was in front of us this time!! For Oh Yeah he was pointing at various places in our section and leading us in waving our arms and penlights.

For Believe Nino was sitting down again on the moving stage and singing to the arena under him. Ohno and Aiba both waved at our stand section. When they got to the back stage Nino waved really widely at the back stands. They were preparing to get into formation for the final dance choreography but Aiba had to hurry across the stage because he was on the opposite side of where he was supposed to be.

The final speeches were more elaborate versions of the first days.

Sho: Thank you everyone to the very top of the stands. *bows*
It's been a year since our first original album. Was it fun? Our theme was, after our 15 year anniversary, to look back on our history. When we started I always wanted to try new things, to do things no Johnnys had done before. But now we returned to our roots and made a really Johnnys like concert. Sometimes you have to stop in order to continue to move forward.
Let's make our big dreams come true together.

Ohno: Thank you. *bows*
Today went by really fast.
This tour, Japonism, is about Japan, Johnnys Entertainment, and stuff...
It's been so long since I've done a backflip.
But I was able to do it.
I can still move. That's how I felt this concert.
So from now on I'll continue to move.
We want to continue to do interesting things. This is everything we could do now. Please continue to follow us.
Thank you.

Aiba: Thank you. *bows*
It was fun...? (Sounded like a statement but suddenly turned it into a question for us.)
Us: Yay!
Aiba: I had fun too.
There were some moments I was nervous.
While up there I thought, this is higher than I expected. The mat looked so small!
When I first started practicing I could only hold onto the ribbon for three seconds before I had to let go.
I kept trying and made it in time for Nagoya!
So it's important to continue on with something. Don't think too much, because somehow it'll work out.
You all allowed me to try something new so thank you. From now on I want to be grateful to my kohai, and all the world.
I'll continue to try! Thank you.

Nino: Thank you. *bows*
It was really really fun.
I had a great laugh.
I take that back, what matters is if you enjoyed the concert!
The theme was "looking back" on our past. It was nostalgic and exciting.
I really thought that Johnnys Entertainment is a great company. There's not another one like it.
We have awesome sempai.
We have awesome colleagues.
We have awesome kouhai.
We were able to continue for 15 years. Like Aiba said, be thankful for everything.
I remember last year. Lots of people came here for us. We all have to work together. Thank you!
I want to make as many fun memories as possible with you. I'll do my best!
It was amazing. It was so fun.
Thank you.

Jun: Thank you, we had a great time. *bows*
For our 16th year we looked back. Johnnys entertainment has also been going for 50 years. Using this "entertainment" we want to move you, to make you feel something.
Our theme is how to connect. How to say what I want to to the next generation in this peaceful country of Japan.
If you understood that, I'm happy.
This is the place we can directly communicate with you. We'll continue on as the 5 of us.
Thank you. *bows*
This is the last song. We want it to reach you.

Bokura wo Tsunaide Iku was sung live again and I loved it again. When they made it to the center stage together the camera did a closeup of Nino's face and into his eye to transition into the vtr clip that matched the opening. They did the same thing with their birthdays and ended on today's date at around 20:29:14.

We waited 3-4 minutes for the encore while cheering. Jun, Ohno, and Aiba came by in the cart near our section. Jun was doing his close hand wave and Aiba was waving his arms widely. Halfway through Yume ni Kakeru when Sho and Nino were by us they waved a lot at the stands.

For their Love So Sweet solo, Jun and Ohno stood next to each other again and put their hands over each other's shoulders. They found the camera and held out their hands dramatically, Jun even turning his head back for effect. Sho and Nino were doing their airplane running as they made it back to the main stage. While they were walking back to the center Nino either fell down or did it on purpose because when I looked Sho was laughing at him as he tried to get back up.

At the end of the song Nino was dancing around and both him and Sho were pumping their fists to the "woah woah woah" parts.

Last was A.Ra.Shi again. They encouraged us to sing the background parts and after we yelled out "fly away!" Sho gave us an ok sign via the camera, leaning in close. They did the band intro and they all played their solos to the Arashi melody again which I will enjoyed so much. At the end of the song the streamers were blown out (probably better timing than before the MC).

Jun asked "What's our name?" And we yelled back Arashi as usual. As they went down on the platform, Sho was doing a disco star move stretching is arm over his head to the side. Aiba and Jun were standing together with their arms over each other's shoulders. Nino jumped when we could only see his torso and kept waving.

The concert ended about 8:45. Everyone kept calling for Arashi while the staff tried to make the announcement for going home. It took a full five minutes before we gave up and started to leave.

We had to wait quite a while to get outside the dome but then we headed the long way to avoid the pedestrian traffic. It took about one hour until we got on the train at the station.

Japonism Report- November 6, 2015, Nagoya

boblemon — Fri, 06 Nov 2015 14:14:35 GMT

Done and done!

Our seats were in the very back of the first floor stands but we could still see ok because the dome is smaller than Tokyo. But from our angle we couldn't see the back part of the main stage that well so I had to watch the screens for some of it.

The stage was set up like a tori gate with two big red poles going up in the center of the stage. Before the concert started there was a silk curtain with Japonism written down it in the same style as the goods.

They played the regular ads of VS Arashi and their various other shows, as well as Nino's special drama Botchan and his movie.

The concert started on time with a vtr with Arashi as anime characters, but the drawing style was really mature. They were in a place that reminded me of Sky Tree, wide windows that looked down on the city. In the windows various pictures appeared and then a scene of a samurai battlefield came up. It was barren except for the flying flags and two samurai fighting. Nino in his puffy yellow jacket watched them and then when one samurai won the battle and cut the other one down he turned to look at Nino. I'm pretty sure the samurai was supposed to be a mirror image of Nino but it was hard to tell for sure because the faces weren't that defining.

Next came Ohno, who had a cute •^• face with furrowed eyebrows the whole time and his eyebrows even twitched, watching a traditional sword smith making a sword on an open fire. The sword smith looked up at him and it was Ohno's face again.

Next Aiba was in a bamboo forest looking around and then they showed a man in a kimono with a baby strapped to his back. (The crowd let out a gasp at that.) When the man turned around it was Aiba looking at himself. I think this was supposed to be a play on the "lone wolf and cub" story.

Next was Sho standing on a bridge in the middle of a sparkling pond. There were some koi fish swimming and he looked up a man sitting in a shrine type setting in the middle of the lake, drinking tea. They talked for the first time and it was Sho's voice. He said something like, "Isn't it beautiful?"

Last was Jun who was looking out over a traditional Japanese village. His own voice said behind him something like, "This village can't be built with swords alone" and he turned around to find himself sitting on a platform looking regal. Except he had the chomage of samurai where the top of his head is shaved, which always seems weird to me when I see it.

The vtr wrapped up with the words "How will you live for now?" before some colored curtains fell down on the main stage.

The first song was Sakura and the members came out on the front main stage. They were wearing silver/gold costumes with accents in their own member color.

After Sakura had finished they did an introduction while the background music was vaguely Japanese like shamisen and taiko drums. They each said one line, welcoming us to Nagoya and the concert, and explaining they wanted to express today through traditional Japan and also the history of johnnys too. They all say down on a red carpet in front of them and Jun said, in a high pitched kabuki voice, "From this end (of the audience) all the way to the other, let's enjoy ourselves tonight."

Next was Miyabi-Night which had some cool hand movements that also reminded me of kabuki, raising your hands up with palms out and stuff like that. There was another samisen interlude where Arashi danced with their arms out and legs wide open (once again like kabuki) and then they went into Wild at Heart which really surprised me!

They walked to the middle stage and Nino was waving a lot at the audience. He seemed to be in a really excited mood tonight.

For Troublemaker they went to the back stage on two moving stages over the arena. There wasn't a walkway connecting the back to the middle so that's all they used during the concert. They changed the choreography for the second half of the song so they were marching side by side with the back dancers and swinging their arms around in front or behind them and doing turns. It was really cute! At the end they did the Sho/Ohno heartbeat move but Jun was waiting behind them and then they pulled away he made a shocked face at the camera and covered his mouth like he was scandalized.

Until now the penlights were all the colors we had set them on, so five shades of rainbow, but for Aozora no Shita they suddenly went off together and came back on in sync using the wifi. Most of the audience was using the penlights and there were no problems with them getting connected to the wifi via the stickers on the seat I guess!

The back stage was raised during Troublemaker and that's where they gave their opening greetings. They were similar to usual, and as each member talked the penlights automatically changed to their member colors.

Jun: yeah~ x4
I wanted to see you! x2
You've helped us out a lot this year so... We're going to make all 45,000 of you happy!
Follow us!
Nino: Irrashaimase! x2
Are you excited?!
Can you keep going all the way to the end?
Aiba: He said it's not... (He stumbled over the words because he realized he wasn't following up what Nino had just said)
I'm thinking properly. Everyone think properly.
Can you do it?
Today is the best!
Ohno: Hai~ x3
This is the first concert of the tour!
Can you do it? x2
Let's do the usual thing. Ready?
Nagoya Japonism matsuri...
Us: day!
Sho: How are you feeling? (In English)
Choushi wa douda? (He asked everyone, upper stands and lower stands too.)
Ok everyone say Arashi!
Us: Arashi

The members had taken off their overcoats during the greetings leaning them in the member colored shirts that were under. After the Arashi call, Sho said something in English but I couldn't catch all of it. It sounded like his usual lets get the party started.

For Make a Wish they went back to the center stage. Sho waved at the stands in my area when he passed and Nino disappeared from the stage. Ohno and Aiba also waved at us as they passed one after the other. When they were at the main stage Aiba stood at the edge and waved his hands really widely to the stands on our side and above us.

Of course next was Nino's solo. He stood need the middle stage in a white suit and holding something that looked like a light saber. He tapped his shoes to show us they made sound like tap shoes and he danced a little. When he tapped the light saber the penlights changed colors and then when he tapped his shoe again the noise changed to a video game "ping" sound. He repeated that a few times to show all his sounds which were game and electronic noises except for the last which sounded like a squeaky tow. His surprised face at the sound was so cute!

He walked nearer the middle stage and started dancing in a specific rhythm to lead up to his solo, Music. His dancing was pretty simple for this and he swung his light saber around a little. Halfway through the song a game background like dance dance revolution or something appeared on the main screen. Nino started to do a tap dancing move in time with the music and the "game" gave him a combo. If got up to 173 and ended in a fever! in rainbow letters on the screen and the middle stage.

(The floor of the middle stage was made up of a screen that only rose up about 2-3 feet and had screens on the side like a ramp. During Ninos solo and some of the other songs the floor was flashing bright colors.)

When the song was over Ninos shoes changed back to the squeaking sound as he left the stage.

Next was Jun who appeared on a smaller stage at the main stage, laid out on a purple couch. As he started singing some back dancers came up to make sexy poses and run their hand over the back of the couch. Jun jumped off the platform about 7-8 feet in the air to the ground below and went to the center stage. His outfit was blue and gold and the dance was really energetic with cute hip swinging.

The second half of the song when Jun began walking down one of the walkways, he pretended to look wary at the dancer coming towards him head on, but when he turned around there was another dancer behind him. It was like he was trapped but he started running towards the man between him and the main stage and dodged when he reached for him. Jun started doing some acrobat tricks like climbing up one of the staircases and jumping from high places on the stage. He even did this strange move where, on top of a smaller stage, he summer saluted over the edge and then did a rolling landing. When he went up on the back stage just below the main screen it seems like they were showing a 1st person camera feed but it only lasted a few seconds. He jumped back down onto his platform with the couch and sprawled out on it, taking depends breaths and looking exhausted. He laid that way for quite a while until we started giggling at how tired he was acting. Needless to say the next time he came on screen he was dripping sweat.

Next was In the Room which was pretty cool! For the opening solos they did a closeup of each of the members positioned around the stage. Sho was sitting casually in an armchair looking sexy. Ohno was leaning forward in a chair too, but I think there was a coat rack behind him. Aiba had an upright vanity dresser. Nino had a full length mirror.

Anyway, Sho rapping his part in this song was so amazing! I loved the song to begin with but watching it live was great! Halfway through some red curtains in the back dropped down, and Nino's no no no solo part gave me goosebumps.

Masquerade was also lovely! They had the screens and stage in a red moulin rouge motif, red lettering with show lights. The members had put on fedora hats and had old fashioned standing mics like in Wild at Heart.

Ohno had a blue ribbon shaped into a bow around his hat but the others had silver decorations and stuff. In the middle of the song they all clustered together at the center holding their mics like Cool & Soul and then threw their hats off. During the mermaid lyrics they made a circle putting their hands on top of each other's and raised them up towards the ceiling. In the last half of the song silver confetti shot out of the cannons. At the end they all picked up a water bottle and shot water out of their mouth in a spray. It ended up looking like an arch and they all did it properly so it looked good I just had to stop and pause to make sure they were actually doing that.

Needless to say Jun was very sweaty by the end of that song too.

For Happiness they came out on the big carts that go around the perimeter of the arena. Jun and Ohno were on our side first and they both waved at the stand a few times. Ohno was doing a little dance by himself like twisting his arms in front of him in a circle.

Sho, Aiba, and Nino came to our side during Hadashi no Mirai and they all waved at the stands too. Next was Guts and they headed back to the main stage. Sho was waving at our section from there and Jun was leaning on Ohno.

They went to the middle stage for Ai so Sakebe and we danced along with them since we practiced it in Miyagi. During their close ups in the middle Jun blew a kiss to the audience and made us scream, and streamers came flying out on the last note.

Next was the MC.

Sho: Yeah! Yeah! Yeah!
Jun: Stop worrying about the streamers! We're talking!
Sho: So the tour has started!
Nino: It's been a year since we had an original album tour.
Sho: We're going to start talking so go ahead and sit down.
So the tour had started. How is it? Exciting?
Us: Yes!
Sho: How about you Aiba?
Aiba: Yeah! It's so hot!
Sho: What was up with your greeting today?

Nino teased Aiba about messing up so Aiba asked him to clarify what Ninos speech was. Usually he says "it's not enough" so Aiba follows up with "he said it's not enough!" But Nino didn't say that so Aiba made a mistake.

Nino: They were pretty pumped so I couldn't say it wasn't enough.
Sho: How about you Ohno?
Ohno: Why did everyone take off their jackets? Is it that hot?
Nino: This is when we're supposed to take them off.
Ohno: Oh. Nagoya is pretty hot huh.
Sho: So you did the choreography for one of the songs right?
Ohno: Yeah.
Sho: Did you say what song it was? On your radio program or in the pamphlet or something.
Ohno: I don't think so...
Sho: What do you think it was?

He asked us which one it was, Miyagi Night, Masquerade, or In the Room. We were supposed to clap at which one we thought but 80% or more of us said Masquerade so Ohno looked shocked. Sho said it must be because we could pick out Ohnos tastes in dance moves but actually I think it must have been included somewhere beforehand and Ohno forgot or didn't know.

They also pointed out the spitting water out of their mouths move. Nino said Ohno insisted they should do it and that the audience would love it even if they felt silly.

Sho: Jun? How about you?
Jun: I'm exhausted.
Sho: What? That's unusual for you. I guess you were jumping around a lot in your solo.
Jun: It's so hot in here. Is that just me?
Aiba: It's the first time I've seen you with hair like that.
Jun: Yeah. Some people here have been waiting a year for the tour, some people may have come for the first time, or haven't seen us in a while. And I look like I just got out of the bath.
Sho: So it was Jun's request that Ohno do the choreography to that song?
Ohno: Yeah.
Jun: I really wanted something with an 80s Johnnys feel, a tribute to the older groups. Like Shonentai, Kinki Kids, etc. Like that showy glamorous feel.
I told Ohno my vision and asked him to do the choreography.
Sho: And Sensei said ok.
Ohno: Sensei said yes. I was really happy he asked me to.
Actually I was worried about that last move. Yesterday at rehearsal Jun couldn't get the water out in time so I was wondering about today. But we all did it ok.

They walked from the middle stage to the front. Jun and Nino walked together at the back of the group. The conversation died for a few seconds until they started teasing Sho about something but I didn't catch it.

Sho: Well let's change.
Jun: I'm going first.
Nino: To fix your hair right?

The rest of them decided to play rock/paper to decide who would stay. If one person was singled out they'd have to stay alone which Sho said would be the worst.

The first time they all had rock so they did it again. Sho and Aiba were rock I think and Onno and Nino were paper. Aiba and Nino played Rock Paper Scissors to see who would chose what to do and Nino won. He decided it was better to get it over with so he let Sho and Aiba leave the stage. But before they went Sho said specifically to Ohno, "Make sure you listen to Nino ok? He has some announcements."

When they were gone Ohno cleared his throat and looked at Nino with a cute smug look.

Ohno: Um... I heard you have some announcements.
Us: *laughs*

Nino talked about his drama coming up, Botchan, and his movie Haha to Kuraseba.

Onno: How was filming?
Nino: I haven't finished with Botchan yet.
Ohno: So how's Botchan?
Nino: I'm working with Matsuyama.
The other day we had to do a scene where were riding in a boat. I thought I was going to puke so i was asking around for a bag or something.
Oh and it was a wooden boat.
Ohno: Wooden?
Nino: Yeah. And it leaked water actually. A little bit would come it at a time to fill the bottom.
Ohno: Is that ok?
Nino: Apparently it's natural for a wooden boat. We just scooped it out ourselves. Like we'd do a take and then during standby we would scoop it out while waiting.
By the way Ohno you look way too relaxed in those clothes.

The camera man zoomed out to show us his baggy pants while he was casually crossing his arms.

Nino: It's the same time slot as your was. What was it? Hanzaisha wa-- (The culprit is--)
Ohno: "Mou Yukai Nante Shinai "
Nino: Yes that one.
Do you have any announcements?

Ohno paused for a second the replied causally.

Ohno: I have a concert tour.
Nino: Oh you do? Today?
Ohno: Yeah. In Nagoya.

We all laughed at them being silly. Sho came back on then and Nino pointed out that he looked so fancy. Aiba and Jun came out and Nino and Ohno left to change.

Aiba: Do you have any announcements?
Sho: Um...
Jun: If not its ok.
Sho: Well it's in December but I'm doing The Music Day again.
So what should we talk about with these three members?
How about the usual "what did you do last night" question?
Aiba and Jun: What... did I do?
Sho: It doesn't have to be fun or exciting. I bet they want to know your usual schedule too. Did you all watch the Digitalian making from last year? Like that.

Aiba said he and Jun were the last to leave after rehearsal and they went to the hotel in a car together.

Jun: Back at the hotel I took a bath and went to sleep.
Aiba: Me too. I took a bath and ate some snacks.
Sho: Snacks?! Actually everyone, for our catering they included various snacks and sweets from Nagoya and I saw Aiba sorting through it and putting some in his pocket. You took it to the hotel?
Aiba: I love eating late night snacks.
Sho: Haven't you outgrown that?
Aiba: Doesn't everyone do this?
How about you Sho? What did you do after you got to the hotel?
Sho: I ate a spinach salad... And went to bed.
Aiba: So nothing.
Jun: Since it's the first day we didn't have anything to do.

Aiba said he did his Aiba Japan corner in Nagoya near Nagoya castle. He'd never done filming here.

Jun ended the MC with an explanation that because it was their 15 anniversary last year they were looking back on their past and the road that other Johnnys made to help them get to where they are. They wanted to use both traditional Japanese culture elements and also the history of Johnnys in Japan to convey their message. For 50 years Johnnys has been making their own path in the world so they wanted to dedicate some of the performances to their sempai.

So of course next was Nihon Yoi Tokoro. They did the backflips leading into the song and in the middle but they also included the middle fast part that they left out of Music Station. On the main screen there were some kiddy animations of classic Japanese stories.

Kimi e no Omoi started with 1964 written on the screen and as the years grew they showed names of Johnnys groups ( I'm assuming when they debuted) and also the dates that the members joined JE. They showed some debut pictures of Arashi and in the second half of the song they had a ton of photos and a timeline on the bottom with a line for each member in their color. So when Ohno joined a blue line appeared at 1994 and continued on. They kept showing photos of them and the last was taken in Miyagi I think.

I noticed the last minute or so that Sho had left the stage.

The dome went black at the end of the song and was quiet for a moment but I got really excited.

Sho came out on the main stage wearing a red suit with a spotlight on him. He started doing trick drumming on a snare drum, for example flipping the sticks around or hitting the drum with the bottom of the sticks instead of the top.

When the song started he drummed a little at the start and then walked down the walkway to the center stage. There wasn't a lot of dancing when I wished there was, but at the center stage another drum was waiting for him. In the second half of the song he started the trick drumming again but this time some "back dancers" who had been playing cymbals or big drums slung over their shoulders came to stand next to him. They had a line of snare drums and started doing the druming together, hitting each other's drums and cymbals that were held up behind them. It was quite cool! It reminded me of taiko which was an interesting aesthetic because they were playing on regular brass band drums not Japanese ones.

They finished it was some fire shooting out around the main stage and then it was Aiba's turn.

I heard a little bit about what Aiba said his solo would be like, so what I was expecting was a Matsujun impression crossed with Disco Star. It was not that at all haha.

Aiba came out of the side stage dangling from a large rainbow balloon. He was hanging onto a long ribbon used for aerobatics attached to the bottom of the ballon. It seemed scary because I don't have any idea how they could have strapped him in. The balloon went from the right stage to the center walkway and Aiba twisted his way down the ribbon so he could stand on the stage.

He was wearing a yellow bikers jacket with no shirt underneath but a colored belt thing like an obi that went halfway up his chest. His pants were black and baggy. As the music started he called his gang up from the backstage that were guys in various punk outfits like bandanas and biker gear. They all danced down to the center stage together and Aiba did some of the disco star moves like hooking his hands behind his head and leaning back. That made me laugh really hard!

At the center stage they danced a little more then some of them helped Aiba struggle out of his jacket which made us scream. Then they put him in a large white shirt that said FUNK. He took a drink of water and someone was rubbing his shoulders like he was preparing for a big game. On the screens a Mr. Funk chant came on and we cheered for him. Aiba climbed more than halfway up the ribbon using just his arms, which was impressive. He stopped and started tying the ribbon around him in a specific way and when he was done he looked at the camera and said "What's my name?" We yelled out Mr. Funk, and then Aiba let go of the ribbon and tumbled down half way. I guess the way he tied it meant he could unravel it as he fell and then he stopped when it reaches the end where he had tied it around himself. I figured that's what he was planning on doing but it still gave me a shock. It was probably also the reason he needed to change into a loose t-shirt.

That was the finale but Jun came up right away on one of the tower stands and the Funky music started. I was a little caught off guard but put my notebook down and prepared my penlight to dance. I'm so happy they did Funky again because I put so much effort into learning it for Love. It seemed like most of the audience knew the choreography and was dancing whole heartedly.

Sho's new jacket looked a lot like the one from Taboo only it was red plaid, but the hat was exactly the same! Jun was wearing red plaid with leopard print accessories and Aiba, when he appeared after changing, was wearing a hat I thought was quite terrible. It was a rounded brown felt hat but the edges were droopy around his face.

For Bolero everyone was shaking their penlights around and it was really fun! Sho waved at our section from the stage, and Jun and Nino danced together at the back, looking at the camera, before they all headed back to the front stage.

Ohnos solo started with him holding up a paper umbrella in front of him. He held it over his face and then when he lowered it he was wearing a Japanese style white oni mask. His outfit was a green traditional kimono costume with the traditional vest over it. He did several "magic" tricks with umbrellas like pulled them out of his sleeve and then opening them. He gave them to the man standing next to him and then went on to the next trick. He showed us a long scarf and twirled it around before pulling out another umbrella. He did it all with a really cool atmosphere so it was awesome to watch.

After he was done with that, his helpers pulled up a red circular curtain around him and lifted it up and down once, but Ohno was gone. He appeared on the upper stage a few seconds later wearing a green mask this time. He pulled open a box of gold paper that was in a long strip and tossed one edge of it down to the bottom stage so the paper came shooting out of the box in a steam like a waterfall. I've seen this time at traditional Japanese performances before.

Next his assistance came back and pulled off his clothes on either side to revealed a newly colored on underneath. They also folded over their own clothes so it looked like they had changed into something new. They did this several times until Ohno was in only a white kimono. He went down and started walking towards the middle stage and took off his mask, but there was another one underneath. He took off that one and there was another. He was wearing like seven of them!

At the center stage he pulled off his kimono to reveal a black and red suit. His solo came on and he started dancing. The back dancers were using folding fans but Ohno didn't have any even though he was moving his hands as if he should. The screens showed moving paintings that looked like calligraphy strokes moving across it to form mountains and trees. The last part of the song had Ohno doing choreography with small jerky movements that left an impression for me. I think of all the solos I liked his the most.

Next there was an interlude. The samisen players had a solo and then went back and forth with taiko plays on the other side of the stage. There was also a traditional flute and some dancers doing choreography with swords and the center stage. Some on them also came out on roller skates even though they were wearing traditional outfits, and they went around the long stages on either side. Some of the other dancers did flips at the main stage before Arashi came back out again.

Japonism was next! The main screen above them was covered in Sakura trees that looked great with their brightly colored kimonos. Hopefully everyone can find pictures of them because they were beautiful! I remember clearly that Nino had a tori gate scene on one of his long sleeves. Also Aiba finally looked really sweaty despite his hair holding up during the first half of the concert.

They also did some choreography with paper umbrellas and large folding fans that were silver on one side and gold on the other.

During the second half of the song I noticed the penlights were making designs in colors across the audience like diamonds or commons patterns you'd see on kimonos. At the end of the song the dancers held umbrellas in front of Arashi to hide them and then when they took them away Arashi had changed their outfits into red and black.

Next was Kokoro no Sora. It was pretty similar to the music station performance. The dancing solos and Sakurap were nice to see live though! At the end the shot fireworks from the main stage.

After Sunrise Nippon (another choice that got me off guard especially in this order) Jun introduced the juniors. The other members got on their carts to go to the towers, but they turned all the lights to the main stage so we couldn't see them until they were in place and the next song, Oh Yeah, started.

Nino was right in front of our section and was waving so much during the song. Mostly at us in the stands but also the second floor and arena too. He seemed really excited during most of he concert.

During Believe they went to the back stage using the moving platforms. For Ninos solo during the song he laid down on the stage and was singing to the arena audience underneath him.

They did their last greetings on the back stage while it was raised up. When each member did his speech the penlight colors changed to their member color automatically.

Sho: Thank you all for coming today. *bows*
It's been a year since our last original album. Was it fun today? Japonism was a chance for us to look back and review our history. Maybe it's just me, but since the beginning I've wanted to try new things, to do things members of Johnnys haven't before. But now I feel like were returning to our roots after all this time. It feels strange.
Sometimes stopping for a moment on your path is also a step to moving forward.
Please stay with us from now on too.

Ohno: Thank you! *bows*
Iya... Iya... (Well...well...) it was a great concert.
Our theme was about Japan and what Johnnys have done in the past.
It made me really think that Johnnys are amazing (sugoi na). They do so much singing and dancing.
But the power here tonight... It really got me. (Yararemashita)
I'm tired.
But it was a good start to the Japon...esque tour.
Jun: This is Japonism.
Ohno: Japonism. Oh yeah it has all of our initials in it.
I'll do my best during my the rest of the tour. (Kega shinai you ni ganbarimasu)

Aiba: Thank you! *bows*
Ah... I was so nervous!
But we finished without any accidents so I'm happy.
I'm able to stand here right now so I'm happy.
I've thought a lot about the topic...
Living for the moment, for now, is something I can do.
I can't really think ahead, so I'll concentrate my power on living for the now.
It was a great concert! Is everyone ok?
This tour... Japonism? Did I say that right?
For the tour I was able to take part in the goods a little. I was in charge of the calendar.
It was definitely overdone (yaritsugi) so I'm nervous it was too much. Did you like it? How was it?
Us: *cheering and clapping *
Thank you! Yoroshiku onegaishimasu!

Nino: Thank you. *bows*
It's been about half a year but I went out drinking with the Arashi members and some others like juniors and Yamapi, Tackey, etc. people in the industry about the same age as me doing the same things as me.
It's awesome. Johnnys entertainment is really a good place.
I was wearing pajamas though. But it was fun.
We had a chance to exchange contact information although Ohno and Aiba weren't very good with their phones.

(I think Aiba commented about a line group they had but I didn't catch all of it.)

Nino: If I was able to convey even a little about our history to you I'd be happy. For the people who are "just sort of" living day to day, that will turn into history too. There are people thinking like that.
But just be like Aiba and live for now. Now, we're here with you and it's a great thing.
Thank you.

Jun: Thank you, it was fun! *bows*
Our tour, Japonism, is about how to live for the now. It's about Japan, Johnnys entertainment, Arashi, and being with you. It's about how you'll live, how your own path will open. I strongly felt that not only did we make it this far but that we were never alone along the way. I've had a lot of strong feelings recently. We need to make "now" important to us. We can make it to the end with your help.
This is the last song.

For the opening of Bokura ga Tsunaide Iku" they all sang live into the mics. I always love hearing them sing even if it's not as clear as the recordings. On the main screens they showed some clips from the opening vtr again (their characters with their past counterparts). The penlights in the audience split into their 5 member colors during the song.

They headed back to the front to leave the stage. They walked to the upper stage under the screen and the platform descended so we saw them disappear. They were saying thank you and bye-bye as they left.

When they were gone their names and birthdays came on to the main screen. The years started moving to their debut date and then up to the current date and time, Nagoya, November 6, 8:25:56 pm.

The Arashi call started right away, but we waited about 3-4 minutes until they came back out. They were wearing the tour shirts, but some of them were wearing vests with the chirori pattern over it, and the sleeves on all of them were different. Their pants were all similar, black and a little baggy with the chirori pattern down it in various colors.

They came from the back stage already on the carts. Sho and Nino were riding the same one on the side near us. They both waved at the stands as they passed.

For Love So Sweet they had made it to the back and continued to the other side. Aiba, Jun, and Ohno came towards us and to the main stage. For their solo Jun and Ohno stood next to each other pointedly looking around for the camera filming as the sang. When they found it Jun leaned again Ohnos shoulder. Then when it was Aibas solo, they both shuffled over to where he was standing in the corner and crowded up behind him. On the other side Nino was holding his arms out like an airplane and running around and when Sho saw him he joined in. They ran in a circle for a while.

When they got off and onto the main stage, Sho was leading the audience in raising their penlights to the beat.

Last was A.Ra.Shi and all of us danced along. During the rap in the middle Nino was staring at Sho and sort of jumped at him, making his mess up on singing. When Ohno sang the last part he held the mic out for us to sing as usual.

They did the band introduction, including the taiko and samisen players. Last Jun asked "What's our name?" And we yelled Arashi back. They went down the same way as before. Sho yelled out "it was amazing (saiko)" and saluted at us when the camera came in him. The others were waving I think.

The concert ended at 8:42, so a little earlier than usual. We waited a few minutes but they weren't stopping us from leaving so we headed out and made it outside pretty fast. We had decided to walk to the non-dome station so it took about 15 minutes but we made it back to the place we were staying before 9:30 or so. All surprisingly fast compared to past concerts!

Blast in Miyagi sept 23

boblemon — Wed, 23 Sep 2015 13:54:17 GMT

Done but I need to do a final check!

Today was filming apparently because they made an announcement. And Johnny was sighted taking a taxi at the station I heard.

We were in the arena near the front left side stage and one section behind where the tower platform raises up.

The concert started on time. The opening vtr was the same. When they popped out on the side stages Sho was in front of our section. He waved at the stands a lot first then at us during Wild at Heart. As he started walking back to the main stage he posed and then started walking cutely, raising his hands up in time with his steps sort of like his character from Kazoku Game, only his elbows were bent.

When did they Pikanchi, Jun and Aiba leaned together as usual. In the middle of the song I saw Sho watching Nino as they danced and when Nino met his stare Sho smiled in a bashful way. I'm wondering if he messed up or something and felt like he got caught.

During Happiness Nino waved at our section from the center stage and then they got on the flying platform. From our seat we could see them better than the other days but they never actually went over us. When Troublemaker was finished they went down in the back.

Aiba: Arashi is here!!

For Love Rainbow they got on the carts and Jun came right past our section! Actually our seats were the three on the end where the cart passed so we could see him really closely! He waved at our section generally and pointed to some people next to our seats in acknowledgment.

At the end of the song before the greetings, Sho leaned on Nino. Their greetings were really similar to the previous days.

Aiba (as Jun): Hey Miyagi! It's been a while! I wanted to see you! Are you ready to have fun? Are you ready to be happy? We're going to make all of you happy!

Sho (as Nino): irrashaimase! x3 Arashi is here! x2 You're not loud enough I said you're not loud enough! ! stay with us until the end!

Nino (as Aiba): ne ne ne〜 He said it wasn't enough! Are you getting excited? This is amazing! (Saikou daze!)

Jun (as Ohno): Hai〜x3 Can you do it? (Ikeru) x2 Should we do the normal one? Miyagi arashi matsuri...
Us: day!!
Jun: *closes his eyes into a ^_^ face and gives a piece sign in a nasally voice* yoroshiku!

Ohno (as Sho): *looks at Jun in laughing* How are you Miyagi? (Choshi wa dou da) How are the upper stands? How are the lower stands? We are ready to go! Are you? Let's have fun until the end... Really how are the lower stands-- stay Arashi!
Us: Arashi!
Ohno: Let's get the party started!

Ohno sort of messed up his speech. I could tell he had a little too much time so he started to ask how the lower stands were again but he didn't make it in time so he jumped straight to the Arashi call. At the end he gave a small wave as he hurried off but it was almost like he'd forgotten it. I think he was putting too much effort into the gestures at the beginning because he was moving around a lot and sticking out his chest while moving his hands back at forth. It was still so cute to watch.

