Name: Tokyo CLEAR'S Debut: 2014 (2011 as Osouji Unit CLEAR'S) Label: Avex Genre: J-pop/Idol Theme: Cleaning Idols/Anti-Littering Website: https://tokyo-clears.officialsite.co/ Twitter: https://twitter.com/TOKYO_CLEARS Tokyo CLEAR'S originated as a re-working of the idol unit Osouji Unit CLEAR'S (Cleaning Unit CLEAR'S) Their theme is Idols who clean up the city, give you cleaning tips. Kind of like the 48-Groups, CLEAR'S has formed units throughout Japan. Their groups include... Tokyo CLEAR'S Nagoya CLEAR'S Osaka CLEAR'S Kawagoe CLEAR'S Chiba CLEAR'S Sendai CLEAR'S Kumamoto CLEAR'S CLEAR'S Smile (Tokyo) Inactive or disbanded Units... Yokohama CLEAR'S Gunma CLEAR'S Sapporo CLEAR'S In addition to their idol performances, the CLEAR'S groups regularly organize local cleaning events where the members head out to a part of the city and pick up garbage. Tokyo CLEAR'S' trash events usually take place in Omotesando. The fans are invited to join them, and just need to provide their own garbage bags, gloves, etc. They also publish videos on various subjects like how to properly clean your toilet, good cleaning products, etc. Prior to 2014, the group put out various indie singles. In their current incarnation they have released five singles, and one album under the name CLEAR'S (The singles have representatives from all the groups) Although there are a couple songs attributed to the local groups, for the most part all the groups share the same song catalog. Major Singles 1. Bi Bi Bi Beauty!!! (09/2014, Oricon Weekly Ranking: 8th) 2. Yogo Shitakunai cry (03/2015, Oricon Weekly Ranking: 3rd) 3. Kotae Shika Shiranai Tsurai (10/2015, Oricon Weekly Ranking: 4th) 4. Kirari☆NiPPON (09/2016, Oricon Weekly Ranking: 15th) 5. HEART WASH (06/2017, Oricon Weekly Ranking: 15th) Album 1. We are CLEAR'S (03/2018, Oricon Weekly Ranking: 33rd) Tokyo CLEAR'S members: Sheena (Shi-chan) Birthday: 09/16/89 https://twitter.com/ure_sheena (Original Tokyo CLEAR'S member) Yamato Sayuri (Omame) Birthday: 06/10/88 https://twitter.com/sayuriyamato83 (Original Tokyo CLEAR'S member) Sawabe Rion (Riochi) Birthday: 05/12/91 https://twitter.com/RionSawabe_ (Former gravure idol and Ebisu Muscats member (as Sakamoto Rion), part of original "Osouji Unit" Lineup) Karube Ruka (Karube) Birthday: 12/08/93 https://twitter.com/karuberuka (part of original "Osouji Unit" Lineup) Asahina Rin (Rin-chan) Birthday: 06/07/93 https://twitter.com/rin_asahina7 (Originally a group kenkyuusei, joined in 2017) I always like to put a personal note of how I got into this group. There was a short period (around a year) where I would occasionally go to PARMS to watch Alice Project's under units (Oz Girls, Pa-Ken Girls, Slime Girls) perform. At PARMS they would often invite guest idol groups to perform. This is where I first saw Tokyo CLEAR'S. And per usual, it was one particular member, Sawabe Rion, who caught my eye. I was struck by her stage presence, and thought she was the perfect mix of sexy and cute. It didn't take long for Rion to notice me watching her, and she immediately started reacting to me. However, she was not without a challenger, as Sayuri is a tremendous fisher, and started making a huge play to get me to like her. Sayuri was the first one to memorize my name. One night I was at Shibuya station and heard my name being called. I turned, and it was Sayuri yelling at me, LOL. In the beginning Sayuri got very jealous because it was apparent that I had made Rion my oshi member, but by now she has gotten used to that reality, and I do occasionally take chekis with Sayuri too. Anyway, a couple of posts below this you can click on links to some of the posts I have written about them on my personal blog. Single MVs) Bi Bi Bi Beauty!!! (1st Single) if the video does not show watch the video here Kotae Shika Shiranai Tsurai (3rd Single) if the video does not show watch the video here Kirari☆NiPPON (4th single) if the video does not show watch the video here HEART WASH (5th single) if the video does not show watch the video here Osouji Shimasho ~Clean Love~ LIVE (1st indie single) if the video does not show watch the video here (Full versions of their Avex music videos are on their album's limited version, singles on JVC/Kenwood-Victor are on a separate release)
