Pajama Drive Team J 1st Anniversary

An article of memories recycled from the official Guide Book…

A three segment dedicated to Team J fights and their struggle a year ago facing their first theater experience.

The Past

Idol Group “AKB48″ was born in Akihabara, Tokyo. At their first start, they were a small idol group with the concept of “Idol You Can Meet Everyday” but now had evolved into an Idol Group that represent Japan and holds concert all around the world.

This ever evolving idol group now have 4 groups, AKB48 which holds their theater at Akihabara, SKE48 in Sakae, Nagoya, NMB48 in Namba, Osaka; and “HKT48″ from Hakata, Fukuoka.

And then now, the first AKB48 overseas sister had born, JKT48 which based themselves on Jakarta. Started on November 2011, JKT48 in a blink of an eye have appeared on various medias such as CM, Television Show, Newspapers, and Magazines. Now their name is not known only in Jakarta, but now have been recognized as an Idol Group with national scale in Indonesia.

The rapidly growing JKT48 at last could do their first theater debut on Nyi Ageng Serang, Pasar Festival, Kuningan Jakarta Selatan at May, 17th for 4 full days!!

This theater have a big purpose. “Idol You Can Meet Everyday” means that we could meet JKT48 members everyday through the Theater. Not only via Television Show or any other medias, we as fans could also participated building the stage in the theater along with JKT48 through their singing, dancing, words, laughter and sometimes tears…. To feel every of their movements and their growth from close. This concept is the reason why AKB48 loved by the whole world, and the objective JKT48 would like to reach.

But, the road to their debut theater is not easy. The set-list chosen for their performance is “Pajama Drive” that originally performed by Team B from AKB48 circa 2008. Composed with 16 songs, Pajama Drive set-list was a hit in Japan and keep being performed for a year.

JKT48 members got to master the set-list contents in just a mere one and a half month. The already tight schedule for each members makes practice session often without complete members. Added with the fact that most of the members were still studying in school or university, they have to keep practicing until late midnight to complete their obligation.

But, All the girls still trying with all their might to prepare for their “First Day Theater” that will come soon or later. With the hope that someday, somewhere they could practicing with full members, JKT48 members were practicing using wall and mirror and do some on stage simulation using mineral water bottles for microphone that they will hold later.

After the never ending strenuous drills, that important day comes. “First Day Theater” is the first stage that they will never ever repeated again even though they will do the same performance set-list for thousands, even millions of times.

Could they dance well ? Could they do the MC session smoothly ?

Full of hope and worries, May, 16th has come, one day before their performance. That day the will do some rehearsal, and tomorrow, they will face their fans on stage!!

But..
That day starts and ends with tears.

The rehearsal that ended with tears of sadness. Will the stage curtain for the first theater performance open for them?

6 months after the formation of JKT48. In preparation for their first theater performance, a dress rehearsal was to be held on stage. The girls’ first task was to greet the crew and staff. These greetings are important in building the trust and harmony of everybody that is involved in the theater, all for the sake of an amazing show.

The rehearsal started after the warm-up session. Because it was the last day of preparations before the main stage, detailed attention had been given to the dance movements, positioning, changing intervals and other aspects. Particularly, after the last unit song “Kagami no Naka no Jeanne D’Arc”, a series of continuous costume-change was practiced in order to simulate the actual tempo flow. The faster they changed their costumes, the more perfect the flow will be.

This technique was done so that the members could remember all their movement for the stage through muscle memory. However, their first rehearsal event on a new and wider stage had caused members to sometimes get confused in executing the difficult dance movements; there was even awkward silence as they forgot their parts…

In the end, the rehearsal that started at 3 PM, continued till past 12 AM at night. Anxiety and exhaustion engulfed the JKT48 members. Not only that, they will also have to face their fans the next day.
Finally, the stage crew decided to break the worst kind of news to the members.

“If you cannot do this perfectly, you will not perform tomorrow.”

The girls had tried with all their might and spirit, but even then, there was still that horrible possibility that their theater performance will not go on….

Filled with mixed emotions, JKT48 members started to shed tears of sadness. The cruel deadline had come. Rehearsal ended with less than satisfactory results, and also with the question of whether the performance will still continue. The JKT48 members left the rehearsal stage in a depressed mood.

7 hours passed after last night tearful rehearsal. Surprisingly, JKT48 members came to the theater gleefully. They have cried and practicing while in the bus and in the hotel all they can until morning. Thanks to that, all the worrisome factors on stage have been conquered and they no longer depressed when entering the stage. And of course due to that , these 24 members really belongs on this exact stage, without missing any single members.

As a note, for this theater all 24 of the girls will be participated. Usually, the set-list they used only needed 16 members to be available. That’s why JKT48 divided the members into two groups and there are some members who will do double role on each team.

Since JKT48 doesn’t have any team yet, this show could be called as a “Trainee Theater” . This also marked the beginning for rivalries to enter a team.

The first day for “JKT48 1st Stage Pajama Drive” has now been officially started. It’s a full-house!! In the middle of the hot stage that cannot be cooled down even with air conditioner, “Overture” blaring. JKT48 members enter the dark stage along with the fans MIX. They formed a circle, then with “Shonichi”‘s intro twice snare drum booming, they have started their show.

All JKT48 members try with all their might in singing and dancing. The stage prepared by the members and crew mixed with all the fans strong affection, resulting in a true theater performance.

On stage, there’s no longer any anxiety the members felt last night due to the support and passion shown by the fans that has given the girls a boost. Performing without being afraid for making mistakes, to give the audiences the best they could 120% body and soul.

