I Left my Heart in Yokohama (Extremely-Late October Trip Retrospective)
As of late, I’ve found myself thinking about Yokohama a lot.
Perhaps it’s to do with my upcoming trip and the fact my tickets have been confirmed for a live show at the end of April. Perhaps it’s because I have a friend there that I’m eager to catch up with when I return (or whenever he comes to Nagoya, he’d said he was keen! Note to self, message him later about it). Perhaps it’s all the memories I made there in October, and the amount of joy and laughter I shared with other fans of the same idol series as me, regardless of where we all came from. Perhaps it’s partially to do with the fact I’m still kicking myself for not visiting Yokohama Chinatown despite staying so darn close to it!
Maybe it was the first realisation that I was content, even happy with my life, that I felt sitting on the side of the road less than an hour after disembarking from the Keihin-Tohoku line in Kawasaki and saying goodbye to Ruby, eating a bag of conbini apple slices while waiting for my west-bound night bus to show up and let me on. The way I’d fall in and out of sleep on the way home thanks to the bathroom stops and my tendency to be a light sleeper. The mild panic I’d felt thinking I’d missed my stop as we drove through the easternmost points of Aichi prefecture (I didn’t, I was just insane). The ride back to my local station on the Nagoya subway line, tearing up thinking about how I already missed everyone I’d met that weekend. Listening to songs that were performed over the weekend on the regular bus back to my area. The fleeting, ethereal feeling of walking into my local Familymart– purchasing some fruit juice, a nama-cream bun and yuzu-pepper nikuman for breakfast– before walking home at around seven in the morning, saying hello to our dorm’s caretaker and retrieving my keys before getting back in and collapsing into bed.
I didn’t take many photos of Yokohama while I was there. When I did, it was mostly concert-related– The venue from afar. The Kazuki and Kuro uchiwas Ruby and I had held up next to the K-Arena signage. The view of the harbour bridge from the Arena walkway. How the skyline looked as I approached the arena again after the mad dash to Naka ward for my Airbnb check in. The moon above Minatomirai after the first day. Flower stands in the arena lobbies. My insanely lucky seat, as printed on my ticket. Ruby’s emergency DIY uchiwa for Sora after we hit up the local Seria. The SideM 7th live BD Advertisement in Minatomirai Station that I didn’t get to see up close because we took the wrong escalator. I didn’t realise I’d taken so few photos until I'd gotten home, and my teacher had assigned us the task of talking about our memories from that semester for our speeches and sakubun.
Though, what these few pictures don’t capture is the journey.
The insane mistake I made, confusing the Shin-Yokohama station with regular Yokohama station, walking to Yokohama arena and back because I realised it wasn’t K-Arena when I saw no merch tents (I was very stressed that morning, oops). Stressing about the blue line delay that day. The utter relief I felt when I managed to hunt down Ruby and Ann on the stairs, giving Ann her goods and finally, finally sitting down after walking around for about three hours straight. The mad dash from Yokohama station to Ishikawa-cho for my check-in at four, then back again to get inside the venue in time. Seeing Yokohama Stadium on the train ride. The pure, unbridled insanity I’d felt realising I’d clocked in over twenty-thousand steps before the concert. Nearly getting lost a second time on the way back.
The horrifying realisation as the concert was beginning, that I’d not eaten anything beyond some small snacks in the morning on the Shinkansen, and that I’d left my bottle of water in my bag at the aforementioned Airbnb. Feeling like I was dying for most of the first day because of this, then deciding that if I did die in here during Kasama Jun’s performance of Radiance of the Heart, it would be one-hundred percent worth it.
The Anpanman statue meetup coordinated in our little foreign fan discord server, and the extremely kind TeruP (Loading-san) from Korea who vigorously shook any other TeruP’s hand whenever he struck up a conversation with them. The way I’d absolutely inhaled my food and fruit juice from the fancy Familymart not too far from the arena, while hanging out with other foreign fans. The talks about what we all wanted to see performed for day two. Mirei's reaction to Tony and Yuuyu's post-live photos. Riding the Keihin-Tohoku line back to Ishikawa-cho, and seeing off Carly and Ange as they boarded for the opposite direction, Satu as he headed in the other direction at the station we'd stopped at. Buying fruit juice from the vending machine outside the place I was staying, downing the whole bottle and promptly passing out.
Heading back to the arena the next day, running on about five hours sleep and excitement. The Seria trip and DIY uchiwa shenanigans. Meeting Ange in the local Maccas. Ruby thinking Clock-san was someone coming to tell us off for doing said DIY, only to realise she was here for a friendly conversation. Meeting Subaru for the first time and exchanging omiyage, before being introduced to several extremely kind producers. Getting my ticket for day two at the door and seeing my seat, realising we'd be scarily close to those performing. Seeing the Flower Stands, including the one I'd participated in funding (the White Day-themed Kuro one). The fact that day two was so much fun that my brain was buzzing, even as I sat on the bus and tried to sleep.
Ah, I can't wait to go back to Yokohama. I miss it, and I barely saw a fraction of it when I was there. Something about it feels familiar, as though I've found another place so much like Wellington (minus the insane sloping roads, I'm serious) that it's like I never left my home country. I'm hoping the day I'll dedicate to it before the concert is enough for me to see even more wonderful parts of it.