Tokyo CLEAR’S @ Akihabara Zest 5/11 On my current visit to Japan I wanted to experience an underground idol event at a small venue in Akihabara. Also I wanted to meet one of about 5 or 6 underground idols who have randomly followed me in Twitter over the past couple of years. This evening I managed to do both in one go! Tokyo CLEAR’s is one of several sister groups in Japan who have a theme of ‘cleaning’ and who often pose for publicity photos with sanitation departments around the country. The Tokyo group has 5 members. One of them, Yamato Sayuri, started to follow me in Twitter a couple of years ago. I followed her back and I also started to send her likes everyday in the CHEERZ app as her photos there are very pretty and cute. In fact every day over breakfast I check the app for her updates. So thanks to the tiget.net idol concert ticketing website (where you can reserve tickets at a discount but pay in cash at the venue) I found myself at the small basement venue of the Zest in Akiba. And there I was in a genuine idol concert atmosphere just metres away from the girl whose face I see almost every day while I’m eating my cornflakes before I go to work! Sadly I don’t know much about the group’s music as there’s so little of it available online. I did recognise one song played at the very end which is called ‘Clean Love’ and I think it must be their biggest hit. However I still enjoyed all the songs (there were about 10 in total) and the girls were very energetic for all of them. Before the show the audience (there were about 30 people in total) could buy tickets at 2,200 JPY each for a cheki at the end for a named girl and of course I chose Sayuri. (and I was given a kind of ‘loyalty card’ with my name and hers on which would be stamped at each event.) Right from the start she frequently caught my eye and smiled at me. Had she been told that a foreigner had come to see her? If turned out that the answer was yes! The second MC was a very long one which lasted about 25 minutes. It started with the bar tender bringing out drinks for the girls. While they were taking their refreshments (and most of the other audience members went to the bar to get drinks) they called me over to the front of the stage to ask me where I was from. Sayuri (who spoke some English) asked me how I knew her? I tried to explain that she followed me in Twitter and that I followed her back by showing her Twitter page on my phone but I’m not sure she understood me. At that point the other audience members returned with their drinks and came to the front of the stage to say ‘kanpai’ with the girls. Then everyone just sat down on the floor in front of the stage for a general chat with the girls for about 15 minutes or so! The cheki session at the end was a world away from 48G 2-shots. The tables were erected in front of the stage. There was only one staff member available so the girls took the cheki pictures for each other! The girls then timed themselves with stopwatches giving everyone 30 seconds each to chat although Sayuri didn’t time me. I said I lived in England and was on vacation. She asked me to promise that I’d see her again before I left the country and so our ‘HS’ was actually us curling our little fingers around each other! She then gave me a long goodbye wave as I left: Sadly I don’t think I can see the group again but I do have fantastic memories of an amazing evening. Each day of this vacation my jaw drops nearer the ground!
Awesome David. I am a huge fan of Tokyo CLEARS, and have see them many times. In fact, I am going to their show tomorrow in Shibuya for Rion's birthday. I am a fan of Rion, but I also like Sayuri. Sayuri is very cool. You should have namedropped me. I'll mention you to them tomorrow. BTW, Sayuri is a huge fisher, so it doesn't surprise me that she was trying to fish you from the stage. She tried very hard with me too, but she knows I love Rion. Here are some posts I have written about them on my blog, with a few Sayuri chekis too. http://www.intlwota.com/chuodori/?p=4916 http://www.intlwota.com/chuodori/?p=4166 http://www.intlwota.com/chuodori/?p=4054 http://www.intlwota.com/chuodori/?p=3941 And it looks like Sayuri tweeted you a special message... https://twitter.com/sayuriyamato83/status/994947078294982657 (actually, it looks like she tweeted to you a couple times!)
@Cristafari I’m going to have to go now! Sayuri sent out this tweet late last night: Thank you for coming for the first time to live Thank you for finding me I'm looking forward to see you tomorrow♡ Wow! Problem is though that it looks like I might have to rush off very quickly to make Tomochin’s concert - I’ll send you a DM.
