That day was 3 November 2019 when ARASHI decided to do a proper Youtube livestreaming / press conference which became the #1 Top Livestream and Premiere Moment of the year in Japan. During the presscon they talked about the opening of ARASHI official SNS (social networking services) which includes Twitter, Instagram, Youtube, Tiktok and Weibo. They also mentioned that their songs will be available for online streaming services such as Apple Music, Spotify, etc.

However, the most unforgettable moment was when they announced that they will be doing another Arashi JET STORM after 13 years and the first destination that Sho mentioned was “Jakarta”. I didn’t really hear what Sho said after that because my hands were shaking and I was in tears. I thought I heard it wrong so I just messaged my other Arashian friends in our Line Group. All of us were in shock. It’s unheard of. Who would’ve thought ARASHI would choose Jakarta??!!

After we all overcame our shock, we started planning. We only have 1 week before they arrived in Jakarta. Everything had to be done fast.

Contacted by Event Organiser

In the midst of chaos, suddenly someone from the event organiser contacted us. She asked us for ideas and feedback on how everything should be, such as how to choose fans who can come into the presscon room. We told them about balloting as the most feasible option because it is definitely fair. Every fans will have the same opportunity. Also, as Johnny’s fans, we’re so used to this kind of system.

We really thought everything would run smoothly because we know the organiser. At least we know where our friends should be when ARASHI arrived….or so we thought. Turns out, it was such a waste of time. Collaborating with the organiser was a disaster. More about it later (especially after we found out more facts after the event).

Even the night before, when we asked where should the fans round up, the organiser would just say “just somewhere near around the hotel”. Seriously, do they not know how many Arashian in Indonesia? Some people come to Jakarta just for this. We have people contacted us and asking about this. Of course we don’t want our friends to be stranded randomly somewhere on the street. We just need them to arrange a proper place so that our friends can gather.

Nope. They just don’t care.

Contacted by a Japanese TV Channel (TBS)

Out of the blue, a Japanese TV channel emailed us and asked if we can do an interview via Skype. They asked if we can have about 10 people to gather for the interview but we ended up with about 20. 

Next time I’ll talk more about it.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Handbanners, Uchiwa, Arashi Cookies & MON-chan!

Due to the incompetent EO some circumstances, we don’t know what the event would be and how will we be able to see ARASHI. We discussed all possibilities, such as come to the airport, stay in the hotel and even thought about placing a digital ads in the airport. However, the last idea was scraped right away when we know how much it would cost us. We love ARASHI, but we still love our lives more hahaha

The cheapest and most feasible thing to do are creating handbanners, uchiwa and all other small gifts for those who came to the event.

We created a LINE Group called “Kepanikan Abad Ini” (Panic of the Century) to discuss this. We asked the members about their ideas on what to put on the handbanner.

Some wonderful ideas were created, some funny interesting phrases were thrown. During that time, most of us were also busy with our personal work loads. I remember how one of the designer had to do the editing during her trip from one hospital to another (yeah, she’s a medical doctor).

Finally near the D-Day, every thing are done!

MON-chan Logo and Uchiwa

This is our MON-chan. An Indonesian stylised Arashi Mark-chan. We tried to include some Indonesia landmark and trademarks. 

taken from the word MONAS which include the same letters as AMNOS (Arashi members initial)

MONAS (Monumen Nasional) is a landmark of Jakarta (capital city of Indonesia)

also known as Puspa Pesona. Indonesia’s official national “flower of charm”.

One of the pattern of batik in Indonesia.

This cloud motif implies staying cool and calm in any situation, and being an inspiring, lofty-minded leader who protects and cares for the needs of the people.

We were informed by Genki that Sakurai Sho (a member of ARASHI) saw MON-chan and commented on it! Apparently Sho saw the uchiwa brought by Genki and exclaimed “SUGOI!” (Cool!).

 

 

 

Handbanners

We wanted to be memorable so we created a handbanner with phrases that we want to convey to ARASHI.

Here are some of the handbanner that we created. 

The handbanners were actually being acknowledged by ARASHI (especially Matsumoto Jun) and even featured in their Netflix series “ARASHI’s Diary : Voyage”.

 

Banner (the big one)

Not only the small handbanner, we also prepared a bigger one. During the preparation we still didn’t know where and when we can see them (heck, even the night before nothing was confirmed). So, we decided to just printed a big banner, just in case we need it.

I no Arashi in front of Hotel Mulia

…and of course it was featured again in Arashi’s official youtube channel and Voyage.

Cookies

We also prepared ARASHI-shaped cookies produced by the students from UMN Perhotelan. We gave out the cookies to the press and other fans in the venue.

 

Afterthought

The whole week from 3 Nov – 10 Nov 2019 felt like a dream. It was full of surprises (the pleasant and not-so-pleasant ones). Hectic. Panicking. Stressed Out. Giddy.

I might write more about the actual Jet Storm event. Maybe. As the actual day was rather traumatic for most of us LOL

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