On May 19th, Nogizaka46 held an event in Aichi, Nagoya at Ai-Chikyuu Haku Kinen Kouen as part of their nationwide handshake tour celebrating the release of their newest single, “Oide Shampoo“.
The event on the 19th was the first event from their nationwide handshake event tour to help promote this single. A crowd of approximately 2,000 fans came rushing into the venue, which was showered in the strong rays of early summer. With the exception of members Ichiki Rena and Nakamoto Himeka(who were absent from the event so as not to miss school), all the members of the group were present. Out of the 31 members who were at the event, Ito Marika and Higuchi Hina were selected through a raffle to be the MCs for the day.
After stirring up the crowd, Ito and Higuchi called the rest of the members onto the stage, where the senbatsu members from their May 14th single “Oide Shampoo”, which topped Oricon’s Weekly Single Chart. The girls showed off some new choreography during their performance, causing the audience to cheer immensely. Following a talk by members Shiraishi Mai, Takayama Kazumi, and Nishino Nanase about the outfits and choreography for “Oide Shampoo”, the 17 under members came on stage to perform “Ookami ni Kuchibue wo“. Nakada Kana performed in place of Nakamoto. The girls also performed “House!” much to the delight of the crowd.
A random lottery was held later on, where Nogizaka46 gave away signed posters, clear folders, T-shirts, and long handshake tickets. Following the giveaway, Ito, Higuchi, and Sakurai Reina gave the audience a choreography lesson for their song, “Nogizaka no Uta” before launching the group into a performance of the song wearing matching purple jerseys.
An hour into the event, just when fans thought the event was going to end, the group surprised memberNagashima Seira by wishing her a happy 18th birthday. Nogizaka46 brought out a cake and, along with the fans, sang a big round of “Happy Birthday To You“, causing Nagashima to start crying. “I made the huge decision inside me to join Nogizaka46 when I was 17,” she said among tears to the crowd. “But I think that being away from my parents and being supported by all of our fans has made me grow up a little. Now that I’ve turned 18, I’d like to grow up even more than I have now, and aim higher and higher for both myself and Nogizaka46, so please support me from here on out.”
When the event ended, Nogizaka46 divided into 8 teams and held a 3 hour handshake event with their fans. Their next handshake event will be held on July 7th at Chiba’s Makuhari Messe, and again on the 14th at Osaka’s Intex Osaka event hall.
