Updated: 01/29/2025
no because i can’t believe i attended day 1 of the MAMA ceremony in Japan either….. it honestly still doesn’t feel real……
In case you don’t know, the MAMA (Melon Asia Music Awards) ceremony is an annual award show held in Japan to commemorate Asian music artists. it’s almost like the Grammy Awards of Asia but better and fans can attend and enjoy. this year, MAMA consisted of 3 parts: part 1 in Los Angeles, California on November 21st, part 2 in Osaka, Japan on November 22nd, and part 3 in Osaka on November 23rd. this was the first time MAMA was held in the U.S.
this ticketing process was the most easy, yet difficult and stressful ticketing process i have ever been through and i’ve been through a lot…
first of all, and you can skip this if you don’t care, i am A STRONG believer in manifestation!!!! coming to Korea i knew i wanted to attend as many concerts and shows as i could, including MAMA. i didn’t know how or when. i knew i was going to make it one way or another, so always have hope because if i can make it then so can you lol… honestly though i was fighting for my life throughout this whole process but it was worth it in the end so keep reading.
when i first found out about the ticketing opportunity for the award show it was not until the last minute. my friends and i were talking about it and when one of them looked it up she said the application window closed that same night…. this was already stressful and how i knew luck was on my side. i was worried because the website was fully in Japanese when i looked it up and it was hard to understand the translations at first. i was also busy that day so i couldn’t fully sit down and apply until around 10:00 PM and the deadline was 11:59 PM. i was worried that i wouldn’t fully understand and go through the process until it was too late. fortunately, that was not true but i sabotaged my future self (kinda) since i was rushing.
i submitted the application which was the first round of applications for seats close to the stage. i applied for both day 1 and 2. keep in mind i had no idea who was performing on what day at this point and all the artists who would be in attendance were not fully announced. i really had no idea what i was signing up for. well actually i did, obviously, but just not fully you know? anyway, i had to enter my info such as name, phone number, address, nationality, and more on the application. this is kinda where i screwed up…. i didn’t fully read the warnings when applying so i didn’t think much when filling out my name and phone number. i thought i would be able to go back and change it later. i was wrong… if you’ve read my concert blog, you know how strict staff can be about identification info in Korea. it was no different in Japan, which i didn’t realize until later on. i was freaking out and all i did was not include my middle name in the application. i also used my Korean phone number which did not work in Japan. i didn’t think that through…
about a week later i received an email saying that i won the chance to buy a ticket for day 1 of MAMA in Osaka at Kyocera Dome. i remember being so shocked and i feel like i still have not processed the fact that i won to this day. although i was talking about manifesting and stuff, i only held onto a little hope that i would win the chance to buy tickets. i was not fully confident that i would win so i was in disbelief when i saw that email. it was also sent to me in Japanese so i thought it was a “you lost” type of email until i read the translation. reading the translation made me realize i should have been more careful when entering my personal information in the application. it emphasized how strict the identity verification would be at the venue on the day of.
just to note: i applied for a chance to BUY a ticket for ¥23,100 ($148.75). i did not win anything for free which sucked but it was worth it and not a bad price for this type of show/production in my opinion.
anyway the planning began… my friends and i had already been discussing a trip to Japan so knowing i was going for sure made me even more excited especially since it would be my first time. i was fortunate enough to stay in Japan for 10 days. i spent 5 days in Tokyo with my friends, and 1 day in Kyoto, and 4 days in Osaka ALONE (scary…. not rlly though).
i took the Shinkansen (bullet train) from Tokyo to Osaka on the morning of November 19th. i am not sure if it’s just me but let's just say i learned something new every day about trains in Japan. taking the Shinkansen was fun and all but the navigation was so stressful. so many things happened like my ticket wasn’t scanning properly and i almost missed the train. i made it though so we're good. i didn’t discover this until later but even if i missed my train i could’ve just taken the next one which came 15-20 minutes later. i just would’ve sat in the non-reserved seating car, but that didn’t matter as long as i got from point A to B. basically i was stressing for nothing but you get the point. i was feeling sick the first day i arrived and planned a long day trip to Kyoto the next day so i just decided to rest as soon as i arrived at my Airbnb.