Started with team songs by 16 member to attract the fans, then continued with unique songs that have their own appeal such as “Tenshi no Shippo” that full of cuteness; bravely prancing and dancing around on stage with “Pajama Drive” and “Kagami no naka no Janne D’arc”; then a song that describe a girl’s heart who fallen in love in “Temodemo no Namida”.

Next is the MC session which also an important factor that plot the theater into an enjoyable experience. They will have different theme for every performance and the girls talk will full of improvisation from the JKT48 members.

As an example, “What is your favorite Animal ?” theme which then answered with “cat”, “dolphin”, or “Rabbit”. But then comes Frieska with her answer “White Tiger!! I want to keep it as a pet!” which turns the stage into a burst of laughter since everyone can see another side of this reserved girl.

The warm atmosphere that lasts for one and a half hour then turns into a touching moment due the fact that the show will reach an end with “Boku no Sakura”. Then the members left the stage and darkness once again covered it.

Not long after that, encore call could be heard “JKT! 48!!” . The fans keep on shouting the encore call as if they tried their best to show their thanks to JKT48 members…

The lights came back covering the audiences seats. The encore starts. Started with “Wasshoi J”, then “Shiroi Shirts” which was the last song. And with that , the first theater is done, all the lights were lit again. All the members hastily leave the stage, of course with the purpose to say thanks to the fans outside the theater.

They form a line to do the hand shake session and to say good bye to the fans that left the theater and heading back home. A hand shake with the JKT48 members that have performed so well in front of them is obviously the best gift for JKT48 fans.

Continued with the performance on May, 18th and 19th , now they performed “Kimo no Koto ga Suki Dakara” as a surprise. Added with more surprising factor such as door prize session on the stage. When the show was done, the fans got another chance to do a two-shot session with their “Oshimen” as a thank you.

For the night show held at May, 18th, there’s also a surprise to Sonya whom having her birthday. AKB48 “Namida Surprise” fill the air . Every audiences members start singing “Happy Birthday” when the birthday cake arrived. Sonya moved to tears since she could celebrate her birthday along with the JKT48 debut theater.

Well, tomorrow is the last day from the total 4 days of the first JKT48 theater. All the crew and staff were having a meeting. What kind of surprise awaits on the last day ?

Day number 4 for JKT48 first theater and also the last day. The girls were full of confidence which reflected on they way they do the MC session. They look at the fans and express themselves all with their heart. Very different from the first day they done the MC session, where they talk nervously.

The theme for the MC session on this last day is “What do you think about the theater ?” which then answered by the members seriously along with with the gratitude they shown to their fans.

JKT48 is a group full of vigor. Passionate dancing and gleefully MC session have shown that they are not inferior to AKB48 or other groups. And what makes up the cheerful atmosphere is non other than the warm and endless hospitality from the fans. At that time , the stage is echoed with the MIX, the response and jokes from fans who filled all the audiences chairs. Thanks to that atmosphere, all JKT48 members could try all their best in all the seven shows in four days.

But, there’s a little “accident” in the introduction MC session on the 7th day. Shania suddenly sobbed. All the feelings that she felt as a front liner in all of the shows, felt by the other members simultaneously. One by one, all JKT48 members cried together with her.

It’s been half a year since the first time the members started to grab a mic while trembling and standing in front of the audition stage, through extraneous drills, and to be at last reached where they are right now. Today, they’ve shown a stage which full of satisfaction smiles and happiness, warding off all the cried of helplessness and all the regretful tears.

It’s all started with regretful tears and ends with happiness tears…
The girls have grown along with all the tears that coming down their cheek.

As a closing for that day, they once again coming on stage and sung “Heavy Rotation” centered by Melody. The audiences reaction when the mic started to stand cannot be describe by words. As JKT48 first song and first PV , even at that time, it was felt that this is already a legendary song in Jakarta.

The show then continues with “Aitakatta” acapella version sung by the members. The members then started to giving out a poster with the member signature as a gift after the show was done. They then accompanied the return of their fans to their home by doing high-five session, handshake, and of course the two-shot session which took time longer than it used to be. As if they want this happiness to be everlasting….

This four days gave proof why the concept of “Idols you can meet” is popular in Japan. To see and feel with your own eyes the growth of your idol, and to give them support to raise their popularity… Once you felt this kind of sensation, it’s hard to let go of it.

JKT48 Theater will continues on.

The Present

They’ve lost some friends over the course of a year, they’ve relentlessly facing hates over the course of a year but still…the girls are standing tough and keep on struggling to prove that they indeed a part of 48 groups and gaining more recognition they deserves.

Their permanent theater now standing beautifully as the Taj Mahal of f(X). They now are the seniors who guided the trainees. They are now officially a team but that doesn’t makes them could rest easily as there are still mountains they need to conquer.

The girls have proven us that behind that fragile body of theirs, they have the heart of stone that can’t be broken easily with the pens of hatred nor the drill of seclusion. But then, they also have the heart of gold that able to embrace two experienced seniors into their family. Making them more like older sisters rather than relying on seniority. An invisible ties that we could never able to comprehend only with logic.

They have leave Pajama Drive to the hands of their juniors now and now writing a chapter called “Renai Kinshi Jourei” but the chapter they already wrote with Pajama Drive will remain eternally in our heart.

The Future

We still don’t know how they will cope with the pressure for the future. But the future is a blessing for all of them. The future is a mystery for them. But may JKT48 Theater continues on. May Team J continues to live on.

There’s a saying. Yesterday is history, tomorrow is a mystery, but today is a gift. That is why it is called the “present”.