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Your HKT48 Experiences

Discussion in 'General HKT48 Discussion' started by ithebigc, Jan 1, 2014.

  1. Reveen

    Reveen Under Girls

    Joined:
    Feb 16, 2013
    Location:
    Sunnyvale Trailer Park
    What he said on twitter was that her energy level was barely above Paruru's not that she was cold but that she was better and more energetic later in the day. I think it's likely that she still isn't fully fit and it's affecting her.
     
  2. Cristafari

    Cristafari Stage48 Admin Staff Member Stage48 Admin

    Joined:
    Sep 10, 2008
    Location:
    Saitama, Japan
    Oshimen:
    Iwasa Misaki
    Twitter:
    Cristafari
    HKT48 Bagutte Ijan National Handshake Event at Makuhari Messe (2017/05/28)

    I am actually "backed up on writeups, as I have Wasamin's DVD release week, a special Wasamin exclusive 'Karaoke Party', and a Chaki event to write about. However, this one is so fresh in my mind, and it was so much fun, I wanted to write it up tonight.

    I had earmarked this event as another chance to spend time with the lovely Akiyoshi, and of course Maichan. So I planned on searching for tickets early. I was also informed that my friend Derek was coming back to town, and he wanted to go to the event too. So I had to find tickets for both of us. So about 3-4 weeks ago I scoured the reseller shops and was able to find 9 inexpensive tickets. Then this past Friday Derek and I were in Akiba, and we found 12 more at Bulb, behind the Donki. So we were set, 10 tickets apiece. We would give the extra ticket to a friend who only had a few. However...

    h3.jpg
    Akiyoshi saying hello from somewhere other than the handshake event

    When the schedule came out the other day, I immediately noticed that Akiyoshi would not be attending. Oh well, I guess I will spend a lot of time with Maichan. Except she was out too. Jeez, my "2-top" in HKT were out? Why the hell do I have 10 tickets??? As I checked out the lanes, I struggled to decide how would I use the tickets I had. Would I loop Bibian's lane over and over? Perhaps I would just go to a bunch of different lanes. I began mapping out ich lanes I was most interested in seeing, and figured I would decide at the event. By the way, here are the lanes we had to choose from...

    1) Sashihara Rino (H)
    2) Kodama Haruka (H), Ueki Nao (KIV), Unjo Hirona (KKS)
    3) Matsuoka Hana (TII), Takeda Tomoka (KKS), Miyazaki Sono (KKS)
    4) Miyawaki Sakura (KIV)
    5) Ui Mashiro (H), Tashima Meru (H), Kurihara Sae (TII)
    6) Tanaka Miku (H), Imamura Maria (TII), Shimizu Rio (KKS)
    7) Kojina Yui (H), Yamamoto Mao (H), Aramaki Misaki (TII)
    8) Yabuki Nako (H), Tsutsui Riko (TII), Yamashita Emiri (TII)
    9) Matsuoka Natsumi (H), Shimono Yuki (KIV), Fukagawa Maiko (KIV)
    10) Tanaka Natsumi (H), Tomonaga Mio (KIV), Oda Ayaka (KKS)
    11) Sakaguchi Riko (H), Moriyasu Madoka (KIV), Jitoe Nene (KKS)
    12) Inoue Yuriya (H), Iwahana Shino (KIV), Tanaka Yuka (KIV)
    13) Motomura Aoi (KIV), Murakawa Bibian (TII), Tsukiashi Amane (KKS)
    14) Komada Hiroko (H), Tomiyoshi Asuka (KIV)

    Members not participating:
    Team H - Akiyoshi Yuka, Ueno Haruka, Yamada Marina,
    Team KIV - Imada Mina, Kumazawa Serina, Fuchigami Mai, Murashige Anna
    Team TII - Sakamoto Erena, Hokazono Hazuki, Yamauchi Yuna
    Kenkyuusei - Sakai Moeka, Toyonaga Aki, Matsumoto Hinata


    I knew I wanted to go to lanes 11, 13 and 14 for Bibian, Rikopi, and Asuka. Mio in lane 10 was a possibility. Then you had Nako and Miku in lanes 8 and 6. I had mentioned in my last HKT post that I was interested in meeting Nako. I also figured I would use my entry ticket on a 'heavyweight'. Would it be Sasshi, or Sakura? Lanes 2, 3, 5, 7, 9, and 12 were pretty much out. Or so I thought...

    The three of us got into the venue, and asked if they could renban our tickets. They said no, but we could all go to the "worst" section if we wanted. We all pulled different sections. Koba got A2 (front and center), I got B2 (middle center) and Derek got C2 (back center) We ended up trading our B2 and A2 tickets to various people for C2 tickets. However, that was before any of us knew that there was a rear stage. So for the random guy I traded my B2 ticket to, I felt kinda bad that I sort of screwed him over. But it really wasn't on purpose. Anyway, we got in about 30 minutes before the mini-live started, so it wouldn't be too long a wait.

    The mini-live started with a skit based on the comedy variety show "Shoten" where the teams answer quizzes and win cushions to sit on (SKE did a variation of this on Ebisho once before) Natsumikan played the host, and Imamura was the one handing out the cushions. Then came the music. The setlist...

    1) Bagutte Ijan
    2) Melon Juice
    (MC) "Waratte Iitomo"
    3) Iiwake Maybe
    4) Heavy Rotation
    5) Flying Get
    6) Gingham Check
    7) Love Trip
    (MC)
    8) HKT48 Family

    h2.jpg
    Natsumikan was the "2nd best" of this contest


    I may be messing up the order of the songs, and the AKB part was a tribute to SSK. Personally I would have rather hear them stick to HKT selections, but whatever. The MC after Melon Juice included another game, this time hosted by Bibian. The object was for the teams to toss blow up 'pool rings' to one member who had to somehow catch and 'wear' them. Most of the teams struggled, but the last team used Imamura as the catcher, which everyone laughed at. Until she turned out to be a freakin' champion, completely covering herself until the rings were even over her head, and then catching three more rings completely blind. Needless to say she was the MVP of this game. The show end shortly after 2:30, and the staff got the lanes ready pretty quick, definitely quicker than the last National event, when the lanes all opened up late. It was time to strategize. I wanted to get a long lane out of the way first, but which would it be? It also didn't help that our section (C2) was the 2nd to last section allowed to enter the lanes. Finally we were called. Well, it's now or never...

    Sashihara Rino (Lane 1) - The line was already pretty long, but this was a National event, so it wouldn't be a terribly long wait. However, at one point they reconfigured Sasshi's lane to accommodate more people. I wasn't sure what to say to Sasshi, but I figured I would ask her about her teeth. That plan went out the window, however, when I got into the lane and Sasshi noticed my t-shirt. She immediately pointed to it and said "Ebichu, all-right!!" as I was pushed out of the lane seconds later. I was confused though, I wasn't wearing an Ebichu shirt. But when I looked down at my shirt I realized what she was getting at. I was wearing one of my Wasamin birthday shirts, which features a big shrimp and a heart. "Ebi...Chu!" Ahhhhh! Well, considering Sasshi is into Ebichu, I'm glad I didn't correct her.

    Sakaguchi Riko, Jitoe Nene, Moriyasu Madoka (Lane 11) - Since I got that out of the way, I would start doing the lanes that were high-priority for me. I chose this lane because a) it was shorter than Bibian's line, and b) my friend Koba wanted to Renban. I eventually made it to the front. Rikopi immediately greeted me with "Kurisu, sashiburi!" I gave her a "whassup!", mimicking our last exchange at the individual HS event. Nene immediately tried speaking English with me, which became a pattern. Pretty much every single 4th gen KKS tried to speak English to me. Finally I got to Madoka and said "Wingardium Leviosa" in reference to her SSK poster from a couple years back. Anyway, I was glad I had the good reaction from Rikopi

    Lane 11, Part 2- I went back to this lane later in the afternoon. However, the girls had changed their order. Madoka was first, so I explained that her that I had her Harry Potter SSK poster framed in my house, which is partially true. I used to have it, but after I sold my house I took all of the posters down. Anyway, she was kinda shocked when I told her that. The guard kinda shoved me over to Rikopi, who acknowledged that I got shoved really hard. Finally more English from Nene, and I was out.

    h4.jpg

    Tsukiashi Amane, Murakawa Bibian, Motomura Aoi (Lane 13) - All of my friends decided that they wanted to visit this lane, so we entered together. The queue was fairly big, but we noticed that the next lane over was completely empty. I decided that I would take advantage and go there next, since I planned on seeing Tomiyoshi anyway. We got to the front, and I gave my usual "good luck, do your best" shpiel to the KKS, since I really have nothing to say to any of them. Bibian was next, with her usual over the top Kami reaction. I told her that her MC was great. After an osashiburi to Aoi I was done. However, I looked behind me and neither of my friends entered the booth. It turned out they stopped the lane right after my turn to send the girls over to the handicapped lane. I would take advantage of their wait to quickly visit Tomiyoshi in Lane 14. I would be visiting this lane later on as well.