The vtr about the solos was the same. I could see a little of the end of Jyanakute from my seat as Aiba walked to the north side of the dome and it was just as cute as before. I feel like the performance for that was really great and showed off Aiba's personality.

Nino didn't make a mistake during his solo. He went into strumming his guitar to transition into Oh Yeah and called out.

Nino: Hey Miyagi! It's the last day! Can you do it? Louder! Come on, louder! Oh yeah!

When Nino was done with the guitar at the beginning he came over to the section in front of us. He was waving a lot at us and the stands.

Zero-G was just as great as the previous nights. I had to watch the screen instead of straining to see over all the people in front of me because I didn't want to miss the hip shaking. The first closeup was Sho today and I might have swooned a little. He nailed it every day. Then there was a sequence of Ohno Sho and Aiba that showed all of them shaking it the next time and let me say I don't know what happened but are all sex machines for this performance now.

The vtr for the schools today explained everything. They had asked 7 schools to participate with them (schools along the coast that had been affected by the tsunami) and showed short VTRs for all of them most of which had been played previous days.

1. The school reaching out to people. One girl talked about losing her family.
2. The school during a survey of the affected areas and talking with victims about their experiences.
3. The school focusing on exercising their bodies and building relationships among their peers.
4. A new school with only one student in the chorus club now. She practiced alone and they showered her playing the piano while training her voice.

The last three schools they brushed over faster but I remembered them from the previous days. When it was over all the kids had gotten out on the stage and it was amazing! Compared to the previous days it looked like a lot. They all couldn't fit on the stairs so a lot of them were standing in the exit doorway or off to the side.

Jun did an intro again and asked the students if they were ready. The boys i could see behind Jun were smiling widely and looking excited so I also felt happy. Jun even commented that everyone was making a great expression.

Sho: There are quite a lot of students here. Your friends and family might even be in the side once tonight so keep that in mind!

The performance was really strong again tonight. Although there were a lot less men their voices were equal to the women's part. In the previous performances it was easy to pick out Arashi's voices but tonight it wasn't. Either their turned their mics down or the choir was just that loud because it was all even. By the way, Sho did the opening conducting cue to get everyone together and also on the lalala part.

When they were finished they said the names of the schools again, 1-2 per member. When it was Aiba's turn he stumbled on the name and then had to repeat the second school too because he became flustered. Jun thanked the students for their time since they must be busy with school and preparing for tests.

Nino: So we all said the names normally so why did you have to do an impression?
Aiba: I didn't mean to! It was a mistake! I'm so sorry.

After Nino teased him a bit they went into Love So Sweet. Sho did his little wo ho love so sweet call at the start too. Jun put his arm around Ohno during the opening and they ended up running the short distance to the cart! They were in front of us so I squeed little. As they went around the base of the stands Jun was leaning heavily on the rail to sing his parts of the song, looking down mostly like he was singing to the audience. Sho Nino and Aiba were doing their punching moves at the audience on the other side of the dome too.

For Kitto Daijyobu Sho ended up messing up the opening rap part. He was looking at Nino and then started laughing and skipped part of it to end with a cheer.

Sho Nino and Aiba got to our side. Aiba was mostly waving at the stands but Sho and Nino waved at the arena area (us) a bit. At the end of the song when they were back on the main stage Sho saluted to the camera as the music died down.

For the start of Bittersweet Jun and Ohno just started at each other intently and then did their backwards step move. While the focus was on them, Sho and Nino were half heartedly waving to the arena section but I don't think they were getting much of a reaction.

For the lyrics "Kimi wo〜" they did a closeup of Jun on the screen and he winked while doing of his closed hand waves. At the end when they pose in a pyramid, Nino and Aiba were pushing their heads together really hard almost as if trying to push the other one over. They were both making squished faces like they were trying too hard. Sho glanced down and then back up and then looked down at them at them again and laughed.

Tonight they were going to do a live performance on Music Station so they talked about that and prepared us in the mc:

Sho: yeah!
us: yeah!
Sho: We are...
All members: Arashi!
Sho: How's the last day going, Jun?
Jun: it's really exciting. Today we're doing the filming.
Sho: And well appear on Music Station!
Well please take a seat. How about you Aiba?
Aiba: It's so hot in here! I'm really feeling everyone's power.
Sho: And the high school choirs were great right?
Aiba: Today we had the largest group of students so it was strong.
Sho: We also shuffled the greetings but....
Ohno did mine and... Wasn't something off about it?
Jun: Yeah! How do I explain.... Uh, it's like you're not used to acting that way. It's like you were trying to do too much and it got jumbled up.
And then you asked again how they were even though you already asked, haha.
I guess you had extra time you didn't know what to do with?
Ohno: Yeah. There was still time left but getting the timing for the Arashi call is hard.
Jun: you could have just started the Arashi call really early.
Ohno: But I wanted to say all those other things!
Like Sho does this pose. *stands up straight suddenly and puffs his chest out*
Sho: I don't do anything like that!
Ohno: You do!

So Sho started to do his greeting again like he normally would. He said "We're Arashi! Miyagi how's it going?" in a half hearted voice, then when he went to ask how the upper stands where and he totally pushed himself up and puffed out his chest so he started laughed and admitted he did that.

Ohno: And lastly you do something with your hand as you walk away.
Sho: While we're talking about it, did I do that thing at the end right for Nino?

He meant turning around and walking away before casually saying "saigo made yoroshiku" and giving a peace sign. I think they agreed it was ok because they moved on to Jun's opinion of Aiba's impression.

Jun: It was over the top.
Aiba: I'm just so excited!
Nino: You said thank you.
Jun: I don't say thank you.
But it was strange for me too, to do Ohno.
I mean, I just did my personal impression of Ohno. I have a really strong impression of his eyes being small. Like a Buddha.

Jun showed us what he meant, basically something like ^_^ and Ohnos eyes being almost completely closed.

Jun: That's my image. * smiling ^_^ and in a nasally high voice* yoroshiku!

Sho went to leave the stage but he stopped and covered his mic to say something to Aiba. They showed it on the big screen so we all kyaaa-ed.

Jun: What are you kyaaa-ing for?!
What is that about?
Aiba: That's right, there's something I need to apologize to Sho-chan about. I designed the goods this time right? You know how you have that hooded towel?
Jun: Like this one? Although this is our original one.

Jun held up a full sized bath towel that had the same image of their faces and the text on the other size. He told us it was a special version for them but that the design was the same.

Aiba: So you wear it over your shoulders, but when you go to the bathroom... You wash your hands and then your looking for something to wipe them on so where do you wipe?

Jun showed us with his large towel, putting it over his shoulder and pretending to wash his hand. He reached up to the towel and wiped it on the most convenient spot which was where Sho's face was.

Aiba: I'm sorry! It's like I have some grudge against him! Everyone, please use the side with Jun's face sometimes too!
But there were a lot of goods this time.
Jun: Aiba-sensei!

They briefly talked about some of the goods, like the usual towels and shirts, and some unusual stuff like the earphones and soap. Aiba said he designed them with Miyagi in mind so the green was supposed to be for zunda. He also said he was so happy to get to collaborate with the soap company and that they even changed the design of their character to make it like Arashi.

Jun said there were a lot of venders that came and thanked them for the support.

Aiba and Ohno quickly threw in that they had been at the stadium on 2002 for the soccer game and pointed to their seats (of course they pointed in different directions). They said it rained hard that day so they got wet on the way home.

Aiba: But it hasn't rained at all during this concert.
Jun: Stop it.
Aiba: What if it rained tonight?

Sho came back on the stage then so he asked who had brought a raincoat just because it's them. A lot of people clapped.

Sho: Sorry we are a storm! (Arashi de sumimasen!)

Before he started teaching the dance Sho reminded us that it would be on Music Station and told us to be prepared to be on tv.
Sho: We're all performers this time!

He showed us the first set, then was about to ask Nino to turn around so we could do it the same direction then realized the first move was the same either way. After every set he asked Nino to turn around and told us it was to confirm that we knew what to do. At the last step he explained it up to the clapping part but we did it without him telling us so Sho suddenly stopped and started accusing us, "Some people looked at the directions online!! You clapped before I told you to! But I guess I'm happy."

Nino did the same pull up move when he raised both hands into the air. His face wasn't as funny as the other days but he still made himself look strained and smiled.

The other members came out and we went through it again. The. They told us to get prepared for music station because we were live in less than five minutes.

Jun: Is everyone prepared?
Aiba: I need to stretch.

All of them started to stretch their legs in various ways and they did a closeup of Ohno make a cute strained face.

Jun: So they'll show a vtr about the concert then Tamamori will say "Arashi〜"
We should practice that introduction part. Who's going to be Tamamori?
Sho: Let's do Rock Paper Scissors

After about five retries it was down to Aiba and Sho but in the end Aiba won so he impersonated Tamori from Music Station. His low mumbling voice was adorable but reminded me of when Jun does Bobby.

Aiba held up his hands to his face like binoculars pretending to look around.
Aiba: Arashi 〜
Members: Hello!
Aiba:...
Nino: Ask us a question or something!
Aiba: Where are you?
Ohno: in Miyagi!
Aiba: did you do anything fun?
Nino: We had some good food!
Sho: And the five of us went out drinking last night.
Aiba: Next we'll have a break--
Everyone: hey!

They said less than one minute until they were live so Jun did a quick explanation that the dancers were from Miyagi University and they would perform a dance inspired by Suzume Odori (Carnival Night version). Jun also said this was their first time to do a live performance at a concert so they were a little nervous.

In the remaining time Sho said they wanted to give an impression that we were having fun and told us to do our best to cheer and things. They did a bit of cheering before the feed for Music Station came on.

First we watched on the big screens the Music Station intro by Tamori and the vtr Jun mentioned about the concert. They it switched over to a live feed of Arashi and they did the introduction. When Tamori asked if they had done anything fun we all laughed because Aiba had predicted the question and Nino gave the same answer.

I checked the Music Station performance and it seemed to be the same thing they were showing on our screens. The only thing was that after Arashi did the introduction I guess Music Station switched back to Tamori for a minute but the feed got cut off on our end so they just started the song. So when he asked if we were ready and switched back they had already started and lost the first 5-6 seconds of the songs intro.

We were in the section that Aiba and his group came to. I was a bit disappointed that they didn't show more of the audience dancing because otherwise the song seemed too simple, but maybe there was a logistic reason.

For those of you who saw the Carnival Night performance I hope you understand why I loved it so much! There were a lot of people dancing along with the easy moves in the audience.

When they went up in the towers for Guts! I noticed they weren't waving quite as much at the audience, probably because they were live. Aiba waved at the stands discreetly once or twice but they concentrated on dancing.

Music Station didn't say goodbye or anything. Arashi thanked the dancers as they ran off the stage and then got on the carts for Fight Song. Aiba came right by us. As he passed he was looking back and gave us a peace sign. I thought it was for me because I was waving my hands in a peace sign at him and he was looking at us but in the end I noticed it was directed at Jun who was doing the same. XD Thank you anyway Aiba! You're so handsome!

Sho made his way to or section on the side stage by the time the song was over.

Sho: Ohno-san please.
Ohno: Thank you for your clapping!
(He said "te wo haishaku" which I usually translate as clapping but for this song you pump your firsts in the air. "Te wo haishaku" literally means "let us borrow your hands".)

Juns solo was the same. We could see him only a little from our seats.

For Sho's solo, after his pause for "my life is my message" in the middle he followed up with "my fellow Arashians!"

I could see Ohno a little at the start of his solo but ended up watching most of it on the screens. After they all came out for the interlude I kept trying to watch them instead of the screens but they were pretty far away. And it's much more cool to see the dance straight on. It was still as amazing as before. I love the end when they take nice steps forward and bend their knee at the back. I don't know why but the aesthetic is so cool.

But we could see Sakura pretty well because the stage was raised into the air a few feet. It was great to actually see the dancing.

For Pikanchi Double they got on the carts. Sho came by the section two over from us and waved back at us but he was too far away for me to see properly.

During Meikyu Love Song Ohno came to the side stage near us. They did close ups of Sho again and he did his come hither gesture both time, but the first time I think he didn't prepare in time so it wasn't great. The second time as beautiful and he was in front of our section on the stage!

Ohno was giving lots of fan service as he walked back to the main stage. He was pointing and fishing just sbout everyone he could and waving at both sides as he walked.

They used the platform for Sakura Sake and just like before the members starting jumping around so min that Sho didn't even bother to sing the rap part. He clung to the small hand rail and yelled ABUNAI! (That's dangerous!) a few times.

For A.RA.SHI they rotates around the platform again but Jun sort of stopped and was trying to push back as the others tried to push forward. Sho started yelling it was dangerous again. ^_^ Jun made fun of him. "He said it's dangerous!"

When the platform finally landed Sho was singing his rap part but he was bent over the handrail like he was going to be sick. He did the rap perfectly but when he finally looked up into the camera he looked exhausted.

They walked back to the center stage for the final greetings.

Sho: thank you everyone *bow*
Did you enjoy the second "Blast" concert? We wanted to do something to help and bring support to various areas. We're so happy it actually happened. If it was only the five of us we couldn't have done it, so we want to thank the people of Miyagi. If only we did it there wouldn't have been anything.
There are people who came here from all over Japan, and even the world, so thank you.
As a message to the victims of the earthquake, we want you to know that you have, at the very least, this many friends of Arashi around you to support you.
I don't want anyone to have such a sad memory again.
In 2011, I looked to the sky and though, it would be great if our feelings of support could reach you.
Let's continue on together in the future.

Ohno: Thank you. *bows*
Since our last concert in Miyagi 8 years ago, the situation here has changed. We came back, and we think that it's important to interact with you in person through this concert. I thought I wanted to increase the amount of people smiling as much as I could.
Having a concert in Miyagi isn't something we can do a lot. It's been 8 years. I want to treasure this atmosphere. For these four days I've feel a lot of different emotions. I want to try my best. With you and the five of us, let's continue to make Arashi together in the future. Please stay by our sides.

Aiba: Thank you. *bows*
Was it fun? I think I was the one that had the most fun.
Everyone was smiling and it made me happy. We only had this experience here due to you.
Sho-chan said that we, Arashi, have this many people following us, and that brings such happiness. More than where you're headed in life it's the people that you're traveling with. I want to continue to make Arashi together with you. I want to continue to go with all of you, one step at a time, without giving up. Please stay with us.

Nino: Thank you. *bows*
I'm hungry.
Arashi danced a lot. Even I did.
I'm wondering what to eat tonight.
It's a little cold.
I can feel summer is over.
It'll get colder, and fall will come. Then winter.

(Nino paused and then smiled as he continued on sheepishly.)

And then spring, right? Huh~

As seasons change, we can meet you. It's amazing.

I think about various things, but a day without thinking is important too.

It's fun. You should try it some time.

Us: *clap in agreement*

Everyone was smiling. Today was a lot of fun, ne. If a day ends like this, that's great. Amazing.

Jun: Thank you. *bow* I really used a lot of energy! It was a lot of fun.

8 years ago was the last time we came to Miyagi. So there might be people in the audience now we haven't seen since then, or completely new people too.

Arashi is 16 years old now thanks to you. (Jun smiled really sweetly and looked like he was getting worked up.)
It was all thanks to you that we came this far without fighting. We can sing and dance and be on TV and be a part of your life.
After this is the album tour. We'll still have fun times together.
Please continue to stay with us. (Mada mada yoroshiku.)
It's so great that we can return to Miyagi after 8 years.
Thanks to all the staff and people that supported us. (Jun took a moment to swallow and his eyes were shining and made me start to get choked up too.)
In 2011, I didn't know if the message we wanted to send to everyone here actually made it or not. We're all under the same sky. We're all connected. You're not alone. I wanted to say that.
We all did our best to make it here. So seriously, thank you everyone for coming today.
Please don't forget we're all connected under the same sky.
I have one request. Could you turn the penlights off? The moon and starts are so pretty.
Sorry to the people with chemical lights.

A lot of people were hiding them under their shirts or something, so I did too (although you could still see it glowing!)

They sang Hantenai Sora and descended down the stage the same as before.

It took a little longer for them to come out for the encore, about 5 minutes .The VTR was the same and so was Ai wo Sakebe. We did our best to dance but I felt a little crowded tonight.

Ohno asked us again if we could keep going and started Energy Song. They were all jumping a lot, and Jun came running over to the side of the stage in front of us at full speed. They switched places and Sho came over after him. Sho was jumping around a lot and circling and at the end of the song all of them were out of breath. I also had fun jumping around a lot, so I get really hyper after the concert is over.

When Jun said it was the last song the audience said "eeh" again but he ignored us and they started on Yume ni Kakeru. The fireworks got really smoky tonight, so they were easier to see on the screens that in person I think. At the end of the song Jun did an intro of the band and thanked the staff.

Jun: Thanks to all the 300+ staff members! I love you!

Thanks to the people of Miyagi!

Thanks to everyone here!

(Jun looked like he was about the cry, his eyes were wet and his voice was raw.)

I can't talk anymore.

Nino: You're still talking.

All members: You'll be okay.

Jun: *as loud as he could* What's our name?

Us: Arashi!

When they did a closeup of the members descending on the stage, Ohno looked like he was moved too. The others were smiling and waving like crazy.

After they left we kept calling for Arashi to come back. The MC that came out on the stage to direct the going home had to keep repeating "The concert is over." We still called for them, but after five minutes we realized they wouldn't come out so we sat down to rest until fighting our way to the bus.

Blast in Miyagi sept 22

boblemon — Tue, 22 Sep 2015 13:51:39 GMT

finished but I need to check it!

Today our seats were in the top of the first floor stands on the south side of the stadium (right facing the stage). We were about five or six rows from the top but the view was pretty good. We just couldn't see much of the sky because of the overhang of the 2nd floor. But there was one of the side stages were the towers go up right in front of us!

I went with cat, tiffany, and Jun. It seemed really loud tonight but I guess that's because we were in an area where the sound got trapped. And I don't know if was our elevation but it seemed easy to see the faces of the fans from where we were. There were a lot of uchiwas and stuff too that I could easily read.

The opening vtr was the same and Nino popped up in front of us. He waved to our section as well as the stands above us.

During Pikanchi Jun and Aiba were leaning against each other as usual and then later in the song they stood back to back. They didn't use the flying platform today, so instead Aiab came running out to our section on the long stage and waved at us a lot during Happiness.

Before Troublemaker started Aiba gave our section a rock sign (raising his pointer finger and pinky) and ran back to the center. When he went past Ohno they did a high five and then Ohno was headed to our section. He was waving at everyone as he went down the long side stage, looking back and forth around the arena. And when he got to the end he took great care to look around him, up at us on the first floor, and then at the floor above us.

For Love Rainbow they got on carts and Aiba came by our section again, waving a lot at the stands. The stands were definitely great for getting waves and things from them compared to arena yesterday.

The opening speeches were similar to the last days.

Aiba (as Jun): Hey Miyagi! It's been a while! I wanted to see you! Are you ready to have fun? Are you ready to be happy? We're going to make all of you happy!

Sho (as Nino): irrashaimase! x3
Arashi is here! x2
You're not loud enough!
*low voice* stay with us until the end!

Nino (as Aiba): ne ne ne〜
He said it wasn't enough!
Are you getting excited!
(Nino mumbled at the end and gave up on his impression I guess)

Jun (as Ohno): Hai〜x3
Can you do it? (Ikeru) x2
Should we do the normal one?
Miyagi arashi matsuri...
Us: day!!
Jun: *cute smile and piece sign with both hands *

Ohno (as Sho): *looks at Jun in embarrassment*
How are you Miyagi? (Choshi wa dou da)
How are the upper stands?
How are the lower stands?
Come on, how are the lower stands?!
We're ready to go!
Give us more.
Say Arashi!
Us: Arashi!! (X3)
Ok! Stay with us until the end! Let's get the party started!

I can't say enough about Ohno's impression. He leaned over when he asked about the "shita no ho" and at the end gave us a cheesy rappers hand gesture. His intonation is just like Sho and it still made me laugh.

The vtr about the solos was the same. Jyanakute was great again, I think the song and performance really suits Aiba and it was adorable.

Nino didn't make any mistakes during his solo and he seemed proud of it at the end of his song. He led into Oh Yeah he same as before.

Nino: Hey Blast in Miyagi!!
Put your hands up and say oh yeah!

Aiba came out to the stage near us again. We saw someone being carried out on a stretcher (actually there was another person later as well) and Aiba stopped to watch them for a few sections as well before he went back to waving around him. He waved a lot at the 2nd floor and us. And his fabulous cape was still fabulous tonight.

Zero-G was also great. For the first hip shaking Sho had a closeup and he nailed it enough to make us scream. They did close ups of almost all of them this time and they all did such a sexy job, I was proud. The last closeup was Aiba and Sho again and I was melting.

The vtr was different again, so I guess they must be changing the school every day. Today they had two schools and a junior chorus. The first school was going to attend the national championship but couldn't because their equipment was destroyed in the tsunami. They showed a clip of the body building exercises they do for the choir. The second school I think was a catholic school and their theme was "life is important" so they had done services for victims of the tsunami. (hopefully I got the information right I need to double check).

When the vtr was over the feed of the stage came on where the choir was already waiting.

Jun: Don't be nervous!
Sho: I think it's hard not to be in front of this many people.
Aiba: Don't put any more pressure on them!

The performance today was very powerful! Half of the choir was men so I think that made it stronger. We watched some of the news clips and none of them did the audio justice. I started crying a little tonight again, when they showed the clips of various people in tohoku. For the second half of the song Jun asked us to sing with them.

Aiba: I feel so moved.
Sho: Today the men's voices were strong!
Nino: Out of all the days we had the most men today. Their lower voices were amazing.
Sho: And in the vtr there were a lot of people that participated in the submitting their videos, including the Rakuten Eagles. Thank you!
I bet there were a lot of people that got offers to do a video but had to refuse because of time or something.
Jun: We're not done yet. Can you keep going?
Let's go to the second half! Love So Sweet!

Jun's transition was still a little awkward today. It's hard to get us pumped up after the moving choir performance.

Sho did his cute "Wo ho〜 love so sweet〜" during the intro and they went to the carts. Sho, Aiba, and Nino came to the right side first and got on together. Somehow they all started skipping in a circle together for a bit and then Sho went back to directing us to jump. The cart stopped close to our section and Sho was waving a lot at the stands. During the part at the end (akenai yoru wa nai yo) they all pumped their fists together at the section next to ours. Sho was jumping around a lot and at the end he gave our section a big maru o over his head.

When Kitto Daijyobu started Sho did the rap part while looking around at us and I was very happy to see him rap live. He was leaning over the railing of the cart too.

When Ohno and Jun came by, Ohno waved at our section and Jun was pointed at a lot of people on the front stands. When Bittersweet started during the opening solo Jun stared at Ohno and started petting his face and then they did the leaning back move.

When they got onto the main stage and started the dancing choreography, Jun waved happily at the camera.

The mc was really fun tonight!

Sho: Yeah〜
Us: Yeah!
Sho: good evening everyone and we are
All members: Arashi!
Sho: This is day three of four. Nino, how are you feeling?
Nino: I don't want this to be over.
Sho: How about you Aiba?
Aiba: It's a miracle that it hasn't rained at all for the last 3 concerts!

Sho asked again who brought a raincoat just in case and a lot of people clapped.

Nino: That's so nice of you.
There aren't even any clouds tonight.
Ohno: So tomorrow should be okay too.
Sho: you never know!

They showed the sky on the main screens and did a closeup of the moon. The feed switched and we could see the moon really clearly, even the craters and things. It was a half moon so Aiba said it looked like half a pancake I think. They made a few comments about how beautiful it was but Sho got them back on track.

Sho: Let's stop talking about the moon.
Ohno: The concert starts early so it was bright and hot but now it's a little chilly. So if it stated raining it would be cold.
Sho: You're so negative!!

Jun had them do a closeup of his shirt again and this time the camera slowly started moving down when no one recognized the patterns. When you could see the Satoshi graffiti on his leg people started gasping.

Jun: Isn't it amazing?
Ohno: I'm sorry. (moshi wake nai)
Jun: No! Don't apologize.
Ohno: I'm so embarrassed.

Sho: There's something I want to talk about. Can I talk?
Aiba: Do you mean that thing where words come out of your mouth?
Sho: Uhm, well yes. I want to talk about what we did yesterday.
A lot of people came by highway bus for the concert right? And returned home after? Well, I went back to Tokyo by car on Sunday night for News Zero. On the way I had to use the bathroom so I asked them to pull over at the rest stop. There were a ton of buses and I heard people chatted about how great the concert was! I was terrified!
But there was no break in the string of buses, so it was real oshinobi ryoko for me! In the bathroom I didn't know whether to cover my face or downstairs. Just like in the public bath!
The buses didn't stop so I felt like I was in Biohazard (Resident Evil).
How about you guys?

Nino: Work!!
Jun: Yes, we worked.
Aiba: I thought we had a vacation.
Nino: What?! I'm going to tell on you. Johnny-San!! Johnny-San in Tokyo!!!

Nino screamed reall loudly for Johnny! I was surprised. It seemed like they were all doing filming for something. Nino went to Yamagata, Jun and Ohno went to Ishinomaki, and Aiba went to Fukushima. Sho was asking what they did there but they wouldn't give us any details.

Jun: We want you all to watch the on-air later.
Aiba: You can watch it then, Sho-chan.
Nino: There were a lot of people from Yamagata that came to the concerts!
Sho: How do you know?
Nino: I asked them.
Ohno: I also had someone say to me, "Oh my daughter is coming on Monday. Yoroshiku na."

Ohno did a cute impression of a laid back person who raised their hand casually and kept walking. They had to clarify it was an older man.

Sho: Did you eat dinner together?
Nino: No.
Aiba: We were all different places and came back at different times.

Nino: I got take out curry on the way back and ate it in my hotel room.
Ohno: I ordered rooms service, Cesar salad.
Nino: What? Are you even a celebrity at all?
Ohno: it was big, though.
Sho: Jun had a meeting at night right?
Jun: Yes, I didn't get back until 12:30.
And actually, when I got back to the hotel I saw a strange old woman walking down the hallway in a robe. She was carrying an ice bucket and hunched over.
When I looked close I realized it was Nino.
He looked like a witch.
Nino: I was trying to find some ice.
Jun: So I ordered room service. Meat.
Ohno: Not a Cesar salad?
Jun: No.
Sho: What was your meeting for?
Jun: The dome tour.
Sho: Such a hard worker! So nice.
I'm going to go change now.
Jun: So what else did you do last night?
Ohno: I ate a Cesar salad.
Jun: It doesn't take more than 30 minutes to eat that.
Ohno: Um... I took a bath.
Aiba: I went to Ohno's room last night to drink.
Ohno: We scheduled it!
Aiba: It was fun. We were saying we need to go back to Ginza again.
Jun: You should just do it.
Aiba: It's hard to get the right timing.
Jun: You should give it the same priority as a job.
Aiba: We want it to be a private thing and relax!
I also brought some snacks to Ohno's room last night.
Jun: The cookies you like? That you brought to Hawaii?
Aiba: No a different one. I brought it to share but Ohno ended up eating all of it.
Ohno: I guess I ate more than just Cesar salad.

Sho: Okay. I think that's about enough. I guess you've reached the limit of your conversation when you keep talking about Cesar salad.

He gave us his introduction again and started to explain the dance but realized he didn't have "his assistant". He called for Nino a few times until he came out. Sho also asked him for an introduction so he said something similar to Sho. "I've been in Arashi for 16 years... I'm Ninomiya. Yoroshiku onegaishimasu."

They started teaching the song and Sho asked Nino to turn around and do it in the same direction as us (so we watched his back). When we were done with the set Nino looked over his shoulder and smiled cutely.

Sho: Kawaii!!

Nino still did the pull up move with wide eyes and a smile at the end. He turned around one more to practice after we knew most of it and Jun came onto the screen right at the end and dance in front of Nino so they were facing each other.

Sho: An amazing collaboration!

Jun did the introduction to the next section again and then asked us to stand and get ready (to be honest almost everyone in our section was still sitting during the explanation, even me because I was so tired). When we stood up Jun imitated the sound that the chairs made, and people chatting (basically that we made a lot of noise suddenly).

Jun: Are you ready to dance?
Are you ready to be happy? (the phrase he always says during his greeting)
Oops, I'm not the one saying that today!

Hadashi no Mirai was a lot of fun like usual and I still enjoyed Carnival Night a lot. Ohno came out to our side stage during the second half with his line of dancers so we got to watch it up close this time! Ohno was very graceful with the jumping moves. When Guts! came on he got on the tower platform and went up. He waved at us and the 2nd floor stands a lot.

For Fight Song they got on the carts and Nino came to our side. He was jumping a lot and at the end of the song he gave us a good job applause.

The next set of solos were the same. I got about half of the lyrics for Shos solo but I bet a Japanese fan got them all so I'll share them later. For Shos solo he ended on the side stage in front of us instead of at he back like I think he did the day before. During Ohno's solo they showed a live feed of the moon for a moment during the lyrics that included tsuki.

The interlude dancing was just as amazing as before and I got really excited watching. We could see Sakura pretty well from the stands.

For Pikanchi Double Jun came to our side and was doing a closed hand wave at everyone (he was doing that the previous show too). When he got on a cart he was looking at the tiny arena section in front of him but I could tell he was letting the anticipation build for us when he turned around. So he basically made us wait a few extra seconds and then when he turned to the stands we all screamed really loudly!

For Meikyu Love Song, the close ups were of Sho again and he did the come hither hand gesture. The second closeup was cute because he scrunched his eyebrows together first like he was trying really hard. Aiba came by our section on the cart and waved at the stands.

For Sakura Sake Sho finally came to our side.

But, he didn't come all the way to the end off the stage. He stopped short of the rounded part and was waving at the arena on both sides, then turned to the stands and waved his hands really widely. Of course I waved back and yelled as loud as I could. He still didn't come any closer to the stands but he did his rapping part right there looking between us at the arena and waving his arms in time with his words. Then of course they started heading back to the main stage. In the screens Jun grabbed one of the cameras and got really close to the lense, shaking it.

They still didn't use the flying platform. For A.RA.SHI
Ohno came to our side running with his arms spread out and waving them widely at us in the stands. Jun took off his jacket so he was just wearing the black shirt.

They all went back to the center stage for the greetings.

Sho: thank you everyone *bow*
Did you enjoy the second "Blast" concert? We wanted to do something to help and bring support to various areas. We're so happy it actually happened, and we want to thank the people of Miyagi.
There are people who came here from all over Japan, and even the world, so thank you.
To the people of Tohoku, we want you to know that you have, at the very least, this many friends of Arashi around you to support you.
I don't want to bring up this sad story again, but we'd be happy if our feelings reached you.
Let's continue on together in the future.

Ohno: Thank you. *bows*
Since our last concert in Miyagi 8 years ago, the situation here has changed. But we still feel that it's important to be here in person with you through this concert. I thought I wanted to increase the amount of people smiling as much as I could. I want to treasure this atmosphere. Let's continue to make Arashi together in the future. Please stay by our sides.

Aiba: Thank you. *bows*
Was it fun? I hope that it was a concert where you could smile and be happy.
Sho-chan said that we, Arashi, have this many people following us, and that brings such happiness. More than where you're headed in life it's the people that you're traveling with. I want to continue to go with all of you, one step at a time, without giving up.

Nino: Thank you. *bows*
This was a lot of fun.
It's a fun diet method.
My stomach isn't poking out now, but tonight I'll eat dinner.
And it'll poke out again.
That's life.
We all made a good memory here tonight. I hope we can all gain energy together.
We finally made it to Sendai. I don't know if it was early, or late. But this time we spend together, it has meaning to it.
If the mayor didn't invite us to come we wouldn't be here. If he hadn't asked us our dream wouldn't have come true.
This isn't the end. If you feel like you've lost all your energy, just ask the mayor. And we'll come and make happy memories with you again.
It was a lot of fun! Thank you!

Jun: Thank you. *bow* It was a lot of fun.
Arashi is 16 years old now thanks to you. A lot happened since then, for the five of us as well as everyone else. It was amazing.
I want to continue on this way.
Since 2007 we finally came to Miyagi.
Sorry for making you wait.
This concert was hot and exciting. Thank you all for coming.
Thank you. *bow straight at camera*
It makes me so happy to get to directly communicate with you.
After the earthquake I wanted to send a message here, that we're all connected that were all under the same sky. So it made me so happy to do this concert together. Please continue to follow the five of us.
Thank you.
I have one request. Could you turn the penlights off?
Yes, I know you can't turn the chemical lights off.

Jun acted so huffy when he made that comment like he was irritated at Aiba yesterday for pointing that out. A lot of people hid their glow sticks under their shirts or something.

They sang Hatenai Sora but we couldn't see the sky well from our seats. It was very beautiful.

They went below the stage and then came out for the encore again. The Vtr was the same, the members getting dressed and then trying to make us cheer louder for them.

They did Ai wo Sakebe and we danced along with them. I've remembered a lot of the moves and we practiced a bit last night haha.

At the end Ohno asked if we could still go. (Mata yarimasukai?)
Then told us to clap our hands. For Energy Song all five of them ran over to the right side of the stage. Jun was reaching out after Nino like he was trying to slow him down as they ran. He tried to grab Ninos jacket I think. Halfway through they ran all the way to the other side of the stage (left). Jun overtook Sho and Ohno and then Aiba did his best to beat him but realized too late I think. Nino didn't even keep up with the others. He was running as fast as he could but he was obviously too slow.

When they finished Jun said, "This is the last song."
The crowd screamed eeeeh so Jun repeated that it was the last sign in a curt voice and said "we have to go home." The crowd said eeeeh again and he ignored them.