BTW, I have changed the OP to a group description. Check it out! Tokyo CLEARS One-Man Live; Sawabe Rion Birthday Show at Shibuya Club Glad (2018/05/12) After not attending Rion's last two birthday shows, I really wanted to go to this one. In my defense, the first one I missed had a 10K yen admission, but last year's I just skipped. When the details of the live came out, I immediately made a reservation. Rion is one of my all-time favorite idols, and I wanted to finally pay my proper respects on her special day. I headed to Shibuya early. Since the show was basically going on all afternoon, I wanted to have lunch before I went to the venue. Originally I wanted to try the new Fatburger in the old 109 Men's Store (People from LA should know about that burger place, or fans of Kuromochi Asuka, LOL) But I wasn't in the mood for a heavy burger, so I had something lighter. Shibuya Club Glad is in the Dogenzaka neighborhood of Shibuya, right next to a bunch of music clubs. Tsutaya O-East, Tsutaya O-Crest, Club Asia, Club Vuenos, Womb, Duo Music Exchange are all within a block of there. I got there around 20 minus before doors, and there was a small line down the hill. Eventually I was joined by David, who if you read above saw this group for the first time the previous evening. Eventually the doors opened, so we headed in. They charged 100 yen more than what my reservation said, but whatever. Once inside the small lobby, they were selling "premium chekis" which are basically single off-shot chekis the girls took. They are 1000 yen a piece, but you get a discount for buying multiples. There was also a flower/balloon stand for Rion's birthday, which I took a shot of, but it was really dark in the lobby. It didn't seem like they were selling cheki/handshake tickets yet, so we just headed inside to grab a spot. The venue has a small floor standing area, and then two upper standing areas. The top level was reserved for VIPs and staff. I saw CLEAR'S Smile up there and a couple other idol-looking girls, and I believe Rion's mom was up there somewhere, but I think she was lurking in the shadows. Since the floor wasn't really packed at all, David and I stood at the back against the railing. Ultimately this was a good idea since the fans really went crazy during the show. The show This is the first time I have ever seen Tokyo CLEAR's do a full 2-hour live. Normally I see them where they perform for maybe 30 minutes, a couple of times 45 minutes. I must say that their "full show" was incredibly fun. It was filled with cute VTRs, funny skits, costume changes, and they played pretty much all of their known songs. One of the funniest parts was when they played the VTR of Rion's friends wishing her a happy birthday. What was interesting was how many of her friends are parents. There were a few who appeared with their children. Rion is also friends with a couple of AKB48 members, but none of them appeared on the VTR. Later they played another VTR of people wishing her a happy birthday, except Rion didn't know who any of them were. She kept saying "Dare???? Dare???" It turned out the girls went around Tokyo finding random people to wish her a Happy Birthday. One guy even sang a song about her, LOL. One weird thing happened during the show. As I mentioned, the floor wasn't packed at all, but there was a girl standing in front of me who during the show kept creeping backwards to the point where she was almost in my lap. I mean she had like 4 feet in front of her, why she was standing 2 inches in front of me I do not know. I was beginning to get a bit frustrated because she was blocking me from rushing the front of the stage when Rion had her solo lines. Eventually I decided the heck with it, and nudged her out of the way to head to the stage. When I came back, 1) the girl smiled at me and nodded, and 2) I noticed she was actually kinda cute. Okay, so I guess I won't mind if she wants to watch the show in my lap, LOL. Actually, she gave me a little bit of space after that. The first skit they did was the members having to do various manomane on command from messages on the screen. However, the second skit was this sort of pantomime of the members being on a baseball team, and Rion's struggles to become a good hitter, done to the song Fuite Fuite. It was really random, but still funny. The birthday part was kind of low key, she received flowers, a cake, and she made a little speech. She started to get teary at one point, but the entire group dynamic is so goofy that she snapped out of it fairly quickly. When the show ended David and I went back to the lobby to get cheki and handshake tickets. I also took a look at the shirts they had for sale, but the only shirts they had in my size were Ruka and Rin's old birthday shirts, which I wasn't interested in. So next time... Chekis/Handshakes They had one queue for Rion, and one queue for all the other members. I was around 15th in line, but wasn't in any hurry. I also purchased a gift for Rion from LUSH, along with a small note in Japanese. So I was excited to give that to her as well. The members were all wearing their 'Ninjin' pajama tops, which was the last costume they wore for the encore. BTW, Rion pointed out that she is not really a fan of carrots, but they got those just bause she is the 'orange' member. Anyway, I wished Rion a happy birthday and gave her the gift. While she was signing the cheki I told her how I knew David, since the girls were all intrigued by him from the previous show. Rion thanked me for coming and again asked me to come back soon. She had a long line, which by this time had stretched out into the lobby. So she was kind of restricted on time. (You get a minute, but sometimes she'll go longer) I waved goodbye and headed out of the club after finally getting by requisite 'one-drink' that I paid for at the door. I must say this has me wanting to see more of their 'one-man' live events. So I will probably be watching their performance calendar with that in mind going forward.