    Tomiyoshi Asuka, Komada Hiroko (Lane 14) - There was no wait in this lane, and only a couple of people ahead of me in the queue. I greeted Tomiyoshi and asked if she was genki today, but then the fully expected push from the guard never came, so I sat there with my mouth open. Asuka was like "uhhhh" and sorta laughing, finally I got the merciful push to Komada who immediately asked me where I was from while Tomiyoshi watched our exchange since there was nobody behind me. It's funny, I always struggle to talk to Asuka, while Komada was no problem. I think the issue is that Asuka always waits for me to engage her, while other girls will take charge of the conversation. Anyway, chalk up another awkward exchange with Tomiyoshi, which occurs around 50% of the time I see her.

    h7.jpg

    In the meantime my friend Panda showed up at the venue, after spending the morning with SKE in Nagoya. I wanted to renban with him and visit his oshimen, Mikurin. But he informed me that he would only be doing matome with her. However, he said he was going to see Mio. Okay, she was on my possible 'visit list' I would enter the lane with him. And since he is also a big Mio fan, he could introduce me as his friend...

    h5.jpg


    Tomonaga Mio, Oda Ayaka, Tanaka Natsumi (Lane 10) - It wasn't a long line, eventually we made it to the booth where Panda began talking me up to Mio. She totally brightened up. When I came in after she had this huge smile on her face, and was totally genki. I told her that her haircut looked really nice, since the last time I saw her a couple weeks ago her hair was longer. I was eventually pushed to Oda, who gave me the 'English' treatment, then to Natsumikan, who immediately asked where I was from. I then told her that she was a great Shoten host. She enthusiastically thanked me as I left the lane. I have to thank Panda, because he totally upgraded my Mio experience.

    Half my tickets were done, I knew I would be visiting Lanes 11 and 13 again, I had three more to decide on. The odd number lanes were on break, and the even numbers were going on break soon. I decided I would get into another even numbered lane before they went out...

    Yamashita Emiri, Tsutsui Riko, Yabuki Nako (Lane 8) - I had noticed last week how genki Nako seemed with her fans, and that I would like to meet her. Well, here was my chance. And it was quite the experience, but not for the reasons I expected. Since I had never met Emiri before, I would give her the usual 'nice to meet you' greeting. But then Tsutsui saw me, and all hell broke loose. Grabbing on to me, she as just blurting out as much English as she could think of, holding on to me tightly. "Nice to meet you!" "Thank You!" "I Love You!" Eventually I got pushed over to Nako, but Tsutsun didn't let me go, now leaning over Nako and just continuing to give me facetime, and every time I tried to speak to Nako, Tsutsun would just keep going. Finally I got pushed out, without hardly saying a word to Nako. But just as I was leaving, Nako asked me "Do you speak Japanese?" I responded affirmatively, and she just laughed. They spent all this time yelling at me in English for no reason. Anyway, points to Tsutsui for the tremendous fishing job. It is too bad she is graduating, I would have probably gotten a ticket for her after this exchange.

    h6.jpg
    Two idols who were a lot of fun today!

    Tsukiashi Amane, Murakawa Bibian, Motomura Aoi (Lane 13, part 2) - The even number lanes went on break, so I decided this would be a good time to loop my top priority lanes, which were both Odd. After going to Lane 11, which I wrote about above, I went to see Bibian again. I passed Amane in a blur, but when I got to Bibian I wanted to tell her that my friend met her and was really impressed with her energy. She gave me an excited reaction, per usual. Bibian is pretty much always 'shot out of a cannon' I moved on to Aoi, who I have similar experiences with as Tomiyoshi, not sure what to say. So I merely told her I enjoyed the mini-live, especially the MCs.

    I had two tickets left. There was one lane left on my 'priority list' that I hadn't yet seen. So to have no regrets I would go there next, and then decide what to do with the final ticket. Perhaps see Sasshi again? Meet Sakura for the first time? Or even Meru??? What I didn't know was that these last two lanes would be my highlight of the day. It was totally unexpected too because it involved members I originally had written off as not being too interested in seeing...

    Shimizu Rio, Imamura Maria, Tanaka Miku (Lane 6) - So even if I wasn't getting to see Mikurin with Panda, I still wanted to meet her, especially since I am the person who receives Panda's huge orders from AKB and HKT with all the Mikurin tickets. I thought she might be interested in knowing the person behind the scenes of his huge amounts of tickets. All of the lines were much shorter now, even this line was quite small. As I went through the queue, I noticed that Lane 7 was empty, I also noticed that Aramaki Misaki was staring at me. Eventually she nudged Yamamoto Mao, who was next to her. They both waved to me, so I waved back. All of the sudden they brightened up. But they had nobody in their lanes, so I gave them the 'sad puffy lip' look. They are both beckoning me to come over. I thought about it a second. Well I DID have one ticket left, so I gave them a thumbs up and motioned that I would come over. They both started jumping up and down, along with Kojina Yui, who had gotten into the act. I love being fished from other lanes while in queue! Anyway...

    I went through my usual KKS greeting, then moved over to Maria. I congratulated Maria on being the 'game show champion!" This time I got a more authentic reaction than the last time I met her. That made me happy. I finally got to Mikurin, and told her I was friends with Panda. (Actually I used his real name) I then told her that "all of his tickets come to my house" and she immediately burst out laughing. It was awesome! Panda has become sorta notorious for the amount of Mikurin tickets he gets, so it wasn't lost on her what kinda of job handling Panda's tickets probably is. In fact, when she met Panda later, apparently she was excited to tell him the story. So now she knows the person behind the scenes of all those handshake tickets!

    And since my last ticket had been decided....

    Yamamoto Mao, Aramaki Misaki, Kojina Yui (Lane 7) - This promised to be an excellent handshake experience after our exchange a few minutes earlier. Like before, there was hardly anyone in the lane. All three of them pretty much were addressing me at the same time, thanking me for coming, complimenting me. "Kakkoi!" "Handsome!" "Jouzu Nihongo!" They were spreading it on quite thick, I felt like was at a hostess bar. But that's okay. I told them all I will come and see them again. The funny thing was the last time I met Aramaki she wasn't like this at all. However, my friend said that she has improved at handshakes lately. It was my first time meeting Yui and Mao. And Mao is one in particular I had thought of meeting for a while. So I am glad it was such a fun experience. It was definitely a meeting so memorable that it guaranteed future meeting will be just as fun.

    h1.jpg

    Talk about ending on a high note, eh? Two lanes I almost ignored ended up being the most fun all day. In fact, the entire day was a lot of fun, and just about every lane was a great experience. Sometimes it is good that your "oshi" isn't around. It frees you up to meet other members. While the cat's away...

    Anyway, that's it for me and HKT events until they release another CD. Same with SKE for that matter. I would much rather go to their exclusive events than the 48-group events. Aki-P and friends need to get their asses in gear and give these sister groups more releases.
     
    Last edited: May 29, 2017
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  3. Tuhis

    Tuhis Member

    Joined:
    Jan 5, 2008
    Oshimen:
    Furuhata Nao
    HKT48 1stアルバム『092』Kansha-sai/Kyushu, Grand Messe Kumamoto

    Started my trip with this event. Was crazy tired, since I had arrived to Nagoya just previous day, and I had to wake up at 0530 to make it to first train in order to be at Kumamoto in time.

    The venue had been divided into segments like this: https://www.universal-music.co.jp/hkt48/wp-content/uploads/sites/2117/2018/03/hkt_0325_map.png

    I had bought 2 first press copies of 092, which translated into 10 event tickets. Each sub-event cost 2 event tickets, and game and food stalls 1 each.

    1: Karaoke tent
    This was nice. There was six members performing, example Jiina, Akiyoshi Yuka and IIRC Tomiyoshi and Fuchigami. (I am not familiar with all HKT members and have bad memory.) Couple others I've forgotten. They sang various 48G songs for about 25 minutes with some MCing inbetween.

    After this went walking about the venue, spotted Sasshi making the rounds there, she did at least 3 rounds walking around the crowd surrounded by security, and a random member. First time it was Nako (who is freaking tiny IRL).

    2: Talk booth
    Went to this one partly by accident. "Oh here is something starting, might as well go." It was Murashige's talk where she gave life advice, but it had the added bonus of Sakuratan drawing animals for people asking questions. I chatted with some Murashige fans, who were surprised to find out I came from Finland to Kumamoto for HKT. They graciously shoved me to front row too, and tried to coax me to asking questions from Murashige, unfortunately I don't speak enough Japanese or Russian. Seemed fun, understanding questions better would have helped. :D

    3: Food stalls

    At this point I realized I was terribly hungry with a very small breakfast and no lunch so far. Unfortunately only things that did not have massive queues were cotton candy and dango(3 kinds). Went with dango, and it came with a Ueki Nao photo too!

    4: Surprise signings
    By far the surprise signatures had the biggest queue. So I queued up and waited for my turn. While in the queue some young girls were interested to see a westerner there so we chatted a bit before signings. They knew people ahead in the line who could tell who was in some booths. Apparently Natsumikan and Moripo were signing at the time and I missed Moripo (my HKT oshi) by one booth. Got a signature from a member I yet haven't looked up and had a quick chat. No handshake.


    5: Game booth (each booth had a changing member cheering)

    Went to shooting booth, aim was to hit a target in 2 tries. I of course hit it with the first one. Reward: a HKT sticker from Akiyoshi Yuka. She quite astutely noticed I was a foreigner when handing me the sticker and we had a small chat in Japanese. Fortunately I had learned how to tell my route to Kumamoto and it seemed again to be impressive.

    6: Surprise signings
    Decided to spend my last tickets on something that enabled me to have a chat with a member so surprise signing it was. Again a crazy queue, and again a member I didn't yet look up. Nice short chat and there it was.

