Single Iwasa Misaki 4th [Hatsuzake] 2015/04/29

Iwasa Misaki 4th Single Mini-Live and Handshake Release Event 2015/05/01 at Kishiwada Talktown, Osaka



So this portion of the tour if like a repeat of Tomonoura Bojou last year. We went from Nadya Park in Nagoya to Talktown. After that we went further West to Hiroshima, Fukuoka and Kumamoto. This year we are turning around and going to the far West corner of Saitama Prefecture, near Tochigi and Gunma. I have a serious ride ahead of me tomorrow as I am still in Nagoya for the night. The land where the Jurinas and Renas roam free. Anyway...

Setlist 13:00
1. Hatsuzake (short ver.)
2. Hatachi no Meguriai
3. Hakimono to Kasa no Monogatari
4. Hatsuzake (full ver.)

Setlist 16:00
1. Hatsuzake (short ver.)
2. Mujineki
3. Akai Sweet Pea
4. Hatsuzake (full ver.)

wasamin wearing a black kimono covered in a sakura design. OMG, her hair! She wore it down today, almost in a twintail fashion. But it was absolutely gorgeous. I mean Wasamin is ALWAYS gorgeous. But I love when she wears her hair down with a Kimono. Talktown is in an interesting part of Osaka. Not far from Kansai Airport, it is very much a blue-collar area. Not a high-level mall by any means. She draws a really good crowd of elderly fans at this mall. And they stake the place out early for good seats too! I got lucky. Her regulars knew I was coming out of Nagoya so I would be late. So they saved me a front row seat. Quite nice of them. The crowd was raucous today, to say the least. Wasamin was giggling because we were all cheering so hard. I reminded her "What do you expect, it's Osaka!" During one MC Wasamin noted the two fans who have been to every promotional event this month. She also noted her overseas fan who had been to almost every event Although she forgot where in the USA I was from. She said "and he is from....uhh, Chris-san where are from again?" I said "Saaaaaannnnn" Wasamin cut in and said "San Francisco!!!" She just needed a little reminder. She also told the audience that she knows I study my Japanese really hard before each handshake, and she appreciates that I do that.

Wasamin created a little catchphrase earlier this week. At the end of the last show she says "Hatsuzake???" and the audience responds with "Kanpai!!!!" In Nagoya some of the fans bought a bunch of canned coffees. At the end of the show as she ws about to say it, we all lifted our cans. Wasamin was so surprised! "Nani????" So today we decided to one-up it a bit. One of the givaways is a Hatsuzake sticker set. The fans decided to cover the cans with Wasastickers. During the handshake portion Wasamin and her manager noticed something going on. She kept craning her neck to look. Finally she was like "What the hell are you guys doing over there???"



Anyway, at the end of the day as Wasamin was saying farewell, we all lifted our Wasacans, and Wasamin burst out laughing! After the show we took our group shot on the stage. And as we got ready to leave Wasamin's manager came out She wanted to take photos of us with the cans. Her staff is really cool. They come out and chat with us all the time.





Oh, and the Team Photo from the previous night in Nagoya...



Anyway, one last set of events tomorrow. It is going to be bittersweet. I'm sure everyone who reads these posts notices how special these events are not only for her fans, but for Wasamin herself. It is her opportunity to be a star, and to be held in a place that she deserves because all of her hardcore fans just think the world of her. I often think about that when I see her standing alone on that stage with her beaming smile.

 

One last release week event for Wasamin...and the final push for fans

Iwasa Misaki 4th Single Live & Handshake Event FINAL 2015/05/02 at Aeon Mall Hanyu (Saitama Prefecture)

13:00 Setlist
1. Hatsuzake (Short ver.)
2. Hatachi no Meguriai
3. Hakimono to Kasa no Monogatari
4. Hatsuzake (Full ver.)

16:00 Setlist
1. Hatsuzake (Short ver.)
2. Mujineki
3. Let It Go ~Ari no Mama de~
4. Hatsuzake (Full ver.)

I am always amazed at some of the choices of venue when it comes to Wasamin. Hanyu could definitely be classified as "out in the sticks", on the far Western end of Saitama Prefecture close to Gunma. Not close to any train station, they provide shuttle bus service for the 10-minute ride from Hanyu Station. Coming down the main road there it stood, a GIANT behemoth of a mall. By far the biggest Aeon Mall I have ever seen. The only one that might come close is Aeon Mall Hiroshima, where Wasamin performed last year. Filled with high end stores (Like Coach, Burberry, Tommy Hilfiger, Godiva to name a few), an enormous Supermarket and a multi-screen movie theater. It is definitely "the place to be" for the locals since the mall was packed.



It was the second-largest crowd of the week after Shibuya. Wasamin was wearing a pale peach-colored kimono with yellow and green trim. She had her hair pulled pack into a ponytail. She performed every song from the single plus Mujineki. I always love when there is an escalator behind the stage because you can see the reaction of random people passing the event. I just love seeing the smiles on their faces.

And for the first time I have ever seen, they cut-off the single sales. and they actually gave some sort of "rain check" to a few fans who still had a bunch of tickets in their pockets. The issue was that Wasamin needed to get to the airport in order to fly to Osaka for the AKB48 2-shot event tomorrow (today), and the handshake event was already approaching the two-hour mark. Quite the contrast to Nagoya, where the handshakes went on for maybe 30-40 minutes.


Team Wasamin! Holding up our Wasa-sodas...Kanpai!!!

I am interested in seeing the final first week sales numbers for this single. Obviously (shown by Forrest's posts) it didn't burn up the top of the Pop Chart, but that was to be expected. There was too much high-level competition. But an improvement over Tomobojo in sales would definitely be a good sign for Wasamin's future as an Enka artist.

And here was the swag given away throughout the week...


The "Super-rare" image trading card. Fans got to draw them after each handshake. If you were lucky you would pull an autographed photo. Each event offered a different photocard. Ultimately there were 28 different cards (for the 18 events this month, 7 in March and 3 events in January/February). I ended up with 19 varieties, so I am missing nine.





Signboards and Sticker Sets. The began giving these away on Tuesday in Ikebukuro when the single actually released. You were able to choose one or the other after each handshake.





A Shibuya exclusive, Hatsuzake clear file. There were also five autographed clear files that were given away via Janken during the evening performance.

So that's it for the Wasamin release week tour. Although they already announced a Hatsuzake handshake event next week in Omiya. And of course the Hatsuzake 2-shot events are coming in May and June. If the last 12 months are any indication I am sure there will be tons more promotion for Wasamin and her single throughout the year.

 

Not quite the level of Moshisora, but it's still a 37% increase over her third single. Not sure what goal Tokuma had set for her. But I have to think this is reasonably good news. Most AKB soloists sales have been going down, not up.

EDIT: It should also be noted that Hatsuzake placed first on the Enka singles chart, AND it outsold her senpai, and established enka artist Mizumori Kaori's new single by 2000 units.

BTW, cute interview with Wasamin on Oricon. Talks about turning 20, her goals, future, etc.
http://www.oricon.co.jp/special/47932/

 

Wasamin's first appearance at the theater since her single released. Spreading the Wasa-goodness...

 

Hopefully this stays up for more than just a day...


if the video does not show watch the video here

Spoiler

You can also find it here...
http://48video.blog.fc2.com/blog-entry-1783.html