The Journey to Get There; Ichi-go Ichi-e Moments/Thanksgiving Edition
Hard to believe 3 weeks (since the publishing of this post) has passed since this whirlwind trip took place. It’s also Thanksgiving in the U.S. which I’ve long stopped celebrating (especially in terms of the eating part). Instead, I’ve looked at this at this in a broader way where I’m thankful everyday that I’m alive to experience another day including this short trip and being able to write about it (I wrote a much longer “thanksgiving” post about this 2 years ago when I was writing mainly from a gaming perspective).
Note: This post contains numerous images below and may load slowly on some connections. Japanese version is here (日本語版はこちら)。
Why would anyone decide to attend a festival of lunatics in Japan at the last moment? I guess you do have to be lunacy level crazy to fly across the Pacific (securing both a flight and hotel room) just to attend being inside of a big convention center hall without the best viewing angles nor hall acoustics for 9+hours each day, and then return (4 days and 3 nights) without doing any actual sightseeing. Given how short life is though, sometimes you just need do what you want you to do if/when you have the chance/means to do it. Or as the shorter saying goes, YOLO (you only live once).
In all seriousness, let me back up a bit and explain what this LUNATIC FEST is. It’s a 2-day rock festival event held by the Japanese rock band LUNA SEA at Makuhari Messe in Chiba Prefecture with invited acts alternating on two side-by-side stages. It’s been held two previous times in 2015 (June 27-28) and 2018 (June 23-24). I last attended the 2015 event (while living in Tokyo); this one is therefore the 10th anniversary of the event. As for LUNA SEA, to say the band is fairly influential would be an understatement (having been one of the earlier groups that themselves were discovered by hide of X JAPAN and promoted by Yoshiki of X JAPAN on his indies label). But that influence has been enough to allow the band to create this music festival, often times inviting acts that were their influences, peers, and newer acts they themselves influenced.
The end result is a rare opportunity to see all of these bands at one place and for those of us who are fans of many of them, represents 2-days of high energy sonic bliss. As I’ve gotten older though, the love/hate affair with these multi-day music festivals really started to ramp up. Your mind still thinks as a 30 year old while your body is winning that battle, and saying “no you aren’t”. A week later, my mind was saying “no regrets”, but my back is saying “you are an idiot” (two weeks later, a bit more recovered). There was also this inflection point where mass crowds (even in a musical event setting where there is usually a lot more attendee comradery/unity) became more of an aversion. I figured it was just me getting older (where those aches/pains that didn’t exist before, are now constantly reminding you of the biological realities) and also having seen many of my favorites enough times where it no longer feels fresh. But it is sort of like some who climb Mt. Fuji and after completing it, think never again, only to do it the next year (because it’s the overall euphoria of completing it and weather permitting, experiencing those incredible views).
These festivals are normally not the definition of comfortable being mostly standing (with audience members moving about, trying to get closer to the stage when their favorite is on) and even when there are seats (when held outside of non-stadium venue), aren’t anything comfortable either (utilitarian is a better way to look at it where they do provide a temporary respite for rest); those are normally for premium and/or VIP ticket holders. Crowd and facilities logistics at these festivals are always very challenging; they need enough event staff ushers (to direct crowds) and trained emergency personnel (which is self-explanatory). Organizers have to manage all of the scheduling logistics which can turn anyones hair gray because there are so many moving parts in what is a tight schedule (more commentary on that later once I cover the actual event). Digressing…
While LUNA SEA IS USUALLY classified as a JROCK band, the traditional labeling of genres is not very straightforward with many Japanese artists/performers because of the multitude of musical infusions that are incorporated. LUNA SEA is no exception since they perform everything from hard rock, pop rock, ballads, classical acoustic, neoclassical, etc with a lot of crossover. Lead guitarist SUGIZO often times plays his notes with an atmospheric/ethereal quality and performs on the violin on several of their songs. Drummer Shinya (Yamada) plays some songs (like ROSIER) taiko style which he was trained on in his childhood.