    The event was about to end anyway as it was already over 1700 and I had to get myself to Kagoshima, so I went to bus stop to queue for a seat in the bus. Was a fun way to spend the day. Also Sasshi has quite the presence IRL.

    HKT48 at Saitama Super Arena

    This has already been discussed by others in great detail but for me, I liked it. I had 400-level crap seats but still it was quite much fun and entertainment. Lessons learned: next time I have Saitama-like concerts coming up cheap shit 8x binoculars won't do, you need 10x stabilized ones for 400-level seats. After the show, the merch lines weren't so crazy so I was able to get me a proper lightstick for the concerts coming up.
     
    Last edited: Apr 10, 2018
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  4. Cristafari

    Cristafari Stage48 Admin Staff Member Stage48 Admin

    Joined:
    Sep 10, 2008
    Location:
    Saitama, Japan
    Oshimen:
    Iwasa Misaki
    Twitter:
    Cristafari
    HKT48 1st Album Shamekai Event at Tokyo Ryutsu Center (2018/04/15)

    I have been anticipating these HKT shamekai events for a while now. Although I had heard mixed reviews about the event. As you may have noticed, HKT's album was coming out right before AKB's album, which meant that HKT fans would have to double-down on album purchases. Not to mention HKT's album 'theater version' was more expensive than AKB's. This ultimately negatively impacted HKT's album sales. I know it affected me, as I originally bought only six cds/tickets, three for each Tokyo event, although I ended up purchasing two more in a later resale round to make eight total.

    The other thing I heard was "Well, it's basically the same as an AKB event." We'll see about that.

    I arrived at Ryutsu Center at 11:45, shortly after the beginning of Slot 2. It's in the middle of an industrial area without much surrounding it, and you have to take the Tokyo Monorail to get there, which is a slight pain, although it does drop you off right at the entrance of the building. There was a big queue to get in, but it went fairly quickly, a little more than five minutes. It was a strange setup, since the event rooms are extremely small, especially compared to Yokohama and Makuhari. In fact, they couldn't even fit all the lanes on one floor. Lanes 1-13 were on the first floor, and lanes 14-24 were upstairs on the 2nd floor. LOL. The fan area was tiny too, so most people just went outside when they weren't doing handshakes. Also, it was hot as hell inside, so I had no desire hanging out in there longer than I had to. I went to my Slot 2 lane, said hello to a couple of fans I knew, and headed in...

    Akiyoshi Yuka (Lane 5) I got a message from a friend that Akiyoshi looked lonely sandwiched between Mikurin and Sakura. I told him I was on the way! As expected, she had no queue, all of her fans were hanging outside the lane. She's still in a cast and on crutches, so she stayed seated. The neat thing is each lane has a special backdrop that is based on whatever the day's theme is. Today is "Sports Day." the girls are also supposed to dress sporty. I waited for two people to go before it was my turn. Yukachan greeted me with a big smile and I gestured toward the food on the table. "Tabetai! Of course, I could have been talking about her. (LOL) She asked what pose, and we did the one I usually do with Maichan.

    sham11.jpg

    BTW, we'll give Yukachan a pass for not dressing 'sporty'. It's a really nice pic, right? In fact, the first person I sent this to thought we really took the pic in a bowling alley. Anyway, Yukachan said see you again, but I told her that I only had one ticket for today. I think I disappointed her. :(

    I went over to the map to see which lanes my other three tickets were, but I couldn't find one of the members. Where was she? I double-checked the kanji to make sure I wasn't overlooking her, and then I saw two members were out for the day, one being Tomonaga Mio. Oh no! I found out she recently had knee surgery, so I don't know if she will even be back for the next Tokyo shamekai event. It's times like these when I wish they offered oshimashi. I would've happily used the ticket on somebody else. Anyway, I spent the next 90 minutes outside. My plan was to do my one Slot 3 ticket toward the end f the time period, and then prequeue for my Slot 4 ticket since I needed to get out of there ASAP to go to Wasamin's cheki event. Unfortunately, there were ants everywhere, and at one point I had a couple crawling on me. I was sure to brush them all off before I headed back in for Slot 3...

    Murakawa Bibian (Lane 21) My one trip upstairs. Surprisingly, it was much cooler in the upstairs hall than the downstairs, but I think that was mainly because downstairs had all the senbatsu, and was much more crowded. Bibian's lane was completely empty, and I could see her fiddling with her phone while in her booth. She spotted me coming down the lane and began waving to me. It's nice when the experience begins early like that. I immediately noticed all the basketballs, and the schoolyard court scene as the backdrop. I asked her if I could pick up one of the balls. It was cool, we both grabbed one...

    sham12.jpg

    I think this pic is great. In fact, most everyone I have shown it too has really liked it. It makes me wonder what people were saying about it being "the same as AKB's shamekai" I think it's completely different. It's also fun to play off the backdrop. Bibian asked if she would see me again soon. I wasn't sure if I had any Bibian tickets coming up. Later I checked, and found I have one in July for the last Jabaja event. So it will be awhile. Oh well...

    Fuchigami Mai (Lane 3) I got to the queue early, and maneuvered my way around all the Piichan fans who were waiting to say goodbye to her. I managed to get third in the queue, which was good since the queue got extremely long before the lane opened. I got a peak at the decor when the guard pulled the curtain for a moment. It was darts. Okay, bowling, darts, beer drinking sports, LOL. Maichan had a cute little tennis outfit on. She asked what pose, and I suggested that we pretend we are throwing darts. I didn't notice that there were actual darts as a prop on the table. To my surprise, Maichan reaches in and hands me one. Really??? With all the caution about weapons? The guard immediately lunges over like "Nooo!!!" Maichan quickly grabbed it back from me. I actually left it resting in my open hand instead of clutching it since I had a feeling the guards would have an issue with this. I started laughing since I found whole exchange to be quite comical.

    sham14.jpg

    Ultimately, she was able to hold a dart, while I just had to fake it. No problem. It's another cute pic. As I left the lane I heard the guards discussing with her about the darts. So I doubt they had that issue anymore. But yeah, interesting prop considering the safety concerns.

    I had plenty of time to get to Gotanda to Wasamin's cheki event, so I didn't need to rush. My relatively short Wasamin report can be found in her thread. Ultimately, I really like the way these photos came out. The whole idea of the backdrops and the themed clothing is a really good one. They should definitely think about doing this again in the future. AKB could even do it.

    The other HKT48 Shamekai event in Tokyo is next month. I was hoping that maybe I would be able to do a makeup for Mio's tickets, but she might not be back by then. My other four tickets for that event are for Akiyoshi (x2) Maichan, and Rikopi. I'm looking forward to it.
     
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  5. hermionepj1

    hermionepj1 Member

    Joined:
    Jan 20, 2016
    Oshimen:
    Yamashita Emiri
    u may take terrible selfies, but u got the best shamekais in the fandom!
    the backgrounds are really cool
     
  6. Arbios

    Arbios Future Girls

    Joined:
    Jan 7, 2016
    Oshimen:
    Komiyama Haruka
    great report,i really like the picture with Vivian :)
     
  7. GATX105

    GATX105 Member

    Joined:
    Jul 4, 2011
    I think the hkt shots came out better than the akb ones. The backgrounds were a nice touch and also you're not being rushed out unlike in the akb one. The akb one had the smaller table and the close-up shots though and a chance to win a signed cheki or video. And yes as Cristafari reported, it was very hot inside, especially in the lane 1 and 2 area where you had sasshi/sakura. Lol, i think many of the girls weren't dressed for sports but just dressed how they like but in more casual attire.
     
  8. Cristafari

    Cristafari Stage48 Admin Staff Member Stage48 Admin

    Joined:
    Sep 10, 2008
    Location:
    Saitama, Japan
    Oshimen:
    Iwasa Misaki
    Twitter:
    Cristafari
    HKT48 1st Album Shamekai Event at TOC Gotanda Messe (2018/05/20)

    sham27.jpg

    This was the last in the series of both AKB48 and HKT48's album shamekai events. Despite only having three usable tickets the first time around, I had a lot of fun during 'Sports Day' where the members wore sporty clothing and we took photos with sports themed backdrops. I was also really looking forward to seeing Yukachan again since it had been a while. I didn't win a ticket for the Romeo and Juliet musical, and I had to oshimashi my Yukachan ticket at the 48-group event last week since she was out for the day (I used it on Yamauchi Suzuran) I also got the great news that Tomonaga Mio would be attending the event, and those of us who couldn't use our Mio tickets last time could use them at this event as a makeup. That gave me five tickets in total to use.

    TOC Gotanda Messe is similar to Tokyo Ryutsu Center in that it is extremely small compared to Pacifico, Makuhari, or Big Sight. And like Ryutsu Center, the lanes were spread out over two different rooms. Both rooms were relatively similar in size. The first room contained lanes 14-22, which were generally the girls who usually have shorter queues. It also had the entrance/bag check, information desks, and handicapped seating area. The far room had lanes 1-13, plus lane 23 which was the 'Group Shamekai' lane. I didn't notice they had added this feature, and Yukachan's group sold out before I tried to apply. In-between the two rooms was a large hallway, where they moved spillover queues, then the outside parking lot had food, goods, and photo trading. I got in before the 2nd slot started, and immediately queued for Yukachan...

