Yesterday was a genuinely good day.
Very Tokyo in its own way, maybe?
After a long time without a relaxed day off in Tokyo, I went wandering around Ueno with a Tokyo-based friend.
We did some shopping, sang karaoke together for three and a half hours, and as we were walking wondering what to do next, a ticket agency display case caught my eye.
“I’ve never been to a live show,” I was thinking as I glanced through it — all sorts of artist concert tickets at prices in the tens of thousands of yen.
Then one corner of the display stopped me: a section labeled “Today.”
17:30 Doors / 18:30 Start — Ayumi Hamasaki @ Yoyogi First Gymnasium
Price: 2 tickets for ¥5,000!
I looked at my watch: 17:45. “That’s incredibly cheap, but the doors are already open. There’s no way…”
That would normally be the end of it. Tickets this cheap at this stage are practically confetti.
But yesterday-me was different. “Yoyogi from Ueno is totally doable!”
…And so, with the ticket agent double-checking “It doesn’t start until 18:30, you know?” — I bought them.
Then I pushed through the crowd to Yoyogi.
I actually made it. I actually made it.
Looking completely underdressed for the occasion.
A complete first-timer who decided to go 45 minutes before showtime. But a ¥7,800 ticket for ¥2,500 — worth it.
Live shows are something else.
For Ayumi Hamasaki, Yoyogi felt like a place with real meaning — a beginning and an ending of some kind. (I might be projecting.)
Everyone had light-up fan paddles and live T-shirts. (None of which, obviously, I had.)
Three hours that made every work frustration completely disappear.
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The ability to pick up a last-minute ticket is very much a Tokyo thing. Worth experiencing.
Though it worked because Yoyogi is a long way from Ueno, Ueno is busy enough to create walk-in demand, and Ayumi Hamasaki tours frequently enough that tickets exist to begin with. A lucky combination of factors.
I want to try this again. Definitely.