This is my report from when I went to purchase Arashi goods from their Waku Waku Gakkou 2013 (ワクワク学校2013) project.
It was my first time to purchase goods at Tokyo Dome and Arashi goods. Before I have only purchased KinKi kids goods in Fukuoka (2008) and I was FIRST in line!! :P
Then some V6 in Seoul (2009). Anyway I was excited and nervous and I have heard stories where fans line up at 5-6 am to buy goods!! So the night before despite coming home late I tried to aim to get their around 8ish.
Here's my report!!
I arrived around 8am to Suidōbashi Station (水道橋駅), to get there I used the Chūō-Sōbu Line.
As the photo shows it's quite easy to see which exit to use.
It took 3-5 min to get to Tokyo Dome area from the station and I can say this, there were lots of people lining up already!!! Most had some kind of Arashi goods with them, straps, towels, bags.
Some people has done this before, they even brought chairs and foods.
I had packed water and some bread, my friend's mum had gotten that advice from her friend who usually goes to buy Johnny's goods.
The panorama isn't the best maybe, but the line was long, so when I looked I thought I'd wait for at least 5-6 hours.
And just a few min after I arrived I looked behind me.. and wow!!!
Lots of people! I kinda felt lucky not being the last in line. And the line kept on growing.
Suddenly around 9.45ish I think. I actually lost track of time, but the line started to move and before I knew it I was inside the goods venue so to say. So close still...
Lots of people around, all talking about what they'd buy for themselves and for their friends...
And soon it filled up I couldn't see the beginning nor the end.
Around 10.15 the line started to move again as they announced they'd start selling the goods!
All got really excited and some even pushed, I didn't want to cut the line but some people pushed my back so I think I went a head of 3 people. However none seemed to care.
And soon it was my turn, I got excited yet nervous, that the items I wanted to get was sold out.
I kept on looking and thinking what I wanted and what I didn't want. Also check so I kept my budget. I had promised myself not to spend more than 7000 yen!
But it was tempting to get all the goods just because I was there, at Tokyo Dome and I did not have to pay anyone any commission. But in my heart I knew I wasn't keen on all of them.
The funny thing is... it took less than 40 min to get inside the goods venue, it was the stupid line inside that took time. I think I stood there for 40-45 min.
Reason why? Well people couldn't decide what to get and the staff were super accurate that each customer got exactly what they wanted so they re-counted stuff over and over.
By this method I had more than enough time to decide what to get.
However one thing made me nervous, I didn't know all the names in Japanese and there were some kanji I didn't know... but I hoped for the best.
Luckily they had a picture of all the goods so I could just point and say "one, two, three".
So the goods list was
- Clearfile (Individual)
- School Tote Bag
- School Subject Bookmark Set
- A4 Writing Paper with Writing Pad
- Coin Case
- Folding Mirror
- Embroidered School Crest Brooch
- Lunch Bag
- Toothbrush Set
- School Slippers
And in the end, I got the brooch (x3), A4 Writing Paper with Writing Pad (x1), Book mark (x1), slippers (x1) and lunch bag (x1)
And when I left the line had grown bigger!! And I can say I was happy I had arrived early so I could get the goods I wanted ^^
I left the area around 11.15-30ish!! A lot earlier than I thought!!
I had scheduled to get out of there around 2 pm! ^^
As always when buying JE goods, don't forget to bring CASH ;)
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