The ridiculous fees almost out-way the perks, but it is still worth it to me...maybe.
Since I became a Japanese resident, I was able to join Japanese fanclubs. Why you may ask? Because if you want to be able to see your favorite Kpop/Jpop groups while in Japan, you HAVE to be a fanclub member. Very exclusive, I know. It is so much easier in America where all you really have to do is wait until tickets go on sale online and then click buy after you have put in your info. In Japan, you first have to sign your soul away for a year (fill out a bunch of confusing info), pay the equivalent of your first born (jk it's actually about $60 per year) and then wait until tickets go on sale, enter the lottery, wait to see if you won a ticket, go pay for it, get a non-entry ticket from a local convenient store that was vending the tickets which may involve putting in all your info yet again just to print it out and pay at the cash register, wait for the actual tickets to come in the mail, then go to the venue and have to pay $5 more just to get in but it includes a drink. This is what I went through to go to the Ukiss fanmeet on December 13th.  |
| Venue For UKISS Fan Meet |
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| Waiting In Line For Fan Goods |
That is another perk about Japanese fanclubs though, fanmeets. You may not actually be close enough to talk to them or for them to see you, but in some ways it is cooler than a concert. They actually perform songs anyway, so basically its like a fun mini-concert as well. Even though I was standing in the middle of the crowd for both times of the fanmeet and my feet were hurting so bad by the end of the day from waiting in the merch line for hours and then standing for hours for two fanmeets, I had a great experience. Ukiss were hilarious on the stage. I even got AJ's attention for a bit when I yelled "I LOVE YOU AJ" (yes in English). He stumbled on what he was about to say and kinda pointed in my direction.
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| Cushion and Blanket (can also be a cape) |
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| Cushion/Blanket in Cute Form (lol) |
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| Free Stuff!! |
Not only do you get the chance for cheaper tickets to concerts and events, you also get access to the exclusive fan site. On the fan sites, they announce pretty much everything the band is doing and upcoming events (all in Japan of course) as well as exclusive pictures and videos done by the band just for the fan-club member and not released to the general public. One problem for me is, it is all in Japanese. So much kanji I just don't even try to read it most of the time. Google translate is my best friend. It usually makes sense most of the time when I translate it with Google translate.
You also get sent Christmas cards apparently. Ukiss's was more elaborate.
Because you have access to the fan site and receive plenty of news emails, you have the chance of going to special live events for free by lottery. I actually applied for a live Ukiss event that was for FujiTV illumination event for Christmas. I ended up winning! All I had to do was print out the email and bring my member card and another form of ID. I finally was able to print the email and then made it to the event. Like for anything I go to, I didn't give myself enough time to find the event site and figure out things I needed to do once I got there. Once I finally found out how to get to the roof top thing, the line for buying the new released CD was super long and I wasn't sure what to do or where to line up for my entry number thing. I decided to just stay in line to buy the CD for a chance to get to high-five Ukiss. By the time I had bought the CD they had been letting people into the area in front of the stage. I then noticed people had entry ticket things and not the email...I then realized I was supposed to go to some area that I never figured out where it was and show my credentials to get the entry ticket. Of course, by the time I noticed that, they were already like 50 numbers after my entry number. As I was mentally beating myself up, I saw the van carrying Ukiss drive up to the stage I went to a hedged area behind the area where fans were entering in front of the stage. I decided to just stand there at the back on top of a parking block that gave me a nice lift over the crowd in front of me. I was glad to be back there actually. I had room to breathe and hold up my fansign without blocking someone's view. I wasn't sure if Ukiss could actually read it from that far away, but I liked to think that they could because I had attached a shoelaces lights around the edge of my sign to make it stand out. I was also glad I had it because when I actually got to high-five all of Ukiss through a very face-paced line for like 3 seconds, Eli read my sign out and laughed.
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| My View For Live FujiTV Event (was better than it seems here) |
The high touch event went by so fast I can't remember much. I really remember what Eli said, and then Kevin's beautiful flawless complexion and super cute smile and "Oh hi!" when I said "Hi Kevin" in the most American way possible.
Overall, I think my fanclub experiences have been pretty successful and enjoyable.
Since Kpop is becoming more and more popular in the States, I really hope that someone puts something together like fanclubs in the States. Maybe with more benefits than restrictions.
Until next time...
~Laila