Well, as quickly as we started this thread.... Tokyo CLEAR'S announced at their live event last night that they will be dissolving the unit and all members will be graduating in the coming Fall. As far as I can tell, this announcement only concerns Tokyo CLEAR'S, and does not affect the other regional units or CLEAR'S Smile. It's not completely surprising, considering all of the members are in their mid to late twenties. You had to figure the group's days were numbered. Although it is kind of odd to not have a Tokyo Unit in the stable. Perhaps, and this is strictly a guess, CLEAR'S Smile would become the new Tokyo CLEAR'S. In the last few months, I will definitely make a point of making it to some of their shows to give Rion my support.
Tokyo CLEARS Live at Akihabara Zest ~I Love Akiba, Idol Live Vol. 27~ (2018/11/11) Tokyo CLEARS graduation is one week away, and although I really wanted to attend their final live, I didn't pull the trigger and purchase a ticket when they first became available. Big mistake, as the Live FINAL sold out rather quickly. Actually, they are performing two lives next weekend, one each on Saturday and Sunday, and by yesterday Saturday still wasn't sold out. However, I actually have a fairly busy weekend planned already for the 17th and 18th. So even if I did choose to go, it would be at the expense of either Wasamin's cheki event, or HKT48's National event. Oh, and the tickets are quite expensive too. 9000 yen for a seat, and 6000 yen for rear standing. So there's that as well. All that said, I really wanted to see the group perform at least one more time before they graduated. I had two choices; Wednesday night, which conflicted with Wasamin's Ginza Enka Matsuri performance, and Sunday in Akiba. I had no other Sunday plans, so the choice was made. This event featured a bunch of small idol groups, most of which I had never heard of. The show started at 3:45, but CLEARS wasn't performing until 6:55, so I didn't even get to Akihabara until 6:30. Akihabara Zest is a couple doors down from Twin Box Garage, which was also holding a big Idol live, so there were tons of wota all over the street. When I arrived, the venue wasn't too packed, so I had my prerequisite drink and headed toward the stage. After sitting through three groups, the room suddenly became packed with CLEARS fans. We all eventually moved up and took over the spot in front of the stage. They weren't on stage for more than a few moments before I was reminded how much I like this group. CLEARS often wear such adorable costumes, and these were no exception. Red/White striped skirts and suspenders, over tight white shirts, showing off their busts. (Most of Tokyo CLEARS are kinda busty, at least compared to other Japanese idols) Not surprisingly, Sayuri was the first one to notice me in the audience, and gave me a couple of waves, followed by Sheena and Ruka. I'm sure Rion must have noticed me, but she wasn't really reacting to me at all. Hmmm, perhaps she has had enough of my long absences. (I hadn't seen them in six months) Eventually she pointed to me and winked. l-r Sheena, Rion, Rin, Ruka, Sayuri They performed a five-song setlist, including Kansha Fanfare, which is one of my favorite CLEARS songs. In between songs they reminisced about Akihabara Zest, where they have been making regular performances over the last year. They were also promoting their graduation live next week. Eventually their set ended, and there was a logjam in the doorway leading to the bar as the CLEARS fans all filed out while the next group's fans were trying to file in. The CLEARS fans overwhelmed the tiny benefits area, much to the chagrin of the other three groups that were doing chekis and handshakes with their fans. Since it was such a huge crowd, I decided to just stick with purchasing a signed cheki with Rion. Luckily, I had just finished my purchase and was walking toward the queue when the girls came out and walked right by me, so I got to greet all five of them as they walked by. Rion gave me a big "Hisashiburi!" As long as the queue was, it moved rather quickly since they were able to handle four customers at a time. So although the queue extended up the stairs and outside into the street, it only took slightly more than five minutes to get to the front. Rion was super genki as she greeted me for the cheki... She looked so adorable with those twin-tails, you almost forget that she is going to turn 28 soon. That is until you talk with her. That's another thing I love about Rion, she is very 'adult-like'. That is to say she doesn't really try to act like a 'cutesy' idol at all. Anyway, I asked her