    Slot 2

    Akiyoshi Yuka (Lane 19) "Otona Ressha": While waiting in queue for Yukachan, Hokazono Hazuki's lane already opened. Hazuki was wearing tight, black leather pants and a red leather jacket from the 10th single Platinum Girls B-side, and with her red hair she looked totally hawt. In fact, at one point she caught me checking her out and smiled at me. Meanwhile, Yukachan's lane finally opened up. Great to see her out of her cast and without her legs covered. Plus, she was wearing the outfit of one of, if my my favorite 48-group songs of all time, cool! When I was third in queue I caught her eye and she smiled at me. Finally it was my turn. "Kurissuuuu" However I hadn't even sat down yet and the guards were already yelling "pose, pose!" So we quickly did a heart pose.

    sham21.jpg

    I tried to say something to Yukachan but they were pushing me out withing a micro-second of me shaking her hand. Oh well, maybe I will get a chance to say something to her next time around.

    I had loads of time, and wanted to get something to eat before the food queues got too long, so I went out to the hall and toward the food booths. Karaage, Gyu Bowls, and skewers. I still find it interesting that they offer skewers on sharp wooden sticks inside the venue. Nobody sees the irony in that? I got a Gyutan Bowl.

    sham26.jpg

    I also noticed that were selling the guidebook. After seeing the Yukachan photo from the book, it was pretty much a given I was going to buy it. Plus, I would get a bonus photo from buying at an event. Anyway, I went back into the venue to use my other Yukachan ticket...


    Akiyoshi Yuka (Lane 19) <2nd ticket> This time I was determined to say something other than hello. The line was short, so I was to the front within a minute or two. Once again, the guards were yelling "pose, pose" and we did an usagi pose.

    sham22.jpg

    The guards were trying to push me out, but I managed to ask her about her performance in Romeo and Juliet. However, I think she assumed, based on my question, that I had seen the play, so she thanked me for seeing it. As I was being pushed out, I didn't have the chance to correct her. That's okay, if she assumes I saw it, that's better for my fan cred, LOL. I turned back and she was still looking at me and smiling as I was collecting my bag, so I smiled and waved back to her one more time. I'll have plenty of time to talk to her at the upcoming Jabaja handshake events, so no biggie.

    I left Yukachan's lane, and the was still around 5-10 minutes before the gates closed. I decided to get my makeup ticket done right then and there. I didn't want to lose out on my chance later on (a wise move, as you will find out)

    Tomonaga Mio (Lane 7) "Hitsuzenteki Koibito": This was the only ticket I had for the 'senbatsu room' where most of the long queues were. I had checked earlier, and Mio's queue was fairly long. When I returned it was somewhat shorter, as were the queues of most of the members, but it still extended outside the lane itself. The nice thing was since my ticket was a make-up from April, I could use it in any slot I wanted. I wanted to get it done ASAP just in case Mio bailed on the event at some point (which she later did!) Once again, it was extremely noticeable how quickly they were processing fans through the shamekai. In fact, the queue past check-in was getting shorter, despite the larger queue outside. They were taking 2-shots faster than they were checking people in, LOL. The gate had already closed by the time it was my turn. Mio was sitting with her legs covered in a blanket, much like Yukachan a few weeks ago. I wasn't sure what song her costume was from, but I thought all the pills affixed to her shirt were funny. She greeted me with an English "Hello" and I asked how she was doing. We quickly posed and took our shot.

    sham23.jpg

    Afterwards I thanked her for making it to the event while the guard was pulling me toward the exit, LOL. That beings me to the subject of time...

    So the scuttlebutt around the venue was that all the lanes were being handled in much the same way. People were being rushed through the process. This especially pissed off people who had multiple tickets. As a result, people were complaining at the information booth, and I happen to agree with them. If you show up with 12 tickets, your entire experience shouldn't take less than a minute, including the pics. What they were doing was rapidly taking the pics, then allowing 2-3 seconds for a handshake regardless of the amount of tickets you had. I only use one ticket at a time, so it didn't affect me too much, but I get why some people were angry.

    Anyway, I used this time to queue up and buy the guidebook, and got Ota Nao as my bonus pic. They were pretty much sold out of everything else I was interested in. I held up the photo as I walked through the traders, but since these were HKT fans, none of them were interested. I got the same "Nope!" look over and over. At one point someone asked who I was looking for, and when I said Akiyoshi they responded "Yeah, good luck!" In the meantime, I ran into Carey, who had purchased multiple books for the photos. He didn't want the extra books, so he gave one to me. Shit, had I known that was going to happen I wouldn't have wasted my time buying one! Anyway, on to the next 2-shot...

    Slot 3

    Sakaguchi Riko (Lane 15) "Shekarashika!"
    It had been a while since I had hung out with Rikopi, so I was looking forward to seeing her. I had to ask what costume this was, and when she said it was from her first senbatsu selection I was kinda surprised. I always think of the yankii uniforms they wear in the PV when I think of that song. Anyway, when it was my turn I got a big 'hisashiburi' greeting from Rikopi, she is always super genki at these events.

    sham24.jpg

    Once again, it was a rushed process. In fact, the guard took my phone and ran outside the booth with it trying to get me to chase him, LOL. Rikopi noticed my ticket holder, and asked who was on it as I was being led out, but I just smiled and waved to her.

    I had over an hour until my last ticket, so I went back outside to the food and goods area. I had to maneuver my way past the spillover lines, which were taking up much of the space in the center hall all day. During each slot, the lines of Sakura, Mikurin, and Hana (yes, Hana!) stretched so long that they had to move them outside the room and to the hallway. Mio also had a relatively long queue since she was doing make-ups for multiple missed events, but her queue didn't quite make it to the hallway. Part of the issue was that the queuing areas were so small, that even a medium sized line crated havoc for the guards, plus the waiting area outside the lanes was so tiny that there was hardly room for anyone to stand.

    This also became an issue for my final handshake of the day. I had a similar issue at the first HKT shamekai. My last ticket was for Maichan, and her lane was in the hall of the 'lesser popular' members for some reason. Moreover, it was in the far corner furthest from the doorway to the hall. I tried to get over there early so I could get the jump on Maichan's queue in the next slot, however Piichan was finishing up her last slot. Like last time, Piichan has this huge entourage of fans who want to do this big send-off production when she finishes her last handshake. Rikopi's fans also had a similar plan, so getting near those two lanes was almost impossible. Piichan's fans did their thing, and they almost immediately re-opened the lane for pre-queueing...


    Fuchigami Mai (Lane 14) "Sakura, Minna de Tabeta": I managed to push my way through the mass of Piichan fans coming the other way and made it 4th in line to check-in. This also gave me a front row seat to the Rikopi fans' festivities. That was fun. As I was 4th in line, this didn't affect me, but I noticed that line for Maichan became insanely long and had a snaking queue outside the lane in the waiting area. If the lane were closer to the door, they surely would have put it out in the hall, but that wasn't feasible. The guards kept trying to get us all to scrunch closer together to make more room in the line, it was getting ridiculous. Maichan was a few minutes late too, which didn't help. Maichan looks cute in anything she wears, but she looked especially cute in the Sakura, Minna outfit.

    sham25.jpg

    There wasn't much of an exchange between Maichan and I during the handshake, except as I was leaving she shouted "I love you, Matta ne!" while I was outside the queue. It was around 2:45, and I was done. I had plans for the afternoon, but I stopped to chat with my friend Panda before I left the venue.

    Postscript

    So a couple of interesting things happened to me after the event. I headed to Shinjuku to hang out at the Oedo Beer Festival, and I still had on my HKT48 jersey and concert t-shirt. Every once in a while I would hear the name "Akiyoshi" being muttered from someone behind me. Then after I got to the beer festival, this girl grabbed me. She opened up my jersey. "HKT48, you like them???" "You are fan of Sashihara?" She was even more surprised when she found out I was a fan of Akiyoshi. This girl ended up hanging out with me for two hours talking about idols, LOL. Later on, my friend, a Sasshi fan, came over since he couldn't use his Sasshi tickets, and we had a couple of brews.

    sham28.jpg

    The other funny thing was that I had earlier tweeted my Yukachan and Mio pics, and it was retweeted by a couple of Yukachan fans I know. However, by the evening I was getting a constant stream of Like and Retweet notifications that went well into the night, and is still happening sporadically today. So my Yukachan pic kinda went viral, LOL.
     
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  9. Cristafari

    Cristafari Stage48 Admin Staff Member Stage48 Admin

    Joined:
    Sep 10, 2008
    Location:
    Saitama, Japan
    Oshimen:
    Iwasa Misaki
    Twitter:
    Cristafari
    HKT48 11th Single Individual Handshake Event at Tokyo Ryutsu Center (2018/08/04)

    This was the first of two August HKT48 handshake events in Tokyo. The second one is coming up in two weeks. I decided to go light on tickets for this single, initially picking up only seven tickets for this event only. There was a chance I would be going to America in August, so I avoided the second event. However, after my trip got cancelled I picked up a few tickets for the mid-August event on the final resale.

    Also, I always try to be strategic with my ticket scheduling in order to 1) avoid an unnecessarily long day, and 2) not overload any particular slot. As it turned out, pretty much all the members I like were scheduled in the later portion of the day with the exception of Bibian, who was only scheduled for the morning. As a result, I ended up not getting any Bibian tickets for this entire release. It's too bad, since I have really been 'clicking' with Bibian lately, and want to hang out with her. Oh well. Anyway, I arrived at Ryutsu Center in the early afternoon since my first ticket wasn't until the 2pm "Lunch" Slot. After grabbing an Oolong Tea from the conbini outside, I headed into the venue. The last time HKT48 was at this venue for their shamekai event they were in an extremely cramped building, which was also very hot. This time they were on the 2nd floor of the main building, which was much bigger, and much cooler.

