[notes] Kitayama's DVD event

[talisa_ahn]

I went to the event to celebrate the release of Kitayama's India DVD.  If you bought the DVD back in December, there was a postcard included to apply for this event.  They said that about 8000 people applied and 350 were invited to this thing.  I tried to write as much as I could without flailing all over the place... but I should probably warn you that my brain doesn't function well around Kitayama.  I couldn't even describe what he was wearing when asked after. orz  There are probably mistakes in here.  I'm sorry.

The event itself was about an hour and a half of him and Aoki-announcer talking on the small stage they'd set up (Aoki on the left, Kitayama on the right).  Aoki is actually a Johnny's fan and when Kitayama asked him what he meant by fan, Aoki said that he often sings Johnny's songs at karaoke (including SHE!HER!HER!) and goes to concerts.  He later said that he's been to Arashi, V6 and Kinki and doesn't utilize the VIP seats, but gets a proper ticket and when they come by on carts or whatever, he bows and is like, "Otsukaresama desu~!"  He said that he'd like to go to see Kisumai sometime. :D

They showed some highlights from the show, like "Best Smile" or "That curry…" and Kitayama told some behind the scenes stories about those moments.  Aoki seemed to enjoy making fun of Kitayama every time he slipped in the water.  We watched some of the footage and Kitayama kept commenting on things like the heat and how people had no personal bubble, especially on the trains.

There was also a give away.  Six members of the audience got an autographed poster (there were two types), and two people got autographed versions of the journal that came with the DVD set.  AND THEN KITAYAMA GOT UP AND DELIVERED IT TO THEM DIRECTLY.  Oh… SO JEALOUS~~~~  Oh!  There was a guy who won one of the posters.  Ryusuke-san? Ryosuke-san?  Anyway.  He's not a Kisumai fan, but just happened to see the show and bought the DVD.  Kitayama was super excited that he came.

Towards the beginning, Kitayama said that he only found out he was going to India a few days prior.  He was called in, waited like 30 minutes for the woman to show up and then when she did, she looked him over and said, "You'll probably die."  Then she walked over to one of the other members of staff and asked, "Doesn't he look like he's gonna die?" and that guy gave him a once over, nodded, and said, "Yep.  He looks like he's gonna die."  Which is when they told him he'd be going to India on this trip and Kitayama freaked out, went home and searched on the internet for information and what he'd need before running over to Don Quixote to buy supplies.

They actually asked the woman why she said that to him and her reply was that she felt he'd be better prepared that way.  (They'd prepared a slide for the VTR and everything. ^^;)

Before sending in the postcard ballot for this event, we all had to write a question to Kitayama and then at the event they took questions written by people who were actually at the event to ask him.  One of the questions was "During the second half, your skin still looked good.  Did you use any special facial care?"  He said that he hadn't and actually, he was going days without taking a bath.  During the few days between finding out about the India thing he was really busy and ended up going to an interview with the other members without changing.  He said everyone else was in long pants/jeans and wearing a jacket, but among that, he was wearing shorts and a t-shirt… and from there he went straight to India, hair still styled from work.  And then didn't take a bath for four days.

Aoki commented on how smell doesn't travel through the TV and Kitayama was like, "I smelled like flowers!" and when everyone made faces and went all EEee?! at him, he was like, "I didn't smell!  I'm a Johnny's!" as if that prevents BO or something. haha…

One of the other questions asked about his dreams in India and he talked about how after he at the bad curry, he dreamed that that bowl came to life and was chasing him.  Poor guy.  Aoki asked him how much weight he lost and Kitayama said it was about 6kg.  And then he looked at everyone and was like, so if you want to lose weight, food poisoning.  He said his stomach hurt for the next month.

Another question asked, "If you could go on a trip with one other member, who would you go with, where would you go and what would you do?"  Apparently multiple people present wrote that in.  Kitayama answered that he'd take Miyata.  They'd go to India and Kitayama would push Miyata forward before running away so that he could see how Miyata fared on his own.  He was like, "Hahahaha… >.>  u.u He'd probably cry."

They talked a little bit about Miyata.  Kitayama said that while Miyata does things for work properly and without (much) complaint, he goes easy on himself.

Towards the end, Aoki asked if Kitayama would write something to reflect his feelings about the event, bringing out the same notebook and brush Kitayama had used in India.  He kept saying how nervous writing in front of everyone made him and as soon as he wrote the first stroke, he was like, "Too big! Mmm…. maybe it's okay?"  But then he finished two characters (北山) and went, "Redo~"  Everyone janken'd to get his mistake one.  He also paused to write 青木アナ and Aoki said that he'd hang it in his house and Kitayama tried to take it back so that he could write a nicer one, but staff said no.

In the end, he wrote, 私は愛で出来ている.  He explained that he hasn't come this far on his own and has the other members and all the fans to thank.  I love his writing and omg I nearly cried watching him do it right there, but even then, he was still complaining that he wanted to do it again... and then staff just told him to give them a break and that if he wants to do it again, it's going to cut into the handshaking portion of the event and he'll have to rewrite it in the dressing room.

He left for a little bit while the media set themselves up on the stage and when he came back out, he was wearing a turban and all the girls screamed.  Everyone was asked to stand up and squish towards the center (I don't know why since they only showed the very central people).  While the photographers were taking pictures, Kitayama kept saying "Yokoo~" when the photographers were saying "Tate (portrait)/Yoko (landscape)."

After that, he went back up onto the stage and they started to set up for the handshaking event.  My section went first which at first made me sad because it'd mean that we had to leave after, but then decided that if I saw him at the end, he'd probably be tired and over it by then, so earlier was better.

I told him I was from Hawaii and he went, "Ee?! Seriously?! Thank you!" eyes wide with that half smile thing he does.  And at the risk of sounding like a creeper, his hands were really soft and his eyes were all sparkly.  I'm shocked that I not only managed to say something, but that I didn't fall on my face after.

Took these pictures on my way out.



The event was a lot of fun and Kitayama was super cute.  He kept messing up his words and when he was telling a story, he'd stand up to reenact things.  I still can't believe they sent him out to India, but he seems to have gained a lot from the experience and he came back safetly (well sort of.  I'm sure the food poisoning wasn't part of the plan.)

I tried to keep my personal flailing to myself, but I hope this was okay.