For LUNATIC FEST 2025, the ironic thing is there weren’t really many acts (once those lineups became more official) that compelled me to wanting to secure tickets (which can be both days or one of the days) and doing advanced travel planning. Many of the older groups, I’ve seen before. It also didn’t help that post-pandemic, my desire to travel (and fly) has been very low on the desirability scale (I still haven’t had the surgery I need to have and despite prior advice not to fly for longer than 6+ hours, after traveling to D.C. earlier in the year, found business class with lie-flat seating workable). Thus even with LUNA SEA as the closer (for each day), it wasn’t a strong desire where that inner feeling was enough for me to say “go” even though I have long been a fan.
The Medical Health Issues of Various Performers
Then in early September 2025, Shinya and LUNA SEA revealed the health issues that he had been experiencing. On September 8, 2025, Shinya announced that he had been diagnosed with a brain tumor and would be undergoing treatment (chemotherapy). From my own experience with a lesion that showed up in an MRI requiring a biopsy to further diagnose (that turned out to be a non-aggressive benign cyst), tumors are usually more serious (preferably being removed). I’m presuming the level of invasiveness with surgery and the location, is why he is being treated with what must be aggressive chemo first. He also revealed that he was previously diagnosed with stage IV colon cancer in 2020 and continued to perform with the band while receiving treatment (which included radiation, chemotherapy and seven surgeries). I let that sink on for over 30 minutes because I know how much intense stamina is required for playing the drums the way he does. One can examine the amount of concerts they held from 2020-2025 (pandemic period ones were often played in a venue without fans but is still energy consuming).
These health struggles of his wasn’t just reserved for him. Vocalist Kawamura Ryuchi revealed that in January 2019, that he had undergone surgery to remove adenocarcinoma of the lung. The cancerous cells were completely removed (and required no further treatment/chemotherapy). In October of that same year, he underwent another surgery to remove some vocal chord polyps. Then in February 2022, he successfully underwent surgery to remove microvascular lesions in his vocal cords (later revealing he also had vocal cord nodules removed at that time). Those vocal chord surgeries are a major reason why he has struggled to sing like before with hitting certain notes (the band has since worked around this with tuning changes, with him not singing some of the parts, and having fans fill in). It’s gotten better/stronger but it is still understandably far from where it was pre-surgeries (and that was still apparent when LUNA SEA closed out each day; and he was definitely struggling on certain songs on the 2nd day).
As for LUNATIC FEST, the band took the proverbial “the show must go on” approach (plus there was even more resolve by the invited acts to perform as a show of support for the band and Shinya himself). As part of his health announcement, Shinya also mentioned that this time around, he would not be trying to perform while undergoing chemotherapy (due to the risk of side effects that might render him unable to perform at the level that he normally does, or just be incapacitated completely). Thus he decided to cede the drum playing for LUNATIC FEST to someone he trusted the most, his former pupil/drum technician Junj-ji (Sakuma) who was also the drummer for SIAM SHADE, TM Revolution, BULL ZEICHEN 88, and support drummer for other artists.
These guys are only a few years younger than me so when I learned about these health issues and challenges, realized that others in this same age bracket are hitting that point where the likelihood of medical problems is realistically a higher probability (how life really is short and that it’s up to our own individual decision to live life to its fullest). I looked at both of their health issues in relation to my own recent ones, and know that mine pales in comparison. Still, the human body is remarkable in terms of what it can endure. How we deal with them and our own mental outlook has an effect on how well we recover.
Shinya performing while undergoing extensive treatment for colon cancer makes all of these physical aches and pains I have seem so tiny in comparison. Similarly, that fatigue/tiredness also doesn’t compare. Not to get the wrong idea; sleep is important for recovery. My point is that anyone who is actually healthy and doesn’t have such issues, are extremely lucky and should be making the most in doing the things they can do, while they can. And this is especially true if one has goals requiring effort to accomplish.
