The H!P Musings/Rants Thread

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Nakano Sun Plaza Hall

The Nakano Sunplaza complex, which opened in 1973, will close its doors on July 2nd this year due to aging, bringing the curtain down on 50 years of history. Who are the artists who have given the most concerts at the long-established hall that has been familiar to the public over the years? The top four were announced in an independent survey.

Third place went to Morning Musume who performed 58 times.

Hello! Project is the collective name for female idol groups affiliated with the Upfront Group, and Morning Musume was the first of these groups.

Groups such as Juice=Juice, ANGERME, Tsubaki Factory, BEYOOOOONDS, and OCHA NORMA also often hold concerts at Nakano Sun Plaza.

There is a reason why there are so many performances by Hello Pro idol groups.

The Holy ground of AKB48 is Akihabara, but the Holy ground of Hello! Project is Nakano. Nakano has Nakano Broadway, where many subculture lovers gather. This is related to the fact that there is a long-established parallel import watch store and Mandarake (a used manga bookstore), making it an otaku town. Also, the fact that Nakano Ward has also invested in Sun Plaza makes it a public benefit, which probably explains why the hall's rental fees are lower than those of other halls. Hello! Project has been holding concerts for a week each during New Year's, Golden Week, and summer vacation for the past 10 years."

In fourth place, Kiyoshi Hikawa performed 43 times.

Second place went to singer-songwriter Toshio Kadomatsu (62), who appeared 80 times.

In first place was singer-songwriter Tatsuro Yamashita (70), who appeared 96 times since 1980.

https://www.dailyshincho.jp/article/2023/02230700/

[Celedam]

So, older artists who were around for decades before Morning Musume have more performances in total…

Okay.

[Nayoko-Kihara]

Nice that they were mentioned, and by extension the rest of Hello! Project, even if I'd expect no less at this point.

[erilaz]

I'll be sad when it's gone. I was fortunate enough to see three shows there: Abe Natsumi in 2007 and Dream Morning Musume｡ twice in 2011.

[Amped]

Japan Beats the U.S. in the World Baseball Classic.

Makino Maria probably is ecstatic right now.

[Shoujo Q]

I was curious about who was the longest running member without getting into the Hinafest lottery. I assumed it was Riko, but I was wrong. Turns out, it's Ikuta Erina. Only because of how long she's been participating. Anyway, I HAD a Hinafest doc that I created to keep track, but then I went down a rabbit hole and well, this is what I created. I THINK I'm not missing any details, but another set of eyes is always helpful. As a visual learner, I sometimes do stuff like this to comprehend stuff. I'm sharing this everywhere because it seems a waste not to share something I just spent a few weeks doing.

HinaFest Fun Facts

[Zunu]

There were a couple of surprising numbers there. Akane with 7 and Erina with 0? *squinting fry*

[Shoujo Q]

^ You made me go look because I know Erina won once. You meant 1 not 0 right?

[KakureW]

7am JST announcement drop

It is announced that OCHA NORMA's First Live Tour 2022 ~Start Dash!~ will be released on Blu-ray, release is May 10th. OCHA NORMA's 3rd single is also coming in the Summer of 2023.

I gotta rant about this one. I'm happy for Ocha Norma, but at the same time frustrated with UFP about the number of singles Beyooooonds has. They just reached their 4th single, and Ocha will already have 3 by summer. I know Beyooooonds has albums and plays and there was the whole corona situation and whatnot, but come on. Not to mention most of the members in Beyooooonds are already past 20. UFP really needs to give some quick singles to them.

[Amped]

The official shop for "Sayonara Nakano Sun Plaza" will sell a variety of T-shirts to remember Nakano Sun Plaza. The shop will start selling goods on April 8th at 10am (JST)
https://sayonaranakanosunplaza.com/#goods

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