We ended up sneaking out halfway through Yume Ni Kakeru because of the buses. We saw the fireworks then jogged to the bus area. We hear Jun ask what's out name from the outside so I yelled Arashi as I was running.

Tomorrow the last day!!

Blast in Miyagi sept 20

boblemon — Sun, 20 Sep 2015 12:17:24 GMT

Finished but I need to proof read it!

Our seats were arena today right in the front but to the far right side of the main stage. We were close to one of the side stages with the platforms but far away from the center and back stage so actually it was hard to see about half of the concert. Our seats were on the end right next to the barrier so that was lucky and we got a good view of the members when they came our way.

The starting vtr was the and and the members came out on top of the stage again but we couldn't see them from our seat so I just watched the screens. They jumped off again and Ohno popped up on our side of the walkway stage, right in front of us. Cat was really excited and he waved at our section. I'm pretty sure he waved directly as the two of us but I might be delusional. When Wild At Heart finished they went to the main stage for Pikanchi, and Jun and Aiba leaned against each other for their duet just the same as yesterday. I could barely see the center stage because it was far and I'm a little short but definitely Better than yesterday.

For Happiness they got on the flying platform again and it was cute to watch them frantically putting on the belts in the few seconds they had to. They did Troublemaker, and then before Love Rainbow started Aiba yelled "Arashi ga kita zo!"

When they headed back to the main stage Aiba and Sho came by our section and waved at us. Since our section was small I feel like they looked at us as a whole a lot but I never noticed them look at me specifically.

For Aozora no Shita the waterfalls on the front stage came on and I could feel a little bit of mist from my seat. Aiba was looking really sweaty already. The greetings were similar to the first day.

Aiba (as Jun): Yeah〜
I wanted to see all of you! Are you ready to have some fun? Are you ready to become happy? (Shiawase no junbi wo dekiteiru ka?)
More! More!
*terrible wink*
Thank you! (in English)

Sho (as Nino): irrashamase! (x3)
Arashi is here!
That's not enough! Come on!
Stay with us until the end! (Saigo made yoroshiku)

Nino (as Aiba): *skips forward flailing hands*
He said that's not enough everyone!
Are you excited? Today is awesome!

Jun (as Ohno): *pointedly clears throat*
Hai〜(x3)
It's been a long time Miyagi!
Are you ready? Should we do the usual?
Miyagi matsuri...
Us: day!
Jun: *in a nasally voice* yoroshiku!

Ohno (as Sho): How's it going Miyagi? (Choshi wa dou da?)
How's the bottom part?
How's the upper part?
We are ready to go!
That's not enough!
Okay say Arashi〜
Us: Arashi!
(x3)
Thank you! Let's get the party started!! (In English)

Ohno did an even better job with his impression today. His intonation was perfect and his aloha sign at the end was spot on.

The vtr welcoming us to Miyagi was the same and the members arguing over who was going to sing their solo first. It was Aiba again with Jyanakute. I was hoping I would be able to see him live but he wa a little far away when he came out. Everything was the same but I have to say I really admired Aiba's long legs this time because he jeans were super tight. And one of the damage holes was several inches above his knee so part of his thigh was exposed.

Nothing changed in his solo. Nino came out for his next but we couldn't see him on the main stage because of our angled view. He didn't mess up today but he was shifting his eyes like he was reading something 2-3 times and my friend later said someone saw a staff preparing a page of notes before he came out.

Since he didn't mess up he didn't have to defend himself today. He strummed his guitar a bit and called out today saying we needed to be louder and then introduced the next song Oh Yeah. He played the intro part of it on his guitar which I didn't notice yesterday and Jun waited a bit to come out from behind him to join.

For Kotoba yori Taisetsu na mono, Jun came over to side stage near us and went up on the platform tower. He was mostly looking at the stands (turning his back to us) but he turned around twice to wave at us. When the platform came back down he actually came over to stand on the edge of the stage facing our section as he very slowly went back to the center stage. He gave everyone a good once over and when he saw me and Cat he mouthed hey and waved at us. That was the highlight of tonight I think! I can always count on you Jun!!

And before he got more than another few steps he just stopped and shook his head at our section in amusement and grinned at us. <3

They did Zero-G at the center stage again and yes, I'm sure that Sho had some good hip shaking for this song. They did a closeup of him and Jun for the hips, making us scream a few times. Aiba's pink cape was fluttering behind him fabulously as he moved his arms around.

The vtr about the schools was different from yesterday. I think they had three schools today, not two, so they had to reorganize the vtr.

It started with the Arashi members during rehearsal (I noticed Sho was wearing a Blast in Hawaii shirt). They showed a clip of the first school (Tagaja high school? Need to check the name) doing a survey of their local town, putting up signs about the tsunami water levels. The next one was Sendai Nishi high school doing their chorus club activities. They emphasized making the audience happy. The last school was Tohoku Gakuin, who valued freedom for their performances.

All the kids came out onto the stage and Jun asked "Are you okay?"

Aiba: Yeah...
Jun: I wasn't asking you!
Aiba: Oh but I'm still a little nervous...
Nino: You're supposed to be over there!! (He was standing on the left part not the right.)
Aiba: Yeah see I'm nervous! Pardon me for cutting across the front...

They sang Kansha Kangeki Ame Arashi like yesterday. It was really great to hear again because the students voices were really strong and compared to the first day they looked less nervous. It was nice to see some of them smiling.

At the end Sho commented the song sounds really different with a lot of voices than their usual 5. They sort of waited without saying much as the kids left the stage, watching them and clapping with us, saying they did well.

Today Jun took over to prevent awkwardness. He told us they were going to do the next song right away and then did a Bobby impression before asking us to scream yeah〜

Love So Sweet started and during the intro of the song Sho yelled out love so sweet in English.

Nino, Aiba, and Sho came over to the right stage, in front of us, to get on the cart. They all sort of waved at our section but we're pretty preoccupied with getting on the cart. When Sho was on he gave a light kiss to the audience (or maybe he was just touching his mouth and we interpreted that ourself). They'd gotten halfway to the back of the stadium when they stopped in front of the stands and the three of them were pumping their fists enthusiastically at the audience for the parts like "akenai yoru wa nai yo".

By the time they finished Kitto Daijyobu, Jun and Ohno were on our side and stopped right in front of us for the opening of Bittersweet. This time the did a little side step move together and then took a step back from each other. They both waved at our section before getting back on the main stage.

Here's a digest of the mc:

Sho: Yeah! We are Arashi! It's been 8 years since we did a concert in Sendai.
Go ahead and sit down.
How is it Jun?
Jun: absolutely perfect! (Zekkouchou )
Sho: and you Ohno?
Absolutely perfect! There are hardly any clouds in the sky!
Aiba: It's not really an Arashi is it?
(they all mumbled that he shouldn't say that)
Sho: So... Who guessed that because it's us it would rain today and brought a rain jacket?

A lot of people clapped including me.

Sho: O: Who thought there would be no rain, as per the forecast?

Some people clapped but not as many as for the poncho.

Sho: Last year in Hawaii it poured! He place we held it at was known for only being sunny. They only get rain once a year but it rained twice while we were there! During rehearsal and also one concert.
(Someone commented "What a waste!" To use up the rainy days for that arena.)
In Miyagi it also rained during rehearsal. It was weird because in either side it was clear and sunny and only here in he middle it started raining right on us.
How about you Aiba? You're not talking much.
Aiba: The weather has been nice huh?
Actually I was really nervous to perform with the kids. Because they're putting their full effort into the performance and I don't want to mess it up.
Nino: I think Aiba's voice was the only one not loud enough.
Aiba: What?! I tried really hard!
Sho: I have something to say about Aiba. He's a little strange today.
Before the show in our prep room it was just me and him. I was eating and across the table from me was Aiba with a plate of lemon slices. He would eat them and then make this sour face, and then eat another.

Sho did a really cute impression of Aiba's scrunched up face.

Aiba: My legs always cramp yup during concerts and while we were in Hawaii someone gave me a remedy for it. They said if I ate lemon skins during the concert it would help to prevent the cramping.
Sho: But I think just scraping off some of it is enough! You don't have to eat so much!
Aiba: I ate about six pieces to be honest. And then my chest started to hurt after.
I also ate fish!
Sho: How can you change the topic so fast!
But yeah I think I saw some fish backstage.
Aiba: You guys can take some home if you want!
Nino: Ok, so this guy was suddenly like "I want to eat some fish and yama imo! Can you get me some?" So they were going to go and get it and he asked me if I wanted any. I said no and he was like YAMAME〜 (a kind of fish I think they were selling at a stall)

Nino did an impression of Aiba getting excited and raised his hands over his head like he was getting ready to pounce and saying YAMAME in an excited and animated voice.

Jun: Actually we got to eat a lot of kinds of food from Tohoku through our catering. Today was mamebu from Iwate.

Sho: When I arrived this morning I had already eaten so I wasn't very hungry, but when I came in the other 4 members had a hot play out on the table and we're cooking gyutan and eating it with rice!

They said it was the first time they had a hot plate provided in the prep room and that there were a lot of new things about that this time.

Sho: We also had a new set of greetings this time!
Jun: Actually I got online last night and the new greetings were a big hit. Everyone seemed really excited.
Sho: I'm going to change now!
Jun: Ohno did such a great job imitating Sho's greeting!
Aiba: So you can speak English?
Ohno: Well, I watched the Digitalian DvD at home and practiced. I watched Sho doing his greeting over and over again and practiced it myself.
So for the English at the end, I actually don't know the meaning of what I'm saying.
Nino: Could you say that part again?
Ohno: *slowly* Letsu gettha party sutatedo! I basically say it in katakana with an English intonation! It sounds okay, right?
Actually while me and Sho were in the green room one day I asked me for the katakana. I even made me send me it in a message on my phone even though we were together.
I got nervous though because during the greetings everyone leaves but me and Jun.
Is that actually your impression of me?
Jun: Yes that's my image of you. That you have a higher voice and say hai〜 over and over again.
Nino: *came back on stage* Hey you.
Jun: Me?
Nino: Yes. You put too much originality into your impression. Ohno would never say "How are you doing, Miyagi?"
Jun: I know, but what am I supposed to do? My greeting wouldn't be long enough. I was watching out for Aiba.
Sho: You need to stay in Ohno's character.
Jun: What else does he say? I can't think of anything.
Ohno: you just have to say it slower.

They left stage and Sho and Nino went right into explaining the dance after a short comedic introduction of themselves. Sho was having a hard time counting and messed up about 3 times before the explanation was over. Nino told us hat we should nod our head during the first and second set of moves, and for the move at the end where we hold our fists up by our shoulders we need to jump a little. He made it look like he was doing a pull up and made a very tensed smiling face at us with wide eyes. Of course Sho asked him to demonstrate it a few more times and each time he did it in the same way, doing an air pull up and making a face at us. Everyone came back out by then and Jun did the explanation the same as yesterday.

When the song started, Aiba came over to stand in front of our section so I happily followed his moves. He was there the whole song until the Carnival Night remix. I couldn't see this well either since my angle was from the side, so I watched the screens and really enjoyed it again. I love the aesthetics of the fans and the way they all jump around as they dance.

Sho came over to the platform tower near us for GUTS but never looked at us. I'm not kidding, he waved at the arena section on the other side and was facing the stands as he went up into the air. He didn't move hardly at all and only looked at the back section. So even though I was staring a hole in his back he never turned around even after he's come back down. He walked back towards the other arena section and then back toward the main stage before he finally turned to look at the space in front of the main stage but that was two sections over from us. So I'm mad at Sho-kun tonight.

For Fight Song Ohno came over to our side but I still couldn't tell if he saw us or not. Needless to say I pumped my fists enthusiastically anyway.

Jun's solo was the same. He flew around and got really close to the audience a few times making people scream. Hoping we'll have a better view sometime.

For Sho's solo I tried really hard to get down the new lyrics but I only got a few so I'll work on this later.

Ohno's solo was the same, although I tried to watch him dancing live despite the distance.

I was mesmerized by the interlude again, although I had to watch the screens because it was so much better with a straight on angle (just like the suzume odori number). I still appreciate the detail given to doing the dances in reverse! It was so much fun to watch again.

For Meikyu Jun came back to us again and waved at us a few times. For both parts of "tsuyoku hikuyo" they did a closeup of Sho again but instead of his come here gesture he was pointing his fingers at the camera like he often does.

They got on the flying platform again for Sakura Sake and just like before they started bouncing around during Sho's rap solo and he couldn't get anything out today he just yelped and then picked up again when he could.

And then during A.RA.SHI, while Sho on camera singing his solo part you could see Jun gesturing in the background for the others to rotated around the middle pole they were attached to with lines. So they all went once direction and pushed Sho in front of them, taking his off guard.

They went back to the center stage to do their last greeting. They were really similar to yesterday's but here's the digest:

Sho: Thank you for today! *bows*
It was fun.
It's our second time doing a "Blast" concert. Did you enjoy it? I know we did.

Sho explained the purpose if their Miyagi concert again, that they wanted to support an area by bringing a lot of people to it. He thanked everyone from coming from all over the country and the world and even mentioned that he often sees uchiwa with "I came from 〜" on it.

Sho: Without all of you there would be no concert. We wanted to show that we, Arashi, have at the very least this many people willing to come and support this area with us. I don't want that sadness to happen again. Let's look towards the future. Yoroshiku.

Ohno: Thank you! *bows*
Since we came to Miyagi 8 years ago a lot has changed. It's amazing and important to us to be able to interact with you at our concerts. Even if we can only make one person happy well create concerts like this. So please continue to come along with us. Thank you!

Aiba: Thank you !*bows*
Was it fun?
Did it feel good? I think I was the one that felt good.
During the greeting I did Jun's "we'll make all of you here happy!" call and it felt soo good. I can't believe that Jun's been keeping that to himself every year.
(Jun came up behind him on screen and ducked his head in acknowledgment.)
Lots of people were smiling too and that made me smile.
It was amazing. (Shiawase)
I decided I didn't want to lose to myself as I was last year. And I've won now thanks to you all. Let's all try our best from now on, one step at a time and without giving up.
Thank you.

Nino: Thank you. *bows*
Ah... I really want a beer.
I really became an adult recently. I can just watch the sky.
When I was younger all I wanted to do was play video games. I thought pausing was a waste of time.
Now pausing at the concerts and looking at everyone makes me feel like an adult.
This was a great, an amazing concert. Or at least I think so.
(We clapped to show we agreed.)
Tomorrow things will change. That's life. Something amazing happened today but now it's over, so we have to be grateful for tomorrow. Wish for a good day, and the day after, and the day after that.
Walk with us to the future. I think we can create fun memories together.
(after a pause) Guess it's time to go home.

Jun: Thank you.
It's been 8 years since our last concert in Miyagi. I'm so happy we could do it again. There are people that were meeting again, or new people, people from other places that came here.
Last week we celebrated the 16th anniversary of Arashi. We were able to make it thanks to you. Even just standing here in stage is thank so you. Let's continue like this from now on too.
After the earthquake I wanted to send a message to people in Tohoku, letting them know we're all under the same sky and that were all connected. That were here for you.
I sent that message and now we're all here together.
It was amazing. (Shiawase)
Thank you all for coming. From now on let's have fun together.
Yoroshiku. Thank you. *bows*

(I noticed that tonight they changed into the white jackets during the other members speeches instead of when they were riding the carts.)

Jun: I have one request for you. For those with penlights, could you turn them off?
Aiba: I guess you can't do that with the glow sticks. (Actually all of the other members were looking curious at Jun's comment.)
Jun: The moon is just so pretty, let's enjoy it. This is our last song, Hatenai Sora.

The sky really was pretty. There were no clouds and some stars had come out besides the crescent moon.

Arashi exited the same as the first night by descending down the circle of the center stage.

We waited about five minutes for the encore to start. He vtr of them preparing their suits was the same and they came out to sing Ai wo Sakebe. The choreography was the same but at the end Sho had a ridiculous smile on his face like he had messed up or realized something. Ohno asked him what but he just shook his head.

Ohno: Are you okay?
Jun: Are you cold?
Us: No!!!
Ohno: let's hear things up!
Us: okay!!
Nino: then that means your cold!
Ohno : ok everyone! Te wo haishaku!

Energy song made me jump around again and it didn't help that the person next to me had left, giving me a lot of room. Nino was in front of our section in the main stage and was having a great time jumping around too. Towards the end of the song when they all met back at the main stage they rain up about 4-5 stairs and then jumped off together in time with the music.

They started on the last song Yume no Kakeru, but because Cat had been feeling sick all day and we were sure our section could take a while to get out of we snuck out halfway through the song. The fireworks went off as we got to the arena exit so we stopped and watched them before heading outside. We could hear Jun

Blast in Miyagi sept 19

boblemon — Sat, 19 Sep 2015 11:30:48 GMT

All finished but I haven't looked it over yet!

Our seats were up on the second floor stands (technically the third floor I guess?). We were far but had a nice view of everything and I thought it was a great way to start our concert trip. Being outside made me nostalgic for kokuritsu stadium.

The show started ten minutes late. It opened with a vtr of the Arashi symbol on a beach wearing a grass skirt, and in English. "Welcome to Arashi Blast in Miyagi. Are you ready? Let the show begin!"

A random paint motif o the world changed into a picture of a fish being caught and then zoomed back to show Ohno fishing. It was in a color pencil type filter except for a moment when it basically turned into a photo of Ohno up close. Then a dove/parakeet bird flew across holding a rice stalk in its beak and then dropped it. A Chinese wok frying pan came on and zoomed back to show Aiba, doing a close up of him too. Next the bird flew across a map of Japan with Miyagi highlighted and landed on Sho who had headphones around his neck. The text zunba came across the screen and turned into a pen which Sho put into his pocket. Next came a piano keyboard which changed into a go-cart type car that Nino was driving (like Mario Kart). The car turned into a proper van and Jun appeared, putting sunglasses on, and then last everything shifted into a giant daruma doll and some things about Miyagi like the giant Tanabata streamers. Finally it ended as Arashi.

They came out the top of the stage near the Arashi crown and then jumped down from a platform and disappeared. They came up on the outside of the walkway stages which really surprised me because it was only a few seconds! Aiba was the side closest to us.

First was Wild At Heart, then Pikanchi, which included some fireworks around the center stage. Aiba and Nino were wearing yellow vests under their jackets and the others were wearing red. Jun and Aiba leaned in to each other and put their heads together towards the end of the song.

During Happiness the silver ball with an Arashi crown came down to the center stage and the circle stage around it raised up. But since we were so far up I could see the staff taking off something like a tarp around the ball part and a second later we found out why.

When it came back up the crown was a circular platform which Arashi got on and hooked a chain around each of their waists. It took off into the air towards the back stands and floated around the back part of the stadium (because of the limit of the wires it didn't get very close to our section).

They went into Troublemaker after that and during the part that Sho yells jump jump, I noticed the crown of their platform was wiggling with their movement. Sho made a face at us like we weren't screaming loud enough.

The platform let them down on the back stage and they went into Love Rainbow. After that was Aozora no Shita, Kimi no Tonari.

Their greetings were really cute today! They each did another members.

Aiba (as Jun): Hey〜 It's been a while! Are you ready to have fun? We'll make all of you here happy!
Sho (as Nino): irrashaimase! (x3)
Arashi is here! Stay with us until the end!
Nino (as Aiba): *waves hand around flailingly* Ne ne! He said it wasn't loud enough. Today is the best!!
Jun (as Ohno): *clears throat for a nasaly voice* Hai〜
It's been a while! Let's have fun!
Should I do the usual call? Miyagi matsuri...
Us: Day!!
Ohno (as Sho): How's it going everyone? (Choshi wa dou da?)
How's everyone up top?
Ok say Arashi 〜
Us: Arashi!
Ohno: Let's get the party started!! (In English) *makes an aloha sign as he leaves*

(This is only a digest of their greetings.)

Ohno did a great job doing an impression of Sho's mannerisms and Jun did a good Ohno voice. I was laughing pretty hard.

Next was a vtr welcoming us to Miyagi and showed little Arashi figures in each member colors as they talked. The last time they had a concert in Miyagi was 8 years ago during the Time tour. They're happy a lot of people came to Miyagi for their concert.

They selected a variety of their past songs for the set list, from 2007 to the present. They characters argued who would go first for the solos, everyone volunteering in order until Aiba pushed himself forward. They said dozo〜 and suddenly the face made for the bochan soap came on the screen saying "Nande yaynen" (what the hell?) for a joke before Aiba started his solo.

The vtr showed Aiba in a white suit straighten his outfit. He put on a matching white hat and tried on a bunch of accessories like sunglasses and a wig. The Aiba came out on a side stage to sing Jyanakute. He was wearing a blue dress shirt and tight damaged jeans, and the dance was really cute. He was holding red flowers in his hand until the middle stage when he threw them to a staff member. There were 3 chairs set up in a row and he climbed up in one before pushing the back of it to the ground with his foot and jumping off to do the same with the next chair. When he got closer to us there was a bit of water on the stage that he kicked up with his feet for effect. He went down the stairs on the long side stage in front of our section.

Nino's solo was next. It started with a vtr showing a letter from his mom. It was hard to read but I think it said something like she had listened to the song that he wrote for her and was moved by it. His song was 20850 nichime no uta. He came up on the main stage with his guitar and microphone and began singing as his typical solo.

On the second verse he messed up (started singing ore wa〜 again) and we all noticed. He grinned in embarrassment but finished the song without any more trouble.

At the end he refused to leave the stage and instead stood in position and said "I didn't mess up." He was trying to convince us that he didn't sing it wrong, we'd just misheard, and strummed his guitar so we knew it wasn't a recording. He was very forward in trying to prove himself. XD

Jun came out behind him for the next song and gave him a consoling look. They went into Oh Yeah without letting Nino have any more time.

The members went out to the side stages and went up on the platforms. Sho was in front of us but it was sort of hard to see because of the incline of the stand seats. Under the platform water was shooting up like a fountain.

Next was Kotoba yori Taisetsu na Mono. When Aiba came on the screen I could see his hair was soaked with sweat. They were all wearing pink suits, and Jun and Aiba had cape things over their shoulders.

They were back to the center stage for Zero-G which was a great performance! Sho did a good job shaking his hips for the first part, but I think the closeup of Ohno's hips was the highlight.

Next was a vtr about Miyagi. They wanted to do a collaboration with students from Miyagi, so two high schools got the music and practiced. They followed the club activities of the schools and interviewed one girl that had lost her family in the 2011 earthquake. I started crying right away (that stuff really hits home for me). The girl said that she felt through singing and performing that she brought happiness her audience. They also showed that some of their equipment had gotten destroyed in the tsunami.

So the high school students from the two schools came out on the stage in order on the main stairs.

Jun: Are you ok? (I think he was asking the kids but no one replied.)
Aiba: yes...
Sho: Are you nervous? *teases him*
Aiba: A little.

They sang an arranged version of Kansha Kangeki Ame Arashi. It was slower and with lots of harmonization so it sounded beautiful. And the sky was just turning purple and pink and made an amazing background so I wonder if Jun planned that too. During the second half of the song they showed clips of people from tohoku with signs saying thank you, or we're doing our best, things like that. They had the fountain effect of water to the side.

After the song was over and the students left Sho started talking like they were ready to start the mc but it got a little weird.

Sho: Can I talk now? The atmosphere doesn't seem right. Aiba? How do you feel about your second Blast concert (after Hawaii)
Aiba: I'm so happy for the nice weather!
Sho: During practice there was like a perfect line of clouds down here in the center, half beautiful and half really dark!
And Nino messed up on his solo.
Nino: You found out fast!
Did you read it on twitter?
Actually I thought they couldn't hear it even though I messed up but they did. It's been like 8 years since I performed that song!! (Except not really Nino.)

Sho: Well, I guess everyone can sit down...
Aiba: no!
Jun: We want to do a little more first!

Jun tried to get us pumped up by doing a yay call but a lot of people had sat down already so it was a little awkward.

They sang Love So Sweet and the stages lit up in purple. Sho, Nino, and Aiba walked to one side of the stage together, but they were really close to each other and caught my attention. They got into the carts at the side (I really liked the Blast lettering design on the carts) and Jun and Ohno came in front of our section first. Both of them waved at us up on top when they went by but I don't think anyone on the other cart really did (then again I couldn't see them half the time). After that was Kitto Daijyobu.

For Bittersweet they went back to the main stage. During his solo part Ohno stared at Jun, leaning closer and then they both turned towards the camera in time with the tune of the song and it was so cute. Halfway through the song they met up at the main stage center to do the choreography for the second half but while they waited in position Nino made a cute strained face. When they posed in their pyramid at the end Jun raised his arms up like a U and Aiba rested his head again Nino's.

Sho started out the mc with a yeah〜 call and saying "We are Arashi!"

The last time he had been at the arena was with Ohno and Aiba for the World Cup. They pointed to the seats they remembered sitting in but all of them were different. The girls they pointed at screamed.

Aiba said at the World Cup he'd forgotten his unbrella. Ohno said they'd had Chinese food after but Jun asked "wasn't that on our prep rooms?"

Jun told the camera to do a closeup of their outfits. At first his jacket, which was colored splotch circles on white didn't make anyone react but then Jun showed off his pants, which had a pattern of Ohno's artwork on it (some of the doodles on the Seahorse I think?) with the Satoshi graffiti colored.

Jun explained they wanted to encorporate their message into their costumes too. Ohno also did a collaboration with kids in tohoku about he future and said his image was "the light of hope".

Nino: So we're wearing the light of hope everyone!!
Sho: Aiba, what do you think?
Aiba: Do these clothes suit me?
Us: *claps loudly*
Nino: That's really a ribbon isn't it? (Aiba had a loosely tied bow in the same pattern down the front of his shirt)
Aiba: the staff told me this one was mine.

Sho: Ohno, how're you feeling?
Ohno: The high schoolers were really nervous, and I wanted to help them relax. I told them, "calm down," but they just got more nervous. (Because they were approached by a famous person.)

Suddenly Sho had a quiz for us. "Who do you think approached by the students by saying they were feeling nervous? Please clap to show your vote and only vote for one member."
Aiba had some votes. (Mine too.)
Ohno had no votes at all which made him give us a look.
Sho also had almost no votes so he blanched too.
Nino had the most, a lot of clapping.
Jun also had none which made us laugh.

As expected the answer was Nino. They talked about how they were trying to approach the students to make them feel at ease. Nino said he tried the "I'm nervous too" card, but they all ignored him as they walked on stage.

Aiba suddenly had a second question for us. It seemed like he was feeling left out. "What blood type was Date (Masamune)?"

To be honest I was confused by this suddenly topic change so I don't remember what the answer was, maybe AB?

Nino and Sho left the stage (I thought it was the check the answer but it was just to change haha) so Aiba asked a new quiz question, how tall was Date. I think they said 159 cm, about as tall as Ohno.

Sho came back out in a bright red happi coat (that was so designed I couldn't tell that it was a happi except for the theme and the lack of shape of the jacket).

The others asked if they could leave it not and Sho assured them that Nino would be out soon to help and. And besides he wanted to enjoy his "alone time" on stage.

He explained for the next corner they wanted to the project with the audience, so they would teach us something like Bon Odori. Nino came out as he started teaching us the dance moves and did the demonstration while Sho spoke into the mic. Nino flipped in hands in a very cute onee way and made a few girls whisper about it.

Jun came out after they had done most of the dance moves and explained that they would also do a traditional dance from Miyagi, suzume odori.

It was sort of fast to start but we watched Arashi on the big screens during most of the song so I didn't have much problem keeping up with the dance.

Hadashi no Mirai was the main song for the dancing (slowed down a little and tweaked for a more traditional sound for the dance) and after that they did a new version of Carnival Night part2 where we said sore sore〜
Instead of night.

The dancing that Arashi and their local group did for this was great. They all had fans that were neon green and pink on either side and they turned them back and forth and did formations. Apparently it was based on Suzume Odori. I can't wait to see it again!

For Guts! Jun came out to our side and got up on the platform. He was waving at our section like crazy so I really appreciated him tonight! :)

For Fight Song they got on the carts in the arena. Jun left halfway through to prepare for his solo but his parts in Fight Song weren't taken over properly so there was no singing at one point. When they camera landed on Ohno at the end he bowed.

Jun's solo was Come Back to Me. First a vtr came on of him mouthing the words and then it said "Ready to fly?" He popped out of the middle stage and used the lines spread over the stadium to fly through the air. He was wearing a shiny sparkly jacket that was red in front and blue in back. He did a lot of flips and flying poses. (When he first came out I got really excited because he went straight up from the center and into the air.) Once again he didn't get very close to our section because of the way the lines were laid out but he kept diving around the arena and getting closer to the fans. He also stopped at the center of the first floor stands and got down right in front of the first row. I could see a girl with a Jun uchiwa on the main screen right in front of him so I was really happy for her. Part of the song was a large remix where he flew around and did flips.

Next was Sho's solo. When the music came on I could tell right away it was Hip Pop Boogie but the words he was singing weren't the usual lyrics so I was a little confused. Apparently they named it Chapter II, and the lyrics were about half the same. I'll try to write some of them down at the next concert.

Sho came out on the main stage. He was wearing military style jacket with an untied blue bow tie hanging off his neck. There were some huge patches on the back but I couldn't get a good look at them. The other members came on the screens wearing tour tshirts to help with one rap part and were doing nothing their best to look like cute ganstas.

Sho walked down the center stage and did the chorus in a low rapper voice that made me swoon. His solo was overall very cool but then again it's my favorite song of his.

Ohno's solo, two, was next. He came out in a shiny costume with big shoulders that was silver and gold. He had black pants with a gold stripe down the side. As always his dancing was great to watch because of his precision. When he got up to the main stage it looked like he shot fireworks out of his hand but on looking closer I guess they were paper flower petals that started shooting up behind him.

Next the other members came out in the stage in matching gold/silver costumes. Aiba had a long trench coat style jacket that was flying up as he danced. The first part was a dancing interlude and then they began to "rewind" aka do some choreography backwards and went into their starting position for Endless Game. It was fun to see that starting choreography backwards. They did the regular choreography for the first half of the song and then went into Believe in the same way (rewinding into position) at the center stage. They only sang the fast rap part of Believe (Sho) and then did part of Monster (Ohno). Then they transitioned into a remix of Your Eyes with Aiba's solo, and Jun sang part of One Love. Last was Nino singing part of Breathless and they ended by dancing in formation and overall this interlude was very cool. I loved how they kept doing choreography backwards and then forwards again.

They did the same thing to start Sakura, rewinding in into the start position at the main stage. The screens played a tree similar to the pv in he background. Next was Pikanchi Double and then got on the carts to go around the arena. They stopped halfway to change into white jackets and I was watching Sho. Of course his shirt underneath was a tank top so the crowd around him screamed when he changed jackets.

For Meikyu Love Song, Sho did the pulling move on the big screens during "tsuyoku hikuyo〜" (both of them were close ups of Sho).

For Sakura Sake then went back to the center stage and got on the flying platform, which had changed a little (the crown was gone). During the rap part while they were in the air, the other members began jumping to rock the platform and mess Sho up, particularly Nino and Aiba. Sho looked terrified and stumbled over the lyrics a little. This happened more than once during the song, haha.

We all sang A.RA.SHI together. They landed on the back stage and walked to the center stage, then prepared to give their speeches.

Here's my digest:

Sho thanked us for coming with a bow and then explained that they wanted to help the people in Miyagi which is why they wanted to have a concert here. He thanked us all from coming "from all over the world" to help support them.

Ohno also started by bowing and thanking us. Back in 2002 when he saw the soccer World Cup at Miyagi stadium he didn't think they'd be able to do a concert there, but they did. He said it was thanks to us fans and that they treasure the atmosphere of concerts. And to please continue to follow them in the future.

Aiba thanked us and bowed too. He said it was fun and that seeing our smiles makes him happy. He started a random statement about himself and then had to explain. "I always make a goal every year, a personal goal for myself. Sometimes it's ok to lose to other people but the one person I don't want to lose to is myself, my past self. So last year my goal was to surpass myself as I was last year. I did that today! I won't give up! Thank you!"

When Nino changed places he was laughing and shaking his head. After bowing and thanking us he said, "That person before me... I don't even think he knew what he was trying to say." Aiba tried to clarify a little but he really just said the same thing again. Nino told us he had fun but that his belly was probably sticking out again. (As in he got chubby.) "Conplicated stuff is hard for me. More than thanking you for giving me energy, I'd like us all to get energetic (genki) together. Since the Great Earthquake a lot of situations have changed, but together we can make fun memories I think. If you want to see me just ask a local. (I think he meant that they were invited to go to both Hawaii and Miyagi for a concert.) Let's do this again!"

Jun also bowed and thanked us, saying he'd had fun. They hadn't been able to come to Miyagi since 2013, even though they wanted to bring support to the area. Jun wanted everyone to know that we're all connected under one sky. "I can't really put it into words... If you were able to become more positive because of this, that would make me happy. Can you stay together like this with us in the future?"

He finished by saying they were happy to celebrate 15 years in Hawaii and 16 years in Miyagi, and thanked us for letting them come so far. "Concerts are important for us so we can share our feelings of gratitude with you."

For the last song, Hatenai Sora, the stadium went completely dark, even the main screens, which made me look up to the sky. Halfway through the songs the lights came back on slowly until the place was lit up at the end. Arashi left on the center stage and as it descended they waved at everyone and said goodbye.

We waited about 3 minutes for the encore to start. A vtr of each of the members getting dressed in a while tuxedo came on. The first scene showed a bare chest and then someone else buttoning their shirt etc until they pulled on the outside jacket with was covered in giant flowers. For me I couldn't stop grinning because the jackets were so over the top and afterward my friends agreed that Arashi hasn't done a corny costume like that in a while. They all stood in a row and made gestures that we weren't loud enough. There was no sound but subtitles came on like "more〜" and "Arashi!" for us to call them back out, so we did.