It definitely motivated me to this point where I began looking seriously at attending. But living outside the country now, plus no longer being a SLAVE (LUNA SEA fan club member), meant that securing tickets would represent a challenge. And I really did not want to inconvenience those I knew who were still members because they themselves would be trying to secure the limited allotment of tickets. So I just looked at it as “if I get tickets, great”. Like most everything else in Japan when it comes to concert ticket sales for big groups, there usually is a lottery system (and fan club members are normally allotted a better chance compared to everyone else). In 2015, LUNA SEA fan club members (SLAVES) had exclusive access to VIP seating for that years LUNATIC FEST. In 2018, this was changed up to where they were given a priority chance to secure a limited number of premium/VIP seats.
As expected, there wasn’t a really good avenue if you weren’t a fan club member living outside the country. Since I was already realistic about those chances, it wasn’t disappointing plus I knew from past LUNA SEA special events, it would be recorded for future PPV broadcast, streaming and physical media sales (though often times condensed and without all of the MC’s). But I always looked at that as better than nothing (in recent years, I’ve taken an “it is what it is” sort of view).
The Art of Giving (and then Receiving)
This part is like a side story on its own (but will keep it brief). Since in the past (20+ years ago), I did activities on the side that crossed over into the Japanese music industry (during a period of time when tech began to crossover/transition a lot more with digital audio/video), I had naturally crossed paths with people that were involved in that industry (some of whom one can consider as ex-colleagues though the majority of mine were in the design and technology field).
Slight tangent; in mid-October, I got a chance to meetup with a wonderful Fukuoka based creator (and her family) on their short trip to Hawai’i. It was after that meetup when I had a chance encounter with a former colleague (one who I always had great relations with) who was also visiting (we had lunch to catch up). It was through this channel that I was able to secure “tickets” when I made mention of the concert (what I had written about above). Ok, it was actually more like an invitation that was offered (which I originally thought might have been a miscommunication/lost in translation moment; but it turned out to be just that). When opportunity comes, it’s best not to ignore it. The short moral is that if I hadn’t met up with this creator and her family when I did, I wouldn’t have been at the right place at the right time to have met this former colleague.
One of my favorite Japanese idioms is “ichi-go ichi-e” (一期一会) or “one time/place, one meeting”. Like many Japanese idioms, its literal translation to English doesn’t fully convey the situational cultural context which ends up giving the phrase a much more deeper meaning. It is occasionally expanded to “once in a lifetime” but in the Japanese social/cultural context, it’s meant to treasure these moments that may happen by chance (the human abstraction of life and time is basically this; a series of events where you may have both arranged and random encounters with associated opportunities, each with their own outcomes) since those moments may likely never happen exactly again in the future. One’s personal relationships and experiences are thus forged by these encounters and outcomes (sometimes you will be on the same wavelength and other times, not at all). Which leads me to the following.
Short life lesson commentary: Knowing and treating people well with dignity and respect including mentoring/tutoring individuals that take your advice and life experiences seriously (and vice versa as the learner from great mentors), can end up being rewarding in many different ways. To give is to receive (与えることは受け取ることである) where what we give is experienced through the same returning to us, is such an invaluable concept where years later, I managed to get an unasked for payback due to just being as decent a person as I could be to those who were at least on the same page (blunt to a fault, imperfect, but always trying to be respectful and giving back when I could). Then there are classes of individuals (who treat others like disposable trash) that I deal with in much more blunt/sharp terms (and therefore spend as little time as possible on). I’ve learned in life who and what type of people (from ichi-go ichi-e encounters) that I should prioritize because there is only so much time/energy that can be spent in this short period of time that we all exist on this planet (but it usually does take time to be able to determine ones character).
I get along fine with many where we disagree on certain issues (this often leads to spirited conversation). But we always agree on what is right morally and ethically. We agree on the ideals of ones personal space and their personal privacy. It’s those who do not value those ideals, that I end up summarily de-prioritizing especially when effort is taken to articulate why things that have an impact on those ideals, should not be done in ways that violates those principles. In simpler terms, you know who you can trust by their actions and that over the years, can manifest in acts of kindness like what I experienced. Ichi-go ichi-e in this context of this one event taken together with various life experiences, summarizes why it turned this unorthodox trip (back) to Japan into such a wall-of-text posting as to how it even managed to occur in the first place.
