Creepy Nuts Concert

Upon returning to the hotel room I quickly got ready for the Creepy Nuts concert being held at Saitama Super Arena. On the way there, I witnessed a small altercation where an older man stepped infront of a younger man in the station and said 「うそだろう」with a hard roll on the R. I would translate this to "The fuck did you you just say/do?!" But it more literally translates to 「you must be mistaken」 The younger man avoided eye contact and walked away all while the crowd continued to move past them, ignoring their existence. I felt like the odd one out looking back to see what was happening.

All the train stations have different little jingles that represent that particular train line. Upon arriving at Saitama I decided that they have the best train jingle so far. I guess we will see if that changes as the trip goes on 😆 Saitama also had a cute little "Christmas Village" outside the stadium where I tried a food called monburan but is called Mount Blanc in English. It was a matcha chestnut paste that was pressed via machine into over a hundread little strands then draped over a cream and cake. It was very light and delicious!

I finally made my way up to the area. The venue was HUGE. I was suprised by how orderly and polite everyone was when entering the stadium. The concert was one of the best concerts I've ever been to and was extremely different than American concerts. I was astounded at how different it felt. These are the differences I noticed:

- At different choruses the crowd would react by putting their hands in the air, waving their arms back and forth, clapping, etc but it was always done together. It felt really cool to be part of the crowd hyping band on in unison. It felt like the crowd had their own choreography and everyone knew instinctively what to do. I think this was the coolest part of the Japanese concert. It felt like we all were working together to have a good time instead of a bunch of individuals who happen to be at a concert together.
- People found their seat and stayed there the entire concert. At American concerts, people are constantly moving in and out durning the concert to get food and such. I barely saw anyone get up from their seat after sitting down
- In American Concerts, the people sitting in the main center area usually move to the front of the stage. Everyone sitting in that area remained in their assigned seat.
- When songs ended and all the lights went out, no one had their flashlight or cell phone out. The band would sometimes have a small break between songs where all the lights went off. It was near complete silence and pitch black even though there were over 30,000 people in the stadium. In America, there is no way in hell that all cell phones would be put away or that the silence would be kept.
- When asking for an encore, the audience only clapped. People did not yell or whistle like they might at an American concert.
- The croud could keep the beat during songs when clapping with the band. I've noticed at American concerts it's common for the crowd to lose the beat and then just stop clapping altogether sometimes. Americans also get tired of claping or handwaving so they usually stop doing it after the first one or two times.
- when leaving the venue, everyone left when their row was dismissed. In America, everyone tries to leave at the same time in a big crowd. I like the Japanese systems much better

After the concert, I bought a jacket from the gift shop. They also had little key chain gatcha balls where you could win a random band themed keychain.

Overall, I had an AMAZING time at the concert and am so happy I went. Again a big shoutout to Sekki Sensei for helping me purchase the tickets and understand the process. I want to go to more Japanese concerts now! I had no idea that the idea of a concert could be so different soley based on how the audience reacts to the band. Culture differences like these are what makes learning a new language and Japanese culture so interesting!! I didn't see any other non-Japanese people at the concert and that almost made it feel a little more special like I'm getting to be part of a native thing. I could definitely tell people were glancing at me and noticing I was a foreigner but that's ok because as an American I love the attention 😉Read more