Jun looked classy I think. His flowers were various shades of blue and just as fabulous as him. Aiba looked adorable in yellow with a giant sunflower at his shoulder. The others looked more corny for me, Sho in pink, Ohno in orange, and Nino in green.

Of course they sang Ai wo Sakebe with the usual choreography and I tried to dance along too. Me and Cat even managed the Yama heart together. After that Ohno led us into Energy Song by asking us to clap our hands together. I exhausted myself jumping around with them because I love that song.

Jun said it was the last song (again) and sang Yume no Kakeru which I didn't recognize right away. A bunch of fireworks went off above the front stage (too bad because I don't think Ohno could see them at all). The first ones that shot out were Arashi colors.

They introduced the band members and we applauded. Then Jun asked "what's our name?" And we replied Arashi〜 together. They exited at the main stage this time, descending on a platform together and waving at us.

More Twitter

boblemon — Sat, 05 Sep 2015 04:47:16 GMT

I have a Twitter account now for my private things and keeping up with friends but I feel limited by not being able to make my posts public or private at will. So I just made another account, a public one, to do quick translations or share new stuff or trade tickets/goods or whatever. So please add me if that interest you! @saigo_no_lady

Waku Waku Gakkou Report June 6, 2015 (Osaka)

boblemon — Tue, 09 Jun 2015 12:02:38 GMT

Note: Last year I exhausted myself trying to write an in-depth report for all of the Waku Waku shows because it’s a lot of work to write down everything that everyone is saying with only 5 people, let alone 14. So I decided to just take it easy and just do a basic digest this year.
*Also, I’m not super familiar with Hey Say Jump so if I make a mistake or something gently correct me.

This year me and yarukizero ended up going to Osaka for the weekend to see the show. I was pretty happy because I got to see my friend krystalphoenix yay! We didn’t do a whole lot of other sightseeing because I’ve been there so many times, but it was nice to get out and travel a little.

We were waiting outside to go in when the doors opened, but they opened the door about 15 minutes late, and the reason they gave us was they hadn’t finished preparations yet. When we got inside, our seats were on the bottom stands, and about halfway back, but we had a pretty good view of everything. One of the screens on the main stage was having problems for all of the show (a black line down one side) but we could see the other screen too so it wasn’t too much of a problem.

Just like before they had the “teachers” pictures on the wall, but they were done as classical Japanese icons (wearing kimono and traditional headgear). They all looked pretty silly but especially Jun because he had what I think was a mustache/facial hair and was seated with his legs in a funny position. (Edit: yarukizero informed me they were based on actual historical figures and they just replaced their faces, haha.)

Because Hey Say Jump (now referred to as HSJ) were the “students” this year, they also had a banner with them all seated together at a table like traditional pupils, wearing kimono and showing each other their rolls of “homework”. The funniest part was all of their hair was shaved in “chomage” style (bald on top but long on the sides and pulled back). It was really cute but it was hard to make out their faces. (On a side note, about 20% of the audience seemed to be HSJ fans, i.e. they were wearing HSJ colors or their members names/goods.)

Right in front of our section was a half planted rice paddy and a golden walkway ran around ¾ of the diameter of the main stage setup (where their usual running path is). The main stage had their regular desks, and the design on the floor between the stage and the outer running path was the same as their theme “the four seasons of Japan”. On our side they had blue patters like koi fish scales, and they also had Sakura trees to the left. I couldn’t really see what was on the other side, but I’m sure it was for winter and autumn.

The show started with the usual VTR of them “changing” into their teachers’ jackets.

At first it seemed like a regular informational video on Japanese pottery and handicrafts, but then it changed to Ohno pulling a rickshaw. He walked past a geisha who opened her traditional paper umbrella, displaying the Waku Waku Gakkou symbol. Ohno gave us a great :O face and then did his transformation (random note: his rickshaw shirt had the kanji for Arashi on the back).

Sho was doing Ikebana (flower arranging) but he kept cutting off the flowers and dropping them on the floor. After a minute they did a closeup of the flowers, which formed the symbol, and Sho gave us a surprised look and did his transformation too.

Jun was dressed all in black like a ninja, and then he called out and a falcon landed on his arm. He threw the falcon off so it took flight, and it picked up a scroll, which rolled opened to show the symbol, and Jun did his transformation too.

Nino was playing shogi (Japanese chess). After making a good move he gave a cute smirk, but when he turned the piece over it had the symbol on the back and he changed too.

Aiba was a sushi chef behind a bar. He went to cut a huge roll of sushi, and as expected in the center of the sushi was the symbol made out of seaweed or something. Last it did a close up of Kyocera Dome and then went to a live feed of them backstage.

They said hello and then came out by home base, waving at everyone as they went to the center stage. Ohno, Nino, and Sho came by our side the long way before cutting across the blue design on the ground, while Aiba and Jun went around to the other side of the stadium. When they got up there I noticed that there were a variety of backpacks hanging on the backs of the chairs. They stood at the front and started to do the opening calls, but paused to draw our attention to the bird sounds overhead.

Jun opened with this years theme, the “four seasons of Japan”.

Sho: Let’s get started already with spring.
Ohno: What do you guys think about when you think of spring?
That’s right! (He said it without a pause so we couldn’t even think, which made everyone laugh.)
The school entrance ceremony!

After that Sho introduced HSJ as the students and they came out the same door as Arashi and stood in a line facing them on top of home base. As each of their names were called they ran across to the main stage, but they were mostly funny to watch (I guess it was hard for them to run in the dress shoes they had on, so most of them were a little flaily).

The order was Daiki -> Kei -> Keito -> Yuya -> Chinen -> Yuto -> Hikaru -> Kota -> Yamada

Jun started to introduce the school phrase, but Sho stepped in front of him at the last second to say the phrase himself (日々是気付-Being self-aware every day). After that they asked HSJ how they were feeling about participating in the show, and Nino teased Yamada about his tie being too loose. (Overall it was fun to watch Nino being merciless towards his kohai. ^__^)

When they moved on to the actual lessons, Ohno said that they wanted us to feel the four seasons through sounds as well, so to close our eyes for a moment. We did and some bird calls were played again. After that they showed a short into and moved into the first lesson.

Nino’s Lesson

Nino: Hurry up and sit down!

Arashi was seated in the middle of HSJ, who were in the front of back of them. While HSJ were wearing school vests like on the clearfiles, Arashi were in more casual clothes. Sho was wearing a really loud striped vest/shirt that was red. The rest of them were more toned down, but everyone was wearing their own color.

Nino: Okay every, it’s time for a field trip! Are you ready to go?
Sho: Yes! *holds up the backpack that was hanging on his chair*

Everyone but Nino got in two single file lines and started down one of the sets of stairs as they lightly chatted with each other. Sho and Ohno were in the back talking, so once they were halfway to their destination Nino had to make fun of them.

Nino: I guess that’s the principal and vice-principal in the back then?

They both looked proud but didn’t argue with him.

Once they made it to the Sakura area on the ground, they pulled out some tarps and laid them down as if they were having an actual picnic. Nino told them it was time to eat their bentos, so to pull them out.

Jun: Sensei… I forgot my bento.
Sho: I have mine! *proudly holds it up*

It must have been planned that way, because only 3-4 people had anything in their bags, so Nino told them to share amongst themselves. They were eating typical Japanese rice balls, so I think everyone got one.

Nino: It looks like Jun’s is falling apart. (He had basically torn it in half and was holding a piece in both hands.)
Jun: What? I just wanted to see what the filling inside was.

Nino told us the theme of his lesson was about rice and all of the effort that goes into making it. He called out for some people to help him illustrate his point. “Yaotome, Yabu, Yamada, and the old man next to Yamada (Ohno)”. Ohno just gave us a cute smile when it came up on the screen, like a typical old Japanese guy looking excited that he got called on.

As they made their way over to the rice patty, a VTR came on explaining how rice is prepared and planted. The “narrator” was a rice mascot from Niigata, and the costume looked pretty half assed (it was supposed to be an old man so the voice was wobbly and high pitched). The first part was basic stuff like sprouting the seeds and washing them, and how they get the water into the field.

When it came back to the dome, the mascot was on the stage with the members, but Nino was doing the voice-over for him in a voice was that exactly like the one in the VTR! It was really funny because as they started doing the rice planting, Nino kept making comments via the mascot like “hurry up, you’re not going fast enough!” in an old man’s voice.

When the other members came over to watch Ohno’s group do the example planting, of course Jun walked right up to the mascot and pointed out that it’s voice was exactly like Nino (we could even seen Nino’s lips moving when the mascot “talked”).

Mascot: Oh you’re Matsujun, huh?

Nino explained to the four participants that it was a race to see who could plant the rice stalks the fastest but while still going in a straight line. He warned them not to fall over in the mud, which immediately made them all look wary (no one fell today but I really wonder what would happen if they did!)

In my opinion, Ohno and Yamada did a good job getting them straight, but Nino complimented Yabu. Ohno complained that his back hurt right before the time was up, and continued to do so while Nino was asking how they did. Since they’re bent over the whole time I can understand why.

Nino: You four are breathing so heavily!
All of them: It was hard work!

The point that Nino wanted to make is that even planting the baby rice stalks takes a lot of physical energy. The VTR continued with how they cut back the rice plants once they start growing, how they change and drain the water, and how they harvest it. There were 88 steps in total, also including preparing the rice seeds again for the next year.

Nino concluded his lesson with pointing out that, as the population decreases in Japan there will be less and less farms to produce rice. Until now Japan has produced 100% of their rice domestically, but to continue to do that we’ll have to make our own supplies at home. He also explained that the Japanese phrase “Takaramono” (treasure) comes from “Ta kara” (from the field). His closing line was that rice is Japan’s treasure.

When they transitioned to the next lesson they asked us to close our eyes and listen to the sounds again. This time it was rain and cicadas (which if you’ve ever been to Japan in summer you know are incredibly loud and annoying for being small bugs).

Jun’s lesson

Jun introduced his lesson about summer by asking what we think of. Festivals, obviously!

A VTR started about yukatas, which originated as clothing you wore after taking a bath. It documented a tradition yukata artisan, who decorated the fabric using “glue” to make the patterns and then died them in the traditional way.

While the VTR played everyone left the stage and the staff came out to place strings of paper lanterns on the ground in preparation. When the VTR finished, Jun came up first, and he (of course) had changed into a yukata—the same on the artisan had made in the clip. He explained that many of the patterns had different meanings, for example to bring luck or fortune to the wearer. All of the members including HSJ came out in yukatas and Jun highlighted a few of the patterns.

And apparently Daiki had met with artisan from the opening clip (I think part of a “board” of people that still practice these traditional Japanese arts) so he talked about being glad he could.

Jun explained the history of “Obon” (the most famous festival in Japan, which I think is originally supposed to send off recently deceased spirits of loved ones). The festival dates back to 655 A.D. and Jun talked about a kind of decoration some Japanese families use, putting toothpicks in cucumber and eggplants to make them look like horses and cows as symbolism to either keep your loved ones from leaving too fast, or sending them on their way quickly.

Then he moved onto Obon dance and gave a quiz, asking the group why we do it.

They guessed a few things (the most outrageous being Aiba’s “so guys and girls can meet!”) but the answer was “to see off your ancestors”.

Jun: Now that you know, let’s learn more about the dance as it is now.

Another VTR played of various places and their version of the dance. Usually it’s a very traditional sound like a flute and drums, but in the VTR the groups were dancing to pop songs (specifically “Dancing Hero” by Yoko Oginome). While the VTR played the staff put up the red lanterns so that they were hanging from the top of the stage down to the bottom on all four sides.

After the VTR finished, Jun came to the point, which was that he wanted to make an original Obon Dance with us using Arashi’s “Happiness”. He explained each move step by step and along with the other members on the stage we practiced together.

Step 1. Do the “hashiridase” move, swinging your arms back and forth like your running and moving your feet in time. Do it again facing the other way.
Step 2. Make your hands into “foxes” (like the rock-and-roll sign, pointer finger and pinky up, the rest down) circle once and then up to the side and say “hey!” while tapping the front of one food on the ground. Do it again facing the other way. They pointed out that we needed to say “hey” loud and crisp, not to draw it out (and they all enjoyed a moment of saying “hey!” over each other to demonstrate.)
Step 3. Change your hands so they’re flat. Jun tried to explain how to position them by saying “like your washing windows.” But they when he showed up to raise them up to the side, he changed it to “mabushi!” (It’s too bright!) Ohno did a nice demonstration of how you would look trying to block the light out of your eyes using that position and made a great scrunched up face. Jun decided after watching that we should all make the “mabushi!” face as well. Do it again on the other side.
Step 4. Clap in the traditional rhythm like “yo-yo, yo-yo.”
Step 5. Repeat everything.

Jun: I heard that there was someone in HSJ who could play the taiko well, so we’ll use him for this! Nakajima come on!

Nakajima had pulled up his yukata and was wearing white shorts down to his knees (this is the traditional look for drum players). He got up on the taiko stand, which they raised up into the air about ten feet (there were lanterns hooked onto it too so they hung over the center of the stage as well) and he pulled back the sleeves of his yukata as he prepared to play.

We all practiced together with just a beat first, and the when Jun was satisfied he introduced the music. He warned us that there was one part where the dance didn’t started repeating right away, but just to “go with the flow”.

So their “Happiness Obon version” started playing and we all did the dance together. It wasn’t hard to remember and they had the little digital figures on the screen to help us. I wish I could have watched Arashi a bit more, but I was really focused on doing the dance right. It seemed pretty long, we repeated the whole cycle at least ten times until the song was finished.

The group came back together and Aiba was making fun of Nino’s wide arm movements. Nino showed us how he had been dancing, waving his arms too widely and trying to look cool, but the other members assured us he hadn’t actually been dancing like that.

Jun wrapped up the end of his lesson with something like “traditional makes our world a brighter place.”

They asked us to close our eyes again and the sounds came on to move to the next lesson. This time it was mostly birds.

Ohno’s lesson

Right away a VTR started playing of the history of Chado (the Way of the Tea Ceremony) and the “founder” of Chado. It then changed to Ohno in Kyoto, who was going to experience Chado at the origin. The teacher who met him went over stuff for the person receiving the tea, such as how to enter the room properly and look at the wall scroll there, how to hold the cup, etc. Ohno looked so serious during the clip, like he was either incredibly bored or really focused on the tea. Towards the end, once he had drunk most of the tea, the teacher leading him said he should suck all the remaining tea and foam up with one slurp and leave as little left in the cup as possible. You’re supposed to make a loud sound, which Ohno did, but in the end he couldn’t get all of it, so he asked the teacher how well he did and the teacher told him to try again. It was really cute to watch him trying to suck all the tea up properly 3 times.

At the end, Ohno asked if they would teach him how to serve the tea too, because that’s what his lesson was really about. Of course they said they would and the VTR finished.

Ohno: So, I want to serve tea to every single person here.
Jun&Sho: Even the audience? That’s impossible.
Ohno: Using “Air”!
Sho: Do you mean like “Air Guitar”?
(So basically, he wanted us to all pretend we were drinking his tea together.)

They all moved over to the tatami stage they had set up, and Ohno told us he was going to serve tea to Aiba. Aiba must have known because he was already heading to the stage.

Aiba: I have to change my socks, right? Because you have to wear white socks to Chado.
Ohno: Yep!
Jun: And once it starts you can’t talk at all right, Ohno? Are you going to be able to do it?

Ohno assured him he could and that Sho would do the commentary for them.

They started the ceremony after that, and the entire stadium went dead quite. The scroll displayed on one side of the tatami stage said 主人公 (Shujinko, the main character or hero). Aiba stopped in front of it and then knelt down. Ohno also entered the tatami stage and began preparing the tea like they had showed in the VTR. The only mistake he made was he spilled some water when he put the ladle back in the bowl, and we all laughed quietly (probably more because it was so tense that we needed something to react to, rather than finding it funny).

When Aiba accepted the tea and went to drink it, he forgot to move his head mic away from his mouth, so he had to pause and pull it out of the way first. It was really adorable to try to watch him be so serious and tense about drinking the tea properly. He made a slightly bitter face when he drank it, but he was trying not to let it show, and Ohno was intently watching him.

After that they could start talking, so Aiba commented that the flavor was very strong. The teacher from the VTR came out to give some comments to Ohno, but overall he did a good job. Ohno then explained the scroll he’d written for Aiba, and why he picked those kanji.

Ohno: Because you’re appearing in your drama right now.
Aiba: Just so you guys know, Ohno is really into my drama. Every time I see him he always asks me, “Who did it?!”
Ohno: Besides the hero of a drama, though, there’s another meaning for “Shujinko”. It means “the real you” inside.

They introduced a famous quote. “Shujinko! Hai!” (Basically confirming your real self by calling out to it.) Ohno asked them to do it together, so the tennen pair said “Shujinko! Hai!” as loudly as they could so cutely! As they finished up with the tatami stage, we found out that Ohno had written the scroll himself (on the first time without a mistake) and Sho happily called out “Freestyle~”

Ohno wrapped up his lesson by telling us what he had done today was only about 1/3 of the real ceremony, but that the full ceremony isn’t even a full hour. His point was “More than the shape, the most important part of hospitality is putting your heart into it.”

They asked us to listen to the sounds again, which were Jingle bells, and the sound of snow being shoveled.

Aiba’s lesson

Aiba: Oh look! It’s snowing! (some fake snow had fallen from the top of the stage and was getting stuck in HSJ’s hair)
And that means we’re going to…?
Nino: Have a snowball fight!
Aiba: No, make mochi!

A VTR came on explaining why mochi (rice cake) is usually made in December: because it’s used on January 1^st to bring good fortune for the next year. Then they showed how to make it the traditional way, two people using a wooden “bowl” and a mallet. One person hits the mochi and the other person turns it over to make it squishy all over. The faster you can do it the gooier and delicious the mochi becomes. The two men introduced in the VTR could do it really quickly, about 10 hits in a second.

When the VTR was finished they had set up the big mochi bowl on stage and the two men from the VTR had come out. Arashi was wearing blue happi coats, and HSJ were in red. The two guests seemed a little nervous to be on stage in front of so many people, but they did a demonstration for us, the same speed from the video. If they aren’t in sync with each other, they can’t do the hitting that quickly. Then Aiba of course wanted the members to try, but everyone said it was impossible to do it like that.

First Keito tried. He was hitting the mallet down while one of the guests turned the mochi over in the bowl between hits. Overall it went pretty smooth, so after a minute they stopped. The guest said Keito did well for it being his first time.

Next was Sho’s turn. He said it was important to use the “calling” voice between them to keep the rhythm, so he was talking in a high pitched voice the whole time (trying to mimic the guest). But once he actually started he was so concentrated on hitting the mochi quickly that he didn’t say anything at all. Once they were done Sho was really out of breath and was looking around in shock that the guests could do it that fast.

Aiba was the last one to finish it up.

Nino: Have you ever done this before?
Aiba: It’s not the first time, but I can do it well because I’m from Chiba.
Sho: Those have nothing in common!

But Aiba must have practiced because he was able to do it as a reasonably high speed. Once they were done the guest said he was grateful there were no accidents (i.e. the mallet hitting his hand in the bowl).

There was a table with toppings set up, so everyone got a plate of fresh mochi and got to season it as they wanted (for example seaweed or soy sauce). They went back to their desks and started eating, everyone showing off how much a stretch the mochi had (because it was fresh, compared to store bought mochi). Especially Jun was having a good time stretching his out between his mouth and chopsticks as far as he could and giving the camera a “wow, it’s this great!” look. In this section every time the camera turned to Sho he gave a really dork smile with scrunched up eyes.

Aiba talked about “kagami-mochi” which is used at New Years in Japan. It’s supposed to bring luck to your family over the course of the next year. And he explained why people ring bells at temples during the New Years, it’s in order to “cleanse the soul” and get rid of the bad things plaguing you.

He pointed out that they had a big bell on the other side of the dome in order to help people forget their troubles (the homework that they had asked us to bring). He pulled out a fish tank full of papers and said that they would introduce a few of them, but in the end they would make sure to take care of all of our worries together.

Hikaru was the one designated to ring the bell, so he ran all the way out to the edge of the grounds to the bell. Aiba read the letters and after that he told Hikaru to ring the bell to “cleanse the soul” of the author. Hikaru was funny because the bell sounded pretty soft when it echoed around the stadium, but he was nodding his head anyway at the camera as if he was doing his duty quite properly. Every time he would look at the camera and give the same face, which made me laugh.

The letters:
1. From an elementary school girl: “Last year I bought a Waku Waku clearfile of Ohno, and took it to school to use it. The boys in class made fun of my so I felt ashamed and didn’t use it again. Ohno-kun, I’m sorry. This year I’ll buy a new one and use it for sure!”
(They asked Ohno for a comment and he told her it was okay, and not to be ashamed. He nodded his head in an understanding way.)
2. From a junior high school girl: “I was riding the train with my friends and I saw an old man get on. I called out, ‘you can sit here sir!’ but the reply was ‘I’m a woman!’”
3. “At school I broke one of the small class plates in science. The teacher got mad at me and told me not to do it again. But I accidentally did it again and didn’t tell.”
4. “On the baseball team, I was stuck in the batters box all day, but my friend hit a really good run. I was envious.” (There was no name on the card, so when Aiba first introduced it he said “The Unknown Man” which is the same term they’ve been using for the stalker on his drama, so the other members were teasing him for trying to promote it.)
5. “At home I accidentally used the toothpaste to wash my face, and the face wash to brush my teeth. What’s worse is I found out my dad did the same thing on the same day!”
6. “I got a fever on field trip day.”
7. “I fell asleep on the train and had a dream I heard my alarm going off over and over again. I yelled out ‘Mom, the alarm is too loud!’ and disrupted the whole train car.”

That was all they could get through, although it seemed like a lot over all. After every one Hikaru rang the bell and Aiba declared the problem forgotten.

They made Hikaru come back to the center, but then Aiba asked the members for what they wanted to forget and they made Hikaru run back out to the bell again.

Yuya was picked so he told us his trouble: “This is a real-life problem, okay? Recently I moved out of my apartment, and on the last day while I was getting rid of the last of the boxes, I dropped one on the floor. It left a mark so I got a fee despite keeping it in perfect condition the rest of the time I was living there!”

Hikaru ran the bell for him again, and the Aiba asked Nino for his.
Nino: This is a real-life problem, okay?
Aiba: Ok.
Nino: I want to forget the “me that is not interested in anything anymore.”
Aiba: Aren’t you interested in video games?
Nino: I mean about fashion, etc.
Aiba: Oh… Listen to this, everyone. Nino came to Kyocera Dome this morning wearing slippers!
Nino: That’s exactly it. I don’t care about what I wear.

Nino said that everything he’s been wearing recently has been given to him, either from the other members or on a show or something. He’s lost interest in buying clothes for himself.

After he was done, Aiba said they were going to burn all the letters and help us forget about our bad things. They took every single letter that they had collected at the entrance before the show and dumped it into a big pit that had been set up on stage.

Nino: Some of these are written on stationary that we sold as goods in the past… burning that sort of makes me sad.
Aiba: They knew that they wouldn’t be getting their letters back, so I’m sure it was intentional.
Nino: Oh this one is good! *points to a letter that had just dropped into the pit* I have to say this. Apparently this person was late, exactly as Sho was to the Fukuoka concert!”

When they were ready and returned to their seats, Aiba asked Leader to do the honors. He looked confused for a second, but then stood and raised his hands up, saying “Fire!” loudly and then snapping. The fire pit burst to life and burned up all of the letters quickly.

As the fire burned, Aiba wrapped up his lesson by saying that these rituals for the New Year are something that is unique to Japan. But more important than forgetting your own troubles is forgetting other people’s mistakes—forgiving them. Recently a lot of people use the phrase “unforgiveable” in Japan, but it’s really better to forget, throw away those feelings, and forgive other people. The point of Aiba’s lesson was “forget, forgive, and smile!”

Instead of the sounds they counting down to “Happy New Year” and then Sho took the stage.

Sho’s lesson

Sho: This is how to create a great year from the beginning!

A VTR came on to show a ritual at a specific city in Japan (sorry I didn’t catch it) where men run from a red gate all the way to the temple. The first people that make it there are said to be “lucky men” and will prosper.

The winner of the race was there and he came out from a side door. Sho said that everyone was going to race against him and the top three would be declared the “lucky boys” of their group. They asked the winner a few questions before they got started. He said it was his first time doing the race (in the VTR), and that he waited for 4 hours to get his spot in line (in the second row of people). Sho commented that he was a member of the track and field club in school.

Nino: Is really is okay if we beat him right?
Sho: Iindesu! (Of course!) <-this is a gag by a famous comedian in Japan
Whoever gets to the finish line first gets to hug me (because the winners in the VTR had tackled the priests, who were announcing the winners), and whoever is second and third will hug these dolls. (They were basically balloons with images of priests on them.)
HSJ: We won’t lose to Arashi!

They noted that HSJ should do better because they were younger, but that as far as Arashi was concerned everyone knew that Aiba wouldn’t hold back once he was serious. The whole group also tried to get the winner (he was 20 years old) into the second row behind them because he was obviously fast, but Sho made them behave and let him back in the front. I’m not sure how they decided the positions but it seemed like the people that had a better chance were in front.

The race started on the opposite side of the stadium and they all ran down the golden path along the diameter of the main stage. Right away the guest took the lead, and close behind him were Aiba and four of HSJ. By the time it was half over there was an obvious gap between them, and the last spurt right in front of our section, we saw Ino overtake Aiba, who couldn’t go any faster. But jogging at a leisurely pace barely halfway done were Nino, Ohno, and Jun.

The guest hugged Sho lightly, winning by a lot, Ino grabbed one of the dolls, and Aiba got the last one, but he smacked it more than anything and walked away like he was frustrated that he hadn’t made second. The HSJ guys all finished a few seconds later, but when Sho started commentating the winners, the last three still hadn’t even made it yet, so he had to chide them for being so slow. When they arrived, Jun pretended he had one and approached one of the dolls, but in the end he just hit it lightly and turned back to the group.

Also, Yuto apparently lost his shoes towards the beginning so he went back to get them while everyone returned to their seats. Someone complained that it was hard to run in the dress shoes they were required to wear and Sho said they were making excuses.

Another VTR came on about making goals for the future. They played a secret talk of Arashi’s from 2002 to see if the goals they had said had been reached or not. The summary was, Aiba and Ohno wanted to go to a hot spring by the Japanese sea (because that’s what men do), Jun wanted to put out a lot of CDs, Sho kept asking Jun specific questions like how many per month (he thought 1 per month was a good number), but Ohno told them that quality was more important, and that the customers wouldn’t be satisfied if they just put out a lot of half-assed songs.

After the VTR was over, they asked Ohno if his answer in the secret talk was actually his true feelings or if he was just saying what sounded good.
Ohno: I was being serious!
Sho: Nino, what do you think?
Nino: He wasn’t serious at all.
Sho: Jun, you said you wanted to “put out a lot of CDs”.
Jun: Yeah… how many did we put out that year? Three?
Sho: …! I was going to do a quiz!

The question came up on the screen, “How many CDs did Arashi put out in 2002?” but since Jun already said the answer, Sho told him to name them. He did so immediately without hesitation.

Sho: Ah, now I’m in trouble. You said the answer already.
Well, now I want to film HSJ and their goals ten years from now, so they can look back and see if they reached them or not. First let’s have…

Sho had pulled out a big camera and started filming (they showed a live feed on the monitors), but before he revealed who it would be he swung the camera back and forth to build some tension.

Sho: I guess the only one who thinks this is funny is me?

He left his podium and walked through the desks of students, filming people before finally stopping on Daiki.

Sho: Where do you want to be in ten years?
Daiki: Well, in ten years I’ll be 34 years old…
Sho: Hey someone in Arashi is 34… *turns the camera to Ohno who looks really happy and raises his hands up*
Ohno: I’m 34 now!!
Daiki: I really want HSJ to become a group like Arashi and do a concert at the new Kokuritsu Stadium. If we can continue on for 10 years successfully I’ll be really happy with that!
Sho: *shakes Daiki’s hand*
Okay, one more… *moves back to Ino*
Sho: Where do you want to be in ten years? How old will you be?
Ino: I’ll be 34 too.
Sho: *turns the camera back to Ohno as he raises his hands and looks ecstatic*
And how do you feel about being 34?
Ino: That’s really old… 10 years is a long time. I want to do a good job with HSJ and our fans for the next ten years. And, I’d like to have my own TV show called ‘Ino-san.’
Sho: Okay, thank you. Ohno, how do you feel about being called old?
Ohno: *looks disgruntled* That was really rude.
Sho: And Nino, how do you feel about him having a show called ‘Ino-san’?
Nino: It might be too hard for him… He’s too young after all.

Sho left his filming there and went back to the podium to wrap up his lesson. It’s important to decide what kind of year you want to make on New Year’s ‘day. It’s important to decide what kind of month you want to make it on the first day. It’s important to decide what kind of day you want to make it first thing in the morning. Don’t give up if you didn’t achieve your goals in the past, just keep trying.

The sounds came on again, I mostly picked out birds, and they said we had returned to spring—Cherry Blossoms as well as Graduation season. So it was time for Graduation.

All of the Arashi members reviewed what they had done in their lessons and then asked HSJ what they thought about what they had learned today. They talked about being gratefully for the changing seasons, and each day we have. Yamada was the representative for the graduation speech. They did it in the class Japanese style where each member of HSJ said a phrase and we repeated the last few words. (for example, HSJ: The teachers helped us through so much this year. Thank you! Us: Thank you!)

By the end, the “teachers” were pretending to cry (particularly Sho), and then they sang Furusato. Of course HSJ also sung with them, and they split up the opening solos in between them. Yamada sang with Ohno, Daiki and Chinen sang with Nino, Ino and Yuto sang with Sho, Hikaru and Keito sang with Aiba, and Yuya and Yabu sang with Jun.

They all got on the carts and went around in front of the stands. When the third verse came we were supposed to sing with them, but I think everyone was too distracted trying to wave. They said their usual things like, “thanks for coming today” and “take care going home!” and mentioned their lessons again. When they had made it all the way around to the back and the carts were together again they all stood together to say goodbye. HSJ left first and then Arashi left as well. Aiba was the last out the door and started to close it, but before it was shut all the way he did a double look and opened it again quickly before shutting it all the way.

The final VTR was outtakes from the opening (Ohno learning how to pull a rickshaw, Jun practicing with the falcon, and Aiba cutting some sushi to prepare himself). It also showed highlights of the show that day, including the audience members and things that happened.

The show was almost exactly three hours long. We didn’t leave right away because we wanted to watch the VTR, but we didn’t have much trouble getting out. Of course the train station was packed, but it wasn’t anything like I’ve experienced at Tokyo.

The Digitalian Report December 23, 2014 (Tokyo)

boblemon — Tue, 23 Dec 2014 14:28:24 GMT

Today I met up with some friends outside the venue, so I was a little late going inside and missed the first heart rate set. I was at the dome by noon to meet up with yarukizero and the girls going in with us (masaki82 and Aiwin). On my way to get to them I saw a man wearing a “staff” vest and taking pictures, and guessed what it was for, so I stopped even though I was alone and asked him to take my picture too. I did a pretty boring pose with two peace signs. I wish I could have been there with the other girls, but I didn’t think he’d still be there again when we were done with lunch, so I went ahead and did it by myself.

I wore a green shirt to celebrate Aiba’s birthday today, but I also wore red pants and my usual red bow. When we got inside it was pretty cold the whole time we were waiting. Our seats were in the upper stands a little ways back, and on the side (near the tips of one of the arrows on the x stage). I forgot that Tokyo Dome is pretty small, so I felt like I could see better than the first night in Sapporo.

They showed the preview for Sho’s drama the same as they did yesterday I guess. Their heart rates at 3:00 were between 70 and 80 for all of them. At 3:30 Jun’s went up to the 90s, but the rest were the same.

They showed the one at 3:45 a little earlier than at 45, and we guessed it was so make time for the preparation message for Aiba’s birthday (we were right). Their heart rates were: Ohno 86, Sho 72, Nino 79, Jun 91 and Aiba 80.

After showing the regular announcements again, a new one came one that said something like “Please don’t make any noise now because we’re about to tell you how to prepare for Aiba’s surprise during the MC.” After that was on for a minute or so they switched to the explanation, that if there was a green sticker on your seat, during the MC when give the cue, to turn on your fanlight. If you didn’t have a sticker than don’t turn it on. Because we were sitting on the far side we didn’t have any stickers near us.

At 3:55 they did the heart rates for the last time. Ohno was 106, Sho was 88, Nino was 94, Jun was 125, and Aiba was 105.

When the lights went out and the concert started it wasn’t really that dark inside (since it was still 4:00 pm in the afternoon and the sun was shining in some places through the dome roof). I realized that for the opening, the color scheme was the same as Hope in the Darkness, there were blue circles on the main screen, purple stage lights, green lights at the top, the outline of the stage was yellow, and the fanlights turned red.

After the opening VTR was finished and the title The Digitalian came up, underneath it it said “final” too. Their heart rates in Asterisk were: Ohno 111, Sho 110, Aiba 141, Nino 113, and Jun 161.

Take off and Wonderful were the same as before. Jun and Nino did the shout-outs again during the opening of Welcome to our Party. I’ve been on the same side for every concert, so once again it was Aiba, Ohno, and Sho that came by our section the first time on the carts. Sho looked up and waved at our section with wide arms, then Ohno did a few minutes later, and last Aiba did too. I was really excited they all gave us attention, but I guess the upper section that far too the side doesn’t go back very far, so I felt like it was all for me the whole time, haha.

