Eriko's shimbokukai
I realised I never honestly wrote much detail about this night. I guess I will do that now.
Getting there:
I wore my new black dress and a matching black shrug. I had tied up my hair since it was so hot, but I let it down for the actual event.
I met Julie at the station and we both met Becca at Umeda. We decided then to go eat at Bagel Bagel since Becca's shimbokukai didn't include dinner. We accosted a fellow gajin to take our picture before Becca and I went our seperate ways. Her shimbokukai was actually at the Hotel Hankyu International which is next to the theater. Mine ... I had to find. Julie was helping me by trying to read the map.
Honestly the only way we were able to find the damn place was by encountering a fellow Nanaho Club memeber (one whom I had never seen before, but I saw her with my exact same map). I honestly felt proud I was actually able to ask her in Japanese if she was part of the club! Anyways, we followed her and voila! There was Cafenne! I was fairly early, something I realised I always was, and the staff were still getting ready. Julie and I said goodbye and about 15 minutes later they let us the growing crowd in.
The Dinner:
Honestly, I'm still not sure how I communicated with people. Minami-san, staff, every few minutes kept asking me if I was alright. Hiroka-san, the club lady that I found earlier, sat next to me and helped me around. I think she decided to stay with me because she didn't know anyone else. She was sweet and helped me figure out the buffet and drink situation. My choices were Orange Juice, Beer, or werid japanese concoctions. At first I went for オレンジ juice. I got teased for it much later.
The food was so incredibly good. They had a lot of western style food just prepared in a japanese style. Also I thought I spotted sashimi. I was sure I ate some stuff that I had no idea what it was. Many of the girls kept handing me plates of food and kept saying どうぞ！！ I really couldn't refuse. But it was all so very good. I even tried something other than juice. It was called カルビsoda. Honestly I have no idea what it was, but it was REALLY good. I don't think it was alcoholic.
Speaking of such. Nearly everyone was tipsy. About 80 young, college, age girls in a small cafe. Maybe about half of them quite drunk. It was highly interesting.
After a few drinks it seems, several of the girls that had seen me constantly at iri/de tried to talk to me. I realised knowing some katakana and hiragana helps alot. Also being able to draw helps. I communicated mostly through writing in my notebook and simple phrases. It seems to me nearly everyone came to love Eriko due to the Phantom shinko. Also many of them weren't ashamed to say they thought she was 美しい instead of かこいい. Plus it was then I realised my club has a tendency to compare Eriko to soft white foods. Yes.
I got dragged into photos by Shiho-san. She is the pretty pale lady to my left. Hiroka-san is the one in the pink suit. :)
Games:
So about an hour later it was time for the games. In our programs we had a bingo board and list of the whole cast. We got to fill the board with names from the cast. Only guess who cannot write kanji and only reconised some of the girls names? Though I tried! But, Hiroka-san noticed me floundering and finished up the board for me.
When it came to the actual game Hiroka-san and another girl ended up helping me. They pointed out the names that were called out if I didn't reconise the kanji. We went until there were about 6 winners. I only had one more left before I could have won!
The program.
The board.
The second game was jan-ken-pon. I lost dreadfully. I didn't even know how the heck the winners were chosen.
Eriko Arrives:
After everything was done it was time to go down into the cafe's basement. During the dinner nobody had assigned seats (something that took some explaining). But, when it came to go downstairs each table name was called. I listened carefully to each number, since I vaguely knew my numbers. When mine was called I went down.
To my pleasant surprise I was extremely close to where Eriko was sitting. I was at the table at the front to her left. Also I was next to Kikuko-san (the OL fan I have an extreme crush on). She was very drunk. Drunk enough to be exuberantly happy to see me and cling to me for much of the night. I wasn't complaining. She also deemed herself my translator for the night. The darling doesn't know much English.
Even with that handicap though she really was helpful. I was able to glean much from her random english and gestures. Only I wonder why she thought I should know that one of the girls names was Bifune and that her names means "Beautiful Feet"...
Well then Eriko appeared once everyone was settled in and she was wearing a white suit jacket, black tie and slacks. She was radiant, gorgeous, and so tall she had to duck through the doorway since the ceiling was too low. It was packed so tightly that Eriko had to squeeze through the tables. Everyone was trying their absolutely hardest to make way for her (and to not have her touch them.) She also nearly knocked over a shelf on the wall.
Question Corner:
I can't say exactly what she said but just the general gist. It started off with stage questions. They all seemed the typical ones of makeup, costume, and dancing. Eriko mentioned she had alot of trouble with the mustache, as it didn't want to stay on and that she always tries her hardest to be the cool otokoyaku everyone there loves in the finale. Also she would never marry her character.
The most amusing thing she said about her character was that she decided Dexter had a sweet tooth. At the party for the premiere of the movie, Kathy pops out of a cake ordered by R.F Simpson. One of the musumeyaku that later appear hand out candy. She says her character is at the happiest then. But then Dexter becomes all sad when Kathy shoves the cake into Lina's face. "Watashi no cake!!!!" I burst out laughing.