    Special Stage, with Akiyoshi!

    hkt2.jpg

    After going through security, I passed the stage where random members do special programs, and whaddya know... I immediately spot Yukachan in a blue Yukata. I grabbed a spot in the back of the standing area where I had a good view of her. With her on stage were Natsumikan, Aramaki, Emiri, Iwahana Shino, and Yamauchi Yuuna. I arrived in the middle, but seemed as if they were doing some sort guessing game with strange objects. I was really only seeing if I could grab Yukachan's attention, as she was often looking over the audience. I think I caught her eye, but I wasn't sure. They also give fans the opportunity to purchase a CD and do a quick handshake with the members at the end, but I had plenty of Yukachan tickets, so I instead decided to head off for my first handshake.

    Lunch Slot

    hkt4.jpg

    Yukachan was busy taking selfies with everyone today!

    Sakaguchi Riko (Lane 10) I met a friend over by Rikopi's lane. It was already five minutes into the relatively shorter 'Lunch' slot and not only was Rikopi's line pretty big, she hadn't shown up yet. I also noticed that quite a few people in line were wearing little birthday party hats. It her birthday??? I quickly checked, it was a week ago. Eventually it was almost 20 minutes into the slot, and she still hadn't shown up. I decided to queue, since there really is no option for oshi-mashi with HKT. (Actually, they did start this option, but only for tickets of members who were absent, like Haruppi, Sakura, and Nako)

    She finally made it to the booth, and the line moved relatively quickly. In the meantime, I always get a kick out of fans who I have never seen before side-glancing my ticket holder to gauge who I am a fan of. At HKT events I wear an Akiyoshi ticket holder with a bunch of Akiyoshi keychains dangling off of it. Finally it was my turn. Unfortunately I couldn't congratulate her on any SSK stuff, so I settled on wishing her a happy birthday. I also noted everyone's festive attire. Rikopi, who never misses the opportunity to try English with me, replied. "Yes, BIG BIG Party!!!"

    By the way, it was about this time I'm pretty sure I saw @Tuhis walking through the hall, but I was heading to my next ticket so I didn't stop. I looked for him later, and saw him queued in Madoka's lane.

    Slot 5

    Fuchigami Mai (Lane 15) I headed over to Maichan's lane, but they hadn't opened the gate yet. I ended up being second in line, which was good since I planned on quickly using my two Slot 5 tickets, and then leaving the venue for a little while. In the meantime, I watched a few of the members walk by heading to the far outside lanes, including the 3rd gen draftees who were going to the Special Stage. A few minutes later this really cute member who I didn't recognize walked by wearing white shorts, green top, and a really pretty smile. It turned out to be Seki Ai, who is another new draftee. Hmmm, I think I will need to put her on my "need to meet" list for a future event. I was struggling to think of what to talk to Maichan about, but then I noticed the single poster tacked on the wall in the booth.

    hkt7.jpg
    This pic isn't from the handshake event, but keeping with the theme...

    Maichan entered the booth looking adorable as usual. When it was my turn I told her that I really like the new single MV, and whenever I watch it I am always looking for her scenes. This is actually true. She thanked me, and said she was glad I liked the video.

    Tomonaga Mio (Lane 9) I have gotten quite a few Mio tickets lately, although I ended up doing oshi-mashi with a couple of them. Initially I had a couple of fun handshakes with her, but lately I have contemplated not getting tickets for her in the future since I don't know that I really 'click' with her. At the beginning of the slot she had a bit of a pre-queue, but that had died down by the time I came over. In fact, I pretty much went directly into the booth.

    hkt1.jpg
    Unfortunately no Mio/Yukachan selfie. But this is a cute Mio photo

    When I first entered the booth I noticed that her hair looked really nice, like she had just been to the hairdresser. After the standard hisashiburi I asked her how her leg was feeling. She said she felt good and was genki. I said that's great, and hope she gets better. She responded by calling me 'Ikemen' and pointing to her eyes. So I guess Mio likes my eyes? That's nice, and it's the first time she has ever said anything like that to me. I should have complimented her hair, but I didn't think to do it until it was too late. Anyway, just as I think to abandon visiting Mio she butters me up and now I am reconsidering. LOL

    Slot 6

    Akiyoshi Yuka (Lane 16) <1 of 2 tickets> Since I only had Yukachan tickets for this slot, I had taken off for 90 minutes and came back after the slot started. I was hoping she would still be wearing her Yukata, which she looked so cute and comfortable in. I saw Yukachan come out from the back curtain. Sure enough, she had on the Yukata. So when it was my turn I immediately mentioned how cute she was dressed. I then said that I watched her special stage, but was in the back. She said she noticed me standing back there. I thought she did. Great, mission accomplished! I thought about looping the line, but I had noticed the members going over to the special stage, and decided to walk over there instead...

    Special Stage with Rikopi. Kyushu Food Products

    hkt3.jpg


    So when I saw Rikopi heading over to the special stage, I decided I wanted to watch it. After my handshake with Akiyoshi, I had only missed the very beginning. For the stage, the competing members where Rikopi, Imamura, Takeda Tomoka, Fukagawa Maiko, with Kumazawa Serina as the MC. The members were given two products to taste, one was a special item from Kyushu, the other was just a regular product from a local conbini. The first challenge was a piece of fruit (I think Kabosu?) The second was a Kyushu pastry versus a conbini donut, and the 3rd was Skal vs Calpis Soda. I didn't know Skal came from Kyushu. Ultimately, Imamura and Takeda won with 2 of 3 correct. Rikopi luckily got the final one right, otherwise she would have gone zero out of three, LOL. After that was done I headed back for the other Akiyoshi ticket...

    Akiyoshi Yuka (2nd ticket) So yeah, I pretty much related to her that I watched Rikopi's stage, and quickly told her what they were up to. Yukachan smiled and said omoshiroi before I got kicked out. I had one more ticket for her in the final slot.

    Slot 7

    Akiyoshi Yuka (Lane 16) This was going to be a challenge. I needed to get Akiyoshi's ticket done as soon as possible so I could use my final ticket, which I needed to check-in for by 6:10pm. I ended up queueing very early to be sure I was first in line, which I was. Yukachan popped into her booth a few minutes late. So I quickly related the story on how I spoke to her Janken partner, Inagaki Kaori at the theater last week, and told her I was rooting for Onegai Kokoro. The moment I said the name of her unit she lit up and said "Yeah, Onegai Kokoro!" She said she would do her best, and I wished her good luck. And with that I took off for my last ticket...

    Sashihara Rino Special Stage

    hkt5.jpg

    Yukachan with Mother-hen

    This was one of the special stages where you actually needed a ticket to get in. The other was for Sakura, but that one had been cancelled since she was out for the day. Like with most special stages, they draw your ticket when you check in. There were 500 spaces, so you could get a very good number, or not so great. When I went through check-in I noticed my friend Koba, who is a huge Sasshi fan, was in the 450-475 queue. Damn, I'm sure he wasn't happy about that! He directed me to the queues on the left since he thought ost of the people with lower numbers were coming from those lines. I surveyed the scene for a minute, and noticed it was pretty random. Still, I took his advice and went to the far left queue. When it was my turn I could see into the staff members "cup" and noticed that the ticket on top was #19. Oh please pick that one for me! Unfortunately she shuffled them around before picking, and I got #179. Not great, but not horrible either. However, I'm really not a big Sasshi fan, I just wanted to see the stage. I ended up swapping my ticket with Koba so he could be closer to his oshi. My new entry ticket was #464. It didn't make that big a difference. When I entered the stage area there was plenty of room right down the middle. In fact I was only 6-8 feet behind Koba. I had a perfect view of the stage, with relatively shorter people in front of me. I was good to go.

    The special stage was only fifteen minutes long or so. Sasshi came out and read a bunch of random questions that her fans filled out in her handshake lane. A lot of it was goofy stuff. One person did ask if she was going to graduate soon, but for the most part she just shrugged off the questions and gave snarky responses. Pretty much what you would expect from Sasshi. For the rest of the event she was doing Karaoke by request. A lot of people were shouting HKT songs, but she kept saying she wanted to do non-48 stuff. She sang parts of 3-4 songs, often changing the song tempo when she noticed the songs were going out of her singing range. Sasshi isn't among the best singers in the group, and gets quite pitchy at times, but it was mostly just for fun anyway.

    hkt6.jpg

    And that was it. We were handed a special "ticket" for the event as we left. I was done with my tickets, and there was still 15 minutes left before the gates closed on the lanes. Damn! I could've purchased more Akiyoshi tickets. the only reason I didn't was because I wasn't sure about this special stage. Oh well, for the next HKT event i only have Akiyoshi tickets. Nobody else. So she will be getting my undivided attention.
     
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  10. Tuhis

    Tuhis Member

    Joined:
    Jan 5, 2008
    Oshimen:
    Furuhata Nao
    That was me. I was going to send a PM and verify if it was you but didn't get around to it. :D And I did go to Yuka's line too. (And Boss')
     
  11. Arbios

    Arbios Future Girls

    Joined:
    Jan 7, 2016
    Oshimen:
    Komiyama Haruka
    good thing you didn't since she didn't rank
     
  12. Cristafari

    Cristafari Stage48 Admin Staff Member Stage48 Admin

    Joined:
    Sep 10, 2008
    Location:
    Saitama, Japan
    Oshimen:
    Iwasa Misaki
    Twitter:
    Cristafari
    That's what I meant. I went and cleaned up the post a little to make some of my thoughts more clear, including that one.
     