For Bittersweet Juntoshi also danced next to each other like the nights before, but they didn’t do anything special. When Nino sang his solo in the middle it seemed like Ohno was peaking over his shoulder, which caused some people to scream (or I missed something else going on). For Jun’s solo where he sings “Kimi wo~” he reached out his hand and winked just like he had before. At the end of the song it was a close-up of Ohno doing a cute smile for us.

Their opening greetings were similar to usual, but they all seemed to add one or two things in.

Jun: Yeah~ yeah~ yeah~ yeah yeah~ Tokyo~
Tonight we’re going to show you a world you’ve never seen before through this concert, The Digitalian! Are you ready? Are you ready to be happy? We’ll make you happy tonight!
Nino: Irrashaimase! Irrashaimasei! Just leave it all behind you tonight! It’s The Digitalian!
Aiba: Everyone! Are we going to have fun tonight? Yeah! Digi-digi shiyo!
Ohno: Hai~ Hai~ Hai~ It’s the final concert! Can you make it? How far can you make it? Let’s go! It’s The Digitalian matsuri~
Us: Day~
Ohno: Thank you!
Sho: We are Arashi! How are you doing Tokyo? How are you in the upper stands? How are you in the lower stands? How about the arena? We’re ready to go! How about you? The final stage starts now! (in English)

Disco Star was basically the same as before too. Except tonight there were dancers on both sides (the last time I saw I think they were only on one?) doing the opening while we cheered. As the cart made it to the middle of the stage the dancers went back up there from the long stages, and both of them did a back flip in front of the cart.

Aiba came out as usual with his hands in a shape of Daigo’s “wish” and when they did a close up of his hips he lifted his shirt for us again. I tried to catch the other members messing around during his song, but I couldn’t see any of them that well.

Sho’s English tonight before his solo was the best I’ve heard out of all the times I went. (When my Japanese friend asked me to rate his speech I gave him 70% before, but tonight was 80% for sure! Haha) Unfortunately when he started dancing, the spot lights reflected off of the stage and blinded me, so I had to watch the video screens to the side the whole time (this happened before at Sapporo too…)

They got back on the carts for One Step. Nino and Jun came by our section again tonight. Nino was waving a lot at us and the arena, but Jun only waved up at us once (he seemed distracted with something else).

During Oh Yeah they shot out streamers. Ohno came in front of our section on a cart. When they did a closeup of Sho you could tell he was really sweating. During the call, he specifically said the upper stands and Tokyo tonight instead of saying just “yeah”. They did the introduction of the back dancers like previous nights. For Hadashi no Mirai Aiba came in front of us (again, it’s funny how they all stayed the same because my seat position didn’t really change). Just like before, after he finished doing the dance he started waving to us like he had pent it up. When Jun came up on the video screen he was slumped against the rail of his cart so his head was resting on his hands. When Nino started towards the front stage, a back dancer stepped in front of him, and they did the dance while staring at each other for a few seconds before Nino eventually pushed past. Ohno had a pick tonight that he threw (like last night I think) but this time he watched where he threw it, but acted like he’d lost track of it and tried to search for it with his eyes as the last notes of the song played.

For Love Wonderland, they did a close-up of their butts shaking during the opening (I don’t remember this from before). During Nino’s solo “Hey shall we dance tonight~” he gave a peace sign to the camera and smiled. At the end they did a close-up of their butts again. Ohno did another weird gesture at the end of the song, like making a w with his finger.

My best shot at the MC:
(Their heart rates were Sho 126, Aiba 149, Ohno 121, Nino 120, Jun 156, Sho you got so high I’m proud!)

Sho: Yeah~
Jun: A lot of people came to our concert today.
Sho: It’s the first time for us to have 5 days in Tokyo.
Jun: It’s the final day for Tokyo, and the final day of the tour.
Sho: That doesn’t happen often does it?
Jun: Everyone is excited. I saw you.

Jun did an impression of Ohno’s w thing at the end of Love Wonderland.
After that Sho talked about the heart rate monitors, and Jun took of his jacket before he joined in again.

Sho: For those of you that don’t know, my heart rate is usually the lowest out of everyones. Me and Nino’s. But today I went up to 130!
I heard some people thought the numbers on the screen where how many people had their fanlights on that certain color.
Jun: That’s a low number for people with fanlights!!
Sho: So since I was so low, they kept asking the people around them to turn it to red because it was too sad.
So I just have to clarify, it’s not about the fanlights!

They decided to have some of them run around the stage again to see how high their heart rates could go. After playing rock paper scissors Ohno and Nino were decided, although Jun was suspicious with his thumb sticking out (he insisted he wasn’t cheating).

Nino: If I go over 150 it’ll be dangerous, okay?

Ohno ran down the long stage by our side first, and Nino down the opposite. Nino made it back faster so Aiba handed him a bottle as he started for the other side, but when Ohno reached for his bottle Aiba pulled it away from him so he had to keep running before he could get it. When they were done with their lap, both of them were around 166-170, and they collapsed on the stage behind the other members. Ohno made an exaggerated tired and pained face at the camera.

Sho: It’s been said that Disco Star sama reached 190 today during his solo.
How was it today?
Aiba: I was trying to receive the cheering of everyone (into my body/mind)
Sho: What that this? *holds hands up behind his head like Aiba’s dance move*
Aiba: Yes. Actually it was supposed to start like this *cups his ear with one hand* but it kept going back and back until it turned into this *demonstrates the move Sho just did with his hand on the back of his head and elbow sticking out*
Jun: We’re doing the MC so could you guys stand up? (to Ohno and Nino who were still laying down and panting, so they stood up and joined the others again)

Jun talked about the different digital things they did with the concert, like using their muscles to create music in a later song.

Sho: How are Matsumoto’s muscles today?
Jun: Yaru no ka?
Yaranai no ka?
Dochi da?
Yaru~

(This is a gag by a comedian in Japan, apparently Jun has done it the other nights but it was my first time seeing it.)

Sho: You’ve done that every time without shame or hesitation. How about you Ohno?
Ohno: Naru no ka?
Naranai no ka?
DOchi da?
Naru~

They did a closeup of Ohno’s face as he said “naru~” and he looked directly at the camera with a cute expression and furrowed eyebrows.

Sho: Next we’ll do the fanlights~ (he said it in the same voice as the previous two)

Jun: Thank you everyone for buying the fanlights. We do realize they cost you money and we appreciate your cooperation. We were able to see an awesome view during this concert tour. Now, could you please turn them off?

We all knew what was coming because of the message before the show started, so we turned them off, and then when Jun gave the second cue, the people in the back half of the stadium turned them back on to form オメデトウMASAKI (Omedeto Masaki). Because the first fanlight color is blue when you turn it on it was blue, so Jun asked them all to switch the color to green, and for those not in the designated sections to turn their fanlights off.

The screens turned so there was a “Happy Birthday” border around them as they did a close-up of Aiba’s reaction. On the smaller screens there was a figure running the way that Aiba does in Disco Star, skipping with his arms tucked behind the back of his head.

Aiba: Thank you all so much! I love you guys! *does his running flapping move for us*

Jun also helped the staff bring out a cake. It was white with strawberries, but the most obvious thing was a giant 32 on what was either a piece of cardboard or a cookie. There were also two small 32 candles, so Aiba said he’d blow them out.

Aiba: I guess I’ll sing to myself.
Jun: No, we’ll sing. Ready?

We all sang happy birthday to Aiba and then he blew out the two small candles. Jun took a picture with his camera of the other four members behind the cake, and then a staff came on and then pushed Aiba to the center for a picture with all of them. Someone also suggested they take a picture of the message written with the fanlights, so they spent a view minutes going around the stage from different angles and taking pictures of Aiba in front of his message.

Aiba: I’ll be 32 tomorrow. As a kid I always thought, ‘why is my birthday close to Christmas?’ I would only get one present for both. But now I’m happy because it’s near the holiday season and we can all celebrate it together at concerts like this. Thank you for celebrating it with me here.
Sho: Thanks to everyone for your help!
Aiba: How did you guys pull it off?
Jun: Before the concert started we all came in and put the stickers on the chairs.
Us: Ehhh
Jun: Yep. Aiba was supposed to come in at 11:30, so we all came in at 10:30 to do it.
Sho: Actually when you came in, you almost came in here to “see the view from the audience” but I stopped you and shooed you away. I was the body guard. *folds his arms to show his bodyguard-ness*

Aiba: Well thank you to everyone, including the members.
Nino: Your message is going to disappear during the next song, are you okay with that?
Aiba: I’ll always have it in my heart!

They did the regular promotions after this Aiba did Debikuro-kun really quickly and didn’t add anything new.
Sho: Can someone like me or Nino, or fine, me and Nino together, like 30 year old men see it?
Aiba: Of course! You’ll get excited watching it. Even my dad was excited when he saw it.
Sho: I don’t think we need to hear the details of your family…

Nino promoted Nino-san and Nippon Chosa next, then added that he would be in a movie coming out at the end of 2015.

Sho: What kind of role do you have?
Nino: To put it plainly… I’m dead.
Sho: You mean like a ghost? Haunting someone?

Aiba and Sho had a fun time impersonating a ghost following someone around.

Nino: It’s like, an older woman is the only one that can see the ghost. Sort of a fantasy genre.

Next Sho did his drama promotion. Today he added that some of it is set in Vietnam.

Nino: So you went to Vietnam?
Sho: …
Aiba: You didn’t? Which is it?
Sho: I’ll let you look forward to watching the drama and figuring out whether I actually went or not!
Aiba: But you didn’t bring back omiyage, so that probably means you didn’t go…

Lastly, Sho also shared their Arashi promotions, Music Station, Kohaku, VS Arashi, Shiyagare, etc.

Sho: Are we finished? How about you Ohno?
Ohno: I don’t have anything going on next year. Please someone give me a job!
(That made us all laugh.)

Jun and Sho also started talking about that secret something they keep bringing up, but although it was the final they didn’t actually tell us what it was yet.

Next they explained the wave like before. But when Jun, Nino, and Ohno did the demonstration of the speed, they were holding their mics in both hands like they were penlights (on the previous nights they held both hands up separately over their head like a usual wave).

Jun: It goes a little fast, and try to look at the person next to you.

When they did it again and Jun demonstrated looking at the person next to you, it was hilarious to watch how fast Nino turned from Jun to look at Ohno, and how Ohno turned away from Nino. When they started explaining the color switching parts, Sho did a cute imitation with his hands going in circles and saying “ga-ga-ga” to represent the colors changing in time with the beat. They told us to change to the member color closest to us.

Sho: But what about the arena right here? How will they know who to do?
Jun: Just choose who is closest to you.
Sho: But what if you’re over there, but Nino is over here and I’m looking at Nino—
Jun: If you want to choose yellow that badly it’s fine.
Sho: And also, not everyone knows the member colors, so I think we should do a short member introduction. Just of the colors.

So they did!

Aiba: Green! I’m the Chiba-tanto! (Tanto=in charge of something)
Sho: I’m Sakurai! I’m the Rap-tanto. *does a short rap part like Hip Hop boogie, ending in a super “I’m amazing face” and posing like a rapper with two arms folded across his chest*
Aiba: What color? The color is the important part.
Sho: Red.
Ohno: I’m the ocean-tanto.
I like fishing.
So I’m blue.
Jun: Is that why you’re blue?
Nino: There’s only one thing I can truly believe in in this world and that’s money.
Sho: So you’re yellow, right?
Jun: I’m the concert-tanto and I’m purple. *done in a really cute and enthusiastic voice*

They finally introduced the song and started singing. Just like the practice, the wave wasn’t that good because the upper stands couldn’t see when the lower stands had reached their area, so we started too fast. When the members came out from the main stage, Jun was on our side so I changed to yellow. Just like every night during this part, it was funny to note the people that got one color ahead of 90% of the other fanlights because they hit it once too early. It was like 90% of the fanlights were the correct color and tempo, 7% where ahead or behind by one color, and 3% were doing something else completely. But not bad I guess!

Merry Christmas was the same as before, but when the opening chords started playing and Nino came on the screen, he signed like he was trying not to mess up something. At the end I think he said “I did it” before he ended with the usual “Merry Christmas” lyrics. He gave us a cute relieved smile at the end before turning and walking back off the stage before it had even finished completely.

For Jun’s solo, his heart rate was 161 at the start, 173 in the middle, and 183 by the end. Nothing changed in his or Ohno’s solo.

When they came out on the towers for Tell Me Why, Aiba was on our side (we had a lot of Aiba tonight, which made me happy since it was his birthday party). Aiba’s hair seemed a little mussed from sweat and running his hands through it. Some of it was sticking up. Sho had his cap on sideways tonight, which still made him look like a kid in my opinion.

I was able to watch Trap closer tonight than in the past because I got too distracted with the screen. I mostly watched the choreography. During Sho’s solo he just tipped his hand down over his face for a few seconds. I think my favorite was the night he was running his hand over the brim.

For the Troublemaker Remix their heart rates were: Sho 125, Ohno 149, Aiba 135, Nino 121, and Jun 157. Aiba came by our section on the cart first, and then Ohno did.

In the middle of the song Sho said, “Are you having fun! Say Arashi~” and did the call again. Nino was cheering “Arashi!” with us really enthusiastically.

For the start of Lucky Man, Sho and Aiba were goofing off at the back stage as usual. They both had their hands on the back of their head and elbows out like in Aiba’s Disco Star dance and were flapping their arms around while going “uh, uh, uh, uh” to the opening. During the song when Ohno was walking down one of the long stages to the main one, a dancer stood in his way and wouldn’t let him get past. Nino was also stopped by a dancer in a similar way. When they had all made it back to the front stage and the last “When I say lucky you say man” call came on, Sho was getting really into it and throwing his arms around while jumping. Of course he said “Somebody, Tokyo scream~”

Tonight for Hope in the Darkness I noticed that for Nino’s sounds, his right arm made the sound, and the movement of the left arm controlled the wavering for the same sound. When they did a close up of Ohno I realized he was really sweaty. Just like before when they were in the middle of the dome on the moving stage and the fanlights went dark and then slowly came on with white, I got worked up again. Jun was looking straight ahead during his solo and his face was shining with the white lights. It was really beautiful.

Zero-G really is a nice way to end the concert. I was trying to see if Sho was in good form tonight, but he seemed to be completely normal (not bad but not super good). This was one dance I wish I could have seen a lot closer. Their heart rates during the song were: Sho 122, Nino 141, Aiba 162, Jun 171, Ohno 154.

During the part “We like it” Sho leaned on Aiba for their posing. While they were dancing, Sho’s heart rate got up to 140, I think the highest I ever saw it during the concerts I attended. As usual “the end” showed up on the screen, and their final heart rates for this part was Sho 140, Aiba 179, Ohno 158, Nino 131, and Jun went from 189 to 191. (!!!)

Just like the other nights, their anniversary VTR came on and they came out in the balloons. We had a good view of them from our height. Sho waved to our section and made me really happy again. Sho’s “Check it out!” at the start of Sunrise Nippon was cute.

When they made it through the melody and to A Day in Our Life, Jun and Aiba were coming in front of our section. I changed my penlight to green for Aiba’s birthday, and like I had tried to play with yarukizero and our group, we all yelled out “Happy Birthday Aiba!” But I think it was hard to hear over the music. Aiba waved at our section, but I think it was probably coincidence.

In Sakura Sake, the small groups seemed to be doing the same as previous nights. (Aiba’s group was doing the Disco Star bend, Ohno’s group was running circles around him, Jun’s group was leaning and pretending to run or something.) At the beginning of Love So Sweet, Sho called out “Woo~ woo~ Love so Sweet!” before the lyrics started. It was really adorable!

When the strumming of Happiness started next, a close-up of Jun came on the camera and he made a cute surprised face and pointed at the main stage as if to say “I know this song!” Jun and Nino were running towards each other, then backed up a few feet, then ran towards each other again before passing.

For One Love they went up on the Towers and Ohno was by us. They shot out the sparkling confetti like before. When they rode to the back on the carts during Meikyu Love Song, I swore that Aiba was riding the same cart as Sho, but I might have mistaken him for Nino. Aiba was sitting down again just like the nights before.

When Sho did his “Tsuyoku Hiku yo~” solo he reached out towards the camera like always. Jun was pointing and waving at a lot of people as they went around the dome I noticed, more than he usually does.

They made it back to the main stage for GUTS. During the choreography in the middle where they dance in a line, Ohno in front facing the other four, Ohno was gesturing with his arm like he was pushing them back really hard, and the person in front (Jun?) was jerking his head like he was feeling Ohno’s power pretty strongly. At the end they did the second introduction of the back danger groups, and ended with the final greeting.

Sho: From the farthest edge of the dome all the way to the top, thank you everyone for coming tonight. Today is the final concert. I’m sort of sad. How was it? Was it fun? Sharing the same fun time together that we can only experience now is like a dream. When I get home and start my laundry, I look back and can’t believe it.
We somehow made it through 15 years as a group. I feel really strongly that if it wasn’t the five of us, it won’t be Arashi. But then again, it isn’t only 5 people that make up Arashi either. If a new handsome, perfect sort of person joined the group, it wouldn’t be Arashi. It has to be the five of us. Even if we lost one or two members, it wouldn’t be Arashi either. Arashi also includes the fans, and staff. Arashi is a project. Please continue on with us together as Arashi!

Ohno: Thank you everyone. This year I made a lot of memories. For our 15^th anniversary we went to Hawaii and I spent 10 days close with the members. It was the first time for us to be together for so long. When we came back we immediately started rehearsal for the concert. I really thought it was incredible.
By the way, when I see “Satoshi” written on an uchiwa, and then it switched to “Sho” later… I’ll notice. I’m watching you guys closely!
But that sort of kindness is also good.
I realized that we could be happy for a while, while doing this tour. We’re working right up until the end of the year. So please watch us with kind eyes. Be careful on your way home tonight too. Because until you get home, it’s The Digitalian! (He said the name in a very heavy English accent.)

Aiba: Thank you everyone! I felt completely alive tonight. But the start of feeling alive is to pass your limitations. Seeing the scenery everyone made and getting digi-digi together… And my birthday picture! During our 15^th anniversary I was with the other members a lot. Every day I feel like I love Arashi more and more. Right now I love Arashi the most. But the others came one hour before me and put the stickers on the chairs for my birthday!
This was a concert everyone made together. I’m so happy I’m in Arashi. We might not be able to do anything really big next year, but it doesn’t matter if it’s not big, just that there’s love… or at least that’s why my mom says. (He stopped to laugh and of course we all did too.)
Someone day we might be able to make a storm throughout the world, so please stay with us until then! Thank you!

Nino: *laughs at Aiba as he passes* Thank you!
It’s so hard to follow up here.
I even saw someone wrote “we’ll make a storm” on an uchiwa, haha.
Today is the last day. Thank you to the staff and the members. And from all of us, I’d like to say thank you for coming too. I’m ready to settle down and relax. I keep thinking “this is the last time I can do this, this is the last time I’ll perform this song…”
Us: … D:?
Nino: I mean, there’s a lot of the songs I’ll perform again, but… I want to present the songs in the best way I can. I want you to think that it was good, or cool, etc. If you did I’d be happy. In our 16^th year I want you to remember The Digitalian… that Matsumoto made. Looking back isn’t a bad thing, but we also want to look forward with you. That’s the kind of group we want to be, looking forward to even better days. I want to be together with you for longer and longer.
Today was fun. Thank you.

Jun: Thank you. Thanks to you, we made it to our 16^th year. Thank you to everyone, even the people not here right now, for supporting us. Even though we may have come together with different timings, we made it here to share this moment and time together.
15 years went by in a flash, but it also didn’t. We took things step by step along with you, so thank you for that.
In our 16^th year, we want you to think of The Digitalian. I’m glad I was able to see the view from this stage. I said at the start of the concert that we would show you a new world tonight, but without the help of the staff, and you’re cooperation, etc, we couldn’t have done it. More than anything we want to create a show that will make people happy. Let’s share our 16^th year together just like always.
Thank you for today. This is the last song from the five of us to you.

At the start of Kimi no Yume wo Miteita, Ohno was bobbing up and down a little by himself in time with the melody. Jun leaned against him and Ohno gave him a thumbs up on the second verse. Their heart rates were: Sho 93, Aiba 115, Ohno 109, Nino 102, and Jun 122. They showed the fan pictures on the screen the same as always and I was checking for mine. It showed up in the background a few times, so I was happy.

Jun was watching the fan pictures on the screen on his side for a little bit. As they wrapped up the song they were all waving their arms really widely as they walked around the mains stage. Jun asked, “What’s our name?” and we screamed “Arashi” as they bowed before going up the stairs. As they disappeared behind the stage, Sho kissed his knuckles in his soccer player imitation pose, and did another impression of Aiba’s Disco Start running dance. Of course the rest were waving like crazy and just like before it ended with a closeup of Jun’s hand in the middle before they completely disappeared. Their heart rates for this part were Sho: 96, Aiba 114, Ohno 113, Nino 95, and Jun 127.

As it was the last night, we did the Arashi call and they came out less than a minute later, just walked straight onto the stage and surprised us all. Jun was holding a small camera in his hands and was filming the crowd as they walked around. He started to mimic the “please wait for your section to be called” announcement and made us all say “ehhhh?”

Jun: I guess since it’s the final we’ll do it. You wanna do it?
Us: Yes~~
Nino: Jun, you’re tension is so low.
Jun: Well, I thought we would be finished after that!
Sho: You guys all want seconds right?
Us: Yes~
Jun: What? We already did a lot tonight!

He pretended to complain about it a little more as he filmed the audience.

Jun: Well, we already did all the songs on The Digitalian album.
You want us to sing something twice?
Us: Okay~
Jun: Just because it’s the final, like to say thank you for 15 years and please continue to follow us from now on too.

They sang Kansha Kangeki Ame Arashi, and Ohno made some cute faces as he sang the opening. His eyebrows were really furrowed for the first “smile again” and then on the second one he raised his voice really high like he does sometimes for this song.

Sho ran all the way down the long stage to stand in front of our section and his excitement rubbed off on me. Jun was still filming with his camera. They showed the heart rates on screen again, which was nice. Sho was 120, Aiba was 110, Ohno was 107, Nino was 105, and Jun was 126. Ohno waved at our section and they all started saying “Bye! See you next time” and things like that as the last interlude came up. Jun walked over to our section, put the camera down on the ground for a second and waved widely with both hands at us before picking up the camera again and making his way back to the front of the stage. Aiba was running around like Disco Star again with his arms behind his head (I don’t think I’ll ever get sick of seeing them have fun with that.) He also waved at us before they all headed back to the front.

Jun was still filming and someone was dancing in front of the camera (I think it was Sho or Nino). As they went back up the stairs to be lowered down below the stage again, Ohno yelled out “Arashi deshita!” As they disappeared, Nino put a hand on Ohno’s shoulder and leaned against him.

It was a really short encore, but I’m glad they did something at least. Jun really did look tired!

We made it out of the dome pretty quickly, although we didn’t skip out early. By the time we made it to the station it was 7:30 which seemed really early to me. But now it’s 11:30 and I’m going to America tomorrow, so I’ll leave it here and edit my report later if I need to!

The Digitalian Report December 13, 2014 (Sapporo)

boblemon — Sun, 14 Dec 2014 12:30:01 GMT

Today we took it easy in the morning. yarukizero and I met our friend for lunch (we ate Hokkaido ramen) and then shopped for a little bit before heading over to hang out by Sapporo Dome. Since we got our fanlights ready last night before we went home, we didn’t have to do that. (I also found out if that your ticket is the same color two days in a row you don’t have to do it again, but ours were different.)

We got to the dome just right after the doors opened and got in pretty fast. Our seats were on the same side as Friday, but we were in the lower section so we could see a lot better. The sound was also better tonight, there wasn’t an echo that we could hear like Friday.

I didn’t catch the first heart rates, but at 5:00 pm, they were all about 70-80. At 5:30 they were about the same, except Sho had gone down to the 60s. At 5:45, Jun’s and Aiba’s had gone up to 116 and 105 at first, but they went down to 80-90, the same as the other three. At 5:55 Sho, Ohno, and Nino were still 80-90, but Aiba was at 102, and Jun at 119. While I watched the numbers I kept wondering why they fluctuated so much, and whether they were doing something physical or just getting pumped for the concert to start (like us). I was rested (unlike Friday) and was really ready to go by then.

I could see the effect of the fanlights a lot better tonight because of being on the side and not by homeplate (as people were facing the stage most the time). It was really fun to see how they changed colors for the different songs, or when they let us have freedom with it. I think the fanlights turned out really nice to help with the atmosphere of the concert.

Before Welcome to Our Party tonight Jun said in English “Are you ready Sapporo?” and Nino followed up with “Let’s have fun tonight!” They got on the big carts again, the one that came by our section had Sho, Ohno, and Aiba. Sho waved at our section and Ohno was giving out fanservice (like holding his arms out like an airplane). They went back to the main stage for Bittersweet and we had the same moment from before with Jun and Ohno getting close together to sing. Jun winked at the camera for his close up when he sang “Kimi wo” in the middle before the last verse. The opening greetings were similar to Friday.

Jun: Yeah~ Sapporo~ I wanted to see you! It was pretty cold. It’s cold outside, right? So Let’s warm it up in here. Let’s become one together! Are you ready? Are you ready to have fun?
(Apparently we weren’t loud enough because he cupped his hand around his ear to make us scream louder.)
Are you ready? Saigo made Yoroshiku! (Stay with us until the end)
Nino: Irrashaimase! (x3) I wanted to see you! Let’s have fun tonight!
Aiba: Are you getting pumped up? I can’t hear you! More! Yeah~ Yeah yeah~
Ohno: Hai~ (x4)
Today it’s Sapporo The Digitalian matsuri-
Us: Day!!
Sho: How are you doing Sapporo? How are you in the upper stands? How about the arena? We are ready to go. How about you? Yeah~ Say Arashi~

He did the Arashi call and then told us in English, louder!! Let’s get this part started! (Ohno did the rhyming thing with his greeting again but I just can’t keep up with what he’s trying to say, haha.)

Disco Star was just as great the second time. Tonight when they did the close-up of his hips during the opening, Aiba lifted up his shirt a little bit to show his stomach (he wasn’t wearing anything under the ridiculous rainbow shirt). I could actually see Aiba dancing when he came out on the long stage by our section too, which I was glad for (although no hip thrusting then). While he was riding the cart to the other side of the arena he kept saying “I can’t hear you” while we were chanting “Disco Star”. The song ended with a close up of his smiling face again, and tonight he was dripping sweat (at least I noticed more than yesterday).

Sho’s solo started the same way as before, and his English speech was the same as yesterday (he has great intonation, but his pronunciation is lacking, if not his feeling). Tonight during the lines “All right? (all right!) yeah” it was clearer than Friday. (On Friday I didn’t hear the audience at all, but tonight it was clear when Sho asked us “All right?” and we repeated “All right!”)

For One Step they got back on the carts. Nino and Jun came by our sections again and tonight I also realized there was a “dance” to go along with this song, although by dance I mean just lifting your pointer finger in a 1 gesture every time they said “one step” in the song.

For Oh Yeah Ohno came in front of our section on the cart. Nino, Sho, and Aiba stayed in the back again, and Sho called out “How are you doing up there?” Near the end of the song Jun did the introduction of the back dancer groups like before.

In Hadashi no Mirai Aiba came in front of our section on the cart and was dancing for us. When the main choreography ended he started waving at us like crazy and I got a little excited at that moment. For Love Wonderland the heart rates came back on the screen. Sho was 116, Aiba was 156, Ohno was 129, Nino was 114, and Jun was 154.

I noticed when the fanlights went off that there were a lot of other penlights compared to Friday night (on Friday I didn’t notice hardly any of them). Because our fanlights were off they really stood out in the dark, although some people probably noticed and started switching them off.

I did my best at the MC again, but sorry if I skip some details.

Sho: Yeah~
Yeah yeah yeah~
Once again, we are Arashi! (They all bowed like always.)
Wasn’t it hard for you guys to get to the concert today?
Jun: It was snowing outside, right? We were watching you guys on one of the dome’s cameras as you came in and it was come down kind of hard right?
(I didn’t think it was that hard, but we got in a little early, so maybe they meant closer to 6)
Nino: And no one was using umbrellas. Were you worried about being trouble to the people around you?
Sho: Isn’t it because that kind of snow won’t actually make you wet?

Jun: So were you guys okay?
Us: Ok~

Jun turned back to the screen of the stage and took off his jacket so he was only in a shirt. He did it in a really casual way but some people screamed.

Sho: Ohno was really excited at the end of Hadashi no Mirai, wasn’t he?

They asked Aiba to do an example of how it’s supposed to end, like their strumming an air guitar, and then Sho asked Ohno to do his version. He did it the same, but after he raised his hand into the air after strumming his air guitar he flicked his wrist in a wide motion and everyone laughed at his squished up face.

Sho: I mean, you probably just got worked up, but the audience actually noticed when you did that and went “kya~”
How about you, Jun?
Jun: It’s fun. Fun. Fun.

But he said it in a hesitant voice, so we waited for him to continue.

Jun: You know, I noticed something during Love Wonderland. There’s the part where he go around in a circle, leaning back and waving our arms. Well, the person in front of him was actually…

He did a gesture for us, leaning back but pulling hurriedly at his belt as he moved forward and we all laughed.

(Actually I noticed this happened in the background, but I thought it was Nino who had done it. It was Sho, though, and they did a close-up of his guilty looking face before he admitted it.)

Aiba: Did you get excited or something?
Sho: No! It was just that, somehow my pants had started to fall down. (He pushed them down on his hips to show us about where they had been.) I mean, I could have pulled off this look ten years ago, but not anymore. There’s something wrong about it here. (He straightened the fabric around his crotch and then tugged on the baggy fabric between his legs.)
It’s not supposed to look like this. So I was trying to figure out when I could fix it, but the opportunity didn’t arise until everyone started singing la la la la together and going in the circle. So I figured I’d fix it really quick. I thought I’d made it without being noticed. I thought I’d made it without Jun noticing, but he did.

Nino: How are you Aiba? Yesterday you were too excited. While you were brushing your teeth in the prep room you were talking to yourself. (Nino did a cute impression of Aiba brushing his teeth with vigor and mumbling things.)
Aiba: That wasn’t it! My upper arms hurt because of doing push-ups. So when I was brushing my teeth they started to hurt.
Sho: I also saw you brushing your teeth! (Sho also did an impression of Aiba brushing his teeth with fast and jerking motions, he said “I’ll definitely buy an electric one!” in a gruff voice before starting to brush his teeth again.)
Aiba: I have an electric tooth-brush at home, but here I don’t so I had to move faster to make up for it.

Nino: And this morning you did a butai aisatsu for your movie.
Aiba: Yes. A lot of fans here probably shared my hard schedule for today.
How many people here went to the aisatsu? (A few people yelled out.)
Nino: Wow, quite a lot!

At this point Jun and Ohno walked away to go backstage, and Jun threw his arm over Ohno’s shoulder as they walked, making a few people scream.

They continued to talk about Aiba’s greeting and Aiba said that he snuck into one of the groups of showings and watched the end of the movie from one of the seats in the first row.
Aiba: Because Aiba Masaki doesn’t get found out in normal circumstances. I know how to hide properly.
And I was wearing a Debikuro mask to cover my face.
Nino: That will make you stand out more!

After Aiba gave the general promotion for the movie and asked us to go see it, Sho asked him to share his favorite scene (although he admitted that he hadn’t seen the movie yet.)
Sho: Isn’t there a scene like the two main characters walking in a park, one end of a muffler around each of their necks connecting them together while it snows or something?
Aiba: It isn’t that sort of fluffy! Actually there’s a scene when my character, Hikaru-kun, thinks that he’s found his true love, the girl that meets the image of the person he wants. It’s a scene where he’s really excited because he met her, and he’s having curry with his childhood friend. The face that I make in that scene is really gross (kimochi warui).

Next Nino gave us his promo about his drama again (January 11, 12).
Sho: It’s a mystery story right?
Nino: Yes.
Sho: Are you the main role?
Nino: Not really.
I’m like a suspect, one person who might have done it. The story is about who did it and how they did it.
Each episode is almost 3 hours each, so it’s 6 hours in total.

They also talked about Nippon Chousa again. Last year they did it before the end of the year, but this year it’s in January.

Sho was next, and said almost the same thing as yesterday, but added some more details for us.
Sho: After the VS Arashi special in January my drama will start. It’s a cooking drama. I’m a French chef.
(He paused like “…” and we all waited a moment before laughing at his deadpan face.)
It’s worth laughing about, I know.
But for this role I’m actually married. I have a kid. So during the filming I wear a wedding ring on my hand. It feels weird.
Nino: I know what you mean! It’s an important thing, but it’s not actually part of your real life.
Sho: But when the filming is over and I take it off, it also feels weird not having it on anymore.
Because we don’t really wear rings right? (He looked at Aiba and Nino when he said this.)
Aiba: Not really.
Nino: Well I don’t. Because my fingers are too short.

Nino explained that the length of his fingers makes wearing rings weird for him (it’s my opinion half of this was just him making things up), and that when he did a role where he had to wear a ring that he took it off any chance he could. They agreed if they got married they wouldn't have to wear their rings all the time.

Jun and Ohno came back out (I was really curious why they went back stage again, because it’s not like they changed clothes, and Nino, Aiba, and Sho never went back at all). Jun started talking about their heart rates again, and said that during Disco Star that Aiba’s heart rate got up to 185. He said that was strange because for Aiba’s leaning back and hip thrusting move he must not be able to breathe that well, but Aiba said his high point must have been when he was on the cart and everyone was cheering “Disco Star!”

