Back in February (2023) I had a short trip in Japan primarily to attend the "final" (probably not final) Aikatsu concerts. With the exception of a quick overnight trip to Hiroshima to experience Skyrail before it closes, originally in 2023 but now delayed until April 2024.
Something I have wanted to do for a while is travel around other parts of Japan, such as Kyushu (I made an overnight trip to Fukuoka once a few years ago, but that was not enough time, especially with the amount of travel involved to get there and back). A friend of mine is planning on a trip with a Kyushu focus so I'm hoping to hear more from them and get some more ideas rather than just going and seeing what's there.
However, there's a few Tokyo-centric things I have missed out on doing the past few trips and I'd like to align my next trip with at least one of them.
The Tokyo Things
1) Summer Comiket - mid-August
I've been to Summer Comiket twice so far, but not for several years. I can't go to winter comiket due to it being smack bang in the middle of the busiest work period where holidays are kept to a minimum, so if I want to go to Comiket it has to be the summer one. It's changed a bit lately, where if you want to go in when it opens or an hour or so after that you have to have a ticket which is allocated by lottery, you can't just turn up and join the queue like I'm used to. That's probably fine, honestly, as I don't really think I needed to be there when it opened as I'm not usually after the stuff that sells out super quick. This will also mean I don't have to have a day off of my radio show as I can just do my show as normal and then head to Comiket for when they let people in without a ticket or with the easier to get ticket. It is only two days long now, which may make it trickier to see everything, but it's probably fine. Summer Comiket is in mid-August and is super hot, so not an ideal time to be there, epecially if I want to go further South.
2) Other doujin events - variable
Instead of going to Comiket, going to one of the smaller and more specialised doujin events might be a good idea. In particular is Geika, an Aikatsu series only doujin event. It seems to be held at least once a year, twice the past few years, but the frequency is pretty variable with the past few being:
- September 2023
- May 2023
- July 2022
- January 2022
- October 2021
- March 2021
- November 2020
So I can't really plan until they announce it, and the date announcement tends to be not as far in advance as Comiket, and doing a trip on short notice isn't ideal when it comes to planning etc. That being said, I want to go to at least one Geika event before they stop being a thing, cos series-specific doujin events won't last forever (unless you're Touhou I guess lol). This is much more important than Comiket to me.
3) Idol concerts - variable, but September is more likely than not
The February Aikatsu concerts were treated as the final ones ever, but this is the second time they've done exactly this, although the difference this time is the lack of a new series (Aikatsu Planet has ended, the film is out of cinemas and on blu-ray, so there's no new anime on the horizon). There has been a new concert announced, although it's an unusual one in that it's an acoustic performance rather than your typical idol performance. It's on Christmas Day though, so much like Winter Comiket I cannot go, but it's at least proof they haven't ditched the idea of doing events.
However, there are also the individual idols doing shows and events solo or in smaller groups or in new groups entirely. Rie just joined a new band as the non-screamo singer, for example. However, my favourite idol, Matsuoka Nanase, has live shows several times a year, and one that's pretty much a guarantee is somewhere around her birthday on 10th September. This year, in 2023, that birthday live is on 18th September (same as Geika actually) but next year we won't necessarily know until a few months prior. Again, less time than I'd like to plan, but a more narrow window with a bit more notice than some.
Strategy
So now I need to think of what to aim for and what risks to take. Odds are I will be taking a two or three week trip (the one time I took a three week trip, or the time I took a couple days longer than a two week trip, my bosses were a bit weird about it, so we'll see what happens with the new job).
Let's look at what needs to happen for each of the above:
1) Summer Comiket
This is the easy one. The dates for Summer Comiket in 2024 will be announced at the Winter Comiket 2023, if not before. Even before that happens, the dates will be either 10-11 or 17-18 August unless something very unusual happens. Either way, taking a two or three week break that includes both of these weekends will be easy enough to plan around, even if I wait for date confirmation in December at Winter Comiket as that's 8 months notice.
2) Other doujin events
Thinking about Geika specifically, they announced the one happening on 18th September 2023 on 23rd May 2023, two days after the previous Geika on 21st May. That only gives 4 months notice, but looking at the others listed above, there's a chance of gaps of between 6 and 10 months, so it's completely up in the air when they'll be. We'll see when they announce the next one after the one on the 18th (in two weeks time). I don't think that'll be the one I aim for, but if it's only a few months later (say January or February) then the one after that would be the one I'm aiming for. If it's longer than that, say May or later, then that may actually be the one to aim for. either way, the amount of notice is variable and not something I can plan around.
3) Idol concerts
The big Aikatsu concerts gave you several months notice prior to the ticket lotteries, and then it's a case of trying to get tickets, but then you only have around three months notice to get to Japan in time for the show. The smaller concerts you get a few months notice for the show in general (they announced the December 25th acoustic show just under 4 months away) so I don't think that's going to happen.
But as you might expect, with big concerts getting a few months, the smaller concerts less so cos there'll be two in the same time frame in some cases. I can estimate based on birthdays, but you've got a whole month to work with and I don't have enough holiday days to take a whole month off which may still be inaccurate.
In terms of how much notice you get, Nanase's birthday concert was announced a whole two months in advance. I can't feasibly wait for that announcement to book a whole Japan trip, and I'm told that's quite a lot in idol standards, as others might announce it a week or so prior, but Nanase is popular enough to need ticket lotteries, which is another barrier for this happening.
Conclusions?
Looking at this realisticly, if I was to book a holiday around one of these, they're already in order of least to most risk. Comiket will likely give me 8 months notice minimum and the dates are highly likely regardless. Geika is a bit of a wildcard as I can't book in advance with any confidence until they confirm the dates, and then the notice could be seemingly any amount. Nanase concert is pure risk due to both estimating the dates plus the ticket lottery meaning I might not be able to go.
But there's another way of looking at the Nanase trip. I could book a trip covering three weeks in September with the expectation that it'll cover when the event is on. And then, if I don't get a ticket and/or get the dates wrong and the show is before/after my trip, I'll just do something else. It will be a massive bummer if I'm off by one or two days though, because that's happened before.
I did also consider making smaller, shorter-notice trips, but the cost of flights to Japan make that simply unfeasible.
What about the other stuff you're doing in Japan?
Good question. If I'm wanting to go to Kyushu, that's a fair bit warmer than the rest of Japan, with the daily mean temperature in September in Fukuoka for example being 24.7C with an average high of 28.6C. That's spicy. August is even worse. However in both cases, it's only a degree or so higher than central Tokyo, so not really a dealbreaker, but August temperatures in Tokyo is miserable so I'd like to avoid that where possible, but not really an option with Summer Comiket. Geika is obviously variable so let's keep an eye out on that. Of course, I could always go *North*. Never been to Hokkaido, not really been north of Ishinomaki to be honest, and not explored Sendai pretty much at all. There's a lot to see and do outside of Tokyo, Kyoto and Osaka (and even Osaka I haven't properly explored as I've just had one day trip there from Kyoto once ever).
Enough rambling, what's your takeaway here?
I'm gonna keep an eye on when the next Geika is. If it's only a few months later, I'll wait for the next one and/or if it's achievable as a holiday with enough notice, I'll look into that instead. That's more important to me than Comiket or even Nanase at this point. If that doesn't work, September with Nanase's birthday in the middle and hope for the best.
