#fangirlproblems #9

/ June 30, 2015

So. Arashi has announced their five-dome tour dates this year as follows:

November 6-8 Nagoya
November 13-15 Sapporo
November 26-29 Osaka
December 17-19 Fukuoka
December 23,24,26,27 Tokyo

On the very night (early morning JST because that’s when the news came out in the papers) it was known on Twitter, I saw fans already booking hotels and checking airlines. Experienced fans would tell you that it’s best to book the hotel first, the battle for the tickets could come later. Because what if you hit the ballot or managed to buy tickets but you’d end up sleeping on the streets? Shudder if you chose Sapporo in November. You’d be frozen to death. I don’t relish being a news headline: “Arashi fan found dead frozen on the streets with ticket firmly in hand”.

So yes, the battle for an Arashi concert does not start and end with concert tickets. It begins with the logistics: hotel and airline. If it’s any consolation, Arashi tours are announced at least five to six months in advance so you still have time to chart your plan.

Now, it really sounds like serious business. And it is.

So let’s see…the first step in this decision-making process is to choose the dome you want to go to in the five-dome tour. There may be tons of considerations: you haven’t been to that particular city, the dates work for you, the date or place is least likely to be in demand among fans (in short, the fight in the balloting won’t be intense)…you weigh all the odds. And once you’re done, that’s actually the easiest part. Now, you go check how the hotel situation looks like.

As I write this, I’ve just checked three hotel booking websites for xxx city for xxx dates and the hotels are all booked. SOLD OUT. FULLY BOOKED. NO ROOMS AVAILABLE. The words screamed back at me. “There’s no room in the inn.” Now I know how St. Joseph must have felt centuries ago. Maybe we’d end up sleeping in a manger.

Well okay, there are still three hotels available, all starting from $300 a night. That would be foolish especially if you need to set aside enough okane for the concert tickets that you might just end up getting from auction if your friends do not hit the ballot.

To be honest, I’m now stumped and don’t know where to proceed from here. This is as legit as a fangirl problem could get. Why wasn’t I born Japanese? Or rich so I could buy a house in each city that Arashi performs in? But if I ever roll in okane, the first thing I’m doing? Buy J&A off.

cheon songyi

P.S. Those going to Arashi Blast in Miyagi would know this fangirl problem very well. There are just not enough hotels to accommodate an estimated 49,133 (capacity of the Hitomebore Stadium Miyagi) fangirls  that are expected to flock to the area per night on September 19-20 and 22-23 for the event that is meant to help Miyagi’s reconstruction. The Miyagi government, which invited Arashi, must be in a real dilemma trying to meet the logistical requirements.

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13 thoughts on “#fangirlproblems #9”

  3. crap i’m thinking about going to the osaka con. but i havent looked into hotels yet. tell me its not osaka that u checked lol

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      • ohh okay i might still be safe then lolll. thanx! i went to sapporo once and stayed at a hostel, was nice! wasnt too hard to make a booking after tickets starting getting sold. maybe hotels are more competitive

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  4. I always use airbnb when travelling abroad these days, especially in a place where I’m not fluent in the language because a host really helps you get by. So far, I’ve had a great experience with all my hosts, and I’d recommend it! I’ve already booked my airbnb in Japan for this winter, and it was no problem at all, so maybe you could give that a shot? You can usually find stuff for under $300 a night there, too lol.

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    • you don’t mean by under $300 a night, $299 right? lol but I’m scared with airbnb, I don’t want anyone breathing down my neck checking if I’m okay etc etc lol

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  5. I… actually was almost in that situation for Sapporo during the Popcorn tour. I managed to get a bed in an all-female dorm, all the other places were fully booked (even the expensive hotels! T_T) and my friend didn’t have accommodation. We were thinking of toughing it out in the cold together, but I decided to call the lady who ran the dorm and after explaining our situation, she somehow managed to make room for my friend! Sooo lucky. She even put all the Arashians in the same dorm, so it was hard to get sleep as we swapped concert stories :p

    Nowadays I just ballot for Tokyo because even though it’s harder to hit, at least accommodation is less of a problem.

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  6. Heh…I tried to book my hotel 10 MINUTES after the tour was announced this year. The whole Sapporo city was booked already. I barely found a room like 50 km away :/ But I’m grateful for that!

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      • I’m actually very worried this year 😦

        Apparently Johnnys started checking the tickets for all people next to the passageways, going as far as 10 rows away. A lot of fans with resale tickets were kicked out from a recent show.

        So if I don’t win on my fanclub account, I’m pretty much screwed since I won’t risk buying resale in this situation.

        And I guess I’ll panick even if I get a legit ticket. A girl on LJ was saying that it doesn’t work if you show your passport because it doesn’t have your address on it. But that’s the only thing I can show since I don’t live in Japan 😦 Though it doesn’t make so much sense since Johnnys themselves say it’s ok to bring a passport, but I’m so paranoid regarding this agency…

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      • Yeah that’s what scares me too that’s why I don’t plangoing on this tour. It’s stressful enough booking flights and hotel, and more stressful trying to get a ticket…only for the possibility to be kicked out. International fans’ life is hard.

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  7. Yeah I know *sigh*

    Did you ever hear of anyone being checked? Do you happen to know what exactly do they check? I can’t find anything regarding this on the internet. I wonder if they just briefly take a look to see if the ticket name matches your ID or on the contrary, check everything seriously to the smallest details TT

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