Monday, August 1, 2011

At the VIP Room at Tokyo Giants Stadium

On Saturday night, I was invited by my daughter's boss to go to Tokyo Dome to see the Japanese rock band Complex. Complex is two very famous Japanese musicians. One is Hotei Tomoyasu and the other Koji Kikkawa. They sold out two nights at the Tokyo Dome on Saturday July 30 and Sunday July 31 and all proceeds went to aid the victims of the Tohoku disaster of March 11.




Let me tell you that I was mightily impressed as the Tokyo Dome holds 54,000 people and they sold it out for two nights in a row. Amazing! Now, you might not think too much of Japanese rock bands but consider this: 54,000 people x 2 nights x ¥7,800 per ticket ? That's ¥842,400,00 ($1,087,880.18 USD) Wow! Over a million dollars!!! Incredible! And, by the way, there are no US or British musicians in the world who could come to Japan today and even sell out one night at Tokyo Dome so this feat is nothing to be sneezed at.




I mentioned that I was invited by my daughter's boss. Well, you see, my daughter's boss is a guy named Senri Kasuya. Kasuya san is the producer and manager of guys like Koji Kikkawa and Hotei Tomoyasu and he is also the president of their company. My daughter is a Jazz vocalist for Kasuya san so, of course, I've met him many times.




I was invited to this gig and was treated like royalty and got to sit in one of the VIP rooms. Actually, that's what this article is about.  This isn't the first time I've been in the VIP rooms at Tokyo Dome, I had been there once before in that later 1980's. But this was the first time that I had been to the top level of the VIP rooms. The VIP-est of the VIP rooms.


The entire area wasn't what you'd expect (or maybe it is). It was more like a 5 star hotel than an baseball stadium. I took some pictures:



Of course, the entrance to the VIP area isn't where the regular people lined up to get in. There was a special entrance that said, "No riff-raff" above the door. Upon entering it looked like a hotel reception area.


Down the hallway towards the VIP rooms are tons of old posters showing the history of the Tokyo Giants and Korakuen stadium. This is the poster of the 1960 All Star Game. There were tons of posters from the 1930's too!



Just wanted to point out the price of the outfield seats in 1960: ¥100 for adults ¥50 for children



Of course you've see a toilet before. But this is the wash basin at the public toilet in the VIP area. Looks like a hotel, right?


The entire stadium was jam packed and the crowd was jumping! When the floor was shaking, I thought it was an earthquake!


Our room. Comfy chairs, a huge sofa, a refrigerator and wet bar... And we had our own waitress (room server) who came in and kept bothering me anytime I wanted to pour myself another drink (she insisted upon pouring my drinks for me!) She has a hottie and I wanted to take her picture but she said that it wasn't allowed (at least that was her excuse!) Oh, and, as you'd expect, the food was fricking expensive!


My daughter sitting in our area. Twelve seats and there was just the two of us. The seats were like 
business class seats on an airliner. The waitress stood at the door and served us out here too.


I guess I have to have this photo in here to prove that I was there!

Well, folks. There you have it. What the "other side" lives like; the ultimate VIP rooms at the Tokyo Dome. My first time there, most probably my last.

Thanks to Mr. Kasuya for inviting me. It was a great time and makes a great blog.

4 comments:

  1. wow! complex! Golden ticket!
    one of my favorite in my youth!

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  2. Hey Mike - nice job on the article. I've been lucky enough to sit in the VIP box at Toronto's Roger's Centre to watch the local Toronto Blue Jays baseball team and the odd international soccer match. Like your description - it was fantastic. The box I was in belonged to the owner of the Blue Jays and the telecommunications giant I worked for as a writer. I just love th free booze and food... seats are like what you described... with TV's all over the place... I have to admit I didn't really watch as much of the game there. I do think it's better in the regular "Joe" seats to watch a sporting event, however. You pay attention more to the action rather than how many drinks you can put down. Glad you had a good time!

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  3. My wife and I were able to get some VIP tickets to an OKC Thunder game thanks to my lawyer boss a few years back. They had a buffet and free drinks! It is very nice living like 'the other half' even if only for a few hours. :) Thanks for the pics and opening a window into the Tokyo Dome I will probably never see with my own eyes.

    ReplyDelete

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