The decision of going to Osaka was made on impulse upon learning about Plastic Tree’s concert 3 days later.
Wednesday, arrival in Osaka, the day before the concert. Main Activity; Handshaking Event.
Tickets for the handshaking event were sold at a record store morning the same day as the event.
We were early and the store hadn’t opened (calculated, on our part), so we decided it would be more comfortable to wait in the nearby park.
Rounding the corner we saw, not a group, but a row, of people in unordinary clothes standing side by side. This neat, but apparently unorganized (and perhaps spontaneous?) line was to us a very puzzling phenomenon. There were no signs or markings and no apparent people “in charge” to organize the line, and the people waiting were all an interesting contrast to the regular park visitors. They were just hanging about, either reading, staring into the air, talking in small groups of two or three – but still clearly in line, even within their small groups – and they were all girls. (Ok, perhaps some guys too, they’re not that visible (or discernible) among the girls here, but the guys were certainly underrepresented.)
Since we weren’t 100% sure if it was an actual (or official) line for the ticket sale, we sat down on a bench a little distance away and observed the whole phenomenon. At 11 (when the store opened) the line started moving so we got up too, and timed so we “accidentally” fell into pace behind the back of the line.
CD singles and tickets were bought, and then we just had to fill time until the actual event 7 hours later.
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The handshaking event itself
The queue was back in the park again, but bigger and flashier. There were girls of all kinds of (at least slightly gothic or rocked up) styles; Punk girls (modern & moderate ones), Rocker girls, Goth, and a surprising number of Lolitas of different kinds (see: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lolita_Fashion). We felt really out of place – even with heavy make-up.
We had early numbers on our tickets so we got in with the first batch of people even though we came only just in time for the opening.
We were ushered into a room about half the size of an average classroom, into a new queue waiting for the band. Surrounded by nervous whisperings high expectations and giddiness from the crowd in general, I got caught in the mood too. I didn’t really care if I met them or not; I was there for the music, and to them I’d only become a fleeting impression at best – one of hundreds of fans they’ve met. (Nika cared though.) Still, since we were there and all, it was kind of fun being the only westerners/white people there. Especially when it was out turn to greet the band (well, the vocalist and the bandleader); to most of the fans they shook their hands and thanked them (for their support I assume – they said mostly just “arigatou gozaimasu” - meaning "thank you"), but Nika and I received longer handshakes and a “thank you very much, please continue to listen to our music”. I have to rely on Nika for the translation; because I didn’t expect them to say more than “thank you” I was quite baffled when the vocalist kept holding my hand while saying stuff in Japanese…
And then it was finished. The girls were so happy, one couldn’t stop smiling, and the other had to dry away a few tears. Segments of the line was still waiting in the park, waiting for their turn, new people were ushered inside in small groups, and the people coming out from the event was asked to move away to avoid crowds (everything was nicely organized, very Japanese).
Afterwards we went to the Dotonburi in Namba and ate Okomiyaki, and talked and talked and talked about the evening’s experiences, and how they were perceived, or possibly perceived, by us and all other people possibly present, etc. before heading back to our hotels.
Part 2 coming soon (hopefully).
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