The heart rate numbers came back on again as they talked about it. Sho was 89, Aiba was 90, Ohno was 106, Nino was 100, and Jun was 103. Jun explained that it was part of their digital theme, and that they also did some digital stuff with some of the songs.

Sho: Let’s ask Ohno about it.
Ohno: Me?
Well, me and Nino are similar. (Heart rate patterns.)
Jun: Me and Aiba too.
Ohno: Sho’s is too low.

They teased him about not being excited, although Sho promised he was, so they said maybe he was half asleep.

Ohno: How about we check what your heart rate is while you sleep?
Sho: I wonder if it would change while you were dreaming?
Jun: We should try it. Wear it while you sleep on the couch or something.

That led them to talk about sleeping and Ohno admitted he napped a lot before the concert.

Jun: You always sleep at 3:30 pm.
Ohno: We get our hair done, right? Well I’m last so I always have time to wait with nothing to do, so I sleep. Actually today I was asleep one hour before the concert started. I’m really sorry guys.
Us: Eh?!
Ohno: I had a weird dream, though! It was a little scary, there was this tapping sound like click, click. When I finally woke up I realized it was because my manager was tapping my face like this. (He held up his hands, two fingers pointed out and showed us.)

Next they turned it over the Jun to explain about the penlights. It was dead quiet when he started to explain it, which was weird.

Jun: We are going to give you control of your penlights now.
Sho: What did you say?!
(Sho and everyone laughed at his obvious over the top reaction.)

Jun started to explain how he wanted us to do the wave, but when he pointed to the sections he wanted to start, he said the colors of the fanlights people were using like “blue blue red purple” to try to designate where he was talking about, but it didn’t make that much sense haha. He realized it, but that we thought it was funny so he did it on the other side too.

Sho: What about the rule about raising the fans above your chest (height)?
Jun: We don’t have to pay attention to that, right?
Sho: ?!
Jun: Besides, I didn’t say that they had to raise their fanlights up when they stood, just their hand.
We need to do the wave kind of fast.
Aiba: Like Funky?
Jun: No, not that fast.
Aiba: So like halfway between Funky and like a baseball game. If anyone here goes to baseball games.

Sho pointed out that the two corners of the back arena section might have a hard time getting the timing, but when he was trying to come up with a solution he got really technical about what timing they should follow. I think at first he said to follow the stands as they went, but they he was saying that the last person in the previous arena row should run back to pass the baton on and joked around. When Jun went back to his explanation I noticed Sho, Nino, and Ohno talking in a circle for a moment.

Jun explained about pushing the button to change the colors of the lights in time with the music, and Nino started singing A.Ra.Shi to help us under stand the 1, 2, 1, 2, timing. When Jun started talking again I think Ohno started bothering Nino, but Nino pushed him away and then started hitting him on the shoulder.

When they were finished Jun recapped the 4 things he had asked us to do and we were all like “eh, it’s too hard!” Jun asked us if it was really too hard (in a sarcastic voice) and told us on Friday he’d had the audience start sitting down and then stand up and turn their lights on at the same time. (Everyone went eh?! again.) Him and Sho talked about and forth about whether we should stand up or not (he even asked the audience but couldn’t make out our answer). In the end he just decided we should start sitting down again. By the way, Nino was in his own little world and started dancing by himself in an unconscious way while they talked about the waves.

They were finally ready and all the fanlights went off. Jun also said that people with penlights should turn them off too and turn them back on at the same time as us.
Jun: Sapporo Dome is actually pretty dark isn’t it? There aren’t really any lights in the walkways or anything.
Well let’s go. The song is this.

The same as yesterday, Wish came on, but when Jun gave the cue to the people in the front to start the wave, a lot of people in the back made a mistake and turned their fans on too, so it wasn’t completely dark at first (some people realized and turned them off again). I think we did the wave better on Friday, but the part where we clicked with the music was really great. It was fun to see the colors switching like that all around the dome at almost the same time. It really made me feel like we were all doing the same thing and “came together” as a concert. We also sang one of the verses as an audience.

During Merry Christmas tonight I realized that Nino had a pattern of eighth notes on his guitar strap.

For Jun’s solo, he winked when they did a close up of his face. His heart rate was showing on the monitor the whole time and it went from 155 at the start of the song to 175 by the end.

During Ohno’s solo I could see him dancing a little bit better, but I wish I could have been closer to appreciate it more. The effects on the large screens lowered the quality of his dancing I think.

When the towers came up at the end of Ohno’s solo, Aiba was on our side but the balloon part didn’t come off smoothly. Aiba crouched down a little until it fell off all the way. Ohno’s solo at the end of Tell Me Why was beautiful again tonight.

Tonight I appreciated Sho’s hat more because during his dance solo in Trap he ran his hand over the brim a bit along with his moves. On Friday he was wearing it like a rapper so you could clearly see the white lettering on the bottom of the rim, but tonight he was wearing it a little lower so it looked classier to me.

For the Troublemaker remix the heart rate monitors came back on. Ohno was 120, Aiba was 131, Sho was 136, Nino was 127, and Jun was 160. Aiba came by our section on the cart and waved at us happily (I feel like Aiba paid a lot of attention to our section tonight.) After that Ohno also came by (he came by a lot, luckily for yarukizero and the other ladies we attended with, as all of them were Ohno fans but me).

At the start of Lucky Man, Sho and Aiba were together at the back stage again. I think something happened before they started singing, but I only caught them standing next to each other. Sho asked us “Everybody~ Are you having fun? How about the upper stands?”

Ohno was at the end of the long stage right in front of us and as the song went on he was dancing in circles and hold out his mic for us to sing. He changed places and Nino came over to our section next. Of course Sho changed the lyrics to “Sapporo! Scream~” again.

I didn’t notice last night, but Aiba, Nino, and Sho ended the song together at the front of the stage, and actually I think Jun and Ohno disappeared about halfway through the song.

The beginning of the interlude section was the same as before, the lights going out and then Ohno coming up front a crouch and playing his piano chords. Tonight I noticed a few more things about the performance. When Ohno played his notes a ripple of circles hooked together went across the main screen in blue (like a pitch recorder or something). When Jun came on and did his snapping with his left hand, purple stage lights (circles) flashed on the front part of the stage up into the air.

After Jun and Ohno did a short solo, Aiba came up. But when he made his noise some people in my section laughed because it was so digital and loud compared to Jun and Ohno. Small green lights around the stage came on when he made the noises. Nino’s yellow was around the outline of the stage (same as his Merry Christmas solo), and Sho had the red fanlights for his. When they all started playing together the colors created a nice effect that I didn’t noticed last night.

When Sho started singing he was moving his arm to create the beat the whole time. So although it was a quiet part and he probably would have stayed still usually, instead he was jerking his arm up and down. The other members were as well, moving to create their sounds in time with the melody of Hope in the Darkness. This song gave me the shivers really badly tonight and I almost started crying when they did the last verse.

For Zero G I actually saw them rip out the chords from their jackets this time (I didn’t notice last night). I wish I could have seen this performance closer too, but Sho’s hips seemed to be in better condition than last night. For their heart rates, Sho went from 123 to 115 at the end (still low!), Aiba from 150 to 166, Ohno from 147 to 151, Nino from 137 to 127, Jun from 153 to 177. At the very end Ohno was 133 and Jun was 166.

They came out on the balloons again after the 15^th anniversary VTR. It was the same order, Sho, Nino, and Ohno on our side. When Sho passed in front of our section he waved at us a lot. I had my fanlight on red any time I could, so I like to think he was waving at me (besides I was surrounded by blue people haha). I noticed that on the side of their balloon baskets there were large streamers that said Arashi 15^th anniversary. It was the same set list as Friday, A.Ra.Shi, Sunrise Nippon, Kimi no Tame ni Boku ga Iru, A Day in the Life, Kotoba Yori Taisetsu na Mono. At the back the balloons came down once to stop at the level of the family section, and then they went back up so they were near the top of the dome. When Jun and Aiba came past our side they were making an effort to wave to the people near the top a lot.

During Sakura Sake, the groups did the same thing as before I think. I caught myself watching Aiba’s disco group again, but I turned to the front stage to see what everyone else was doing. Ohno did his circle again, and Sho was also dancing in a circle, huddled together with his dancers. Jun’s group was running in what I think was an impression of Aiba’s hand behind his head skip. I heard from my friend since I couldn’t see Nino’s group, but I guess the dancers were crowding in front of him so he couldn’t be seen. He was trying to push them out of the way and finally shoved one dancer and ripped his shirt open.

Love So Sweet, then Happiness came. Nino and Jun ran past each other in a cute way, lifting up their legs hug like they were prancing. Ohno came by on the cart for One Love and went up on the tower near our section. The confetti came out again just like before. Nino and Aiba rode on the cart together again from the main stage to the back stage through the arena seats for Menkyu Love Song. Aiba sat down for a second again and then stood up. They did another close-up of Sho while he sang “Tsuyoku hiku yo~”

For some reason during Daremo Shiranai I felt like I could see the dancing really well. They did it on the moving stage as it went from the back to the front stage again.

When the intro from GUTS came on, Nino said the same thing as before, “It’s GUTS! Everyone let’s dance together!” I tried, but it’s hard to do with the giant uchiwa. At the end Jun did an intro of the dancers again before they went back stage.

Sho: Thank you everyone, from the front of the dome way up to the top, for coming today. Did you have fun? The feeling is a little different after coming 15 years. Since our anniversary is now I can appreciate it. I was happy that we had a concert in Hawaii and had a variety of people congratulated us on our anniversary. For the five of us—that sounds strange, I mean it’s not just us—but with the other four members we’ve come this far. It’s also thanks to you. This is a beautiful view from this stage and I’d like to continue to see it from now on too. Thank you.

Ohno: Thank you. I didn’t think it’d get so hot in here. It was because of our concert, right? For 15 years the five of us have been able to be together. We went to Hawaii and I recalled our earlier days. We spent some deep time together there and made fun memories. I also got a tan.
Every year we are able to come to Sapporo thanks to you all. We’re working right up until the end of the year. So please watch us work. Thank you.

Aiba: Thank you! Was it fun?
Us: Yes!
Aiba: I had fun too! Concerts are fun. It’s a moment we can only have here. I keep trying to put this feeling into words but even after 15 years I haven’t been able to. Until I can come up with the proper words please continue to come to our concerts, okay? I don’t know when the next time we’ll meet is, but please come to our events.
15 years passed before I realized it. I still want to make a storm throughout the world!
(Aiba ran away cutely like his dance move in Disco Star and we all laughed at him.)

Nino: Thank you.
That’s nice isn’t it? Have an ippatsu gag.
Aiba: It’s not a gag!
Nino: 15 years have passed. First of all let me say thank you. I’m grateful you’ve let us be able to taste this atmosphere. Everyone is saying congratulations. Even people that only became a fan a few weeks ago are on the same page, congratulations on 15 years. But this is a fun place to be.
I like watching the dad’s in the family section actually enjoying themselves. There used to be a lot of kids sleeping during out concerts but now you guys can properly stay awake, huh? Sensei thinks that’s great! I can’t believe kids that young actually know about us, even after 15 years.
We did The Digitalian tour because we’d like you to remember our anniversary in our 16th year. So we did a new kind of tour—I know it’s difficult to understand, but basically in 2015 our 16^th year starts. Just as we have up until now we want to continue to make fun memories together with you. Thank you all, it was fun today.

Jun: Thank you.
Like Nino said, we’ve had a lot of feelings about our anniversary. We had a concert in Hawaii and many people congratulated us. I really felt what we’ve done the last 15 years. So we created this tour, The Digitalian, thanks to everyone. In the future too, the five of us will keep on going, in our 16^th year, and 17^th year, and hopefully we can do our best and reach our 20^th anniversary. I think every single day is previous. We’ll face forward with the help of the staff, to strive our best to have fun with you. For this kind of concert, I’m always thinking of how I can get closer to you. I think, what can I say to you make you happy? Actually for next year and our future… I’m already working on it. (We all made surprised noises at his specific comment.)
So please continue to support us! We want you to keep loving Arashi, to a degree that we actually have to say, “How can you love Arashi that much?!”
Thank you for today. This is the last song for you.

Their heart rates showed up at the beginning of the song again. Sho was 74, Aiba was 96, Ohno was 111, Nino was 98, and Jun was 119.

Jun and Ohno stood next to each other and were bobbing up and down in time with the beat for their solo together.

The ending was the same as Friday, they climbed up to the stage and were lowered down while they waved to us. Jun was last again and he made his peace sign.

We stayed at our seats again, but our section was one of the first to be let out. My friend that lives in Sapporo directed us to a way out behind the goods stands that didn’t have nearly as many people (and wasn’t being moderated by the police officers) so we didn’t have to wait in the terrible crowd tonight. She gave us a ride in her car to a nearby train station, so we were able to get back to our place within an hour. Because of work I couldn’t go tomorrow so the next time is Tokyo for me!

The Digitalian Report December 12, 2014 (Sapporo)

boblemon — Sun, 14 Dec 2014 10:01:12 GMT

I managed to avoid all spoilers for previous concerts (reports, papa pictures, etc) so keep that in mind as you read this. I’m sorry if I’m redundant, but I’ve left out the VTRs/things that I figured were the same at previous concerts. Please check out yarukizero’s report for smaller details!

I was able to go to this concert with yarukizero thanks to some friends of ours. I went to buy goods in the morning, but there wasn’t much of a line (as I was expecting but better safe than sorry). I also “set”my fan light after I finished at the goods line because yarukizero said I should because the lines would be long later. We went back to the dome at 4 pm and found our seats, which were pretty high up on the second floor (if it could be called that, since Sapporo Dome isn’t clearly divided into floors). We had a really clear view of the stage set-ups, but unfortunately weren’t close enough to see them dancing in person, and even the giant screens weren’t that visible. But it was a good position to get the atmosphere.

At 4:30 five figures in the member colors started pulsing on parts of the x stage and some numbers came up on the screen. I didn’t know what it was, but yarukizero told me it’s the members heart-rates. At that point Jun’s and Aiba’s were pretty high, but the rest of them weren’t. The screen went off again, but they did the same thing again at 5:00, showing the heart rates. Then they were all pretty low, so we figured they must have been resting or preparing to go on. At 5:30 they were back to the “common” rates of the night, Jun’s and Aiba’s somewhat high and the rest of them lower.

The fanlights went out once, then came back on, alternating the different sections through the member colors for the start of the show. The five color figures moved to center stage, where they went down in a row. The opening VTR came on of them in their digital world (wearing only pants may I say, thank you-- Sho obviously was working out before they filmed that). They were playing with their “digital” powers. First Nino turned around once and then touched a screen to make the buildings on it start to disappear. Next Aiba blew on his screen to made the image fade away. Ohno was laying on his side like he was lounging, looking at his screen and creating a waterdrop. Sho was moving the screen around with his hands (like you’d do with a smartphone to zoom in or out). It ended with a torso shot of the members one after the other becoming digitalized. After the VTR finished, the members came up on the main stage.

For Asterisk they did close ups of the members on the giant wing screens on the stage, and everyone screamed the first time we saw each of them. After Asterisk, Take Off started. The opening part where Sho says “This is your captain speaking” there was an image of him on the screen without his shirt on (like in the opening video, looking serious), mouthing the words until the rap part came. They got on the moving stage and I saw the shape their using for it this tour! It was seriously a big stage, shaped like a vaguely jagged V. The fanlights were really fun to watch changing colors at exactly the same time, and it seemed like 90% of the people attending were using them. The only thing about it was that you can’t really see the lights through the back, so the opposite stands looked really nice, but all I could see from the people in front of me were plastic glares and Arashi faces. At a later point they had a camera at the main stage filming the whole stadium from that view-point and it really did look nice.

Arashi was wearing silver sparkling suits, but when they got to the back stage they took their jackets off to show their shiny button up shirts underneath. The colors were a little questionable, but I’m going to say they were member colors. Sho was wearing something more like pink though, and Nino was a gold orange. They were all wearing matching sparkly pants though, which I thought looked nice. Anyway, they got on the carts during Wonderful, and before Welcome to Our Party Jun said “Are you ready?” and Nino followed up with “Let’s go!” The carts had the Digitalian version of the Arashi mascot on the side in lights, and for this song it was bright neon colors. Sho, Ohno, and Aiba came in front of our sections, but they were far enough that I had to make them out by their body movements, haha.

They went back to the front stage for Bittersweet. Jun and Ohno sang their solo together standing close to each other and they were doing nice close-ups of them on the giant screens again. The opening greetings were pretty usual

Jun: Yeah~ Yeah~ Sapporo I really wanted to see you again! It’s cold outside, but we’re warming up in here. Let’s get hotter together! Are you ready? We’re going to have fun!
Nino: Irasshamase! (x3) Let’s have fun!
Aiba: Are you pumped up? Are you pumped up? More! More! More!
Ohno: Hai~ Hai~ Hai~ …Hai~
It’s The Digitalian Matsuri…
Us: Day~
Sho: How are you doing Sapporo? How are you in the upper stands? How about the arena? Are you ready to go? Because we are! Yeah!

Ohno said some other things in his greeting (rhyming words) but I couldn’t catch it. Sho ended the greetings with the usual Arashi call and he was shaking back and forth cutely as he did so. He ended with one more “Are you ready?” before the lights went down.

An Arabian Nights skyline came on the screens and matching music started playing. Two dancers in white outfits started a dance together on one of the long stages to the left, and on the main stage came a group of the dancers from the left carrying a box-y cart thing on their shoulders like something out of Aladdin. They stopped in the center of the main stage and suddenly a cheer for “Disco Star” came on, so we went along with it. The opening to Aiba’s solo played and Aiba threw aside the curtain of the cart and came out in a ridiculously hilarious outfit. He had a pink and black boa around his neck, although he tossed it aside after a moment, and was wearing a cowboy style shirt, except for that it was a variety of colors and had Elvis tassels all the way down the arms. His pants were super tight and made me remember how skinny he is. First they did a closeup of his face, but they the camera went down his body just in time for it to catch a nice hip-thrust on the opening melody. I didn’t know whether it was sexy or just hilarious.

The dancing was also really funny. He did some good hip thrusting for us over and over again, but the other dances moves made me laugh really hard. There was a step like he was skipping, but he linked his hands behind the back of his head and gave us a nice “kimegao” as he was singing. The VTR playing the background was of him in a suit like a salary-man singing along with the music, but there were a variety of colored suits that were just too bright to be taken seriously.

Halfway through the song he made his way down one of the long stages close to our side, and the back dancers were dancing behind him in on long line. He took a cart (specially decorated to match the box carriage he came in on) to the other side of the x stage next and then went back to the main stage to finish. For the last note they zoomed up on his face and he gave us a wonderful ray of sunshine Aiba smile.

Next Sho came up on the center stage trying to look serious despite following up Aiba's ridiculousness. Completely in English he said something like, “Hello everyone. I’m Sho Sakurai. I have something I want to talk to you guys about. A lesson on what’s important in your life. Do you want to hear my advice? (Us: Yes~) You need to think of three things, 1. What’s your happiness? 2. What’s your dream? 3. Who are your real people?”

Of course that went right into his solo. At first it was Sho by himself, but after the first verse some dancers came up on the main stage and they started together. They had a cute moment where they turned around and showed the equation written on the back of their t-shirts, and Sho pulled down his suit jacket to show us “oh yeah” was there. The dancing was simple and sort of cute for the main chorus. The dancers and Sho were lifting their legs up really high in a hip hop style of dance in time to the beat. At the end Sho told us in English to “Clap your hands like this” in time with the music for the last few seconds.

Next was One Step with all the members and they came around on the carts (this time they were white and silver instead of rainbow colored). Nino and Jun were on our side and I noticed that Aiba’s hair was wet from sweat again. Halfway through Sho came back out and they went to the back stage.

For Oh Yeah Sho did his regular calls like “Oh yeah~” and “Jump jump jump”. They introduced the dancing groups then, which I found to be weird timing, but we all applauded.

Hadashi no Mirai started at the back stage but they moved back to the front for Love Wonderland (I’m happy they performed this song, because I didn’t think they ever would). I could tell that they were singing live in their mics, which I also appreciated, and Aiba’s handsome throaty voice caught my attention.

My best shot at the MC:

Sho: Yeah~ Hello Sapporo! Once again, we are Arashi! Is everyone having fun on the first day of Sapporo?
Jun: I was so excited to come.
Sho: I’m sure everyone else was too.
Jun: Thank you.
Sho: We’re going to talk for a little while, so go ahead and sit down.

Sho explained about the numbers on the screen being their heart rates, and that Jun’s is always high.

Jun: It’s gotten up to 200 before.
Aiba: During a concert?
Jun: No, while I’m pushing myself during my workout.

Sho: Disco Star was really great wasn’t it?
Aiba: I guess I was just overly excited.
Nino: You were overly excited during Jun’s solo in Bittersweet too.
I saw him… *imitates Aiba running in place, lifting his legs and arms up really high*
Aiba: I didn’t!!

This was cute because Aiba came over and pretended to try to kick Nino, who of course backed away.

Ohno: That's not part of the choreography.
Aiba: I don’t know what you mean!

Jun: Okay, did you or did you not do that during my solo?
Aiba: I did.

Ohno: To prepare yourself for your solo song or something?
Aiba: No. I just couldn’t stop my body from moving.

They commented that Aiba was full of energy for this concert.

Jun: Nino’s excited today too.
Nino: I’m having fun!
Jun: Yeah at the end of your opening speech you were like, “Yeah~” as you walked away.

Sho: When we came up on the stage and saw all the fanlights on for Asterik—I mean, Aster, ugh, I can’t even say it now. Asterisk. (They all laughed at his mistake of course.)
When we came up on the stage and saw all the fanlights going together I realized it looked really beautiful. There’s something about the way this dome is set up. Maybe because there’s not a clear distinction between the stand sections.
Jun: Yes, thank you all for going to get your fanlight set before the concert started. Of course if you came late I think you can still go get it set now so…
(This was a cute moment because I think he realized what he was implying but he was still interested in the fact that they were still able to set them.)
So if you’re bored with our talking then you can still make it outside to get your fanlights set up!
Everyone: …
Sho: I think it’s pretty hard for them to go after that.
Nino: But you still can if you want.

Sho: How about you, Ohno?
Ohno: Me? Well, I did some of the choreography for this concert, some of the songs coming up.
It was fun.
Sho: That was a finalized comment!

The conversation turned back to Aiba messing around during Bittersweet and someone brought up the fact that he had also messed up during a TV performance. The dance move was when they were all standing in a straight line behind one another and then stepped out to the side one by one doing the dance movements (during the instrumental part in the middle of the song). Aiba went too early, right after Jun even though he was supposed to wait for Sho, so the effect got thrown off. They demonstrated what they were explaining to us too, the correct way and the mistake Aiba had made.

Jun and Ohno went backstage to change. Aiba took the mic and talked about Debikuro (I found out that he’s doing a butai aisatsu in Sapporo on the 13^th, which surprised me), then Nino came back holding a memo because he had some information about his special drama to share. He told us when it airs, and that he’s also doing “Nippon Chosa” again, and explained that he was asking a lot of people around (including Sapporo) about topics revolving around Japanese culture.

Nino: I managed to say it without actually looking (at the memo, although he was looking at it the whole time). We’re still in the process of doing the survey (for Nippon Chosa), we’ll also be going to Osaka and places like that.

Sho was next, talking about his new cooking drama.

Sho: I’m a French Chef.

Everyone laughed because I’m sure we were all thinking the same thing: Sho is hopeless at cooking.

Sho: When I attended the meeting about accepting the role, I told my manager right after “I need to learn how to cook!” But my manager said, “I already put it in your schedule.” I was surprised he did that job so fast and without needing to be told.

He said that he needed to act like a professional cook in the show, but that he doesn’t actually know the cooking techniques like cutting.

Nino: So you’re done filming it?
Sho: No not yet. I’m scheduled to film next week.
Nino: What? Are you going to make the deadline? (Because it airs in January)
Sho: I don’t know what we’ll do if we don’t. Replace it with Pikanchi?

Jun came back out from backstage and so Nino asked if he had any promotions or news to share. He didn't apparently.

Nino: Well what did you do yesterday then?
Jun: …
Well, yesterday something happened but...
(He paused and bit his lip as if he realized he shouldn’t talk about it.)
Nino: What?
Jun: Yeah I really can’t say.

Nino bothered him a little more but in the end he didn’t even give us a hint and instead moved onto the “project” he wanted to try with the fanlights. For the wave demo Jun, Nino, and Ohno stood in a row and showed up the pace three times. But on the third time Ohno did a little too fast and Nino gave him a sidelong glance.

Besides standing up and turning our fanlights on at the same time to do the way, Jun also requested that when the member comes to stand in front of our section to change it to their member color.

Us: Eh?!
Sho: Maybe that’s too hard? What if it’s not their favorite member?
Jun: Uhm, if you don’t know the color of the member in front of you just look around and go with the flow. Let’s just try it.

When it seemed like the explanation was over, we all stood up, but that also seemed confusing, so Jun told us to sit back down and to stand up when the wave came through. We said “eh~?” again, so he asked us, “if you think it’s too hard please clap.” A few people clapped including me. “If you think you can do it clap.” There were a lot more, so Jun said that decided it.

The song was Wish. The wave went by pretty well, probably because it was slower than at Love last year, and Jun came over to our section, so we switched to purple (it was hard to tell the difference between purple and blue on the fanlight at a glance). I barely made the click on the beat timing, but it was really cool that so many people did because the five different color sections were switching at the same time. When we did it the second time my timing was off a little bit, but it was still a fun game to play during a song.

Merry Christmas was Nino in a Santa outfit. All the screens were black and white until the last part of the song, where I realized his Santa jacket was actually green and not red. The stage also went from yellow lighting at the start to red and green alternating, using the long strings of LEDs that went around the edges of the stage. It was easy to see the outline of it in the dark. Watching him jam out on the electric guitar was fun, since I have a strong acoustic image for him.

For Jun’s solo, the dance he did with the guy behind him like he had four arms was very cool! There were also fireworks, and his heart rate came on the screen (it was around 177). I noticed that Jun had something taped to his arms like wires (I realized on Saturday that it was probably the heart rate monitor, since I could see the other members' at a later song), otherwise he was wearing a white outfit with a flowy shirt.

Ohno’s solo was what I expected it to be with his stylized dancing. On the screens they were using a ripple effect with bubbles, which was a bit distracting because I wanted to catch the details of the dance instead, but it was still great to watch. I noticed the orange balls coming up as his solo wrapped up, and when the next song started they opened up to reveal the other members coming up on the towers at each end of the x stage (Ohno was at the middle, delayed after the others). For their next outfits Sho was wearing a rapper cap… It was okay, but made him look like a kid in my opinion. The others were wearing black and white ensembles that matched Ohno’s from his solo. At the end of the song Ohno sang a beautiful “I’m so sorry” that really rang out through the dome.

For the opening of Trap they shot out a lot of fire and then later more using the member colors. It was hard to see the dancing on this one too, because on the large screens there was a target finder mark shooting around and it was dark around the edges for effect. I really wanted to see it close, which was better on Saturday.

The Troublemaker remix was pretty cool. I wish they would have danced instead of just going around on the carts, but the slight change in melody line was interesting. The heart rate monitors came back on too (Jun’s and Aiba’s were really high again, about 170, the other members were lower, but still 130 or so considering they were moving around the stages). On the screens the Digitalian character was moving its mouth as if it was singing the songs along with them, and there were boxes with the members names and faces, and $1000000 at the bottom like a wanted poster. Aiba came by our section on the cart first and then Ohno did. Sho did the Arashi call and led into Lucky Man. Nino was teasing the juniors (pretending to push him out of the way), and of course Sho changed the words to “Anyone, Sapporo scream~”

It went dark again and when the lights came back on it was just Ohno crouched down on the main stage. He slowly began to stand up, raising one hand and moving his fingers, which caused a sound like a piano running up and down various chords. After watching that, Jun came out next. When he moved his arm it made a sound like a snare drum, and then his snaps his fingers to make a really loud snapping sound throughout the dome. Jun and Ohno did a short medley together which was great to listen to despite the simple sounds.

Next Nino came up and moved his arm in a wave to make an electron chord. Aiba did something, but his didn’t sound as scratchy as Nino’s. Sho demonstrated that he could make a drum pop with one hand, and the other turned all the fanlights back on when he moved it. They all started playing together. At first it seemed random but it turned into a thought-out melody in the end, and then led into Hope in the Darkness. During the whole song they were still moving their arms to create the sounds through the chords, and especially at the end they had a few “solos” where Jun snapped by himself, and it ended with Ohno’s piano chord again. This is when they showed up how the dome looked from the front, what Arashi was seeing and the fanlights really did look nice.

Zero-G ended things with their usual choreography. Sho’s hip shaking was as stiff as the PV, but the rest of it was nice to watch on the screens. The ending notes were repeated to make it a little longer and Arashi jumped down below the stage to end the main part of the concert. On the screen it said “The End” but we knew it wasn’t the end of the concert itself.

The VTR of their past concerts played, and then they came out in the balloons to sing A.Ra-Shi in red suits similar to the Hawaii ones (might have been the same without the extra feathers?). Sho came in front of our sections first, but they weren’t at quite the right eye level for our section (they felt very far away compared to popcorn when I was sitting on the second floor). Next to Sho was Nino, and then Ohno. Jun and Aiba were on the other side but came over after Sunrise Nippon and when Kimi no Tame ni Boku ga Iru started. They made it back to the front stage in time for Sho to do his rapping for A Day in our Life.

For Love So Sweet the five members split into groups on the x stage with some junior dancers. I noticed that Aiba and his group were doing his “disco” move from his solo as they sang, and Ohno’s group was skipping around in a circle with their heads in a huddle (I’m not sure about the other groups, or if they were just goofing off). As they sang their past song the PVs were playing along with the live camera feed on the main screens.

They went up on the towers again and sang One Love. Ohno was near our section and they shot out glitter in the middle of the song.

At the end of Monster they were at the front stage, but they got on carts to head to the back. There were only four carts though so Aiba and Nino got on the same one. For some reason Aiba sat down and was waving at fans. During the “tsuyoku hikuyo~” part Of Menkyu Love Song, the cameraman did a closeup of Sho doing the hand motion which made us all scream. For Calling there was a close-up of Aiba as he sang the opening.

During Daremo Shiranai, Jun and Nino got back to back to sing the duet they have together. They made their way back to the front again for Guts, which was introduced by Nino, and they shot out streamers this time. Jun introduced the dancers again. As they did their final pose Jun did a cute twirl too.

Sho: They you all for coming here today, from the top of the stands to the bottom of the arena. It was pretty when we came out on the stage, like a dream. There were also a lot of men in the audience, and all ages were able to come today. I already said it, but this is likea dream. I can’t believe we were able to see a dream like this for such a long time. I how we can continue to dream the same dream together. Thank you.

Ohno: Thank you. The concert was almost three hours and it was beautiful. You all properly used the fanflights didn't you? It was great. It’s almost the end of the year and we did so much. In Hawaii we were able to spend some time together with just the five of us. Looking back over the last 15 years I felt a lot of relief. Let’s go through the next 15 years with the same feeling. Every year we have a concert in Sapporo. It’s like a nice end to our yearly activities. So please don’t abandon us.

Aiba: Thank you!
It was very fun! Today Sho-chan said something about Happiness for his solo “What is happiness?”. I really thought about it while he was singing. I’m grateful that we were able to come here together this year through this concert and I’ll do my best next year! I’ll still be me, but I’ll do my best. And properly do Bittersweet.

Nino: Thank you!
(He did his impression of Aiba running in place like he did during Bittersweet.)
Oh, I’m tired! (He laughed really honestly, which everyone thought was cute.)
I’m so tired! It’s like my battery has slowly been drained… So much that I’ve become strange, you know? It sounds bad, but… It’s just like suddenly everything caught up with me.
Sho: You used all your energy until the end!
Nino: I look fine on the outside, but inside I’m so tried.
This is a mysterious feeling. This many people came together like a dream. This many people know about Arashi and support us, it really is “shiawase”.
For The Digitalian, or a new tour, you’re here so we’ll always be happy. At the end of every year we do concerts. We laugh, we cry, we get excited… It’s a great thing. Let’s make next year a great year too.

Jun: Thank you! It was fun. Since 2008 we’ve had seven concerts in Saporo Dome. So many people came and we enjoyed everything together. I don’t have any words to describe my feelings.
It’s our 15^th year anniversary. We may have come together with different timings, we still came together. We breath the same air here, we sing the same songs, and share the same time together. I realized a little while ago, that everything goes going in a circular motion and that circle is amazing. I at least want to do one more time here next year.
(He turned back and looked at the other members like he was asking for permission. In the end Nino shrugged and said “Sure”)

Sho: Says the person that’s tired!
Nino: I might suddenly return to normal
Jun: I’d definitely like to do more concerts. So I need to build our muscles so I can have the stamina to withstand it. You guys do too. You need to 1, make sure you have stamina, 2, make sure you are fasionable, 3, make sure you’re beautiful… (At this point I think he realized what he was staying and tapered off). Anyway, thank you!

Jun looked so cute and embarrassed after making a cheesy speech like that.

Jun: Even in our 16^th year please continue to follow us. This is our last song for tonight.

During Kimi no Yume wo Miteita, it was nice to listen to their live singing voices again. Jun and Ohno sang together, and then Ohno put his arm around Jun’s shoulder. On the screens in the background they were showing pictures of people I can only assume are fans, because they were holding goods and stuff in their hands, or wearing costumes for Arashi. When the song was over Jun did his regular “What’s our name?” call and we all screamed “Arashi!” They climbed up the stairs and stood on the platform as they were lowered down. We could still see their hands of course, and Jun made a peace sign before we couldn’t see anymore.

