TOKYO: Fuji TV

So... applying to attend tv show tapings is quite difficult in Japan... especially for the world of Johnnys.

On December 15th, 7pm Arashi will be on Hey! Hey! Hey!'s 2 hour special!!!!!

Why is this important to me?



Because I went to the taping of the episode today!!!




I went to FUJI TV first to get a HEY! HEY! HEY! keychain at the gift shop because I was there two hours too early... and also got some karaage chicken curry to eat at Aqua City. Then...









I got to Telecom Center in Odaiba at around 3pm because the call time was 3:30.

I was number 1022... which means I was the 122nd person... not sure why they added the 0 in there. I got in line and handed the lady all my papers, my fc envelope, id, and fc card.

a half an hour later we were handed little green tickets (which really had no purpose as mine is still in tact) and were lead into a holding area. Here we left all of our purses and jackets (because Japan is getting pretty cold) and then we were escorted into the studio.

Once we got in, we realized that it was a "fancy" set, and the AD guys announced that we were watching the filming of the 2 hour special that will air on December 15th!!!!

On top of this, we were not only going to be watching Arashi's talk, but we would be watching one more artist... Aoyama Thelma!!!

So this comedy duo comes out and talks to us for what seems like an eternity, and then they are testing cameras and telling us to cheer for downtown and aoyama just as much as we would for Arashi (with the clapping and kya kyas). So Matsumoto and Hamada-san come out first and talk a bit. Then they show the Oricon top 10 ranking of the year... Arashi comes in 10 with Beautiful Days, then Kattun with 9 and 8... and then 2 is One Love and 1 is Truth... and out comes Arashi!!!!!!

They stand from left to right: Matsumoto-san (bald host) Oh-chan, Aiba, Sho-kun, Nino, MatsuJun, Hama-chan.
The boys were all wearing Black, Red, and White (I am guessing they performed Truth, but I'm not sure, since I only got to watch the talk part), and I think Oh-chan's was mostly black (i wanna say black collard shirt with red tie... but I can't remember), Aiba-kun was wearing a white leather jacket with a rolling stones shirt, Sho-kun was wearing a red trench coat, Nino was wearing black with a white extremely long scarf that kept slipping throughout the entire taping, and Jun was wearing mostly red (i think it was a vest thingy, I can't remember because Nino was fixing his scarf the whole time and distracting me from looking at Jun... but i do remember MatsuJun's lips looked really red for some reason.).

Then they congratulate the boys and give them an award. Their talk was veeery funny... and the main part was probably inappropriate for TV... haha.

First they say that the most busy member was Oh-chan this year (who was very tan and tiny in real life), because he did his butai and drama and all that good stuff. And he said that during his busiest, he didn't even have a day off.

Then they talked about an episode in Shanghai involving Nino, Sho, and Aiba. I feel that it is just too funny, so I will wait until after it airs to post about it in public... but it was funny.

After Arashi left, walking right next to us and waving like the cool superstars they are, Aoyama Thelma did her talk segment, then we all went back to get our stuff and left. The whole thing lasted about two hours.

On our way out, we got little keitai screen cleaners (the little white thing in the picture with my ticket and confetti i collected. The silver is from ARashi and the blue one is from Aoyama Thelma)







I can't wait for the next event!!!!

OSAKA, HYOGO, KYOTO: Himeji castle, Kobe, Amemura and Dotonbori, Kyoto

This weekend was a three-day weekend... which meant time for another trip!!!

Dave, Shauna, Aki, and I headed out for Kansai on a night bus Friday night. At a pit stop somewhere between here and there, Shauna and I experienced our first snow fall!!!!

We overreacted a tad, but I am glad I got to share the experience with another Hawaii person! We got to Namba early Saturday morning, then set out for Himeji Castle. It was my first time there, and I was totally excited!!! The fall leaves were turning colors, and the day was beautiful. That castle is huge! And it makes Osaka castle very commercial (although still pretty to look at). I think I still liked Matsumoto castle better, but Himeji is a must see for sure! I think it's listed as the most beautiful (or was it treasured?) castle in all of Japan.

After that, I parted with the others to meet up with my friend, Akiko, for sweets in Kobe (Sannomiya) (they're famous for their sweets). We went to a cool little cafe and had some cake and coffee after hitting up Harbor Land for a kitty strap (Kobe Chinatown) for my sister.

Then I headed back to Osaka to meet up with DSA and my friend (and old student) Yone. He picked us up in his skyline and drove us to AmeMura (America Mura) and we had Takoyaki on the street before heading over to Dotonbori to be tourists and take lots of pictures. In one of the arcades (alleys) we hit up an Okonomiyaki place. It was really good! While in Osaka the two things you have to do are eat takoyaki and Okonomiyaki... and we did both in the span of a few hours! haha.

After the meal, Yone drove us all the way to our hostel (which was more like an apartment complex) and we said our goodbyes.

The next day we headed over to Kyoto... BIIIIIG mistake! There were sooooo many people there! We were only able to go to Ryoanji, which is a zen garden temple area. We did also cruse around gion and kawaramachi for a bit, but it was so crowded that the bus from Ryoanji back to gion took three hours and we lost a lot of time. That night, we went to Pure night club near Dotonbori in Osaka and hung out with another ALT from Gunma, Li. Then we went back to our hotel and crashed.

Monday wasnt too exciting as we were going to be heading back to Gunma that afternoon. We hit Dotonbori up again and walked around, bought omiyage, and then hit up Namba Walk for lunch. Before we knew it, it was time to get on the bus back home!

We got into Takasaki at 2am, and Shauna and I decided we would stay up and talk instead of trying to sleep for three hours. So we did that, and then made our way to McDs in the station before catching our trains home and heading straight to work (which is something I dont think I will do again).

TOKYO: Ueno, Ikebukuro, Harajuku

Today I went to Tokyo to hang out with some of my old students from ALI.

Before I met up with them I went shopping in Ueno to pass the time before heading to Ikebukuro for winter clothes (it's getting pretty chilly) in Sunshine City.

The next thing I know, it's time to meet up with the friends! We met at Harajuku, took some purikura, and had some coffee before I had to head out back to Gunma!!!