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akanemachurida-blog · 7 years

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17/11/05 - Shibata Aya photobook event and Esca mini event report

I went to Shibata Aya’s photobook event in Nagoya on November 5. The event was held at Books Hoshino, a store on the eighth floor of the Kintetsu Passe building near Nagoya station. You had to reserve a ticket for this event, although judging from Aya’s tweet before the event it seems like you could have bought a ticket today too. You could buy one, three or five photobooks. I bought three, so I got all three photo cards but I couldn’t take a picture with Aya, which was the bonus for buying five. I was really curious as to how this event would work, given that Books Hoshino is a very cramped and small store. There was no way they could make us line up and no handshake area in sight.

It turns out there is a tiny room near the emergency exit stairwell. I was wondering how chaotic the line would be, but it was pretty simple. At 1:30, thirty minutes before the event was scheduled to begin, the store staff called up people who had a ticket with a number up to 10. My ticket was number 16, so I got in the next round, which wasn’t very long after. This doesn’t mean I was the sixteenth person in line, as there were multiple people with the same number. I think what happened was that they gave out a number three times for each of the categories, but I can’t be sure. Maybe it was random.

So we lined up in the stairwell, which was not a very comfortable or pretty line-up experience, but it wasn’t a long wait. Thinking about it, it was a pretty smart way of creating a line in that building, given how small it is. I don’t know how many people showed up, since I was among the first to go in, but there were a lot of people waiting in the store with their tickets both before and after my handshake.

I spotted some guys who I saw at Churi’s lane, and judging from the event I went to afterwards, a lot of the people in attendance were SKE fans. Of course a lot of people were wearing Aya’s seitansai t-shirt as well as the graduation concert shirt. Some people came with fans and other Aya merchandise, but they were a minority. In contrast to the handshake at Nagoya Dome, I didn’t see many women at this event, although I did see quite a few little girls accompanied by their parents.

The handshake area was really small, and just like a 48 group handshake event, you put your bag in a basket, although the security staff was really lax. I feel I could have spoken even longer, since rarely did they touch people, and they didn’t touch me or try to move me when my time was over.

I actually wasn’t extremely nervous before the handshake, but I was nervous enough because I had tried to prepare some things to say and was rehearsing them in my head. I sort of decided to use them as a guideline instead of spitting out what I tried to memorize, which I think is a better way of approaching handshakes. Having a theme or key points to talk about feels more natural and isn’t as nervewracking. Thinking back on it, it felt similar to how my first experience with Churi went. Both times I thought I would shut down when in front of them because it would be surreal to actually see them in person, but I felt surprisingly calmer than I expected and was able to say what I wanted.

Sorry for the lengthy build up, but here is the conversation:

Me: Nice to meet you, I’m a fan of yours and my friend from America is a really big fan of yours.

Aya: Wow!

Me: Unfortunately he hasn’t been able to come to events but he is always watching you even now. I watch your shows too.

Aya: So you watch my shows together, thank you!

Me: My friend is always supporting you, and he will never graduate from you!

Aya: *laugh* Thank you both for supporting me, I’m very happy.

[Aya shook my hands up and down forcefully at this point to emphasize that]

Aya: [in English] I love you!

Me: *laugh* Thank you so much. [Probably blushing a lot]

Aya: [waves and smiles]

The hardest thing to convey in this report is just how incredibly beautiful Aya is. She’s always been the most beautiful member in the 48 group for me (and maybe the world because I can’t think of another person lol), and while I am not usually swayed by people’s looks I was completely captivated by Aya. Since I was trying to focus on what I was saying I didn’t always look her in the eyes, but all I can say is… Wow! Looking into her eyes is really something else. I am short so usually I am level or slightly taller than most members, but I forgot that Aya is short even for idols, so I was looking down in her eyes as she was leaning in during the handshake. I think I turned red like a tomato from the first second, but I’ll never forget it.

I like hearing members say things in English since it’s a cute way to show recognition towards foreign fans, but hearing Aya say “I love you” was just too much for my heart! Usually members will say a thank you or I’m happy, not something like that! She is really cute when she smiles and her eyes close, it made my heart soar just seeing it.

After the handshake I gave my ticket to the staff and got my books. I’m not sure how people got their photos if they bought five copies. I thought it might be taken during the handshake, but I noticed a lot of people just idling around the store afterwards, so maybe they were waiting for it or waiting for their turn.

By luck I checked my twitter and saw that Marin, Izurin, Yokonyan and Satokaho were going to be at Esca underground mall at 4:00, so I decided to go there after Aya’s event, which lasted until 2:20. Even though I had been to Esca before I got lost and window shopped elsewhere so I only got there around 3:10. The event was a raffle, where you drew a ball from a box to win a SKE clear folder. In order to participate you needed to buy over 3000 yen worth of stuff at a store. Initially I thought the event was free (I should know better by now) but I asked some people and found out. I was about to leave since I found that way too expensive for only that, but I remembered I needed clothes so I went to Uniqlo and got the raffle ticket. By the way, a lot of the people there had gone to Aya’s event since I saw them carrying a Books Hoshino bag. I then waited in line for about an hour, and I can’t say that was much fun. There were a ton of people and it took quite some time for a person to do the raffle and move on. At first I thought you only saw one member but instead you did the raffle with staff, then move onto the members. If you won the file they hand it over to you. I wanted to see Izurin and Yokonyan since they are my favourite 8th generation members. Unfortunately Izurin left right as I was about to go. Every member went out at some period to be filmed around the mall, accompanied by Suwa. I also lost the raffle so I didn’t get a folder. I told the members I went to see kenkyuusei stage at the theatre and that it was awesome, they were happy and said thank you in English. I don’t know if Yokonyan recognized me or not, since she was surprised when she saw me, but she gave me a similar reaction the first time I saw her at the theatre so maybe it’s just because I am a visible foreigner. I stayed around until the end and all the members said their thank yous to the crowd, Satokaho warned everyone about cheating on their oshimens, and Izurin told us to watch showroom later. It was fun seeing them off but the wait was quite long only for me to lose a raffle. Honestly I can’t imagine it having been worth it had I not needed to buy clothes. 3000 yen is a lot and I noticed others bought stuff they didn’t even need just to get the ticket. I can always return the clothes to get my money back, so I wonder if most people will do that lol.

So with that I had two events today, one very short one which is one of the best so far, and another, arduous one which was probably my worst event so far but still not a bad experience. I am extremely glad to have met Aya. Unlike Churi, who I immediately knew I would like at first sight, Aya has steadily been growing on me ever since I became a fan, even though I already liked her a bit when I first discovered her. I first got to know her through variety and then through Team C and have been following her ever since (thanks to someone’s Tumblr), and she is probably my second favourite idol/personality after Churi. One of my regrets was not being able to buy a ticket for her handshake when I went last year, so I am glad that I got to have that experience now. I felt at peace and completely content after the event in the same kind of way I am after meeting Churi. It’s a feeling that doesn’t leave you craving for more but just makes you appreciate that moment and cherish it since you know that nothing could top that feeling and trying to replicate it would only cheapen the memory.

So to wrap things up, I am truly glad that Aya had this event and is succeeding at her current job and that she is still able to make so many people happy. I only hope that I can meet her again, but I am content having met her this once. I am sure that she will continue to achieve great things. This may sound crazy, but I felt Aya’s warmth and kindness radiate from her during that short exchange. It’s a kind of power (if I can call it that) which I’ve never experienced before.

#Shibata Aya #report

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