How was everybody’s holiday? I guess Orthodox Christians and people of religious backgrounds with which I am unfamiliar have/may have seasonal holidays left to get through, but most folks have wrapped things up — extra weight! regret! the existential dread of work! Anyway, I hope you had a nice time.

You know who had a nice time? Our man in Japan, Phillter, who headed to Tokyo for a few days and went on an idol odyssey that most of us can only dream about. This is part I; it’s okay to begin to hate the man now.

Some of you may know me from the Hard Idol-verse. I do translations of interviews and reviews when I have the time. In general, I love this genre and want nothing more than to see it flourish and thrive.

For this holiday season, I decided to take a vacation from the sleepy country region of Tokushima, and go to Tokyo for a whirlwind week of Hard Idol concert after Hard Idol concert. I was in Tokyo for five days and went to five live shows, and thus there will be five of these reports. Continue reading →