I was fortunately (perhaps luckily) able secure a flight (there were still open seats in business class for ANA’s A380 Flying Honu) and hotel accommodations at the APA Hotel & Resort Tokyo Bay Makuhari (if worse came to worse, I would’ve had to splurge quite a lot at the nearby New Otani Makuhari). My priority was accommodations near Makuhari Messe because I had no intentions of leaving the general vicinity (my meetup with old colleagues/friends was going to be in Makuhari due to my time constraints) except to find the most convenient Maisen (for tonkatsu) and other favorite spots like Tenya (there was one right near Kaihin Makuhari Station), Ootoya (closest one was two stops away on the Keiyo Line at the AEON Marinpia Mall). The purpose of this was simple; fly in (spend some time at favorite eating spots), 2-days of concert, meet some folks/spend some time at favorite eating spots, fly out.
November 6/7-10 (the actual trip)
I left HNL November 6th on ANA 183 (A380 Flying Honu) at 11:50AM HST and arrived at 2:46PM JST on the 7th at NRT (7h55m). I’m going to dump most of my photos on my Flickr account (where most of my other past music stuff is). ANA only flies these A380 between HNL and NRT (great aircraft and overall best flying experience I’ve ever had on a long haul flight). The following is the blue “Lani” livery. I flew only with a carry on (my travel backpack).
Took the Keisei Express Bus to Tokyo Bay Makuhari (arriving there at around 4PM, checked in, and headed back out to a Maisen (easiest to get to was the Sogo Chiba location requiring a transfer from the Keiyo line at JR Chibaminato [3 short stops from Kaihin Makuhari] to the Chiba Urban Monorail) which satisfied my longstanding craving. After returning back to Kaihin Makuhari Station, headed to Makuhari Messe to case out the area (barriers were already up at Hall 6).
Morning of November 8th was waking up early enough and hoping there would be a family restaurant that was open early. There are a few places in the hotel including a decent cafe (GREEN TIME opens from 11AM though). I was planning to go to the Royal Host at Kemigawahama (one stop away on the Keiyo line) which opened at 8AM so I headed out to Messe first just to see what things looked like; with 2-day VIP access (wristband exchange was also easier at hall 9 2F where the concert was being held on 1F), we didn’t have to deal with the GA lineup at hall 6 (for the 9AM door opening) and the craziness with that wristband exchange (merchandise and artist goods were also being sold there). The signage around Messe was “hilarious”… Opinion: the whole logistics with crowds was not the best (that falls on whomever the event organizer was (more on this later)).
Met up first with a friend/former colleague (she’s long been a concert going buddy of mine) from part of the group I was with who suggested we go to a place just across the street at the World Business Garden called Cafe Croissant (which as can be guessed, specializes in croissants, bagels, and sandwiches; perfect carbohydrate material) since it was right there (the Keiyo line would likely be busy/best to avoid it). We had one of their breakfast menu specialties, croissant with egg salad and ham with coffee (which was pretty good but the coffee was nothing to scream home about).
The event had food vendors (plus some tie-ups) including Tenkaippin ramen, Tenraiken ramen, K’s Pit (Burgers), Steak Bowl Speciality Shop, Savoy x Inoran Kitchen (pasta), and vendors that sold karaage, hotdog, and crepes. Some of these were outside halls 9-11 and others were inside all on the first floor so we’re talking about major crowd congestion (if you didn’t go early, the wait times for many were extremely long). The previous two LUNATIC FEST’s drew over 60,000 across both days (this was the first one being held in this set of halls). Note: over 50K attended this years festival across two days.
