YESTERDAYYY

Yesterday was a big day.  We went to Tokyo again, and had the best time in a long time.  As you know, I was too tired to post this last night, so here it is now.



I did a real good job on my homework.

After school we went to Shin Ookubo, which is Tokyo's Koreatown.  To the left of the station was a street full of stores like this that sold K-pop stuff.  FULL. OF. STORES.  Literally every other store that wasn't a restaurant had K-pop things, and even the restaurants were plastered with posters.  K-pop is BIG here, and girl groups are especially popular (Kara and SNSD are the biggest). I did buy things.  More on that later.

This is an oven mitt with a picture of Gyuri from Kara on it.  Photos are generally discouraged in Japanese stores, but I had to risk it to capture this wonderful bit of Japanese English at its best.

This is just a last shot of Shin Ookubo to prove we were there or something.  It is worth noting that a little before this, we met a mother (who is a big K-pop fan) that REALLY wanted us to go out with her daughter (also a big fan).  I'm not very good at saying "No thank you" in my politest Japanese, so we ended up adding the daughter on Facebook.  Oh well, good Japanese practice and all that.

Our main appointment yesterday was with the MIXI (like a music-based Japanese Facebook) SNSD fanclub for Japan.  We got to the station very early, so we decided to wait at Starbucks and see how it's different from the ones in America.  The primary difference is that in Japan, the smallest size probably fits on the head of a pin.  Look at that iced tea I have.  I could crush it in an instant.  Also, I had to buy that cookie, because it is PITCH-BLACK.  It's a chocolate marshmallow cookie and it was the same color as my pants.  it was also delicious.

Once everyone had gathered, we headed off to the event space.  The occasion was a birthday party for Jessica, one of the members of SNSD, and this was at the front door of the place.

The place was a "live house", which is a big thing in Japan that just means "small room where concerts happen".  When I say small, I mean SMALL.  This is most of it, and the picture below is the rest.  The man that ran it actually played bass for Sooyoung's group before SNSD, so he's actually met her before.  That is his guitar collection on the walls.  This live house seemed primarily geared towards idol groups, so it's likely that when it isn't being rented out by fanclubs, it hosts concerts for small-time idol singers trying to get more popular.  The size and function of the place made me feel like I was partaking in a special secret that most white people never get in on, and that's partially true.

We had circle time, during which we introduced ourselves.  I explained (in Japanese) a little bit about why Wesley and I were actually there, what with being the only white people they'd ever had show up and all.  Everyone was pleased.

This is just the stage.  Enjoy it.

There was a quiz game!  We were organized into teams based on which animal was on our name tags.  Wesley and I both ended up on the Whale Team.

Here is the Whale Team after having won the entire game.  Our being from America actually helped us answer many of the questions, and our victory got us first pick of three things from the prize table. However, the older man in front didn't want any prizes, so he gave his picks Wesley and me.  His name is Naruhito and he is my hero.
I am also going to point out that nearly everyone there was older than us.  One guy was forty-two.  In America, a man that old that listens to girl groups is a little weird, but in Asia it's usually very normal.  In Asia (and Japan especially), it's often less about looking at the girls and more about cheering them on.  Older male fans (called uncle fans) just enjoy cheering them on and watching them succeed.  Also of note is the fact that most of the girls there were older than us, too, most surprisingly one woman who looked about seventeen but was actually thirty.  Everybody here likes SNSD, no matter what age they are.

Here is the Jessica birthday cake.  The Jessicake.  No one wanted to cut her face, so five minutes were spent asking if anyone wanted to actually eat this cake.  Eventually, they decided to cut around it and keep the top layer from that section.

PARTY PARTY PARTY

Here is a picture from when we went back to the station to go home.  Last night was my first experience of having to be stuffed into the train (a common occurrence in Japan), and it was not my favorite.  Add on the fact that I had several very heavy bags, and I was not having the best time.  At least it was warm?

Here are the things I got.  Notice that I did not say "bought".  The top row of CDs, yes, I did buy, but the bottom row is just prizes from the event last night.  All of this cost me about $40, because that's how much the top three were.  Clockwise from the top left, we have 4minute's "Volume Up", Chocolat's "I Like It", NS Yoon-Ji's "Neo Spirit", a Jessica fan site's unofficial-but-super-fancy-and-expensive Jessica photo book, limited edition SNSD chocolates that I didn't even know were a thing, a Jessica light stick, and the Jessica cover version of May 2011's Marie Claire Korea.  I wouldn't have taken the Marie Claire under normal circumstances, but the SNSD cover ones are VERY rare and VERY expensive online.  This particular version usually goes for about $100 on auction websites.  And I got it for free.

It probably goes without saying that Japanese SONEs (pronounced "so-wons", fans of SNSD) are some of the nicest K-pop fans I have ever met.  Though jokes were made about how our team was the "World-wide Team" and that kind of thing, not once did I ever feel out of place.  Sure, there was a feeling of "ha ha, we're the only white people here", but outside of basic pleasantries like hometowns and reasons for coming to Japan, conversations were mostly about K-pop.  Of the various K-pop things I have done in my life, this was definitely one of the best.