  13. Tuhis

    Tuhis Member

    Joined:
    Jan 5, 2008
    Oshimen:
    Furuhata Nao
    HKT48 11th Single HS at Tokyo Ryutsu Center

    This was my last event before it was time to go home.

    Slot 5:Moriyasu Madoka
    Having never spoken to Madoka before I had some basic stuff thought beforehand. Waste of effort. Right from the get-go she started a barrage of questionsat me. "Where did you come from?" "Finland." "What language do they speak there?" "Finnish." "Say something in Finnish!" and so on. It was fun. By the time time guards were seeing me off I did manage to call her the cutest princess of Hakata and got a big smile and "Thank you!" in return.

    Slot 6: Tanaka Natsumi
    Having never spoken to Boss either, I had some stuff thought out, like congratulating her for ranking and her MC at the kanshasai. She also wanted to hear that she was cute and I was happy to oblige. Gawddaym she is skinny though. She also pointed at her shirt that said "Cherie" and wanted me to say it. Fortunately I know enough French to be able to pronounce it properly. Quite fun to chat with her too.

    Slot 6:Akiyoshi Yuka
    I actually had spoken to her before very briefly, at 092 kanshasai in Kumamoto a few months before. She did not remember me of course but more about that. We started off in English but switched to Japanese. I congratulated her for ranking and she wanted to know where I was from and complimented my Japanese. (Which really is nothing to compliment to be honest.) All in all quite fun and refreshing.

    After which I left, went to Akihabara to spend my last evening and try the last dessert at AKB Cafe I had not yet tried. Had a nice chat with a HKT fan while there.
     
  14. Cristafari

    Cristafari Stage48 Admin Staff Member Stage48 Admin

    Joined:
    Sep 10, 2008
    Location:
    Saitama, Japan
    Oshimen:
    Iwasa Misaki
    Twitter:
    Cristafari
    HKT48 11th Single Individual Handshake Event at Tokyo Ryutsu Center (2018/08/18) ~Yukachan Matsuri~

    The previous HKT48 Tokyo event was only two weeks ago. Frankly, I think that is too close together, although I'm sure scheduling and venue availability played a part in it. I originally didn't purchase tickets for this event. It was only at the final resale that I picked up a few. And since the four tickets I bought were all for the same member, I will try to keep this somewhat short. Plus, I will throw in a few other observations.

    A relatively small crowd...

    The first observation that there didn't seem to be many fans at this event. I'm not sure how much the absence of Sakura and Nako had to to with that, but it seemed like 1) it wasn't very crowded, and 2) most of the lanes were "starred" for day-nomination tickets. In all fairness, I didn't arrive until late in the day. But still. Speaking of *starred* lanes...

    The flower lei of shame or glory?...

    As some of you already know, HKT48 employed the "On the day nomination" ticket option that AKB has been using for quite a few years now. This means you could get nameless tickets and use them on any available lane. BTW, the lanes aren't *starred*, instead they have a little picture of a dog with a megaphone, whatever that means. The interesting part is if you use one of these tickets, they give you a red flower lei that you must wear throughout the handshake so the member knows you used a 'nameless' ticket. This is kind of a double-edged sword. On one hand, you could say the person really didn't plan to see this member, only deciding on a whim. On the other hand, there is some value in that. Like "What made you choose this member out of all the members with starred lanes?" At the end of the day, it's just a cute little addition that HKT added to the "day of nomination" ticket procedure. Hopefully they will begin to offer oshi-mashi soon as well.

    Birthday Cards...

    Since I had plenty of time, I decided to check out which member seitensei cards were available to sign. Lo and behold, the Yukachan committee was there. They spotted me immediately, and were like "Get over here!" So I signed her card, the committee member noting that like Yukachan I am also left-handed. From there I saw Maichan's committee two seats over, except Tomiyoshi's committee were blocking me from getting through. They finally noticed me and assumed I wanted to sign Asuka's card, but I was like "No, I want to sign Maichan's." One guy actually looked somewhat pissed. I signed Maichan's card in an English/Japanese combination, and gave it to the girl running the booth. She looked at the card. "CHRIS! Thank you Chris!" She was cute too. And those would be the only two cards I would sign on that day. I considered signing one for Mio. I probably should.

    No pay no play...

    hkt9.jpg


    If you have read my past 48-group of HKT event writeups, you may have noticed that the lionshare of my tickets are for the same four members; Yukachan, Maichan, Bibian, and Rikopi. I do occasionally see other girls, but these are my "Four-Top" Now on this day I only had tickets for one member. However, her lane was right next to another one of my top members, Fuchigami Mai. Mai absolutely saw me walking down the lane on more than one occasion, and she didn't have any fans at her booth at the time. Did she smile at me? Wave? Acknowledge me in any way? NOPE, NOPE, AND NOPE. In fact at one point it seemed like she purposely looked away from me when she caught me glancing in her direction...

    I have a similar dynamic currently happening with Tani Marika of SKE. I see both Tani and Maichan at handshake events all the time, but I think they both get that they are not my favorite member in their respective groups. Both of them have tried to fish me in the past, so perhaps in a way they have both given up trying very hard with me. Oh well. I do have a couple of Maichan tickets at the upcoming AKB events, we'll see how it goes.

    Oh yeah, it's a handshake event...

    Slots 6-7

    Akiyoshi Yuka (Lane 16) <4 tickets> I didn't arrive at Ryutsu Center until just after 4:30. In fact there were already a significant amount of people leaving the venue for the day. I went through security and immediately queued up for my first ticket. The girl at check-in looked at my ticket and ID for quite a while, almost looking like she was going to ask for assistance. But when she turned my ID over and saw the address she seemed to decide it was okay. I mentioned to her that all of my tickets were for Yukachan, so I would be back again. She laughed, and was like "Is that so?" But after that I had no issue, she looked at my ticket and ID for about two-seconds from that point forward As for Yukachan...

    hkt8.jpg

    I started by telling her that "Today is Yukachan Matsuri," and I only have tickets for her. She smiled and thanked me, throwing in an "I love you" for good measure. I love you too Yukachan! We spent two of the handshake tickets talking about her appearances on HKT Bingo! She recently recorded an episode, and said she had a lot of fun. I also mentioned that I watched the episode where she and Bibian did a comedy bit. Later on I complimented her dress. She backed up and modeled it for me, which made it look even nicer since it showed off her figure. (I kept that thought to myself) She responded by grabbing my shirt sleeve and saying she liked my outfit (I was wearing my Yukachan baseball jersey) and thanked me for often wearing my Akiyoshi jersey. For the final ticket I mentioned that there aren't any events coming up for a while, so I'm not going to see her again for almost a month. We both did the "crying face" as I was being pushed out. She yelled that she would see me next month!

    And slightly more than two hours after I arrived, I was done. I do have an SKE48 handshake event next weekend, but my next event involving HKT members isn't until late September. That is unless they do a National event in Tokyo soon. That would be nice.
     
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  15. Tuhis

    Tuhis Member

    Joined:
    Jan 5, 2008
    Oshimen:
    Furuhata Nao
    10/1 Team TII 手をつなぎながら Performance at HKT Theatre

    I had won cancel machi #89 for this show, but since I had nothing planned I might as well get good mileage out of my JR Pass and go try Hakata Ramen too. So I booked a hotel for the night and dropped of my stuff and headed for the theater. #89 did not feel like much, even with ticket center showing 45 cancellations. Chatted with some lulzy older guys in the queue while waiting and then it was announced: Everyone who showed up got in. JACKPOT.

    So we went to get our tickets and lined up to wait to get called for seats. One of the dudes I chatted with earlier was standing behind me in the line, actually in the 280s there was only me and him. Once we got called, shit was ON. The dude grabs my coat as to say "Move NOW" and pushes me through the crowd to get inside (not gently). We were the 15th to get called in and I got a quite good seat, smack dab inthe middle of the crossbar of the H, about 12th row. Got seated next to another older gentleman who was also interested what a finnish person was doing in the theater and how I ended up there etc. Was quite nice.

    At the performance my attention was in the beginning mostly focused on the members I knew more such as Imamura Maria but watching others too. After a while I noticed I'm constantly focusing on Yamashita Emiri. She's excellent.

    To be honest TII has been mostly below my radar until HKTBingo but obviously it has been a waste. Would go see again, of course. Will follow Emiri's doings in the future.
     
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  16. Tuhis

    Tuhis Member

    Joined:
    Jan 5, 2008
    Oshimen:
    Furuhata Nao
    Wait wut nobody else has had any HKT experiences since? Oh well, sorry for double posting.

    2/14 Team KIV Seifuku no Me Valentine Performance

    With a lot of luck I got enpou for this performance. I had actually gotten a canmachi for previous day's TII performance but it did not turn out my way. However, before this performance was a special Valentine event where you could win your favourite member giving chocolate to you, or preferential entry etc. Also, it had a mixed cast since it had for example ODA performing.

    I did not win any specials, and also in HKT Theatre enpou seats are designated, so I had an OK seat on 7th row. (Note, the seats have cushions and armrests, much more comfortable than SKE Theatre.