Messe and the Marine Stadium across from it can be event packed during a weekend; this one was no exception since on the 8th, there was a KAT-TUN concert being held at ZOZO Marine Stadium, Little Glee Monster at the Makuhari Event Hall, and Momoiro Clover Z at Halls 4-5 (there was supposedly also an SKE48 event in Hall 2) with most all of these ending within 2 hours of each other 18:30-20:00.
The VIP “seating” area on both sides of the hall has chairs but aren’t necessarily the most comfortable. What it does offer is a resting spot where you can still easily watch the performers compared to the all standing general admission area on the hall floor (which could get crowded with the larger acts). At the same time, this VIP area isn’t a place you’ll want to stand (out of courtesy to everyone else) thus for some acts, we’d move to the floor. Generally speaking though, the convention halls of Makuhari Messe aren’t really great for concerts (bad viewing angles and poor hall acoustics). Shows like this are held there since it is less expensive to handle the same crowd size as what a stadium could over two days though.
I’m not going to spend a lot of time in this post writing about the actual performers/performances (since that is better left for a separate posting because it would be way longer than this blog entry). But with day long festivals like this, many don’t tend to stick around for every single act unless they enjoy all of them. Day 1 for me had two acts I wasn’t really familiar with (except from watching a few YouTube videos); Novelbright and MY FIRST STORY. But I stuck around, and ended up finding them pretty good; out of the younger first day performers, MY FIRST STORY was probably the biggest surprise for me; their vocalist Moriuchi Hiroki is the younger brother of ONE OK ROCK’s singer, Moriuchi Taka.
As for the veterans, I have mixed feelings about the mashup collaboration of SIAM SOPHIA (4 of SIAM SHADE’s members + SOPHIA) after learning about DAITA’s detailed explanation of what led to the lawsuits that have been taking place over the past several years (that itself is something I will save for another post). Then there is Nishikawa Takanori (T.M. Revolution) who is part of the same age demographic as LUNA SEA but absolutely doesn’t show it. He was absolutely buffed up (I still remember how skinny/lanky he was in the 90’s) and high energy (just a few years younger than me) which is nice that older folks can still move around like that. While I’m not a huge fan/listener of DIR EN GREY, I still respect their overall visual artistry, talent and delivery. BRAHAM is one of those understated groups that infuses many different influences into their music (and they bring it live). Day 1 ended up being virtually without a break (10:30AM-8:00PMish) since every act was really fixating. Thankfully, the VIP section had their own restroom facilities.
One of the key highlights of the evening was when LUNA SEA’s drummer Shinya (noted above) made a surprise appearance, walking out without any assistance. That was definitely an emotional moment for many (as per what I wrote above about health struggles and thinking about that when it comes to our own individual mortality as we get older); many were teary eyed including Shinya himself.
He gave a brief speech thanking everyone for their support, that the bands “journey” will not end, and then also making the announcement for LUNA SEA’s Xmas show on December 23rd. He also threw in that he wanted to be able to play the drums again at that show (even if in a limited capacity). Many in the crowd were overcome with emotion because no one expected him to be able to walk out that way, let alone expressing that he is up to the challenge of trying to perform again just 3 months after beginning treatment (when doctors originally told him he might require the use of a wheelchair/crutches for at least 3 months post-treatment). And this was on top of the stage 4 cancer treatment that no one had publicly known until September. Many of us felt lucky by comparison.
The following is a short snippet of that moment which I am now thankful that I had the opportunity to experience in person (note: the live segments provided to the media are kind of raw non-equalized soundboard source for the audio where you can hear how rough those vocals are). FUJI ONE/TWO are planning on PPV broadcasting 8 hours of the festival in late December (where this audio will be produced/polished).
Some may think it is “odd” when I say I/we “survived” and got through the first day without issues because attendees do get injured or ill (dehydration and exhaustion is a common thing at these large events; especially those open air festivals). The ones who have done these before knew the routine (eat in advance, have snacks/carbs, and have water with you). The food logistics was kind of a mess (on day 1, we heard it took some folks 1-2 hours to get through ordering lines while on day 2 when there were acts that weren’t my cup of tea, I went to the food areas to check things out and saw the actual sign boards with the wait times that made me laugh and shake my head at the same time).