about next week's shows, confirming that Sunday's show was sold out. She told me to ask her manager, and that I might be able to come. I also mentioned the job interview I have this week. She wished me luck, and asked me to please continue to communicate with her on Twitter. I debated buying more tickets, but ultimately left to get dinner at Gyukatsu Ichi-Ni-San, which is really good if you ever find yourself in Akihabara. We'll see about next weekend, although I have a feeling that last night was my final CLEARS show. I feel a bit sad about that. They were a great idol group. Fun songs, and Rion is an absolute goddess. I hope that isn't the last time I see her. Considering all the idols who I have subsequently seen after their graduations, never say never!
A quick update on former CLEARS member Sawabe Rion. As I mentioned on that last post, I hoped I would see her again. Well, she has been pretty active on social media, and quite often she broadcasts on Mix Channel (similar to SHOWROOM) where I have interacted with her quite a bit. Last month she performed in a revival group of the early-gen Ebisu Muscats, which I posted about on my blog... But that's not all, Riochi announced she would be releasing a new gravure DVD/Bluray in May, her first in five years. I am so looking forward to it. Today they released the covers for both versions... Spoiler: NSFW...sorta Yowza! BTW, you can see full size pics on her Twitter entry: https://twitter.com/RionSawabe_/status/1112656441913991169
Sawabe Rion (former Tokyo CLEARS) 'Yume no Kaidan' Gravure DVD Release Event at Akihabara Sofmap (2019/06/01) I had been looking forward to this event ever since Rion announced this DVD release earlier this year. Prior to being a J-pop idol with Ebisu Muscats, and later Tokyo CLEARS, Rion was a teen gravure idol, and had put out quite a few solo DVD releases. This would be her first gravure release in five years, and in that time she has changed quite a bit, not only in looks, but in maturity... In fact, at first I was really curious about what direction she would be taking this return to the gravure scene. Her older stuff never got past being suggestive, and she has never publicly posed nude (afaik) but checking the other titles on the Gravision website, while not pornographic, many of the titles walked a very fine line. So how risque would Riochi's DVD be? I mean on the heels of doing a concert with a bunch of AV idols? Well, we got our first clue while she was filming, which she documented in detail on her twitter and ameblo blog. Most of the preview photos were of Rion in bathing suits and cute summery outfits. When the production company website released the preview video, it pretty much confirmed that's what it would be, If was just a couple weeks until the May 2nd release date, except... The release event wasn't scheduled until June 2nd. Huh? That's a month later! Moreover, the only way to attend the release event is by reserving your DVD/Blu-Ray copies on Yahoo PassMarket. I checked the website, and it said I needed to create an ID to use it. I had an ID, but I forgot it. So I pretty much procrastinated trying to reserve a spot until the evening before the event, after Rion lamented on Twitter that she wasn't sure if many people would even be coming. Oh, and PassMarket ended up being a bigger pain in the ass than I even expected. They wouldn't accept any of my Visa or Master Cards, and while they said they accepted American Express, the dialog box wouldn't take an Amex card number. That left my only other option, to pay at a conbini. Being that I had spent the evening drinking many brews at Keyaki Beerfest, and didn't feel like trying to navigate the Japanese ticket system, I simply went to my local Lawson where I know all the staff and said "Guys, can you just do this for me?" Which they did. Signed covers. I slipped them into the actual DVD covers Spending the morning recouping from the previous evening, I headed to Akihabara in the early afternoon. Luckily, I had thoroughly checked the website, where I found out that the event wasn't at the Sofmap across from the Donki, but the one a couple blocks down closer to PARMS. I arrived 45 minutes early and picked up my videos and tickets. I had purchased one of each type, DVD and Blu-Ray, which would afford me two photoshoots, two 2-shot checkis, two bonus photos, and two autographed covers, in addition to watching the interview at the beginning. They had additional bonuses for purchasing 3, 4, and 5 copies, which included additional photoshoots, 2-shots, and bonus pics, but I was fine with what I had. I had ticket #27 for entry, which landed