    Performance itself was quite nice! My physical condition wasn't the best but it was quite enjoyable anyway. Ueki Nao and Motomura Aoi were quite nice in midriff revealing outfits, Sayamaru cute all around and lulziest was Matsumoto Hinata. (Not a surprise.) Also since it was Valentine, there had to be something special so there was a HKT Version of Choco no Dorei, and everyone who came got some chocolates and a handwritten note! (I got Ueki Nao.)

    Afterwards I went to have some udon and chill at my hotel to prepare for next day's rush to SKE Theater and Makuhari.. All in all good fun and worth going to Fukuoka for.
     
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  17. Cristafari

    Cristafari Stage48 Admin Staff Member Stage48 Admin

    Joined:
    Sep 10, 2008
    Location:
    Saitama, Japan
    Oshimen:
    Iwasa Misaki
    Twitter:
    Cristafari
    HKT48 12th Single 'Ishi' Individual Handshake Event at Makuhari Messe (2019/06/09)

    I had waited until the 17th round of applications before even deciding to attend this event. But unsurprisingly all the members I like were fully available, so I didn't have any trouble obtaining the tickets I wanted. However, I was a bit disappointed that once again, Yukachan was not participating in any of the 'Special Lanes' with multiple members. I don't know what it is, since she does the special lanes at the events in Kyushu, Aichi, and Kansai. But if I am not mistaken I am pretty sure this is the third single in a row where she didn't do it at a Tokyo event. However, that ended up working itself out...

    I had a total of nine tickets, from Slot #5 through Slot #9. HKT was doing something slightly different with this release, where every slot was one hour, as opposed to the customary 90 minutes. Thus, there were ten slots in total. I decided to head out a bit early to give myself time to have lunch in Makuhari. However, that plan almost got spoiled when a woman on the train collapsed just as we pulled out of Shin-Kiba Station. Eventually shecame to as we pulled into Maihama (Disneyland Resort), and the station staff eventually convinced her to leave the train to receive medical attention. However, just before the doors closed the woman bolted back into the train and refused to get off until she got home. In any case, she made it to her destination without incident, and I got to Makuhari just a few minutes behind schedule. Anyway, I had three tickets for Slot #5, and was confident I could get them all done despite the shortened slot times...

    Slot #5

    Akiyoshi Yuka (Lane #3)
    <two tickets> It was almost 10 minutes into the slot when I queued up, but Yukachan hadn't yet arrived. I debated going to my other lane, but that queue was a bit longer. Eventually Yukachan arrived, and it wouldn't be long before my turn. I spent my time in the queue eyeing Takeda Tomoka and Sakamoto Erena, who were in the neighboring lanes. Yukachan greeted me with her usual "Yaho Kurisu!" I decided to compliment her on the white one-piece dress she was wearing, going on to say at she always looks good in white. (She looks good in black too, but I will talk about in a moment) I asked her if I had missed her in a special stage earlier, and she told me she had done one a little while earlier. Drats, I missed it!

    hkt2.jpg

    The other lane I had a ticket for still had a long queue, so I decided to use my other Yukachan ticket. This time I gave her a little update on what's going on with me personally, and I asked her what she thought of the idea of me moving to Fukuoka. All of a sudden she got really excited. "Hontoni??? Ganbatte!!!" Yeah, I don't think Yukachan would mind if I was living closer to HKT's home base. In any case, I told her I would see her later.

    hkt3.jpg

    Sakaguchi Riko (Lane 9) Rikopi is always a fun handshake, but I usually only see her at HKT48 single events, opting to skip her at the 48-group events. Thus, it had been quite a while since I had seen her. After the usual hisashiburi pleasantries, she asked me if I was genki. I told her I was looking for a job. "In Japan?" she replied. When I responded affirmatively she exclaimed "Good!" and pumped her fist. I told her I would see her later, and took my leave.

    I had some time, and decided to check out what new 'Ishi' goods they had on sale. I had seen the acrylic keychain, and the new ticket holder necklace, so I knew I wanted those, plus they had a bunch of different T-shirts. However, most of them were 'free size', meaning I can't wear them. The only XL shirt they had was a 5th Gen shirt, which looked nice, but I wasn't interested. Unfortunately, I didn't have much cash in my wallet, and the HKT goods booth doesn't take credit cards, so I had to leave the hall and head to the ATM. I then came back and made my purchases a little while later.

    hkt9.jpg

    I had been using my 'Saitama Super Arena Concert' ticket holder for a year, which is heavy, and strangely designed. With this holder, they finally switched to the same design SKE48 uses, which is a lot lighter and user-friendly. BTW, I have quite a few pieces of Yukachan memorabilia where she is wearing black. I thing it brings out her sexiness quite well.


    Slot 6

    Seki Ai (Lane 14)
    This was a new entry for me. Last year, at one of the HKT events for the last single, I saw Seki walking behind Yukachan's lane, and I thought she was really pretty, and had a captivating smile. Unfortunately, it would be almost a year before I would be able to get a ticket for her at an HKT event. Her queue wasn't very long, and I basically related the story of why I chose to get a ticket for her. She just smiled and thanked me, which was fine, although admittedly she looked a bit different from what I had remembered. At one point I wondered "Is this the same girl?" LOL

    hkt1.jpg

    Fuchigami Mai (Lane 8) It was time for my obligatory visit to Maichan, despite our handshake interactions not being quite as impactful as the days when I first started meeting her. That said, I still think she is drop-dead adorable. So I decided when it was my turn to compliment her outfit. Like Yukachan, she pointed out it was a one-piece, and asked what I thought of the floral print on the collar. In any case, it was a nice visit, and I will never get tired of her pretty smile.

    hkt5.jpg

    One cool feature of the HKT events are the Special Stages they do throughout the day. I was kinda busy during the last two slots, but in this slot I could hear Bibian's voice emanating from the stage area, so I was hoping to go and catch a few moments of the stage before it ended. I wasn't sure what they were up to, but there were periodic HUGE booms coming from the stage. I swear it sounded like cannon fire, LOL. I made it over toward the end, and learned they were playing some sort of game which involved popping huge balloons. Really? I never knew balloons could make that loud of a pop. I mean it was startling people on the other end of the hall. I would periodically head over to the stage in each slot, hoping to see members I like. It was mostly the 5th gen, but I saw both Bibian and Rikopi MC events.

    Slot 7

    hkt4.jpg
    Mio, with 5th gen member Kamijima Kaede

    Tomonaga Mio (Lane 7)
    Just when I thought I would give up visiting Mio-chan, she tried to fish me last year at Ryutsu Center. So I decided to give her another go. It was a typical low-key visit, with me asking her if I would enjoy living in Fukuoka, and that maybe I would move there. She basically smiled and said it was nice, which is pretty much what I figured she'd respond with, LOL.

    hkt8.jpg

    While I was in queue for Mio, I noticed a bunch of the members hanging out just behind the lanes. I also noticed a big gathering outside Lanes 9-10. I asked my friend Panda who was graduating, and he believed the gathering was for Iwahana Shiho. Shiho came out just as I was leaving Mio's lane, and I noticed that Yukachan was among the members with her, so I scouted for a good spot toward the back. Eventually Rikopi and Maichan came running out to join them. Since I was in the back, I got to remain standing, so you can see me pretty clearly in the enlarged photo, directly above Ueki Nao.

    Slot 8

    hkt7.jpg


    Murakawa Bibian (Lane 16)
    They were shuffling the lane assignments around, and when I got to Bibian's originally assigned lane I was confused as to why it had Rikopi's name on it. However, there was a sign underneath saying the lane had been moved, and eventually a staff member in front of the lane announced that Bibian had moved to over to #16, so all good. Her queue wasn't too long, but she hadn't come out yet. I only had one other ticket for the slot, so I wasn't worried. As I moved closer to the front, the fan in front of me had three tickets, and while they were talking Bibian glanced over to me and winked. When it was my turn the staff stopped me, and said she had to leave for a few minutes. However, Bibian protested, and said she wanted to see me first before she left. OMG, how cool was that? I told her that I caught some of her MC at the special stage. She asked me how it was, and I told her "Loud." She laughed and said, "Yes, it was loud, wasn't it." I told her that the booms kept surprising me. I then said I would see her in the next slot before I got pushed out.

    hkt0.jpg
    The Yukachan acrylic keychain.

    Akiyoshi Yuka (Lane 4) I had one last ticket for Yukachan (or so I thought) It was weird how they spread the members slots throughout the day. For example, Yukachan did handshakes in three slots; Slots 1, 5, and 8. On one hand, I think it's good since it gives the members more rest time without going for 6-8 hours with only small breaks. On the other hand, it makes their day longer. But in the case of Yukachan she managed to stay busy throughout the day. I was trying to decide what to say to Yukachan, and at the end just blurted out "How was Sasshi's concert?" She said it was good, and that she did a lot of different things during the show. I told her I missed it because of a Wasamin event, and then got pushed out. I was a little disappointed in myself, since I am not sure when I will get my next chance to see Yukachan, and this was such a pedestrian interaction. Fortunately for me, the idol gods had my back, and gave me another opportunity to see her a little while later...

    Slot 9

    This was an extremely eventful slot, beginning with the end of Slot 8 where I decided to hang out by Yukachan's lane to wave goodbye to her. I only had one Slot 9 ticket, so I wasn't worried about time. Of course when they did the final call for her lane it seemed like half of her fans rushed into the lane. WTF? I knew at least a couple of those fans had quite a few tickets too. They got through most of the fans quickly, leaving the final three. The first guy was there for around two minutes, then the next guy was around 3-4 minutes. There were eight minutes left in the slot, so it looked like it would be okay. They began queuing up people for Matsuoka Hana in Slot 9. However, it turned out the final guy had over 100 tickets, and his handshake session lasted 23 minutes (Yes, I was counting) Eventually they moved her into the handicapped lane to finish the handshake. We eventually waved goodbye to Yuka, but I noticed the staff seemed to be rushing her away hastily. It made me wonder...