For the offstage questions Eriko was given several cards. On each card a topic was written. She went to each table and the table picked one of the topic cards and Eriko would talk about it. There was Movies, Music, Summer, Household, and two others I couldn't hear. I discovered: Eriko likes Vantage Point, J-pop, can't cook anything but she can boil vegtables, really likes summer when she is not working, and swimming. Kikuko-san and I had a moment of "what bathing suit does she wear?" Julie teased me about this later.
Awards and Pictures:
After this all the winners got their prizes. They were signed photoboards from Never Say Goodbye, Phantom shinko, and Understudy. Also one of them got a signed megaphone.
Then Eriko went to sit at another corner cleared specifically for each table to take a picture with her. The staff went around with a handful of chopsticks to each table. Two of the chopsticks had red ends. Those that got the red tipped ones got to sit next to Eriko. I pulled one of the red ones!!!! I was so nervous I felt my heart lodging itself into my throat. I was thankful for my dark skin as people didn't notice easily if I was blushing. Which I was. Eriko gave me such a huge grin when she saw me take the seat on her left. She bowed and said "Sankyuu". I couldn't look at her I was so dead.
Kikuko-san is the one in the famous midori dress ;)
Goodbyes and Dead Teffy:
Well once everyone was done Eriko waved goodbye to everyone and told us she would be waiting for us back upstairs.
That was the point where we could give our gifts and letters to Eriko. Kikuko-san let me have a card and we both quickly scribbled out something while everyone else went up. We were one of the last ones out. Good thing too.
I made Kikuko-san go first because I was too nervous. And what happened next I think made me love and hate Kikuko-san forever. She is one of the more forward fans. This lady turned around after she was done and told Eriko to pick a colour that suited me the most. Eriko grinned and turned and pondered the bag holding all the omiyage (umbrellas with Hikaru Nanaho on it) and gave me a pink umbrella. I nearly died of laughter and nerves. I was so wound up that I blurted out bluntly in english "You are so beautiful! Which received quite the reaction. My daihyou-san and Eriko both cried out "eeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeh?!" and Eriko smiled so big and blushed holding her hand to her cheek. Then she said "You too!"
.................. I exploded and hid my face in Kikuko-san's arm.
Eriko laughed at me.
I walked out of the Cafe with Kikuko-san and we all waved goodbye to Eriko. She stayed inside and closed the doors.
Kikuko-san gave me a huge hug and cried out "Good memories right!?" And all I could do was nod, wave goodbye and walk back to the station with a huge stupid grin on my face.
Getting there:
I wore my new black dress and a matching black shrug. I had tied up my hair since it was so hot, but I let it down for the actual event.
I met Julie at the station and we both met Becca at Umeda. We decided then to go eat at Bagel Bagel since Becca's shimbokukai didn't include dinner. We accosted a fellow gajin to take our picture before Becca and I went our seperate ways. Her shimbokukai was actually at the Hotel Hankyu International which is next to the theater. Mine ... I had to find. Julie was helping me by trying to read the map.
Honestly the only way we were able to find the damn place was by encountering a fellow Nanaho Club memeber (one whom I had never seen before, but I saw her with my exact same map). I honestly felt proud I was actually able to ask her in Japanese if she was part of the club! Anyways, we followed her and voila! There was Cafenne! I was fairly early, something I realised I always was, and the staff were still getting ready. Julie and I said goodbye and about 15 minutes later they let us the growing crowd in.
The Dinner:
Honestly, I'm still not sure how I communicated with people. Minami-san, staff, every few minutes kept asking me if I was alright. Hiroka-san, the club lady that I found earlier, sat next to me and helped me around. I think she decided to stay with me because she didn't know anyone else. She was sweet and helped me figure out the buffet and drink situation. My choices were Orange Juice, Beer, or werid japanese concoctions. At first I went for オレンジ juice. I got teased for it much later.
The food was so incredibly good. They had a lot of western style food just prepared in a japanese style. Also I thought I spotted sashimi. I was sure I ate some stuff that I had no idea what it was. Many of the girls kept handing me plates of food and kept saying どうぞ！！ I really couldn't refuse. But it was all so very good. I even tried something other than juice. It was called カルビsoda. Honestly I have no idea what it was, but it was REALLY good. I don't think it was alcoholic.
Speaking of such. Nearly everyone was tipsy. About 80 young, college, age girls in a small cafe. Maybe about half of them quite drunk. It was highly interesting.
After a few drinks it seems, several of the girls that had seen me constantly at iri/de tried to talk to me. I realised knowing some katakana and hiragana helps alot. Also being able to draw helps. I communicated mostly through writing in my notebook and simple phrases. It seems to me nearly everyone came to love Eriko due to the Phantom shinko. Also many of them weren't ashamed to say they thought she was 美しい instead of かこいい. Plus it was then I realised my club has a tendency to compare Eriko to soft white foods. Yes.