As noted earlier, various crowd related logistics unfortunately weren’t really handled well by whomever it was responsible for organizing this event (there was a contrast to the 2015 event). I know it’s not easy (so many moving parts) but I’ve been to many of these (both as attendee and handling event logistics) where I can say it wasn’t really well organized. As the day went on with performances, people near the front were going down from dehydration/exhaustion. A lot of this fan base is now in their 50’s/60’s but even younger folks were going down (normally, event staff has adequate staffing for emergency/medical personnel to manage that – to get those people off the floor and provide medical attention). Lot of that was not happening and attendees who were near those folks were the literal first responders.
Near the end, things could have been disastrous (and again, thankful our group were in the VIP blocks when LUNA SEA began performing). When they perform their song WISH, they shoot off these streamers usually without incident (pictured below). For day 1, they performed this with other artists on stage. The air cannons fired them out but a section of folks in front of the PA, light, and sound board crew ended up going down in chain reaction fashion when many of them tried grabbing for the streamers.
It was likely that the performers on stage could not actually see this happening (stage lighting can have that effect) and likely received no comms about it to stop the show at that point from a safety perspective. Communication logistics might have also not been all there (event personnel being on the same page) since we heard on the morning of day 2, there was some miscommunication with those general attendance ticket holders standing in line to do their wristband exchange if they were only day 2, or didn’t do the 2-day wristband exchange on the 8th where they were instructed to go to another place which ended up being wrong (those folks losing their place in line we heard were not happy).
The area map photo (in the the above) shows the layout. In the photo of the floor, that open area POV is what would be hall 10. The section where you can see cameras is where the soundboard and master control staff are in part of what is hall 9 (part of the area if open for camera tracks). In the other photo (captioned as hall 9 POV), I’m in front of that whole area control area (the VIP blocks/barricades to either side). This whole section would be later filled with fans (just to give an idea of how many could’ve been injured if many more fell in a larger chain reaction).
One of the barricades near one of the VIP blocks also collapsed which probably caused some fans to go down. We could see some having to be carried off. We could hear (after day 1 ended) some talking about how they could have broken an arm/leg and were fortunate to have been able to walk away with bruises. On day 2, no streamers were fired out of the air cannons (they did fire off for the sound though). It became clear that not enough trained emergency personnel was available for an event of this size since day 2 was no different (people going down near the front and not enough emergency personnel to handle those situations).
As expected, the people traffic in the area was wall-to-wall because of multiple events concluding within 2-hours of each other. It took me a while (relatively speaking since it is normally less than 7.5 minutes) to get back to the APA (wanted to take a quick shower before we headed out for dinner) because of the walkway congestion (and that foot traffic was far worse for those heading towards Kaihin Makuhari Station).
The rest of the folks in our group headed towards the station since one of them drove and was parked in the Messe Amuse Mall parking garage across the street; the day 1 scene for them near JR Kaihin Makuhari Station looked like the following from where Plena Makuhari (プレナ幕張) is located (across from the station and Mitsui Outlet Park) on the above street walkway. Day 2 wasn’t as bad because there wasn’t another huge stadium event happening.
Day 2 started off overcast and rainy. The lineup of performers included two acts I didn’t really care for (9mm Parabellum Bullet I remembered performed at the 2015 show and just couldn’t get into them while the 13:40 act 凛として時雨 vocals just wasn’t for me). Thus I had two breaks which allowed me to go outside for fresh air/people watching in the food area). NEMOPHILA opened (as a 4-some now since guitarist Saki left in 2024) and they were great as expected (sadly they didn’t play Life which is such an exceptionally great power ballad from them with very relatable lyrics that encompassed this short trip). The following is a studio live performed in August 2020; their first after a hiatus while drummer Murata Tamu gave birth to her second child (click the CC button for English subtitles for the lyrics).