    I went to the Special Lane to use my one handshake ticket, which surprisingly wasn't even open yet. The staff told me that the lane wouldn't open for another 15 minutes, and something about an issue with Bibian, so I told him I would come back. It was just then I noticed Yukachan heading toward the Special Stage. I made a beeline over there as fast as I could, and since I was coming out of Lane #21, Yukachan immediately saw me and waved. I made it in and grabbed a decent spot just before the viewing area began to fill up...


    Akiyoshi Yuka, Baba Sayaka, Kurihara Sae, Shimizu Rio (Special Stage, Lane #22) Originally I didn't know who MC was, finding out later that it was Shimizu. Apparently it was each members plan for a stage show. Everyone seemed to be laughing pretty hard at Yukachan's plan, which was the first one presented. I was perfectly positioned just opposite her, so she looked my way quite a few times. After the event fans have the opportunity to do a handshake with the participants, and I queued up quickly in order to give myself enough time to use my final ticket. It was then that staff announced that they have to see your "My Page" on the 48-Shop website if we wanted to participate. Shit! I don't really use that site on my phone, so I stepped out of the queue to figure out what to do. Eventually I figured out my ID and password, and stepped back into the queue, last in line. Well at least I got to be the final fan for a change.

    hkt6.jpg

    BTW, you also have to purchase a CD, and I was hoping to pick up either Type-A or Type-B, except they only offered the theater version. They handed me a ticket, and a marble which they call a "Tokyo Tower." At first I didn't know what the marble was for, but quickly figured out that it was to pick an MVP for the stage. After telling Shimizu that I had fun, I dropped my marble into Yukachan's box. She exclaimed "Arigatou!" to which I responded that of course I would pick her. I then quickly said hello to Baba and Sae before leaving the lane. Like I said, I was really happy to have that last interaction with Yukachan, and to give her a prize made it even better.

    Murakawa Bibian, Sakaguchi Riko, Kojina Yui, Imamura Maria, Ueno Haruka (Special Lane #21) I made it back to this lane about five minutes before it was scheduled to close. This was like a super-special lane, with five members. Normally they have three, or maybe four. When I originally tried to queue up the line was fairly short. However by this time the queue had become huge. They had changed the dynamic of this lane. Before it was just like a Zenkoku lane, with the members lined up. For this event they had created a short of alcove the fan got into, and the members surround you. It looked like a lot of fun, and the dynamic of five members, including the super-genki Bibian made the lane completely high-energy. They were doing different things with each fan, playing games, having them model their outfits, etc. I wasn't sure what the hell I was going to do, so when it eventually became my turn I exclaimed that I was scared because my Japanese was bad. I got a mixture of "Daijoubu," comments about my Yukachan ticket holder (Ueno), then then Rikopi who grabbed my hands tightly, and Bibian who made a heart gesture. BTW, it was my first time meeting Ueno, and to be honest I barely noticed Imamura during the entire experience since the other members were a lot more dominant, but it was still a fun, yet overwhelming experience overall.

    It was just after 7 p.m., so I had stayed at the venue a bit longer than I had originally planned. But that's okay, since my interactions in Slot 9 made it all worth it. At this point I have no 48-group handshake tickets for the foreseeable future. The only events on the radar right now are in August (AKB and HKT) and I am not completely sure I will be able to make those events, so I have held out purchasing tickets for the time being. Probably for the best, since it saves me some cash. That said, I hope to have everything ironed out within the next month or so, and then I can plan which events I want to go to next. But for now, it is going to be a bit of a 48-group handshake vacation for me.
     
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  18. Tuhis

    Tuhis Member

    Joined:
    Jan 5, 2008
    Oshimen:
    Furuhata Nao
    HKT48 @ SUMMER STATION 2019/7/14

    This event will be on TV so everyone will have a chance to see it, but my notes:

    I usually wonder about hearing protection when going to a concert - this time I wondered whether I needed a hearing aid. One could tell it was the TV audiences that mattered. All in all even with suboptimal weather the girls were cute and gave a lot of energy, and even clouds and rain could not stop the summer feeling.

    Everyone was cute but the one who caught me the most was Matsumoto Hinata with her smile having the radiance of the Sun.
     
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  19. Tuhis

    Tuhis Member

    Joined:
    Jan 5, 2008
    Oshimen:
    Furuhata Nao
    2019/7/27 HKT48 12th single ”Ishi” Individual Handshake Event at West Japan General Exhibition Center, Kokura

    After the SKE show the day before, I had prepared by having a hotel in Nagoya so I could take early shinkansen to Kokura. I was at Kokura about a hour before my first slot so I had time to find a coin locker and something to drink etc. The venue was about 3 minutes on foot from train station, so ”convenient” is a very suitable description. I had tickets for 3 slots, so I could make it back to Tokyo too.

    Slot 2: Matsumoto Hinata (3 tickets)
    It seemed she was rather nervous about seeing a foreigner as first thing she asked after greetings was if I spoke Japanese. Answer is not much but enough, and we got past that hurdle. It did seem like she did not get past the nervousness, as I told her why I wanted to meet her and her reply was as far as I understood ”Now you have met me”. She is supremely attractive IRL and funny too, but in all honesty I have to think whether I’ll buy her tickets in the future.

    Slot 3: Moriyasu Madoka (3+2 tickets)
    Looks like I got her on a bad day. Last time we spoke, she was super inquisitive and rapid firing questions. This time it was hardly a handshake when at best fingertips were touching and I had to lead the conversation. She did keep smiling and wasn’t in any way salty, not just as active as before. I went in for another look and same thing repeated itself, but she did get on board as soon as I brought up HKTBINGO and how Natsumadojiina skit was funniest, and she did the PINPON!-thing twice.

    Slot 4: Matsuoka Natsumi and Tanaka Natsumi (3+3 tickets)
    So first was Matsuoka, whom I’ve never spoken to before. I bought her tickets on a bit of a whim and did not have much to say planned besides the obvious Natsumadojiina reference which she appreciated too. I did try to say she looked cute with the irritated face she had in the sketch but dunno if it registered. Then it was all over.
    Natsumikan however I have spoken to before, and she does give foreigners special attention. She was wearing a very lovely dress and whie she was talking more seriously to the dude before but for me she turned up the girly mode. Not maybe the least because I told her that a year ago she was cute but now she has turned super beautiful. This led to making hand hearts together and kiss face rather close to mine. Couple ”daichuki!”s later it was over. Very much fun.

    Notes:
    - The staff seemed rather chill with ending the handshakes. In many occassions I saw back and forth continue several seconds after the handshake ended and next person got his turn
    - After looking from neighboring lanes while waiting, sweet jebus Jiina looks good IRL, and Mikurin without bangs is VERY nice.
    - We suddenly got a mini-live when Akiyoshi Yuka, Imada Mina and couple other members came on stage to perform, first Hayaokuri Calendar a cappella and some more with just acoustic guitar. It did bother me abit when girls had smartphone on one hand and mic on other, but at least Mina put her phone hand behind her back when singing
    - No need to stamp tickets at information booth, and only one staff at a lane asked me about address in passport which obviously isn’t there but it did not matter to her

    All in all a nice experience, shame I cheaped out and only bought a small amount of tickets but budgets are there for a reason.
     
    Last edited: Jul 27, 2019
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  20. Tuhis

    Tuhis Member

    Joined:
    Jan 5, 2008
    Oshimen:
    Furuhata Nao
    Well well, back in Hakata!

    2019年07月30日(火) 14:00~ 「制服の芽」公演

    I won this stage by virtue of birthday month, so it was quite nice. I went to see another stage yesterday, so I had think how to use my time the best without incurring too much extra cost. So instead of shinkansen it was JAL time for a morning flight to Fukuoka. Made good time to Tenjin, filled tank at Ichiran Ramen and hit Scala Espacio a little after noon. Got ticket and go to waiting for the start.

    Seat was nice and view was just about flawless as I had a seat behind the women’s section and in front of me sat a girl on the shorter side... until she changed places with her taller friend. However this was a minor complaint since I still saw almost everything flawlessly.

    KIV members were supplanted by a several TII members, but their numbers being so thin no surprise there. Also, this was IIRC last stage of Ueki Nao before her graduation stage so I focused attention strongly to her. This however meant that some solid girls like ODA became invisible.

    Seifuku no Me isn’t my favourite stages, and it’s not exactly new so I’ll not go into detail. It has some nice songs and at the end energy comes out nicely. Also we got a performance of ”Ishi” in the end.

    Notes:
    - Ueki still looks good in a midriff-revealing outfit, as does Aoitan.
    - I have zero doubts about Aoitan’s magnetism, she shined brightly
    - I am not sure which one is bigger, Maasan’s waist or my leg
    - HKT’s omiokuri game is miles behind SKE. At omiokuri about half of the girls missed me completely, something that I have never noticed at SKE omiokuri. (And I’ve been to some lately.)

    Then it was running top speed to Hakata Station to make it to the last Sakura/Hikari connection to Tokyo to share this story.

    Next up: More canmachi shenanigans!
     
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