Hi all. Thanks to members of this forum, and especially Hellguard89, I got to meet Erika tonight in Akihabara!
I don't really do a blog so I'll make a long post here!
She held a release event for her newest DVD at Sofmap in Akihabara. There were various packages to get to do different things with her. I bought the 2 DVD ticket and here's how it went.
First, I got there about 15 minutes before opening and there was a crowd milling around, but then that is pretty much true of every place in Akiba on the weekend. I saw the guy who sold me the event ticket standing out front so I waited and soon he started calling out ticket numbers. I was number 114, I only got my ticket the Monday beforehand. I think it was limited to 151 fans. In true Japanese fashion, the line moved very quickly and in no time my number was called. We were led up a back stairwell full of various old promo items and up the stairs. We had to climb stairs to the 4th floor, then it was escalators to the 7th, then stairs again to the event space on the 8th floor.
Once there we took a seat and soon Yazapai came out for the talk segment. A highlight was when she had everyone do a Janken tournament against her to win a couple of pairs of signed zori/flip-flops. She asked the winners not to wear them as the ink would come off.
After the talk, they called people up 8 at a time for 90 seconds of photos. You had to use a real camera of some sort, no cellphones were allowed. Luckily I brought my big DSLR with me on this trip to Japan. She would look at everyone's camera for a few seconds then move on to the next, then repeat it with differing poses. I was the second person in my group so I had a little time before the photos started. I am a 183cm tall white American, the only gaijin there that I could tell, so I stood out a bit. She saw me and said "Ahh sugoi!" and asked were I was from. I told her "America" and she replied "America hontoni?" then it was time for photos.
Next up was the handshake for people who bought 1 DVD. They also got a signed DVD cover and a photo. After that it was us 2 DVD people. We got a 2-shot, handshake, 2 different photos and 2 signed DVD covers. When it was my turn she remembered that I was American and welcomed me. I asked for an OK pose as the
is so cliche'. She found it amusing for some reason, maybe she thought I wanted that thing where you make your cheeks into oppai with the OK sign.
Then it was the handshake. I told her my Japanese is bad and apologized. She held up a palm to me and said "Homie!"
It took me a second to realize what she was doing but I gave her a high-five. She then confirmed with me that "my homie" means my friend. I said "hai, tomodachi desu" and she gave me another high five. Since she doesn't even come up to my shoulders, it was more of a medium five but whatever. I could hear laughter from the rest of the fans while this was going on. Then we thanked each other and she said "byebye" I collected my goodies and went back to my seat.
At this point the event was over for me but I stayed a bit to watch as the others continued. The people who bought 3 DVD's got 3 signed covers and their 2-shot checki signed too. They also got a really cheap looking baseball cap. I think they actually got less handshake time as she had to go to a table to sign the 2-shot. There were only about a dozen people who went for the 3 DVD deal.
Anyways, that was my encounter with one of my very favorite idols. I was really fortunate to get to see her since she was not at either of the 2 Shinahachi Lives I attended on this trip. If you are ever in Japan, check out the event board on the 7F at Sofmap to see who is going to be there. Thanks for reading my long post and here are a few fresh Yazawa pics, only a few hours old! (click to go to my Flickr page to see them even larger if you like)
Topic: #07: The Yazawa "Pai-chan" Erika Thread (Read 98350 times)