the next morning i left to take the Shinkansen at 7:00 AM to Kyoto. i know i say this about everything, but my solo adventures in Kyoto were truly so healing. Kyoto is a city in Japan with lots of nature and it’s known for its traditional Japanese architecture and aesthetic. my first stop was the famous bamboo forest at Arashiyama Park. the forest along with several other temples and shrines were so beautiful. the weather was perfect because even though it was cold, the sun was bright and warm resulting in pretty views of the fall foliage. the park is really big so i spent about 2 hours there. if you go here, i recommend visiting the Okochisanso Garden which is a garden that greatly displays traditional Japanese horticulture. even though you have to pay, it’s only about $5-$7 and worth it. after visiting the park, i visited all the shops along the road right next to it. i ate at some of the delicious cafes, but since i went so early i had to wait for some of them to open.
i visited so many temples and shrines afterward, but my favorites were the Fushimi Inari Taisha, the Kiyomizu-Dera Temple, and the Toji Temple.
what i can say for the Fushimi Inari Taisha is that it’s about a 3-hour stair climb and it’s so much better in real life than in photos and videos online. everyone online said to get there super early like 6 or 7 AM if you don’t want anyone else to be there except for you but i think it doesn’t matter. you could just climb as many stairs as you can and eventually, you’ll reach a point where you won’t see anyone anymore because it’s just so many stairs that not everyone can climb to the top. i surprised myself quite a lot because i only had 30 minutes in my schedule for this temple. when i made it to the very top of the mountain feeling sick (i was already a bit better by now but still under the weather) i felt like i could do anything…. then i questioned my sanity, had an identity crisis, and dissociated a little bit but let's not talk about that………… fyi the way to the top is a very very very long way. like a very very long way. like i mentioned earlier, it took me about 3 hours to go all the way to the top and come back down. there is a part of the hike that most people think is the top because there is a nice view so they stop there, eat ice cream, and then go back down BUT THAT’S NOT THE TOP. it’s about 20 more minutes of stairs past that area. moral of the story is if i can do it then you can do it too. i would highly recommend climbing to the top if you can because, besides the Torii gates, you can also see all the historical shrines on the way up. i believe there are a thousand or more of them! i still can’t believe i did this….
the Kiyomizu-Dera and Toji Temples were so beautiful at night. it’s a long walk uphill to the Kiyomizu-Dera but well worth it. funny story: i lost one of my airpods here but since the Find My feature on Apple products works in Japan, i was able to find it. i was so happy because my airpod would've been completely gone if i lost it in Korea. anyway, i was rushing to get to these temples since they would close soon and i took a long time at the Fushimi Inari Shrine, so i was not able to enjoy or stop by any of the shops on the way up to the Kiyomizu-Dera Temple but it’s ok. however, i recommend you to manage your time better than i did because i rlly would have liked to stop by some of the shops. after the Kiyomizu-Dera was the Toji Temple. there were pretty lights that reflected the fall foliage nicely into the water. the wooden pagoda there was so much taller than i thought it would be.
i did a lot more in Kyoto such as visiting other temples and exploring different parts of the city that had less nature. please feel free to reach out to me if you would like to know more about my adventures.
this is when the drama starts…..
i thought i had lots of stress-free free time in Osaka, but i was WRONG….
!RANT AHEAD!
the day after i went to Kyoto (Thursday) was the day i wanted to dedicate to me finishing up homework i needed to do so i could spend all of Saturday exploring Osaka after MAMA (Friday) but things didn’t go as planned…
that Thursday was also the day i was supposed to receive my digital mobile ticket to MAMA. if you didn’t know, i have anxiety which takes over sometimes and doesn’t let me do things until i feel completely secure about an issue i have. im working on it… my anxiety kicked in and i had a hard time focusing on my homework and basically did nothing until i knew i had access to my ticket. time went by and i became concerned at around 6pm when i still had not received a notification, email, text, NOTHING. I checked X to see if people were posting their tickets and all that and to my DEMISE, they were…. at this point i’m freaking out for so many reasons:
what if the ticket was sent to my Korean number that i used in the application and i’m not receiving it because the number doesn’t work in Japan?
one of the messages i read from the site i was trying to find my ticket on read that i needed to download an app but i could not download it because it was not available in my region so what if i couldn’t access my ticket because of that?
there’s no way i came all the way to Osaka by myself and spent over $100 to NOT attend this show…….
