Anton Algren and Tsubasa Amami's Encounter in Osaka

The story thus far: after a frantic, fast-paced weekend in which I met June Lovejoy and JULIA back to back, normally I would spend the next weekend doing fuck all but resting, relaxing, and recuperating. But I had no time to do any such thing, because the very next weekend, I had to go down to Osaka for an entirely separate event.

See, you all may have noticed that I didn’t post a July trip article, and the reason for this is that the trip I originally intended to take for that month got pushed back. Thankfully it didn’t interfere with the June or JULIA event, but it did mean I wouldn’t be able to go anywhere in July.

So what was the event? A Tsubasa Amami fan club meet and greet! As I’ve mentioned here before, I am a big fan of Tsubasa Amami, so when I found out about the event, I leapt at the chance to attend. And while I wasn’t quite sure what to expect with this event, I was looking forward to finding out, with things seeming much more informal and relaxed than previous events I’d attended.

As such, after having a whole week to rest up from my Tokyo trip, I set out for Tsubasa’s event bright-eyed and bushy-tailed. As per usual, I arrived early so that I could locate the venue before having to actually go there, and then proceeded to kill time as best I could, which was sadly more difficult than usual.

See, something I haven’t mentioned in any of the other parts of this saga is the sheer heat present outside at all these events. While normally I relish the chance to escape my little, rural town and go into the big city, thanks to climate change any venture outdoors right now is an exercise in misery. We thankfully haven’t reached wet-bulb temperatures here in Japan (touch wood), but it’s still pretty darn muggy and miserable. So even though I was in the heart of Akihabara during my June event, I didn’t really do very much there besides staying in air-conditioned buildings. Even my visit to the local shrine was mostly spent in the gift shop.

So, even though Tsubasa’s event was located right in Amemura, a quite fun locale of Osaka, I didn’t really do very much there besides find a nice air-conditioned building to sit in for a few hours. Amemura, for those of you unaware, is Osaka’s Little America. It’s a surreal place, because everything there is almost, but not quite, entirely unlike an American city. It’s a very close replica, but it’s all just slightly… off. So going there makes me wonder if this is what Chinatown feels like to actual Chinese people. If you’re ever in Osaka, you should check it out.

But anyways, back to Tsubasa, once the hour of the event approached, I made my way back to the building and up the elevator to where the event would be held. And here’s where the first surprise of that day popped up. I was expecting the venue to be somewhat large. Even the tiny room of Sumire’s fan meet was part of a larger area. However, when I stepped out of the elevator, the three doors looked like they led into apartments. Come to think of it, the whole building looked more like a residential complex than an arena or venue. I was a bit worried then, not sure if I was in the right place. But the email I’d been sent beforehand had been very specific with the address, and I could hear female voices behind the door I’d been told to enter. So, shrugging my shoulders, I knocked on the door.

To my great surprise Tsubasa herself opened the door, and, like most people do, reacted with intense surprise at the sight of me. I told my name and entered the room, and found that Tsubasa and a friend of hers had been setting up plates of food for everyone. They asked what I wanted to drink, and then gave me a cup of tea as I was plugging my phone into a charger.

I’m honestly not sure if the place wasn’t an apartment. It was small, about a quarter of the size of my own place, but then again I live in the middle of nowhere, while this was located in the heart of Osaka. And it had a kitchen and fully furnished bathroom, so for all I know, this place is where Tsubasa’s friend lives, and the couch I sat on pulls out to become a bed. As said friend and Tsubasa came up to me to chat, I confess I was somewhat caught off-guard. This was by far the coziest fan meet I’d ever been to, and at that moment I had Tsubasa and her friend’s undivided attention. But after we chatted for a while, Tsubasa’s manager, and several other guests, showed up at the door.

This is when the event began in earnest. Mr. Manager set up the merchandise we could purchase for the event, and allowed me to take a picture of it for the article. He then called roll and checked all the guests’ names off on his clipboard. And then, after we all were present and accounted for, a toast was called, and we got down to chat.

I think the best way to describe the event was that it was sort of like a house party. Even though we were all there for Tsubasa specifically, we guests were able to chat amongst ourselves and have fun. The main topic of conversation I fielded was, naturally, my size. From my height, to my shoe and hand size, and, yes, even other things. Thanks to June’s tutelage, I was prepared with a response in Japanese when I received that question, and everyone got a good chuckle from said response. So thanks for that, June.

Aside from that though, a lot of the conversation was just regular shit-shooting. Stuff like the drudgery of our day jobs or what we were all watching on Netflix, that sort of thing. Tsubasa at one point said that I was very stoic (specifically meaning I was one who followed the tenets of Stoicism), which I found odd, but which I also could tell was meant as a compliment, so I was flattered and thankful. One of the guests made soba for us, and I scarfed down the leftovers that no-one else would eat.

I wish there was more I could say about the events of the event, but as I said, it was very informal and relaxed and casual, so there’s not really much more for me to say. I had the option of paying an extra 10,000 yen to stay another hour, but I got pretty much everything I wanted to get out of the experience in the time I’d already paid for, and I had a bus to catch, so I didn’t stick around. I just bought some merch and got a snapshot with Tsubasa. There was some issue with payment. I didn’t have enough cash on me to purchase the merch I desired, so I agreed to have the money wire transferred through the same channel by which I’d purchased my event ticket. However, I assumed then that Tsubasa and co. would take the money from my account automatically. It wasn’t until several days later that I realized I would have to wire the money on my own, so if Tsubasa is wondering why I took so long with the payment, that’s why. I’m sorry, Tsubasa. Hopefully Mangochin can explain my delay when he meets you?

Here’s where things get a bit funny. The first snapshot I took, I ended up blinking, which I know isn’t a problem here, since I cover my face whenever I post pictures of myself on this site, but which would make the picture stick out like a sore thumb in my own collection. Thankfully, Mr. Manager was kind enough to retake my picture, and we all had a good laugh. But which of the two versions of the picture am I showing you all now? Can you tell? Can you guess if I’m blinking or not blinking? Hm?

Before I left, Tsubasa demanded she take a picture on her own phone, to compare our respective heights. I had been feeling somewhat guilty, since several guests had brought gifts for Tsubasa, while I had not. But she said that this would be my gift to her, which cheered me up. I stood to my full length, while she did the same, puffing her chest out and I suspect standing on her tiptoes. But even so she only came up to about my chest, which amused her greatly. It was a source of entertainment for the whole room, so I figured it was an appropriate note for things to end on. As such, I bade everyone adieu, and made my way out to the bus station.

As I was dashing down the busy Osaka streets, two things struck my mind. Firstly, while attending these fan meets has been in the service of writing articles for ZENRA, there has always been a sense of fun and excitement, a disbelief that I get to get paid to go to these cool places and meet these cool people. It was on that day that I realized I’ve started to think of this more as business than pleasure, my mindset now being less focused on having a good time and more focused on optimizing my travel schedule and squeezing the most content out of my experiences.

However, and this is the second thing, even if it’s a job at this point, it’s still a really fun one. I still get to meet people I never would have met otherwise, and catch a glimpse into a world someone like me would normally never have access to. It’s great, and I truly do feel lucky and blessed to be doing what I’m doing. So happy was I that, even after tripping, falling, and smashing up my elbow pretty badly on the sidewalk (not a soul so much as asked if I was okay), I was still in high spirits when I limped bleeding onto the bus back home. Zenra said my injury was the result of karma, for stealing someones’ lucky pachinko machine the week prior. But even such a misfortune as that was not enough to dampen my spirits. I look forward to whatever trip I undertake next time.