I had to try not to do any pain inducing head bobbing (ok, who am I kidding, trying not to headbang was difficult) during both ROTTENGRAFFTY’s and MUCC’s set (did a lot of air guitar/drumming + leg/foot tapping to the beat – my step counts pictured below for both days is mainly from the concert but I know back in the day when I used to attend those 3+hour Metallica concerts, I put it in way more steps than that. But I digress.
BUCK-TICK (one of the earliest originators of the visual kei movement) were of course performing now with just 4 members after vocalist Sakurai Atsushi (aka Achan passed away suddenly in October 2023 (from a brainstem hemorrhage) at the age of 57 (highlighting again how life can be very fragile/why we need to make the most of our limited time that we have). The band has long had a way of dealing with this subject matter: “The Parade goes on until we die. And even when we die, it continues” is something Sakurai once said.
Then guitarist Imai Hisashi said something to the effect of “But be prepared. Next time there will be three. Still, the parade continues. Next will be two, next will be one, and maybe the last one will be me. And it will still continue. I think it would be really interesting if I could continue on by myself. There is no sense of protecting or carrying BUCK-TICK, but simply a desire to have fun. What will happen to BUCK-TICK from now on? I’m going to have fun doing it.”
And thus the group has continued on by redefining themselves as a 4-piece with guitarists Imai Hisashi and Hoshino Hidehiko now sharing vocal duties. The following is a live performance version of their first release (November 2024) post-Sakurai Atsushi of 雷神 風神 – レゾナンス (Raijin Fujin – Resonance) that was performed at Nippon Budokan on December 29, 2024. The song represented the next phase of the bands long and storied history with the original promotion video (partially replicated in this live performance) filled with symbolic gestures including that still empty central spot where Sakurai would normally be. The band name also uses the ∞ symbol now to signify how the “parade continues and goes on”.
The above (celebration of life related aspects) is part of a combination of many different reasons as to why I did this short whirlwind trip back to Japan in light of my own recent health issues while being able to see old associates/friends again in what was 2-days of high energy/sonic bliss, where we were all made to feel younger again and having so much fun in this reunion of sorts (and one might as well do these things while we are alive and able to).
The following is some of the food/drink they had…. as noted above, if you didn’t order from some vendors early on (especially the ramen), you ended up seeing signs like the following (the Tenraiken one going from 120-150 minutes cracked me up).
Of course had to go to other favorite places like Ootoya, Tenya, plus a tonkatsu place near the convention center (Tonkatsu KAPPOU)
Monday (November 10th) was pretty much the only full free day I had. My return flight on ANA was slated to depart at 8:25PM JST from NRT. I therefore spent most of the day with old acquaintances; I came the farthest but my concert going soulmate Yuuko was next coming from Hakodate (I learned she had moved back to her hometown after living previously in Tokyo and Irvine, California in the US). Leaving so quickly was bittersweet.
I had also tried to see if I could visit Beppu (in Oita, Kyushu) to see Tomomi (Timo), another wonderful creator whom I also have the privilege to be a channel moderator for (and oft time adviser on many things where I’ve also had several opportunities to talk with her over video about those things; she’s also been one of the few who mentioned being interested in meeting up), but the logistics weren’t there since I had engagements that I couldn’t really get out of and needed to be back by November 10th HST (I didn’t want it to be a “hi/bye Timo” thing which lacked any quality time; it’s also why I didn’t contact Jason (Sensei Martian whom I wrote about previously) either — I wanted to respect their time/schedules as well plus I’m definitely not into sniping anyone in order to respect their personal space, and prefer providing advanced notice to schedule for that quality time).
The return flight was on the A380 with the emerald “Kai” livery (with the closed eyes). The flight also had a really good tail wind which meant it took only 6h56m to arrive at HNL at 8AM HST (not enough time to sleep for a longer period). 3 weeks later, parts of this feels surreal like it never really happened, but know that it did. And I am thankful that I did it (even though parts of my body is still calling me an idiot for doing so). But you only live once, and might as well make the most of it while you can.