I got dragged into photos by Shiho-san. She is the pretty pale lady to my left. Hiroka-san is the one in the pink suit. :)
Games:
So about an hour later it was time for the games. In our programs we had a bingo board and list of the whole cast. We got to fill the board with names from the cast. Only guess who cannot write kanji and only reconised some of the girls names? Though I tried! But, Hiroka-san noticed me floundering and finished up the board for me.
When it came to the actual game Hiroka-san and another girl ended up helping me. They pointed out the names that were called out if I didn't reconise the kanji. We went until there were about 6 winners. I only had one more left before I could have won!
The program.
The board.
The second game was jan-ken-pon. I lost dreadfully. I didn't even know how the heck the winners were chosen.
Eriko Arrives:
After everything was done it was time to go down into the cafe's basement. During the dinner nobody had assigned seats (something that took some explaining). But, when it came to go downstairs each table name was called. I listened carefully to each number, since I vaguely knew my numbers. When mine was called I went down.
To my pleasant surprise I was extremely close to where Eriko was sitting. I was at the table at the front to her left. Also I was next to Kikuko-san (the OL fan I have an extreme crush on). She was very drunk. Drunk enough to be exuberantly happy to see me and cling to me for much of the night. I wasn't complaining. She also deemed herself my translator for the night. The darling doesn't know much English.
Even with that handicap though she really was helpful. I was able to glean much from her random english and gestures. Only I wonder why she thought I should know that one of the girls names was Bifune and that her names means "Beautiful Feet"...
Well then Eriko appeared once everyone was settled in and she was wearing a white suit jacket, black tie and slacks. She was radiant, gorgeous, and so tall she had to duck through the doorway since the ceiling was too low. It was packed so tightly that Eriko had to squeeze through the tables. Everyone was trying their absolutely hardest to make way for her (and to not have her touch them.) She also nearly knocked over a shelf on the wall.
Question Corner:
I can't say exactly what she said but just the general gist. It started off with stage questions. They all seemed the typical ones of makeup, costume, and dancing. Eriko mentioned she had alot of trouble with the mustache, as it didn't want to stay on and that she always tries her hardest to be the cool otokoyaku everyone there loves in the finale. Also she would never marry her character.
The most amusing thing she said about her character was that she decided Dexter had a sweet tooth. At the party for the premiere of the movie, Kathy pops out of a cake ordered by R.F Simpson. One of the musumeyaku that later appear hand out candy. She says her character is at the happiest then. But then Dexter becomes all sad when Kathy shoves the cake into Lina's face. "Watashi no cake!!!!" I burst out laughing.
For the offstage questions Eriko was given several cards. On each card a topic was written. She went to each table and the table picked one of the topic cards and Eriko would talk about it. There was Movies, Music, Summer, Household, and two others I couldn't hear. I discovered: Eriko likes Vantage Point, J-pop, can't cook anything but she can boil vegtables, really likes summer when she is not working, and swimming. Kikuko-san and I had a moment of "what bathing suit does she wear?" Julie teased me about this later.
Awards and Pictures:
After this all the winners got their prizes. They were signed photoboards from Never Say Goodbye, Phantom shinko, and Understudy. Also one of them got a signed megaphone.
Then Eriko went to sit at another corner cleared specifically for each table to take a picture with her. The staff went around with a handful of chopsticks to each table. Two of the chopsticks had red ends. Those that got the red tipped ones got to sit next to Eriko. I pulled one of the red ones!!!! I was so nervous I felt my heart lodging itself into my throat. I was thankful for my dark skin as people didn't notice easily if I was blushing. Which I was. Eriko gave me such a huge grin when she saw me take the seat on her left. She bowed and said "Sankyuu". I couldn't look at her I was so dead.
Kikuko-san is the one in the famous midori dress ;)
Goodbyes and Dead Teffy:
Well once everyone was done Eriko waved goodbye to everyone and told us she would be waiting for us back upstairs.
That was the point where we could give our gifts and letters to Eriko. Kikuko-san let me have a card and we both quickly scribbled out something while everyone else went up. We were one of the last ones out. Good thing too.
I made Kikuko-san go first because I was too nervous. And what happened next I think made me love and hate Kikuko-san forever. She is one of the more forward fans. This lady turned around after she was done and told Eriko to pick a colour that suited me the most. Eriko grinned and turned and pondered the bag holding all the omiyage (umbrellas with Hikaru Nanaho on it) and gave me a pink umbrella. I nearly died of laughter and nerves. I was so wound up that I blurted out bluntly in english "You are so beautiful! Which received quite the reaction. My daihyou-san and Eriko both cried out "eeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeh?!" and Eriko smiled so big and blushed holding her hand to her cheek. Then she said "You too!"
.................. I exploded and hid my face in Kikuko-san's arm.
Eriko laughed at me.
I walked out of the Cafe with Kikuko-san and we all waved goodbye to Eriko. She stayed inside and closed the doors.
Kikuko-san gave me a huge hug and cried out "Good memories right!?" And all I could do was nod, wave goodbye and walk back to the station with a huge stupid grin on my face.