Since we didn’t leave our seats early, we waited until our section was called. But even though we made it outside without trouble, we had to wait at the bottle neck where we had come in. There was a hallway that you had to pass through to get to the south side of the dome, and we ended up getting stuck there in a crowd for about 40 minutes as the police alternated letting people out. We got our fanlights ready for the next day at the digitalian area, but by the time we fought our way to the station an hour had already passed since the end of the concert. Me and yarukizero didn’t make it back to the place we were staying for another hour, so I really realized that Sapporo wasn’t meant for a high traffic of concert goers.

because it's been bothering me

boblemon — Mon, 29 Sep 2014 07:08:31 GMT

I'd like to put a warning here for concert-goers: You're not supposed to take pictures/videos during the concert!!

In Japan this is something you would be kicked out of the concert for! I try to post a picture of ONLY the venue so you can have a feel for the atmosphere, but it's against Johnny's rules* (and disrespectful in my opinion) to take pictures during the concert. I saw so many people doing it for Blast in Hawaii, and everyone was posting them online afterwards on obvious networking sites like twitter and tumblr, open to the public where anyone can see. This is why I lock my reports eventually, so I don't get in trouble with Johnny's!

There was a warning if these pictures weren't taken down they wouldn't produce the Blast in Hawaii concert DVD, which in my opinion is much sadder than not being able to post a few pictures online. At least friend lock them and keep them to yourself, don't post them for anyone with a google search engine to see.

Sorry if that sounded bitchy but it needed to be said.

*Japan has strict privatization laws that actually allow you to "copywright" an image of yourself, so technically Johnny's does own any images of Arashi, despite what fans may think (this is why Amazon doesn't post images of the JE CDs or magazines). They can enforce this law inside of Japan, but not outside which is why they have to threaten us with the DVD.

ARASHI BLAST in Hawaii September 19, 20 (2 day report)

boblemon — Mon, 29 Sep 2014 07:00:16 GMT

I wrote a separate entry about lining up and my trip (along with pictures). This entry is completely just the concert (both days shoved into one report). I usually try to write the MC and things, but since yarukizero does a better job than me I'm going to leave this as mostly a "feelings" report. Please check out her report if you haven't already!

Also, I forgot my notebook on Saturday, so my notes for that day aren't as good as Fridays. Which is probably okay because it was pouring rain anyway and they would have been wet and illegible.

On Friday we were sitting in the farthest ticketmaster section from the entrance, in front of the Hawaii stage and diagonal from one corner of the T stage in the middle. On Saturday we were in the second row on one side of the T stage, so when the members came out to the end we could see them really well. We could also see the dancing in the center of the T stage pretty well too, I just had to stand on my toes.

At the beginning of the concert they showed a VTR of all of Arashi’s singles and a one second snippet of each of the songs. Then the camera switched to the helicopter, showing the coastline and eventually the venue from the air, then turned the camera to Arashi in the cock-pit. I probably would have freaked out, except I think a lot of people knew about the entrance (me because of talking to the security guy as we waited in line).

Aiba, Nino, and Sho were sitting in the backseat of the helicopter, and Jun and Ohno were sitting in the front/middle together. They were all wearing sunglasses, and their costumes were red suits with white and black accents. When the camera came on them they started making cool faces and weird hand signs like they always do. The helicopter flew over the venue in the circle once, then landed back behind the stage. The camera switched to one that was backstage and gave us a live feed as they got out. As they walked past they did a close up of each member giving a “sexy” look, either by taking off their glasses or posing. Ohno’s usual pose made me laugh, but I think Jun did a pretty good “kimegao” pose. They climbed up the back of the stairs to come out onto the main and sing A.Ra.Shi.

After A.Ra.Shi was Lucky Man, and of course Sho said, “Everybody, Hawaii scream~” during that part. So we did.

During Gori Muchu on Friday Jun was dancing on the corner stage close to us, and Ohno also waved at our section. The greetings were pretty usual.

J: We came all the way to Hawaii so let’s have fun!
N: Irrashaimase x3. Let’s have fun today!
A: Are you getting worked up?! I can’t hear you! Louder~
O: Hai~ Hai~ Let’s do the call! Ready? Hawaii Matsuri (us: day~)
S: How are you guys doing in the front? How are you guys doing in the back?

On Saturday, Aiba changed his greeting to something like “you’re not loud enough yet!”

Ohno came over to the corner stage in front of our section and was close enough that we could easily see him dance during Hadashi no Mirai. (He looked like he was having a great time, so it was easy to get into the mood of things for me.)

After that a Pikanchi VTR (clips from the movies) started to play. The members took off their jackets to show off their dress shirts and gold vests (Jun and Ohno were wearing skirt things again), handed them to the staff, and then they sang Pikanchi. Jun and Aiba leaned against each other during their solo (both days), and Sho was doing a weird hip thrusting movement in time with the beats somewhere in the middle (both days).

During Pikanchi Double in the middle where their pair off with Sho for the “solo” Aiba came to lean in close to Sho, then Sho backed up to stand next to Ohno as they sang together. In the end Sho stood next to Nino to sing, and Sho pushed his sweat soaked hair back over the top of his head. Since it was hot all of them were sweating a lot. After that the stage descended below the platform and another VTR came on.

“The History of Arashi” was basically an interview with all of them (please see yarukizero’s report for better details of what they said). I remember laughing at Aiba’s comment, that even in other countries people call them the same things, Sho-kun, Leader, Matsu-jun, Nino and Aiba. The way that he said his own name was really funny so we all laughed.

The interview ended with them talking about their first concert at Kokuritsu stadium when they came up in the center for Love So Sweet and could see the “scenery” around them, all the fans “facing the same direction”. As the song started playing Arashi came back up on the stage in striped suit jackets with neon yellow underneath and sang Love So Sweet with the video from their Kokuritsu concert playing in the background.

For Oh Yeah! they got on the moving stage. Sho and Ohno came by our side on both days. On Friday Sho was waving to our section, and on Saturday is was Ohno, so we got a good balance. :)

By the way, there were a camera man that kept coming back over to our section on Friday to film us jumping and dancing; I think it was for the live viewing in Japan because nothing else made sense (since they were doing it for most of the concert).

They went to the back stage for Kitto Daijoubu and Step and Go. Friday I couldn’t see at all, but on Saturday I could watch them dance a little closer (and not just the screens). On Friday the sunset looked really nice behind them, but on Saturday the sun was still up for these songs.

During Happiness they split up again to go to various sections and pulled out spray blasters that shot out water mist. On Friday Jun was the one on the middle section closest to us, but on Saturday it was Nino right in front of us. I didn’t feel the spray at all (maybe because the wind was in the other direction?) Nino must have felt it though because he did a few little spurts in front of himself and shook his face like it felt really good. The guy in front of me was wearing a poncho and being really hyper (egging Nino on), so Nino suddenly aimed at him and turned the gun on at full blast. The guy must have been taken off guard because he fell backwards basically on top of me, although I managed to stay upright. Nino laughed and made an apologetic gesture, but all of us were laughing at him for acting so sheepish.

They went back to the center stage for Believe and 5x10. Sho changed the opening lyrics from “10 years” to “15 years”. I could see them pretty well on Saturday, because the stage was raised about ten feet into the air so everyone nearby could see.

On Friday for the MC/while the members changed their clothes, Sho facilitated questions about the other members feelings about Hawaii, what they were looking forward to. Nino teased Aiba about being afraid to say “Aloha” seriously (Aiba denied this of course haha). They liked that they could see the beach from the stage. It rained a bit during practice the day before, but they said that was expected since they are “Arashi”. Ohno said he sat out on his hotel veranda and just thought for a while. Nino was complaining about the heat.

Nino: my face is so red it looks like I’ve been drinking alcohol.
Jun: But you haven’t right?
Nino: Of course not!
Ohno: Maybe you should?

Jun shared comments on his thoughts during the opening A.Ra.Shi
Jun: I couldn’t believe it had been 15 years.
Sho: Since we wore those see-through costumes?
You know, we could have used those yesterday when it started raining (during rehersal).

They also greeted the fans at the public viewings in Japan (but it was only one way, there were no cameras filming any audiences). Aiba retold his story of Johnny calling him to ask if he had a passport, and asked Sho to play Johnny.

Sho: Me?!
*pretends to call on a phone* Hello? Is this Aiba?
Aiba: No, he said, “you, passport motteiru?” (You. Do you have a passport?)
Sho: You, passport motteiru?
Aiba: Yes. *whispers* he said, “you, Arashi dakara” (You. You’re Arashi now.)
Sho: You, Arashi dakara.
Aiba: Ah, okay.
*starts talking regularly* So if I didn’t have a passport I wouldn’t be Arashi. Passports come in all varieties don’t they?
Sho: Do they?
How about you Ohno?
Ohno: Oh, Johnny asked me to do the vocal recording for A.Ra.Shi, then about a week later he told me.

Jun came back at this point and Sho was like, “You look classy!”
Ohno: Even 15 years later you’re still classy.

Ohno and Aiba went to change so Sho asked Jun about his memories of Hawaii. Jun said he remembered having permed hair, and Sho related a short story about his own permed hair/dreadlocks that ended up looking terrible at their debut.
Jun: There was a certain road where we took that nice picture. I was trying to find that road again but I couldn’t. I also asked the members for their private photos and the one I found was Sho’s. You took a lot of pictures then.
Sho: Yeah I did.
Jun: And you still took a lot of pictures this time too.
Sho: Yep! I’ll send them to you later.
Us: Ahhh~
Sho: You want them too?
Us: Yes!!
Sho: Right now? That’s impossible!

Aiba came back out and promoted his movie (although he hesitated when saying when it would be out in theaters, since it wouldn’t be showing in Hawaii), then Ohno retuned too. They mentioned their albums and tour coming up as Sho went backstage, and Ohno complained, “When we get back to Japan rehearsal starts already!”
Jun: Ohno is doing some of the choreography again.
How many songs?
Ohno: One is finished already. I’ll probably do more.
Jun can decide how many.
Jun: Really? What if I say all of them?
Ohno: Don’t do that! Then it’ll be become my concert.
Jun: That’s fine, right guys?
Us: Yes~~

The MC was really long on Saturday, while Nino and Jun were backstage Sho had a hard time keeping the conversation going past what they already said the previous day.
Sho: Aren’t they taking a long time?
Ohno talked about watching the ocean from his hotel veranda again, asking it questions and it answering “everything will stay constant”

When Jun finally came back out, Ohno and Aiba went backstage together again. Sho immediately started asking about Jun’s memories, but realized he was basically playing MC.

Sho: I’m like a studio interviewer! Our next special guest is Matsumoto Jun. Let’s ask him some questions about this Hawaii event.

Jun answered in the same way, pretending he was on a talk show or something.

Sho: What was the most memorable part of this concert for you?
Jun: I’d have to say coming in on the helicopter. It’s something I wanted to do and we can’t do it in Japan.
Sho: Yes, I heard that Sakurai-san was very scared when this idea was proposed.
Jun: Yes.
Sho: During the meeting he couldn’t contribute anything at all.
(Jun finally broke character.)
Jun: Nino kept showing us Sho’s sweaty palms as we talked about it.
Sho: But actually I seem to be okay with Helicopters? Maybe it’s because I have a sense of grounding?
Jun: Then you’re okay with the high stages and stuff?
Sho: Yeah for the most part.
Jun: Even that really tall stage we came out of Love high above the audience?
Sho: No, that was scary!
Jun: I was a little scared too. I’m also sort of scared in those cases.
For the helicopter, I keep thinking, what if the wind picks up and we get dragged away?

Nino came out from the side door and hovered in the background until Sho started including him, asking about Hawaii. Ohno and Aiba came back out together and Jun asked what they were laughing about, coming back together looking mischievous. Sho went backstage to change, leaving the MC to Jun. Nino wiped his face on his neck scarf and then immediately turned around and walked away, backstage.

Jun: Where are you going?!
Nino: I have to pee.
Jun: Right now?!

But Nino disappeared backstage before they could stop him. After a minute Jun started laughing and explained to us.

Jun: We eat lemons backstage because it helps keep up our energy. We can hear the other members talking through our head pieces and right now I’m hearing “Sour~ Sour~”

Nino finally came back onstage last, right after Sho while Jun complained, “Let’s get back to the concert please!”

But Nino had to explain to us, “I ate a lemon backstage while changing, but some of it got onto my scarf. I used the scarf to rub sweat out of my eyes and got lemon in them so my eyes started to really sting!”

After the MC was over they explained they had prepared a special Hawaiian stage. On Friday my seat was very close to that area, and when Arashi walked off the main stage and in front of the audience, a bunch of people left their seats to gather in front of that small stage. I didn’t move right away because I thought the staff would come over and try to shove everyone back anyway, but they didn’t. The girl I went in with was asking me to go over with her, so I did after hesitating for a moment. It was great to see them up close but I also felt like a bad audience member. Arashi also looked surprised at the mess the audience became, but they started the Hawaiian versions of My Girl and Everything without hesitating. Finally Aiba and Ohno started waving to us a little right before they moved off of the stage for the next songs. Sho stayed behind to do the opening for Summer Splash while the other members got on the carts.

On Saturday it seemed like they had changed the seating arrangement so that there wasn’t such a huge walkway over in front of that stage, and there were staff keeping people in the sections, so the same thing didn’t happen again. We could still see that stage alright from our seats on Saturday too, so I guess I should feel lucky we were on that side both days. On Saturday the sunset looked really nice on the video screens during this section.

Sho changed the lyrics from “Summer~ Splash~” to “Hawa~ii~” on Friday, and then “Alo~ha~” on Saturday. On Friday they were spraying the mist guns at us again, but (because it was raining?) they didn’t do that on Saturday. The opening to Carnival Night was a little weird because they went right into the C-A-R-N-I-V-A-L Night! chant. They were at the center stage for this song and then moved up to the front stage for Oh-chan to do his backflip at the end.

I think on Friday they took separate carts up to the front stage, but on Saturday they all got on the moving stage together on the far side, opposite the Hawaii stage, probably to give even fanservice.

On Saturday it started raining right as Summer Splash started, and by the time they got to Oh-chans backflip we were all pretty wet. Jun wiped off a small section of stage with his jacket so that Ohno could have good footing. He landed it perfectly both days.

Next was the second part of the VTR. Again, Aiba was hilarious by saying that “Concerts are fantastic, like a real fantasy.” They all made a really poignant point, saying that concerts are what transform them into the real Arashi. Aiba said that, even if they record and release a song on a CD, he doesn’t feel like it’s really complete until they sing it at a concert and the audience participates and applauds it at the end.

Monster was really pretty with the Hawaiian fire dancers in the back and on the sides. They also shot out fire that was the five member colors. After that was the cool dance remix that utilized some 3D imaging, and that transitioned into Face Down. They moved from the front stage to the middle stage to do P.A.R.A.D.O.X., which was a real treat to watch up close even if they were all soaking wet by that time on Saturday. The choreography was the same as their music show performances, so Nino did his butt shaking for us. Jun’s hips were also fabulously fabulous. They also set off a lot of fireworks from the main stage, more and higher than I was expecting.

Your Eyes was also at the center stage, where they all separated a little and the platforms went up and down randomly to create effect. They got on the carts for Meikyu Love Song. By the way their costumes at this part were pink with black accents. Of course Sho was wearing a sleeveless jacket.

On Friday Jun was near us on the T stage again, and then Ohno came by on the moving stage. Nino did some cute dancing and Ohno gave a sign to the girl standing next to us (with his Uchiwa), which made her get really excited and scream. They kept traveling around for Troublemaker and Wild at Heart.

On Saturday it rained really hard during this part and we were all soaked (I was glad I brought my baseball cap since I couldn’t wear my contacts that day). Ohno was jumping around on one of the moving stages and I was worried for him. Aiba came over to our section on the middle stage and was happily smiling at all of us, making me swoon a little despite his dripping hair. Nino also came over again, and made another apologetic sign to the man standing in front of me, making us laugh again.

By the end of Wild at Heart all of them had made it back to back stage and Nino yelled out, “Can you guys still keep going?” so we screamed back at him before they started GUTS! They did the choreography for the first half of the song, then got in the towers (each with a small band of light in their member color) and went high above the crowd to finish the song. They had a huge fireworks final, and even though it was pouring rain on Saturday it still went off without a problem. I was trying to do the dance choreography with them, but there wasn’t enough space in the crowd to get my arms out properly so just did small movements with my penlight, haha.

The last song was Kansha Kangeki Ame Arashi. When they sang the opening lines for it I got the chills since it was pouring and all of us were soaked and muddy.

On Friday I was surprised when the towers suddenly started moving to either side to spread out. Aiba and then Nino came to lean over and sing to our section while riding the moving stage. They all went back up to the main stage and I realized that half of the videos there had stopped working because of the rain on Saturday. Even during the encore they weren’t working properly.

They ended at the front stage with Jun saying “Thank you for these 15 years!”

Of course they came back out again after we did the encore call. The first night we had to wait a while, it was quicker on Saturday. They were all wearing nice white suits and gave their speeches.

Synopsis of Friday’s greetings:

Sho: Thank you for coming today.
We’re often told that the five of us get along together really well.
I think that’s due to your support. It’s because of the fans that we became this “Arashi”.
We were able to return to Hawaii thanks to you.
The last time we were in Hawaii I said I wanted to work so that everyone could think “I’m glad I became an Arashi fan.” I still want to work to make you feel that way from now on too.

Ohno: Thank you for today. Since we came in from the helicopter, I couldn’t believe this was happening. I thought about it on the veranda at my hotel room. I don’t remember much of our debut except that I felt unsure.
(When Ohno started to cry of course everyone got worked up. It took him several tries to start talking again.)
I just want to say thank you to everyone, the fans, our managers, the staff, everyone for supporting us for 15 years. Let’s continue to connect our lives in our 16^th year too.

Aiba: Thank you. (He also looked ready to cry.)
When I saw Leader crying I forgot everything I had prepared to say yesterday.
I don’t think we made a mistake becoming Arashi. Everything is 100 times more fun and I’m grateful for everything. I’m really happy I’m in Arashi.
Aiba Masaki deshita!! (That was Aiba Masaki!)

Nino: It is always so hard for me to talk during these times! Because the people before me are like that!
Thanks for coming and for 15 years. Thank you for letting us have this concert and for letting us appear on TV. We don’t do this because we think we’re cool or anything, we just think, it can’t be helped, I’ll do it to make you (the fans) happy. It’s fun for everyone, that’s why we have these concerts. It’s something we create together. Everyone makes up Arashi.

Jun: Thank you.
It was so much fun. We might not have connected together with the same timing, but here we are together right now.
(Jun also started tearing up a little, but he didn’t really hesitate to keep speaking.)
To the staff as well, thank you so much.
Everyone is always giving us “wind” and we came with everyone’s power. We couldn’t have made it without you.
We’ll try to keep supporting you too, so let’s make a new path together. Please continue to follow us! Yoroshiku onegaishimasu.

On Saturday, Sho’s speech was almost the same but his eyes were red and he seemed to hesitate in the middle like he was about to cry, which made us all yell out “Oooh~”. Ohno didn’t cry again. Aiba talked about the time that his lung collapsed when they had a “vacation tour” with the fans and he couldn’t fully participate. So he was happy he finally got to participate in everything on the Hawaii tour and I ended up crying when he did. He turned around so he was facing away from the camera, but he kept on going with his speech as if he hadn’t. Jun told me a few times to turn back around until he finally did (although he had to turn away again to try to collect himself) and finished off his speech by thanking us for everything.

Nino followed up with making fun of Aiba again, saying that he couldn’t even remember what year that tour was but he was that distressed by it. He said he would check it just to make sure. When he was a kid he was the type that used to get a stomach-ache the day before a big school event, but now he is able to come to Hawaii and do a concert tour without any nerves.

Jun also started to cry a little bit during his speech again.

On the screens during Season they were showing old pictures (from the Johnny’s shop, or magazine shoots) from their debut up to recent pictures. During Bittersweet Jun and Ohno walked together in a half hug during their solo on both days.

Aiba waved at our section on Friday, and during Energy Song he high-fived with Jun. I was surprised that Energy Song was probably my max excitement point of the whole concert on Friday. I was jumping up and down the whole time.

On Saturday it was still raining, so when Ohno came over to our section he was still soaked (I thought he looked like Haru from Pikanchi with his hair down like that). Sho also came over and danced in front of us, twirling in circles as if he was really enjoying the rain (this was my favorite Sho experience this concert).

As they went around all of the members were playing around in the rain, but the thing I remember most was Aiba trying to slide across the stage and almost falling over.

The rain let up a little bit by the time they did A.Ra.Shi again.

On both nights they only sang the first chorus and then waved goodbye and went back behind the stage to get into the helicopter. As they passed they all gave the camera back there some fanservice for us. Ohno, Nino, and Aiba waved, Jun pushed back his sweaty hair, and Sho blew us a kiss (another high point since I feel like Sho doesn’t do that often?)

A.Ra.Shi was still playing as the helicopter took off. Just like the opening they showed us Arashi inside the cock-pit, then an overhead view of the concert. We continued singing the song for them until the end as they left, then they made the announcement to leave. It had stopped raining on Saturday by then, but the entire ground was mud so it was hard to get out. On Friday we had no problems leaving quickly.

Last words: Overall it was a good concert considering their restraints with the venue and audience. I think everyone had a good seat, so to speak. I enjoyed Saturday more, not only because my seat was a little better, but mostly because the staff were actually doing their job and the audience was behaving (at least as far as I could tell). If nothing else I hope Arashi got to hold the concert they wanted to, and I have no regrets going despite all the stress I went through for it.

Hawaii Trip 2014!! what I did and lining up for the concert

boblemon — Mon, 29 Sep 2014 03:54:26 GMT

This is not the concert report!!

I’m making a separate, much more personal post here (that will probably be f-locked afterwards) about my general trip to Hawaii. This is mostly for my own sake, but feel free to read it if you want (there might be a heavy dose of complaining). I’ll post the concert report (two days together) separately for those wanting to read only that. Here's a link!

We arrived in Hawaii on Tuesday and I immediately ran into money trouble because I guess I accidentally scheduled two payments for my student loan (when I called them later they said it would take 90 days to refund the payment), so I couldn’t pay for the rent-a-car upfront. Luckily the people there were really nice and let us put it on my friend’s credit card later that afternoon.

The reason I had money problems in the first place was because my Japanese friend owed me money for four tickets ($600 or so) and although she was supposed to pay me in Japan before-hand she forgot it when we got together and ask to pay me in Hawaii. We were also supposed to go out for dinner on Thursday before the concert, but that ended up being canceled because they had the fanclub greeting and then made separate dinner reservations. (Needless to say this was the main reason for my stress during the trip, not having that money.)

We tried to go see the special movie that they were showing at the Royal Hawaiian Theater, but it was for fanclub members only, which really put me in a bad mood (especially after the trouble with the car). yarukizero was trying to cheer me up so we could enjoy Hawaii together, but the stress from the last few months (ever since the Hawaii concert was announced) had really built up, and it took some effort to get over my bad mood.

Anyway, it was fun to drive a car again, and yarukizero’s friend brought her portable navi, which we all got a kick out of. We went shopping all day on Tuesday and Wednesday because it’s hard for us to buy clothes and shoes and stuff in Japan, plus there were some food items we wanted to take back. I also got to meet riidaaisbest, which was great too! We went out to dinner together on Wednesday night, and then spent the day together on Thursday.

On Thursday we went to check out the concert venue on the other side of the island and ate at the Disney Resort (Aulani) breakfast buffet in the morning. That was sort of silly because they made us take a picture with Mickey before we were seated at our table. The food was pretty good (I was mostly excited about the Mickey waffles), and they had fresh fruit and everything wonderful, but I couldn’t try everything I wanted to because I couldn’t eat that much.

After that we walked over to where they were preparing the concert venue. There was a black gate all around the outside, but when we got to the parking lot on the opposite side there were a pole that I climbed up to take a picture over the fence (the whole while the other people with us telling me to hurry up and get down again so we didn’t get in trouble). We found a guy with “security” written on his back and went to ask him about lining up for the concert on Friday, but he didn’t know anything.

This was the day we were supposed to meet my Japanese friends for dinner, but since that was canceled we went to the Cheesecake Factory without them. It was really good but Japan has lowered my tolerance for sweet things, so even though I took a piece of cheesecake back to the hotel with me, I couldn’t eat more than a few bites at a time. I ate it for breakfast every day, but ended up not even being able to finish it by the time I had to go back to Japan, haha! We also got to see all the nice Arashi decorations around downtown and took some pictures.

yarukizero made me wake up at 4 am so we could get out to the concert venue by 5 to line up. We allotted an hour driving time, but since it was early the highway was empty and we got there in less than 30 minutes. I dropped yarukizero and the other two Japanese girls going in with us off and then went back to Waikiki to pick up another group of concert goers. But since it took only an hour to do a round trip and I wasn’t meeting the other people until 10, I slept for an hour in the hotel before going back (sorry everyone waiting in line!!). I guess yarukizero and the girls managed to get breakfast, so we were pretty good to go until the doors opened at 4:30 pm. Unfortunately the Hawaiian staff didn’t have any idea what was going on—what line we had made (for people who had bought the tickets online), and even told us they weren’t originally even planning to start their jobs until 10 am. Obviously they didn’t have any idea about the extremity of Arashi fans, although I’m sure some Japanese person tried to warn them.

So since we could speak English and Japanese, our group (mostly yarukizero) ended up answering everyone’s questions, because we were the second group in line. At one point some angry people came to the front of the line (to the ticket table) to complain about a security guy that had told them to go somewhere else when they were in the right place and they were put farther back at the end of the line. I told the security guy (who was sort of upset about the situation because he was just passing on what his boss had told him) not to worry about it, and when people came to ask questions that he didn’t know the answers to, told them what I knew. We ended up talking for half an hour and he told me how Arashi was going to enter the venue (via helicopter). Apparently their original plan was water jet packs, but because the liability (for the insurance company) was too high they changed it to the helicopter. Of course he had no idea who Arashi was, but he said he thought we were pretty crazy for coming so early. (I heard that a lot; the lady at the airport said we should have relaxed at the beach instead.)

Because the Hawaiian staff didn’t know what to do with us, they told us initially we couldn’t get out of line for any reason, even to go to the bathroom (which is ridiculous; in Japan they’ll tell you what time you must return to the line, and that if you’re going to get out for whatever reason to notify the people around you). Everyone was coming and going anyway, but because I had actually asked and got told no, I felt like I couldn’t leave even to go buy water when we needed it, so the woman we were sharing a hotel with (that had gone to lunch with her friend instead of getting in line with us, since she didn’t care about being in the front, just near the moving stages) kindly brought us some water and sandwiches. American sized which we couldn’t even finish between the four of us. XD So we gave one to riidaaisbest’s group, who were waiting a few groups behind us. (So yay, we got to talk and I met new people~~)

All the fans knew it would be impossible for all of us to get in in only one hour with their ticket system, but they still didn’t open the doors until 4:30. (I guess they were asking their boss if they could open early, but didn’t get the okay.) Once inside they had split it into sections to give out the tickets. We were (of course) at the front of our section’s line, but because of that, we got the short end of the stick when their machine wasn’t functioning right. First they had to change the battery, and then it only printed out 2 of our 4 tickets, so they asked us to go to another counter (therefore making us lose our first place in line to the people behind us, which really irritated me). At least it only took two or three minutes to get our correct tickets printed and we all started jogging to get into the venue area since it was first come first serve for seats.

As you can tell from the pictures the venue was basically a dirt field and we got to sit where we wanted to/claimed as ours. We were running to get to our section, which was on the far side from the entrance, but there were strings on the ground to designate the sections, and yarukizero ended up tripping on one of them and falling right onto the track for the moving stage. The rest of us rushed to help her, but since we knew that she wanted the best seats we could get (it was her fault we lined up so early), instead of helping her stand two of us just grabbed her stuff and ran the remaining ten feet to our section and staked out a general area for seats before going back for her (I can laugh at that now, but at the time we just did what was obvious). I think she was happy that we didn’t waste an extra minute helping her up, since that would have put up a little farther away from the stage. There were already about 20 people in our section by the time we got there, but I also heard rumors that Japanese people in the fanclub section (that had got to come in an hour early) had been saving seats for their other friends in those sections. Not sure how true that is but I couldn’t figure out how so many people got there before us, even with our delay.

It was really weird to be in an audience full of basically other foreign fans. I think it was the first time for a lot of them, so concert etiquette wasn’t that great, and during the concert people were taking pictures and moving around in the aisles, which are things you’d get kicked out for in Japan. The concert staff also weren’t really enforcing anything either, I only saw one person get warned for quite obviously taking pictures with her camera, holding it up over the crowd. I don’t know, maybe this is typical in Hawaii/America?

Anyway, the second day was more crowded than the first obviously, and they were much stricter. Because we realized it didn’t matter that we were first or second (since they split us up into sections to distribute the tickets once inside, and if we hurried we could still get good seats) we lined up at about 7 am instead. We lined up with yarukizero's friends that day and had breakfast at the other restaraunt in the Disney Resort that had a nice view of the ocean.

This was the day my Japanese friends were going in with me and yarukizero, but it ended up turning into a bit of a mess. One Japanese girl that had gone in with us the day before had only decided to go to Hawaii about a week before the concert, because I had the extra ticket and offered it to her. Once there she bought a ticket for Saturday too, but I couldn’t give her a ride because we had already planned out the car months in advance. She told me she was okay with getting there by herself on Saturday, but our mutual friend “felt so bad” that she had to do that (despite us having these plans for a month) so she wanted to wait in the separate line for that girl instead of with us, and then jump in with us once she got there. But it would be sad for her to wait alone, so another girl in our group waited with her, which meant that only me and Cat were waiting at the proper place in line. (This is how Japanese people are?? Or at least my friends so it was really frustrating and made the ladies we were sharing a hotel room with annoyed as well because they thought they were being irresponsible). I won’t talk about that anymore, just needless to say the two groups weren’t getting along and I was right in the middle getting stressed out.

On Saturday they suddenly gave out tickets around 3 pm, so I had a freakout moment when all the members of my group weren’t there. And they told us that no one could jump in line anymore either. One of my friends going in with us ended up getting sick from being out in the heat and was resting in my friend’s hotel room, but luckily we got a line message through and she came back right in time to slip into line. There were a lot of people going in and out even after they said that, but after 3:30 they got really strict and started stopping the people trying to get back into line. But at least they gave out tickets, so going inside was smoother.

They opened the gates at about 4 (earlier than before) and made sure we were going slowly (apparently some people got hurt the day before from people pushing and running?) We waited inside the gates until 4:30, but since we already had the tickets in hand I wasn’t worried the same thing would happen as Friday. When we went in there were about thirty people at the entrance gates making a big fuss about not being let back into line (on Friday about ten people jumped into line with the people in front of us right before we went inside which was also annoying, but they were all in different sections so I was trying not to care).

Out of our whole group I was in the best condition (yarukizero had her bruises, the other girl had some kind of heat stroke, and the last one was wearing six inch platforms because Japanese people are short), so I politely jogged through the gates and got to our section as fast as I could and managed to stake out a space in the second row from the center walkway.

It rained really hard during that concert, so by the time it was over the ground was deep mud and all of our stuff was soaked (luckily I put my backpack in a plastic bag and under my chair at the start to keep it from getting really dirty, and it saved it in the end). It was hard to get out of the concert because of that, and the car was also parked in their temporary parking, which was a grass lawn, so the tires were covered in mud too by the time we got onto the regular roads. I was worried about the inside of the car being so filthy when I took it back to turn it in, but they told me not to worry about it.

We spent the morning on Sunday relaxing a little bit and taking it easy. We had planned to go to Diamond Head, but I had to go back to Japan the next morning (everyone else was staying longer) so I requested to change the plans so I could finish shopping for the stuff I needed to take back to Japan (got a badly needed pair of tennis shoes, a belt, and foodstuff at Walmart). So I ended up not doing anything other than shopping and the concert during the whole trip, but I guess that was okay. Although I didn’t even get to go to the beach…

I thought I gave myself plenty of time in the morning on Monday to double check my bags, but after dicking around with my postcards for too long I found myself in a hurry to leave and forgot to take the navi out of my bag. I found it going through the security check at the airport and had another small breakdown. (Just in case I haven’t conveyed this enough, this entire trip was stressful enough that I almost broke down crying twice, but that could also be due to PMS.)

I couldn’t find wi-fi to tell yarukizero about the navi, so I gave up, drank my giant starbucks coffee and got on the airplane. I slept most of the way and played my gameboy for the rest. I tried to strike up a conversation with the Japanese fan sitting next to me (obvious because of her Blast bag) but she wasn’t biting, so I kept to myself.

I had a layover in Seoul coming back, which is technically my first foreign country after Japan (which I’ve stopped counting now that I live here haha). I was only in the airport for an hour or so, but I managed to buy some souvenir foods and eat dinner (which was super rushed because I didn’t want to be late for boarding so I couldn’t finish everything, but it was soooo good).

And now I’m back in Japan. I went back to work the next day (on Wednesday). I would have liked a day to recover, but I figured if I took an extra day off for that I might as well stay in Hawaii another day so I didn’t. On Saturday I had Sports Day at my school, and on Sunday I went with doctoggy to a Harajuku Fashion event and saw Kyari Pamyu Pamyu (yay~ It was great!) so today (my makeup day off for the sports festival) is the first day I’ve had off to write this and check my concert report. So sorry for taking so long to write about everything!! I may edit this later if I remember any more details.

