i would be most glad to elaborate and clarify. I finally made a visit to the AKB48 8th floor of the Don Q. building, and unfortunately was unable to find the time to buy tickets. But i didn't know my schedule would allow me to visit the AKB48 building 2 additional times, including in the evening hours. I went in the 2nd and 3rd time around between 6-8pm, and they were having a live concert. I can feel the bass, and music of the girls in the next room behind the double doors. There was a group of a dozen or so guys waiting out near the small cafe/souvenir area. There was a AKB-worker guarding the door. Every now and then there would be someone who had tickets and the guy at the door would let in, and only for a brief moment, i can see the crowd cheering, and the bright lights on the small stage with a few of the girls. There were two flat screen tv's mounted high up, and for some reason the clarity of the images on the tv weren't clear enough to identifty each girl. I think Team B was performing when i went in the third time, my guess on the 10th of July. My first day that i visited the AKB area was on July 6th, during the late afternoon around 5pm or so. I bought a lot of AKB items, maybe around 15,000 yen, about $130 USD worth of stuff. There i see this line behind me in front of the double doors into the theatre. A few workers stood next to this tall girl, Mariko-chan! and there was a stack of already signed books she apparently had signed. They were selling for 1260 yen, about 11 dollars....and the line was short. Every fan that bought a book, got a chance to meet her in person as she shook hands with each fan. There was about 15 people total in line, so i jumped right in line. The book is some poem(my guess...i don't read kanji or undertand it yet..), anyhow, on the last page, she signed it, and with her hamster, animal? illustration that she normall draws on her autograph. I got to meet her, and shake her hand, even spoke some Japanese to her that she understood. She is absolutely beautiful and i wish they allowed me to take a photograph of her, oh well, i got to meet her, and that was enough and so unforgettable.
Ahhh I see. Hahaha, "have the time" for tickets, AKA standing on line for 3 hours. That's great that you got to meet her though That's a lot of AKB merch you bought!
More pictures because I can. Taken at the theater today. Honestly I have no idea why this is rotated. I re-saved it the correct way and it opens the right way on my computer.
some nice pictures there...i took a few of my favorites, close up, and forgot to turn off the flash feature on some of them. not sure if i remembered to take a photo of the Bingo poster. I remember seeing it elsewhere, i think it was on the same street a a record store in Akihabara.
for those who are going to visit the akb 8th floor in the Don Q. bldg, be sure to check out and try the Maid Cafe on the 5th floor,the girls are kawaii, and the food is good. @Home Cafe! i recommend it, and i even took a pix with one of the girls, but it costed 500 yen, but i'd do it over and over again. add mariko, and i could pay much more, but i'd do it!
There are far more......interesting.....maid cafes in Akihabara. The @Home is one of the largest chains of Maid Cafes there. If you have a good set of eyes, you'll find some very good stuff. $0.02
true.... i also went to mailish, down the block, around the corner...i finally found that one, using my limited japanese conversation skills. Too bad my favorite waitress at Mailish wasn't there...Arisa-chan...i adore her. i went to a third one on the top floor of this building, i just had coffee at that one, forgot the name of the bldg and cafe, maybe i can find the drink coaster, it has the name of it. and a fourth Maid Cafe all the way accross town in Nakano, at the Nakano Broadway mall. So, i had dinner or lunch at three of them, and just coffee at one of the four. So, pretty good at doing a mini-tour of maid cafes, and next time i hope to go back to a few of them, and visit more others.
qilver - You are so lucky to meet Mariko. That's just crazy good fortune. You were all smiles, right?
Okay. Today topped it. They sold photo sets today as well as the handshaking events in the various buildings around Akihabara. There were lines in EVERY direction on EVERY block. I lined up at 6am, waited until 10am to get my ticket for the Team B show today (exactly -- 4 hours for team B???). As soon at 10am hit, people literally sprinted down from the 8th floor of Don Quixote to get on various lines around Akihabara. There was a line that wrapped around 2 sides of a block. 2 sides!! 2 people wide. It was.....extensive. I left Akihabara at 10:30am-ish, and came back at 3:30. I happened to see a line for a photo set forming, so I got in line for that and got a pack of those limited edition photos. The guys in the front who got the photos first would BOLT down the escalators again and get on line again for the same photo sets (since each ticket allowed you 1 packet, and the tickets are distributed at the bottom floor of the building to prevent repeats like that) but they found a way around it anyway. These people are fanatics. I was talking to one guy who said he isn't going home tonight because there are too many hand shaking events to go to (he bought 4 Bingo CDs to get more tickets). Wow.
more photosets!!! i think that guy is a true fanatic...i wonder if i would do something crazy like that....just a long as i got access to some riceballs, and some vending machines, i am good to go....almost, might be tough being on my feet/sitting down on the floor all day and night, but meeting Mariko again, and the other girls would be worth the wait. did you buy any new photo sets or anything else? which girls did you meet and shake hands with?
I bought 1 pack. Its a grab-bag, so you have no idea who you're going to get. This one was Team B, each set has 5 photos. I think I have 15 photos now total from 3 of them. I didn't meet any girls/shake any hands. I looked at the line, laughed, and walked away. I'm not about to stand in line for the entire day. Even I have a limit.
wow....that long eh? well, perhaps next time, afterall you are in Japan, right? some of us lucky enough to go back for vacation will have to wait longer. grab bag eh? was this at the AKB 8th floor, these must be brand new photo sets...the ones i have of Team K, are probably when they first joined up.
And that's what separates the fans from the otakus. B-) I wouldn't wait a whole day in line if I was on vacation or something in Tokyo, but if I lived there and had nothing better to do, I'd wait to meet Sae. But that's just me, because, well, I'm pretty lifeless.
right.....wait a whole day...time is limited..while in Tokyo-Japan on vacation. i planned out my time where and when i wanted to go, and for roughly how long... how long would i wait for Mariko or any other AKB'er, the whole day to shake their hand without a photo?! that is tough. I would probably decline......uh...yeah. but i only had to wait in line not even for 5 minutes for meeting Mariko, there was virtually no wait, ok less than 5 people ahead of me in line. if i lived there, had nothing to do, uh...wasn't working that day, and was overly eagar to meet one of them, then perhaps. add a few wild excited fans like me, then most likely.
These photosets are different. You can only get them on that one day. They have a separate ticket they give you (aside from the one to buy a ticket for a concert when you're waiting outside on the sidewalk). This special ticket (usually green) is for these limited edition prints of the girls. They're 4x6 in size I believe, and people trade them like crazy. You can't get them at the AKB48 shop. They only do them on 1 day at a table they set up near the cafe (well...that's where the table has been every time I've done one of these)
I'd be the opposite If I was on holiday, and wouldn't get another chance to meet them for a long time, I'd wait several days in line if needed. If I lived there, I would have loads of chances to meet them, so I'd be like Tatami Mats and walk away.
I slept in an internet cafe to meet Chocolove... hey man, I'm not in Tokyo all the time, it was pretty much a once only deal (to see Chocolove, that is). But yeah, if I lived there, I probably wouldn't bother so much, haha. Too lazy...
you make an excellent point...on vacation, time is limited, and when are you going to get the chance to see them again, your next trip may not be for a year or so.. i think if we can make time, we would possibly make the sacrifice to wait in line to see them. and living there, well many more opportunities to just come back, yet another day. plus if i knew how to read japanese, and view their website, i can try to know in advance, what is going on, and why these dedicated fans are in all these lines infront of the Don Q building.