me in the third row on the left end. Not bad. I counted around 35 people in attendance. Riochi came out in a summery one-piece outfit, which looked so beachy and comfortable. She spotted me almost immediately and gave me a little wave. I don't know the comedian who interviewed her, but he pretty much ran the entire event. She thanked everyone for coming, and immediately asked how many people had watched the video already, and only two people raised their hands. "LOL, Chotto matte!!" Riochi exclaimed. The funny thing is that I think we could've come prior to the release date to pick up our DVDs, but most everyone waited until the event. She mainly talked about what it was like spending three weeks in Thailand (where the video was filmed) and shared a few anecdotes about the film shoot. She also talked about how she was asked to do a narration of the scenes. (I watched the video later, and yes, each scene has a narrated button at the end, mostly philosophical stuff about her life) From there it was time for buppan. Now to be honest I was slightly worried about this part. This was not the first gravure event I had attended, and sometimes the buppan can get quite confusing, especially when there are a bunch of various prizes you can get depending on how many purchases you made, and what type. (There were certain Blu-Ray bonuses too.) However, the way they conducted the event was very orderly, basically the more copies you bought the longer you stayed. So we started with the first photoshoot in groups of four. Rion would spend 15 seconds posing for each of us, but we could continue shooting for the full minute. My best photos are the ones in which she is looking directly at me. From there it was time for the first 2-shot, which was exclusive for people who had purchased a Blu-Ray. It turned out almost everyone in the room had. I told Rion that I loved her outfit, and she made me want to go to the beach. She responded that she was really happy that I came to the event. After the 2-shot we were handed our gifts, the random photos and video covers. Since I had both a DVD and Blu-Ray I got one of each type. Random bonus pics After everyone took their 2-shot, Riochi went backstage to change into a swimsuit. Well, actually I am pretty sure she was wearing the first swimsuit under her first outfit, as she came back out in a relatively short time. It was time for the second photoshoot, which was in the exact same format as the first. Ahh, Riochi is so petite and cute. Oh, and you can tell she spends time in the sun. Later she admitted that she had been dieting and preparing her body for this specific event. If you look at her earlier work, she was known as a busty idol, and was a bit more curvy. It's interesting now that she is getting close to 30 that she is so much smaller, and actually looks younger now than she did 5-10 years ago. At least I think she does. After that photoshoot we again got to take 2-shot chekis. My two chekis I told Riochi that my college graduation was the next day, and she congratulated me. I had exhausted all of my benefits, so I didn't know if I could stay or if I had to leave. There was one person there who only bought one copy, and he had left. I waited a few minutes, and eventually everyone who had purchased two copies began to get up and leave, so I followed suit, but a few of us hung on toward the back to see what the next outfit was that she would be wearing. These are the last two that I didn't have benefits for... After that I headed out to do a little shopping, and to head home. Rion had two other events on the weekend; first a dinner party on Saturday night, and then a Fan appreciation event on Sunday. But cost around 10000 yen to attend, and I had already spent 9500 yen for the release event, so that was enough for me. As for what the future holds for Rion and fan appearances, I'm not sure. However, since she graduated from her idol group six months ago I have already seen her twice, so she seems to be keeping active in engaging with her fans, so that's great. Oh, and I watched the entire DVD that evening. As a fan of Rion, of course I love it. It is pretty much her wearing outfits of varying sexiness and posing, or rolling around on a couch, or a bed. There is one scene where she is doing yoga, but her yoga outfit is so tight that it ended up being one of the more suggestive scenes. Oh, and the Blu-Ray has 12 additional minutes of footage, but I don't have a Blu-Ray player at the moment, so I will have to wait to see the additional material. But yeah, pretty much straightforward stuff. But if you like Rion, then it is fully worth the purchase.