WHAT IF I WAS SCAMMED??!!!
that’s just what anxiety does to a gal….
after an hour of stress trying to sign into my account through my laptop and phone, my information not being accepted, and struggling to access this ticket, i finally tried signing into my account on the site that i purchased my ticket with through GOOGLE and it let me in……………….. THROUGH GOOGLE……. all that struggle and frustration and all i needed to do was sign in through Google… which made absolutely no sense to me by the way because i literally made my account with Kakao but whatever….. the roller coaster of emotions i went through in that one hour was enough to… i don’t even know but it was enough….
i was relieved and nearly cried but guess what? remember how i mentioned that i forgot to enter my middle name into the original application and staff is strict on identity verification at these types of shows? yeah…. i was still stressed about that… i’m not going to go into it but basically, they didn’t even check my ID, passport or anything and i was able to get in within like 4 minutes……. the internet connection was fine at the venue and all they needed to do was swipe a button on my ticket screen…..
moral of the story is try not to let your anxiety take over you because i missed out on a whole day of Osaka and had to dedicate my only remaining free day there to complete my homework. i pretty much did not explore Osaka at all which sucked, but at least i attended MAMA!!
btw i know it’s probably a bit unprofessional to be expressing all this here but this whole blog is unprofessional so whatever. im just being myself. and if this can help anyone with a similar experience or anxiety in general that’s all that matters…
OK FINALLY MOVING ON TO THE REST OF THE GOOD STUFF
MAMA was too good this year…. first of all, my seat was so close to the stage so i saw idols like Jo Yuri, Aespa’s Karina, and Byeon Wooseok up close. although i was seated on the back side of the stage, the performances alternated between the front and the back so i saw many of the performances from a front point-of-view. leading up to the show day the MAMA Instagram was constantly updating on the performers for the day i attended which was exciting because my favorite groups, TXT and Enhypen performed on the day i attended. Yeonjun opened up the show with GGUM which is only fitting and i ate it up. my favorite parts of the show were seeing Enhypen’s and TXT’s separate performances and the collaboration performance between TXT, Enhypen, and Zerobaseone. the only thing i was disappointed about was that Enhypen didn’t win a big award they were nominated for even though the results showed they won…. that was suspicious on MAMA’s end but whatever… i was also disappointed because i thought Rosé and Bruno Mars were going to do a live performance of APT (their co-written song) BUT IT WAS PRE-RECORDED LIKE WHAT????!!!! however, I did see them in the flesh when they won their award which was really cool…. i never thought i’d see Bruno Mars in real life, let alone at MAMA in Japan but here we are lol…. alsoooo even though i’m sooooo grateful that i attended the day of MAMA that my favs performed and wouldn’t change it for the world... i was a little bitter and had FOMO because Big Bang (really big 2nd generation K-pop group that broke up many years ago) had a reunion on the second day. my Airbnb was a 10-minute walk from Kyocera Dome (MAMA’s location) too so i was just sitting in my room doing homework while one of the most iconic performances in history was happening. 10. minutes. away…..
P.S. i brought my fan lightsticks from Korea to Japan because i thought i would use them at the award show. when i Googled restricted items at MAMA, lightsticks were one of them. i sent my lightsticks back to Korea with my friends before we made our separate ways but then i saw a bunch of people with lightsticks when i showed up and i was so upset lol… i realized Google was probably showing results on the lightstick policy at the first part of MAMA held in Los Angeles the day before…. it was cute though because there were official MAMA lightsticks on every seat for fans to use so at least i had that. they didn’t let me keep it though…..
ok so i think i seriously included every single thought i ever had during my solo trip in Japan within this one blog. if you made it this far you’re a real one, mad respect, and i’m sorry.
i just did a word count and this blog is 2,000+ words i’m so sorry if you made it this far omg. thanks for reading!
