tokyo in january
notes on MISAMO Haute Couture, chilly Japan, and claw machines
Hey friends, happy new year! Belated as always, regardless of how January felt so damn long. How is it already February MARCH though?? I haven’t even fully absorbed yet that it’s already 2025, like. Come on. ANYWAY. We kicked off this year in Japan! Because we’re unhinged like that, obviously. Some notes on that trip follow. Thanks for indulging! -K
Japan in January is cold, but thankfully not impossibly so—in fact, I can now say with a bit of confidence that I prefer this Japan over Japan in the summer1 (which was punishing, to say the least). Layers can be added but the heat? Nah.
Anyway! So the concert that brought us here was MISAMO’s Haute Couture Tokyo Dome Tour. Last year’s shows gave us a severe case of fomo, so when we heard they were adding two more shows at Tokyo Dome, we figured it was time to join the raffle. tl;dr—I won the raffle for both days on the first try for our tier.
Utterly gobsmacked. This has never happened to us before! Our past attempts at Japan concerts have been C’s victories, and even then we usually just scored for one night and had to fight for the other day’s tickets. So yes, naturally we had to go, and so that’s how we found ourselves having to cobble together a quick Tokyo detour first thing in 2025.
Short n’ sweet
As luck would have it, the concerts were MID-WEEK. Jesus Christ. Ended up taking a midnight flight out to land in Narita the day before our concerts. We stayed at APA Hotel Iidabashi—which was a ten-minute or so walk away from Tokyo Dome, and was just outside the Iidabashi Station of the Tozai Line2. Since we like things within walking distance to our primary venue, this was actually pretty convenient. Plus, its distance from the station meant that it was also relatively easy to go to other areas like Shibuya, where the other activations were.
Our first stop however was not MISAMO-related.
The Gotokuji Temple is less than an hour away from our hotel, and after dropping off our bags, we decided to pay it a visit. This renowned ‘lucky cat’ temple is popular for its wish-granting maneki nekos, and we went here with the specific purpose of getting our own for our respective intentions. (Getting there)
When we arrived, it was almost lunch break—meaning their lucky cat shop was almost closing! Beating the clock meant rushing to get to the counter and buy. True to our luck, we managed to buy right before their break! Hehe.
Anyway. After securing our lucky cats, we were then able to roam around the temple—even at noontime, the weather was cool and pleasant, and it made for a rather pleasant stroll. According to tradition, once your wish is granted, you must return your lucky cat to the temple—hence, a portion of the temple has been dedicated to shelves housing these fortunate feline returnees.
The rest of the temple was very picturesque and quiet; though I have not had decent sleep since leaving Manila at midnight and landing in Narita at half past seven, walking around the temple was actually very refreshing. Also: THE WEATHER. I know I’m a tropical girl through and through, but man I do not mind this cuddle weather at all.
More Gotokuji snaps here:
The next two days were devoted to MISAMO and activities around the Tokyo Dome—I have actually never watched a concert here just yet, and I’m glad to have finally been able to, considering it’s the venue of the legendary Dream Day concerts3
Inside the Dome it is huge. We were still a considerable ways away from the stage, but even then it afforded us a good enough view of the entire setup. The production, as expected, is insane. We were gagged from the get-go with Do Not Touch and Red Diamond, and the back-to-back stages of IDENTITY and RUNWAY totally had some sort of murderous intent. What a beautiful, jaw-dropping show through and through.
And I can’t really explain it, because MISAMO is a TWICE subunit, but even then their show feels different from a TWICE show. Not better, not worse—different. Like your favorite candy but in another flavor, that sort. I mean, I’ve seen these women pull off deadly solo stages for Ready To Be, but still their MISAMO solo stages this time around felt like they carried a different, but just as fatal poison.
In all—sobrang sulit! If they ever announce the next one, we’re definitely right there queueing for tickets.
Other Japan ganaps
GIGO activations. tl;dr claw machines are not in our wheelhouse haha ALTHOUGH C did manage to get one of those Jively stuffed toys! what a feeling.
Capybara x Neko cafe. We wanted to see capybaras last time, but we didn’t have enough time. This time around we made sure this activity made it to the official itinerary. The one we went to is the Capyneko Cafe in Kichijoji, which is super near the train station (and right across a huge Donki!) Make sure to make a reservation as it is required (and super easy to do on their site). We chose this because it’s like hitting two birds with one stone, only the birds are the cats and the capybara, and the stone is, well, uh. Treats lol. We chose the final time slot on a Friday night, and it worked to our favor because I think we had a bit more time (and leftover treats for the day hehehe). Portion of their fees go to their efforts for their rescue cats, many of whom we met onsite and were super sweet. The capybara too was mild-mannered, if a bit zoom-y. She’s fine though. We had fun feeding her and taking photos with her :)
Other activations: MISAMO at Miyashita Park, TWICE Cafe at Tower Records. We didn’t get a slot for the TWICE Cafe though :( They were a bit hectic during the hours we were free. Oh well, next time.
Anyway, the Japan summary reel, without further ado:
tl;dr It was a quick yet very fun romp, and we hope to be back again in Japan this year, perhaps for another TWICE activation, perhaps for purely tourist reasons—who knows. :) Thanks for indulging, friend!
Very late and very drive-by, xo
K
The last time we were in Japan was last July—that summer was merciless! But RTB at Nissan was calling so we had no choice haha. Wrote about that at length here.
Crucial to note that the A-5 exit in front of the hotel is not wheelchair-access friendly through and through on the way out—we had to carry our luggage down some flights of stairs to cross, and then up some more to get to a lift to the surface. I think we would have been better off taking the A-2 exit, which was a bit of a walk but at least had a lift to the surface sans stairwells. Oh well, next time.
I say legendary because Dream Day in 2019 had FLYING STAGES y’all, istg. It’s one of those concerts I wish I could time travel to.