Berryz Koubou have gone on indefinite hiatus as of 3/3

[turbos86]

Bus tour sign up deadline tomorrow, sign up now!

[JonCC]

So someone I know has just received an email from staff and it seems they haven't even got 30 people yet...
If there are less than 30 people, the event will be cancelled (...)

http://www.hello-online.org/index.php?/ ... try1835051

[iceymoon]

going through the website, it looks like they still made it pretty hard for foreigners to sign up from the page (http://tour.bigs.jp/doc_page/216/Berryz).

the UI is confusing if you don't understand Japanese. you have to click on a small button that's hard to notice, then there's no way to move on from that page unless you click another button that reveals a third button. @-@ then you need to select the number of travelers and click a button to get a quote before you can click next. then you agree to some travel and cancellation policies.

and after all that, it then requires you to input a Japanese address & Japanese phone number (haven't tested it, but the format is for Japanese info), and probably even enter your name in hiragana (since the kanji/hiragana name field is required.. definitely not a website for foreigners).
http://cl.ly/image/353j2c3v1a0D

it also asks you to input your passport name/number in the question section, which is a bummer for anyone who is still applying for their passport (which is what happened to a friend i was talking to this about). all-in-all, not very thoughtful.. including the fact that the deadline is Christmas, which terrible timing for Western fans to put up a lot of money. i don't know for sure that making this whole process easier would have gotten it to 30 people, but it seems that they still have a lot to learn in trying to get more people to sign up for stuff like this. i definitely appreciate their efforts, but it seems like even for a first try it was a bit too hard to sign up.

some minor tweaks could have helped. for example, if a website is only going to be available in Japanese, you can at least provide a direct link to where to apply in the English description (which they did not, they only said "More details here"). maybe provided some screen captures like i did. made the deadline Dec 31 or Jan 2 instead of Dec 25. written in English whether there would be refunds if the event was cancelled (i haven't heard for certain one way or another if there will be), so people don't skip signing up in fear that they might lose out.

maybe my screen captures will help anyone who is thinking of signing up last minute.. you could use hotel info for the address/phone number. but i'm not 100% certain you won't run into more complications trying to sign up. i didn't go past that personal info page because i'm not signing up (i'm still drained from my trips to Japan last month).

[JonCC]

They're going through with it.
https://twitter.com/MimiChama/status/548425129337036800

[Amped]

Berryz' last concert at Nippon Budokan on the anniversary of their debut, 3/3.

Ariake Coliseum live for 2 days on 2/28 and 3/1

3/2 - TBA/scheduling in progress. Shimizu "details will be announced later."

confirmed
http://www.oricon.co.jp/news/2044454/full/

announcement
Berryz' 3/2 event (day before graduation) are "Berryz Kobo Special Events" held at the Tokyo Prince Hotel. Those who bought tickets (either day) for the Ariake Coliseum live can attend the first Special event. Those who bought the Best Album can be invited to the Second Special event if you win via lottery.
http://www.helloproject.com/news/2377/

Event 1 application info and deadline
http://www.helloproject.com/event/detai ... 5557b36fc/

Event 2 application info and deadline
http://www.helloproject.com/event/detai ... a01579a2f/

[CaptainBerryzGiraffe]

...intriguing...

[CaptainBerryzGiraffe]

...Just watched Towa no Uta blastingly loud and then started like, half-tearing to myself because probably the best thing in the past 4 years of my life is about to end. ;-;
...And I don't normally cry. Like, rarely.

[BerryzKobo4Life]

I remember I was at work on my break when I found out about Berryz going on hiatus. I nearly flipped the table out of sadness and anger, lol. I hope I can stay strong on March 3rd.

[CaptainBerryzGiraffe]

that sunday i'm going to listen to eeevery berryz single (and try to get in as many songs as i can. xD)
while having a pile of tissues next to me.

[Jessi]

For a minute I thought this became BerryzGiraffes own personal thread and then I realized one of the posts was BerryzKobo4life.... There are too many Berryz usernames hahaha