Hello from Hawaii!

boblemon — Thu, 18 Sep 2014 09:22:34 GMT

Edit: temporarily unlocking this post to go along with my concert report

We're here~ I'll make this short, just wanted to let everyone know I'll be slow replying to messages and PMs for a week! I'll try to write a report, but as I'll be driving everyone to and from the venue and we'll be lining up outrageously early, I don't think I'll be able to write anything for Friday, at least not right away. But yarukizero probably will, so check her journal!

Anyway, I'm still stressed out, mostly about money since I don't have any to spend (since I'm waiting to be paid back for 4 tickets, i.e. $600) and one of my student loans took out double payments from my bank out, which is impossible for me to reverse fast enough to actually use. OTL Damn me and my perpetual money issues!! I was hoping to buy American sized clothing here!!

Otherwise, Hawaii is fun ~~trying to avoid thinking about going back to work, because that is ridiculous after I just got here~~ and Arashi is everywhere. Have some pictures:

from the hotel room! (Don't stalk me)

Rage on! Arashi!

Arashi umbrellas at the video we couldn't see because we didn't come on the fanclub trip. ):

A couple of displays at the mall with Arashi goods, or welcoming Arashi fans to their stores! (LeSportsac)

Going to Arashi Blast in Hawaii!!

boblemon — Sun, 24 Aug 2014 10:58:50 GMT

Yay! I got the tickets! It was super easy, probably because they put so many restrictions on them!

Is anyone on my flist (that I haven't talked to yet) going? I don't know how much leeway I'll have to meet up but I'm curious at least!

I'm also looking for an extra Saturday ticket for my friend, or possibly able to trade for a Friday ticket if you notify me fast enough before we get rid of them. :)

Yay, buying airline tickets wasn't in vain.

long week

boblemon — Fri, 01 Aug 2014 08:39:57 GMT

I finally finished checking LJ after being super busy for the last week. Cat's parents are visiting and since I'm not going to America in August I went with them to Osaka. I owe you guys so many pictures of Arashi places and other happy things. I wish they weren't such a pain in the ass to upload. =___= But I promise, you will get all the pictures.

Waku Waku Gakko Report June 29, 2014

boblemon — Tue, 01 Jul 2014 13:05:40 GMT

This report is like a supplement to yarukizero’s (you can find it here). I’ll be skipping over the VTRs and things that she has already included in her report, assuming that they are standardized and didn’t change for the last day. I only included part of the dialogue, mostly because it would be a lot of trouble to type out every small comment.

I wasn’t able to go with yarukizero this time (because we’re worried about Hawaii and decided to only go once). My Japanese friend had an extra ticket luckily, so I ended up going with two of my Japanese friends.

I’m sure everyone has already heard, but in the morning session, they celebrated Nino’s birthday during Jun’s lesson. (I heard about it from someone else who was there.) They showed various people around the world celebrating Nino’s birthday, like a city in Colombia(?) named Nino with the locals partying it up, and various places in Tokyo with Nino-like names. Apparently some of the locations had already showed up on twitter before this?

Anyway, tonight I was on the fifth row on the top floor, so my seat was decent (although I should really get binoculars). I couldn’t make out the pictures on the wall that well, but I had a good overview of the stage during the show.

As with the other shows, they had the sheep out in their pens and I amused myself with watching the staff switch between cleaning and feeding them. There were also colorful balloon sheep and animals made out of wood that you can see in the picture. The weather was fine when I went into the dome, but at about 4 pm it suddenly started to thunder and rain heavily. It was really loud as it hit the roof of the dome.

The show started with the members doing their yahoo~ calls and the VTR of them getting suited up for Waku Waku. When they came out on the bus, it only went a few feet and then stopped in front of the bus stop sign. The members split up and ran around the outside of the stage two ways. Jun and Ohno came on our side, while Aiba, Nino, and Sho went opposite.

Sho: Thanks for waiting for us!
Jun: Ue no ho~ (Everyone up on top~)
Nino&Jun: The atmosphere is different today!
Sho: Thank you all for coming in this rain!
Anyway, thank you all for coming.
Ohno: Yes, thank you. Yahoo~ *turns to do it again for the opposite side*
Jun: Today, we have other guests that are not here at Tokyo Dome!

They showed the Shanghai and Singapore locations on the screen, greeting each of them in turn. They were all prepared and used the different languages several times during the night. I think Jun said in Chinese “We are Arashi!” but I don’t know for sure. Ohno said “Hello” to Singapore in English.

Nino: Nori nori ja nai ka? (Well aren’t you all excited?)
Sho: We’re trying to make this a worldwide event this year.
Aiba: And this year it’s a training camp! So let’s get excited!

Jun started to explain the theme of this years Waku Waku while Ohno tried to say they didn’t need a reason to have a training camp. At the end Sho stepped in front of Jun while he was talking and finished it off, then gave a “salute” with his fist to his chest.

Ohno led the cheer the same as the previous nights, although he also asked the people in Shanghai and Singapore to stand up. He said it in Chinese, but there was a slight lag so by the time they showed the hall on the screen all of the fans were already standing. The same with Singapore, although Ohno said, “Please stand~” in his best English accent, they were already standing when the camera flipped to them.

Once we were all in place, the five members also huddled together, and leaned over a camera so we could see their faces while they did it. Sho did the call tonight. We all said Oh! after each of his cheers, and then ended with Gasshuku! Arashi stuck their fingers in front of the camera like a peace sign and then pressed them all together so that it made a star before they broke the circle.

They gave the opening speech about their 15^th anniversary, and that they couldn’t have made it this far if they weren’t truly friends. Ohno explained about “Friends Day” in other countries too, and that they wanted us to start celebrating it in Japanese as well.

Nino started off his lesson with a disappointed Ha~

Sho: What’s wrong?
Nino: Your teacher is very disappointed. We’ve done this so many times and yet you guys still can’t finish it properly.
You haven’t been able to get the sheep into the pen. Is that because you lack friendship? I don’t think so!
Sho: We came close several times, but we haven’t done it all the way to the end.
So it can’t be helped that you’re thinking that!
But I agree with you!
Nino: I’m going to show the VTR again, so watch closely and figure out how it’s done!

The VTR was of the sheep herder and his two dogs. Apparently the dogs use a technique to herd the sheep, one of them always staying in the back, and the other dog ahead to make the sheep go where they want them to. The herder communicates with the dogs by blowing a whistle, and the dogs make noise to get the sheep moving.

Nino: See? See?
Jun: We can’t run as fast as the dogs.

Nino: We’ll split up into two teams again. I want you guys to succeed, and I’m sure the sheep want to go into the pen too. Properly split the roles and you’ll be able to do it! If you have friendship you can do it.
This is the last chance!
Jun: Up until now it’s been three minutes. Since it’s the last chance and we still haven’t done it yet… give us three and a half minutes.
Sho: How about four?
Nino: Are you sure you want more time?
Aiba: Three is fine.
Sho: Fine, but Nino, you should do it with us!
All five of us have to do it together in order to be successful!
Jun: Coach us on what to do.
Aiba: You can blow the whistle (like the sheep herder)
Also, I got some advice earlier! Since we’re wearing the mics, when we make noise the sheep hear it through the whole stadium. So we should make noises with our bodies.

Aiba displayed his idea by standing up in a crouch and moving his body back and forth like a gorilla or something.

They drew the teams. It was Sho and Ohno, and Aiba and Jun again tonight.

Jun: This is the third time for this pair!
Nino: So the onisan (big brother) team, and the ojisan (old man) team.
Sho: We’re not ojisan!
Chotto onisan team. (A little bigger brother team)

Ohno and Sho came to our side while Jun and Aiba were opposite. Before they had even left the stage the staff had opened the gate for the sheep, so Sho hurried over frantically before they all got loose. Somehow Ohno got his group slowly headed towards the tiny corral, and Sho grouped his together. But when Ohno was almost there the sheep darted past the fence and started chewing on the flowers (of course Ohno said, “You shouldn’t eat those~”)

They started over to the other side when Ohno approached them, so Nino called out, “Just leave them to the other side! Go help Sho!” Nino was really doing his best to coach their movements (surprisingly). When it was down to about one minute left, they had managed to get 90% of the sheep in the general area of the pen, but they all flocked to the flower bush to eat it. The members were all making off hand comments about it, but Aiba’s was the funniest.

Aiba: Don’t eat that! If you eat it, Arashi will disappear (talking about the kanji for the Waku Waku symbol).

The others just kept saying, “You shouldn’t eat the flowers~”

When it was about the last 30 seconds, the sheep escaped back to the other side, and although Aiba was trying to get the other members to focus on getting at least a few sheep into the pen, it was too late. Nino even jumped down from the stage for a moment to try to help, but we all knew it would be impossible. Sho was asking Nino to let them put the sheep into one of the circle pens, where the sheep were all gathered but he wouldn’t let them.

So time ran out and the sheep herder came out with his two dogs and they got the sheep into one of the round pens. Except, about five sheep were actually outside of the pen, just huddled together next to the other ones insides.

Nino: This was the worst so far.
Ohno: The more we do it the harder it is.
Jun: Are all the sheep even in the pen?
Nino: No. Some are just pretending they are.

The herder signaled the dogs, though, and the dogs chanced them into the pen properly.

Nino: I really wanted to see you guys succeed. Too bad. You tried really hard.

Aiba pulled out a towel to wipe sweat from his forehead as Nino rapped up his lesson with saying that humans have been working together in order to for thousands of years. The new saying was this: “Within three friends, at least one is a teacher.” He ended with the same speech as before.

Sho opened his lesson with greeting the members, then us, then the Shanghai and Singapore audiences. He said, “Genki?” to us, something in Chinese, and then “Are you having fun?” in good English.

Jun: All three venues are really different.
Sho: Yep. There’re all different but we’re sharing the same moment.
My corner is about how to become friends with others.
Greeting each other is really important. But after you greet someone, how do you become friends? There are a lot of people that aren’t sure how to do this.

The VTR was really hilarious to watch in person. When they showed Sho in his Shotaro costume, Sho tucked his hair behind his ear dramatically and said, “I’m Shotaro~” in a sing-song voice. Then they showed him becoming friends with another fisherman (Ito-san) using the three techniques.

The other members said they were all impressed that he made it that far in only 30 minutes.

Sho: Actually today, Ikkun (Ito) is here!

The spotlights shone on a set of doors near third base and Ikkun came in on a bicycle, riding all the way to the center stage in order to park. He had a long thing package with him, and walked right up onto the stage and stood next to Sho on his teacher’s stand when prompted.

Jun: …you look exactly the same as that VTR. (He was wearing a plain white tank top and dark pants.)

Sho: When I was trying to make friends with you how did you feel? When I was trying to make friends with you?
Ito: I didn’t have any idea you were from Arashi.
I was wondering, ‘Who is this guy trying so hard to talk with me?’”
I was wondering if I looked lonely, but it was still strange…
Sho: I was a weird guy?
Jun: Like a bad atmosphere?
Ito: Not like that. As we started talking I was actually thinking I would teach him (about fishing).
Aiba: When did you know it was Sho?
Ito: They gave me an explanation afterwards.
I thought I had heard his voice somewhere before.
Sho: Oh, really? I guess you it wasn’t easy to tell from the VTR, but I was trying to disguise my voice by making it lower.

He tried to demonstrate but it just made me laugh.

Ito had brought a fishing pole, the one that he uses the most often, and Sho decided they should give it to Ohno since he’s the one that likes fishing. Ohno came forward and opened up the bag to put the rod together, and he played with it for a moment. They asked him if he’d done contained fishing before and he said that the only time was as a kid he watched his dad do it.

As they were finishing up and the stadium went silent to wait, one of the sheep made a loud baah noise and we all laughed. They wrapped up the talk and Ohno suggested they did the cheer again.

Ohno: Let’s do that with all 6 of us!

They walked back to the front of the main stage with Ikkun in tow.

Sho: This “six shot” is amazing. It’s like we got a new member. The new Leader.

They asked up to stand up again and we did the huddle cheer again. Then Ikkun left on his bicycle again.

Sho: He’s going back to Shinjuku!
Jun: Don’t tell me you rode all the way here on your bicycle?
Sho: He did.
(We were all like :O!)
Sho: There are actually people that do that…
*waved as he left and called out ‘bye-bye’ and things*
Sho: Oh, I forgot to give him something!
Nino: There’s still time!
Sho: It’s not worth it… I’ll give it to him next time. Ikkun make sure we meet again!

Next Sho asked us to put the techniques he showed up to use and talk with our neighbors. I talked with the woman sitting next to me. She was there with her husband and kid and was very nice and easy to talk to. Sho wrapped up his lessons by telling us to give every stranger a chance and try to make a lot of new friends. If we have six friends we’re connected to every person in the world.

Aiba’s lesson started abruptly with him saying, “It’s bento time!” As we pulled out our bentos they started showing pictures on the big screen of various bentos people had brought. The members got distracted with one that had the Waku Waku logo done fabulously on a slice of cheese. Most of them had some kind of Arashi theme, but there were some “normal” ones too. One was a set of yaki soba, but the flakes on top had been done in a design like the Arashi kanji. I only brought a sandwich (good old American lunch), but the woman I talked to had made a proper bento and used the Love stickers from last year to make it cute.

They interviewed two couples. The first was a mother and her daughter with Arashi faces on onigiri. They asked if the mom had made them, but she said her daughter had done it by herself. They asked her who was who in the box (she’d put each of their faces on the small rice balls), and a few more questions. She said it was her first time making a bento, so we all applauded. The omelets were shaped into a heart (so cute) and they were her favorite, so Jun asked her to eat one and give a report. Of course she said it was good.

They second interview was a young man and woman together. After some prodding the man revealed that they were dating.

Nino: Show us your bento!
Aiba: Let’s ask how long they’ve been dating!

The man answered Aiba’s question and said they’d been dating for 7 months. He made his own bento to bring today and everyone gasped since it looked just as good as anyone else’s (welcome to Japan where cooking is supposed to be the woman’s job).

Aiba: Did you know about Arashi before you started dating?
Man: Yes, I knew.
Jun: You’re asking so many questions.

Aiba: Let’s ask how they met!
Jun: You’re supposed to be asking about the bento!

They met because they both liked Arashi. This was their first official Arashi date together.

Aiba: Wow, things like that actually happen. This is their first Arashi date~

The members moved to the camp table and Aiba pulled out a black box and asked Nino to draw whose bento they would introduce today. It was Aiba’s. He put it on the table to show them and explained about it. It was made of tin and had three anime characters on the front (looked like Speed Racer or something, except they had swords?) On the back it had a name etched into the tin, Aiba Katsuhisa (the others made fun that it wasn’t his name) so Aiba explained that it had belonged to his dad first and then he started using it in pre-school because the school requested tin bentos. Apparently they would put them on the stove to heat them up before lunch or something? His brother used it after him, and they commented that it sure lasted a long time.

Inside it was half rice and half side items, karaage, omlettes, wieners, and baby tomatoes. Nino read the comment from Aiba’s mother, since he insisted Aiba would be too embarrassed to. The summary was, “When you were small you really liked karaage. I cut the wieners to make them look like octopuses and put in omelets too, but you never ate your tomatoes.”

Then Aiba showed a second lunch box (double decker in white) and explained that this was what he ate since he was in elementary school. The top container was an omelet (over rice I think), and the bottom was all yakisoba. Sho started eating it (after asking politely of course) as Nino continued with the letter. “Since you were growing, I included lots of foods with meat in it. I made so many bentos for you and your brother, whenever you ate everything and left the box empty I was so happy. It’s been a while since I’ve made your bento, so making this was nostalgic. When your brother said at graduation ‘I’m an adult now and you don’t have to make me bentos anymore. But thank you for the bentos you’ve made me up until now’ I cried.”

Nino paused and double checked what he’d read then said, “She included a comment about your brother although this is a letter for you.”

Aiba: I didn’t know about this! But my brother ate a bento everyday in school, okay? There were some times that I didn’t need a bento.
Sho: It’s amazing.
Ohno: So good!
Aiba: Anyway, I’ll show you how to make my mom’s Yakisoba today. Nino you’ll help me.

He literally pulled Nino up from the table as he was trying to eat some of the bento. They went behind the cooking station together and presented the ingredients. There were about five kinds of sauces, so Nino complained there was too much and that we couldn’t take notes fast enough.

Just like before Aiba was measuring things by seconds. Oil was three seconds, salt was two seconds, pepper was half a second I think? Nino was teasing him, but Sho admitted that Aiba was a good cook.

When they were finished, Aiba just took the pan to the table and they all took their own portions straight from the pan. Aiba wrapped up his section about sharing your bento with other people and that by comparing flavors you can deepen your friendships.

Jun: Thank you Aiba-kun!
Aiba: And a big thank you to Aiba’s mom!
Ohno: We’re all full now! I think we need to refresh now! We’re going to sleep.
At the last Waku Waku we talked about the importance of sleep and how it can improve your memory.
So we’re going to take a nap right here, the audience too. Put your bentos away. You can finish eating it later.
Sho: You hardly ever see people sleeping at Tokyo Dome.
Ohno: We’re going to do something you hardly ever get to see!
Sho: Iiyo~ (Okay~)

They explained a little more and then dimmer the lights, telling us to go to sleep. Of course no one did, the audiences was all worked up over their sleeping faces. I had to admit Ohno looked adorable with his fists clenched rested on his chest on top of the blanket. Aiba was the only one laying on his side, all sprawled out over the futon, everyone else was straight and orderly.

After a minute of us kyaing at their close-ups Ohno suddenly sat up and looking straight at the camera said, “You guys! Sleep!”

Ohno: It’s not something you can do often, sleeping at Tokyo Dome.
Jun: That’s true. I mean it’s not usually quiet enough that we are able to fall asleep on stage here.
Ohno: That’s true… During our concerts the music is always playing and—
Nino: Go to sleep!

Finally they just had a zoomed out version of them on the screens and everyone settled down. A couple of people had penlights on, so they were playing around with them instead of sleeping. I closed my eyes for a moment, but overhead we heard a loud crash of thunder that no one could ignore.

Jun: That was amazing! Was that thunder?
Sho: That was thunder.
Aiba: Thunder? It wasn’t just the roller coaster, right?
Us: *chatting amongst ourselves*
Sho: Ohno isn’t waking up at all

We quieted down for another minute and then the alarm came on and they sang GUTS! Aiba was on our side for the first half and then they moved to the front of the stage to do the choreography.

Sho: We’re awake now! This is what we mean, right Ohno-san?
Ohno: Yes! When you do your wake up dancing you really feel refreshed right?
Aiba: Thank you.
Sho: Seriously? I feel like my Yakisoba might come back up.

They explained the origins of Friends Day and then we did another huddle to start the second half.

For Jun’s corner it was actually Jun himself that was the runner today. The items to pick from where 1) a scuba diving set, 2) the latest high capacity smartphone, 3) a record player, or 4) a kind of rare beef (1 kg). The signs in front of the items were in Japanese, English, and Chinese.

Jun: I’ll put the headphones on now, so Nino, you can choose the song.
Nino: Okay. ‘Shake It.’
Us: Yay~
Sho: You like it—
Jun: I didn’t chose it!

While the members were discussing what to pick, Jun came to the front of the stage and started doing his choreography for Shake It, including the hip shaking part later. Needless to say we were all paying more attention to him than the others at the back.

Sho: This is just wasted time (since they’re not paying attention to us)

Nino thought the item Jun really wanted was the phone because, “The one he’s using now is old.”
Sho and Ohno thought the record player.

Sho: Lately he’s doing his DJ stuff, right? So I figured he has the electronic stuff worked out so now he wants to go back to the original method.

Before Aiba could explain his choice (the meat), he was interrupted by us screaming about Jun’s hip thrusting. So Nino just decided, “It’s the record player then, okay?” He walked to the front of the stage and tapped Jun to pull his earphones off.

Nino: It’s okay, You don’t have to shake it anymore.
Jun: Nice shake it.
Nino: You knew (you would distract them)
Jun: I thought they’d get excited.

They explained the system and built up to the moment before Jun started running. He chose the smartphone, so he fell into the foam pit, but he was just lying on his back trying to look cool and disappointed.

Nino: I told you guys! His phone is old!
Aiba: Tell us what number two is! We didn’t get it…
Jun: You didn’t get it? I want a phone! My phone is old.
Nino: I know.

They talked him into running again, so he did for the second item he wanted the most. It was the beef.

Aiba: I knew it! I knew he’d want the beef!
Jun: What did you think it was?
Nino: Should we have him figure it out?
Aiba: How about number three? Come on!
You don’t have to run. You can go slow.

So Jun did it again, this time just standing in front of the bridges and then jumping onto the one he wanted more. Like the other two times he fell through the bridge and landed cooly on his back, trying to look disappointed. He wanted the scuba set, so the thing he wanted the least was the record player.

Jun: You didn’t get it at all.

They showed all the replays for us, but Jun was fairly composed the whole time, except the short moment of surprise as he fell.

Jun: Who said the phone?
Nino: Me.
Jun: As expected of Ninomiya-kun.
Sho: Is it really that old?

Jun briefly talked about the other items. He’s interested in scuba but he doesn’t have his license yet, so he didn’t need the gear immediately. When Jun asked who picked the record player, Ohno and Sho tentatively raised their hands looking sheepish.

Ohno: But we were close!
Sho: We were!
Me: No you weren’t!

Next came the consultation corner. Jun started to read the message but then suddenly stopped and asked if it was okay for me to drink some water, since he was out of breath and sweating from the running. Sho replied, “Please do! You fell three times after all.”

Number one: “I’m a really shy person. If I know someone, I can talk with them really easily, but I’m terrible at talking with new people. How can I cure myself of this problem?”

Jun asked the people in the audience that thought of themselves as shy to clap their hands. (I clapped because I also have a hard time talking with new people.) There were quite a lot.

Jun: Within our group, I think the shy one is Aiba.
Aiba: That’s true. I don’t know what I should talk about with people I don’t know.
Nino: What do you talk about with them?
Aiba: There’re all kinds of different people, like young or old, or male or female…
I don’t say anything I guess…
Jun: You don’t approach them yourself?
Aiba: No.
Sho: For example, in an Aiba drama, over the course of several months, how many episodes would it take for you to become close to the staff?
Aiba: Until the final episode.
Everyone: Eh?!
Jun: Do you feel like you’re risking something by approaching new people?
Aiba: It’s more like I just don’t have anything to talk about. I mean, if I’m interested in them or if I can learn from them it’s easier.
Jun: So how do we fix that sort of shyness?
Aiba: I don’t think you need to fix it. I’m often told, ‘you’re pretty shy,’ but I don’t really think about it that hard.
Nino: What a rare type!
Aiba: When I’m with my friends I can talk a lot. The worst time is after I meet a person until I actually become interested in them. For example if I met a baseball player I really admired right now, I could easily talk with them and ask them a lot of questions. But I don’t know what to say if I don’t know anything about them.
Sho: That’s the way it is with a lot of people. So why don’t you find out about them? (Like research before hand)
Nino: I guess that’s the key, is finding common grounds.
Aiba: Yeah, I guess it’s just about asking what their hobbies are or things like that. If you can turn on that switch.

Jun: How about you, Ohno?
Ohno: I used to be shy around new people.
Jun: Me too.
Ohno: It’s this job’s fault that I changed.
Jun: What made you change?
Ohno: The boss.
One day he was like, “You. Kurai yo.” (You act depressed.) Being around a bunch of new people in Johnny’s made me lose my shyness.

Jun brought the subject back of how they could “cure” shyness.

Aiba: I understand there are things you can say, like “Thanks for getting together last time.”
Jun: Greeting people is important.
Nino: Talk about the weather.
I enjoy talking to new people because I enjoy thinking about the moment. Once we become friends the way we interact will change, so there’s only one chance to have this sort of conversation.
Jun: What does everyone thing about that?
Us: *claps*
Jun: Or Aiba’s idea, that it doesn’t really matter?
Aiba: It doesn’t matter if you cure it or not.
Jun: Like when the time comes if you can properly talk it’s okay?
Aiba: Yeah.

Number two: “I’m fifteen years old and I’m dating someone. I really want to hold hands, but my partner is too shy. What should I do so that we can hold hands?”

Jun clarified the goal and then passed it off to Arashi to solve. Of course they had to actually act it out. Nino stood up right away and paced around, confirming, “As long as we hold hands it’s okay, right? Ja, Midori-kun come on.”

Nino acted as the “girl” and Aiba as the “boy” taking a walk outside.

Nino: Look at these pretty flowers! *bends down to touch them* Ouch!

Nino literally fell over clutching his hand as if he’d gotten stung by a bee and was writhing in pain until Aiba came over and took his hand to examine it. He was rubbing it all over and the crowd made some cat-calls. Aiba helped him stand up and they held hands while Aiba suggested, “Maybe we should go to the hospital?” When it was all over the members said it was a good idea, but Aiba was convinced “You’d need to make it bleed a little.”

Aiba was ready right away to give his idea, and he pulled Nino to help him since he was already there.

Aiba: Pretend like we’re going on a date and I’m late. I know, we’re going to Waku Waku and I’m late arriving on the train.
Nino: Waku Waku suru! (I’m getting excited)

Nino started pacing back and forth, looking around impatiently and complaining about his date being late. Aiba was pretending to be stuck on a crowded train antsily waiting for the door to open. When it did he dashed out and grabbed Nino’s hand, pretending to drag him behind him. “Sorry about that! Hurry, we’re going to be late!”

Even when their skit was up and Jun was analyzing his idea, Nino and Aiba continued to hold hands cutely, looking quite seriously at Jun as he talked.

Jun: You can let go now.
I see, the technique was to pull them along.
Aiba: Yeah, that way you won’t let go right away.
Ohno: I can do it! It’s okay if it’s similar right?

This time Ohno pulled Nino to help him. They both pretended to walk through the train ticket gate, but after Nino went through the gate closed on Ohno. Ohno reached out for help and Nino tried to act confused and left him that way for a moment before coming back and helping “pull” Ohno through the ticket gate. As soon as they were finished Jun and Sho chided Ohno for that idea, since he should have properly paid for his fare.

Jun: Okay, I’ll try.
Satoshi~
*leads the way down the main set of stairs and Ohno follows him*
Nino: He wants to hold your hand.
Jun: The setting… let’s see… well, as long as there are stairs it’s fine.
Nino: As long as there are stairs? Haha.

They start walking up the stairs together, and Jun slows down looking for his cellphone in his pocket.

Jun: Hey~ Wait up for me!
*holds out his hand and Ohno hesitates before taking it*

They walk back on stage and Jun explains that the position helps because it’s a romantic scene of one person looking up at the other.

Ohno: It’s true. I felt my heart flutter.
Us: Oooh~

Sho’s version was so dorky. He did it with Aiba, in a school setting. They both starting chatting about homework, but they were both using girly voices so Nino had to stop them once and then Aiba began talking normally.

Sho: So you know we were talking about magnets? Don’t you think they’re amazing? For example, if this was S *holds up hand* and Masaki’s was N, what do you think would happen?
Aiba: *holds up hand* I don’t know
Sho: Magnetism~ *pushes their hands together*
Aiba: Amazing!

The problem was when their hands stuck together they were still holding them up, so rather than properly holding hands like a couple their arms were stuck at an angle like a W. Nino was trying to say that it didn’t count as hand holding.

Jun: So let’s vote for whose was the best!

Nino didn’t get hardly any claps and fell over looking embarrassed. Aiba got a fair amount of claps, Ohno got less than Nino. Jun also seemed to get a lot, but Sho didn’t get any either (except laughter). Jun declared Aiba as the winner, although it seemed to me that they were tied.

Number three: “My name is Taisei and I’m a sixth grade student. The other day I got a love letter from a classmate asking me to date her. I don’t think I’m old enough to understand what dating really is, so I want to wait until I’m older to do it. But I want to keep this girl as my friend. Please tell me how to reject her in a kind way.”

They all commented that the letter was written too well for a sixth grader, so Sho asked if they’d hired someone to write it. Jun assured him they hadn’t and they agreed Taisei was a very mature kid.

Sho: That’s hard.
Jun: Have any of you had that experience? Confessed to in elementary school?
Sho: Not at all!
Nino: I think he should date her. Because he might not have the chance again. And when you’re finally ready to start dating, it’s harder to find someone to date, you know?
Jun: I think he should too.
If you start getting familiar with dating at a young age you’ll naturally come to understand women better.
Us: …
Arashi: …
Jun: *I’m in trouble face*

Aiba: I’d feel bad for the girl, if Taisei started dating her when he wasn’t actually serious.
Nino: Fine, what would you say?
Aiba: *pretending to be Taisei* I really thought about it. When I think about how you’ll be treated…
Nino: But I wanna date. *pretending to be the girl*
Aiba: I’m not ready.
Nino: When will you be ready?
Aiba: I don’t—
Nino: When?
Aiba: I should focus on—
Nino: When?! Ima desho? (Isn’t it now?)
Aiba: I don’t know if I will.
Nino: I thought it would turn out this way.

Sho: I think what he wrote in his message is the best, that he doesn’t understand the meaning of dating. Like, I looked up dating in the dictionary and online and there wasn’t anything there~ *in a low voice*There’s no meaning in dating.

Ohno: In a few years, maybe he’ll be looking back, and then—
Sho: Suddenly you’re Japanese got weird.

Ohno tried again, but he was still talking in a strange order with small breaks between phrases. They teased him by saying he was acting more like an elementary school student than Taisei.

Ohno: How about trying to date in a few years, after I understand what dating means? Something like that.
Aiba: When is that? How long will she have to wait?
Nino: Is there a date?
Ohno: That’s unfair.
Nino: He wants to reject her.
Ohno: Okay, let’s reject her.

The final decision was that he should meet her face to face and say the same thing he said in the message, that he didn’t understand what dating was and wanted to wait.

Jun: You can do it Taisei-kun!

He wrapped up with his speech about sharing your problems with your friends.

Ohno started his lesson as usual.

Ohno: As you may know I’m Arashi’s Leader.
Sho: We know.

They showed the same VTR as before, with Ohno making comments for each of the members.
After Sho’s section, the camera caught him for a reaction. He looked genuine surprised at the sudden filming, but then posed with his hand on his chin.
Jun did the same pose as the junior picture in the VTR, this both hands tucked up under his chin in fists.
Aiba did a keyboard gesture and then made an x with his hands, alternating back and forth to make it clear that he is not an IT company president.
Nino gave a thumbs up and a wink.

Nino: So what are you to Arashi, Oh-chan?
Ohno: I’m the Leader.
Jun: We know that, but like what you said, the mood maker and stuff?
Ohno: I don’t know that about myself. I’m just the Leader.

Ohno also did his “Song of Thanks” for us. But he started to explain it already before Nino reminded him the fire hadn’t come up yet.

Jun: Isn’t there a long version of this song? This is the last day.
Ohno: Are you an idiot?
Nino: He’s just asking whether there is or not.
Ohno: Honestly, I was just going to go with this version… If I make it too long it’s dangerous with the campfire and all.
Do you want me to do it?
Us: *claps*
Jun: It’s the last day!

He explained that he would say “Friendship” and we would say “Fire” as in fai-yer, not fai-ya like Japanese people would usually say.

Ohno: I want everyone to say it, even those watching from Shanghai and Singapore. Actually the people in Singapore might have an advantage. But even if you think my pronunciation is wrong, please say it as fai-yer okay?

At the end we were also supposed to say “Fai-touch” (in a heavy accent) and give a high five to the person next to us. Listening to Ohno say the English over and over again was amusing.

So we sang Ohno’s goofy song with him. I don’t know if it was a long version or not, but he said “boku no friend, kimi no friend, minna no friend~” in the middle.

His message to Arashi this time was about the Asia Tour concert when he had to memorize a greeting in Thai. Him and Jun and Sho had to memorize speeches for the tour while Nino and Aiba watched on saying “suge na~” (Man, that’s cool~) Although they had just left Osaka in a private jet he couldn’t enjoy his free time on it. Ohno managed to memorize his speech, but ten minutes before the concert started the translator listened to his speech and found one word that was wrong. Since he had memorized it all together he said it was impossible to change just one part. He was already insecure enough that he wouldn’t be understood so there was no way for him to change it. It was the word for “gambarimasu”, panananya. He was envious of Nino and Aiba for not having to go through that stress.
When he was on stage he said it and the crowd replied so he was really happy. He expressed his gratitude for Arashi always being there for him.

Sho: My friend from Thailand said that you were saying it wrong. It’s pananya*, not panananya.
Ohno: *shocked*
Aiba: So the audience was probably responding to the fact that you said it wrong.
Nino: You can fix your message if you want.

So Ohno re-read that part of his speech so that the Taiwanese was correct.

Arashi assured Ohno that he did his best, and he wrapped up his section saying that we should treasure our time with our friends.

Sho started to ring the bell and announced the end of Waku Waku. Jun asked Shanghai something in Chinese (probably the same as Singapore) and Nino asked Singapore “Did you learn something?” Then Aiba asked “Was it fun?” in Chinese and English.

They recapped about Friends Day and noted that the reporters were there so they can spread the message around Japan. We yelled “Tomodachi no hi” for them.

They called to the audience and told us they had an announcement. They said there was a new album coming out in fall, and announced the tour dates as well. Last we sang Furusato together, Nino playing his guitar for the first half. Aiba was on our side again, and when they got on the carts he went by with Ohno first, and then the other three came by. They were yelling pretty generic things like thank you and bye-bye

Sho: Please make Aiba-chan’s Yakisoba!
Aiba: Thanks for making your bentos today!
Sho: Friendship Fai-yer
Aiba: It’s July 20^th!
Sho: Come to our concert, okay?

We did the huddle one last time before they took a round in the car and then went back behind the stage. The ending VTR was of them painting the bus.

A/N: *The correct word is phayāyām (thanks to mars_anch), sorry for my spelling I just put it as it would be in katakana, as I'm not familiar with Thai.

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