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 town, Beppu––kicked off on Nov. 15.)
The event “Trans City feat. Hatsune Miku”––a collaboration with Miku and Japan’s leading onsen (spa) town, Beppu––kicked off on Nov. 15. A collaboration event with Miku outside of Sapporo, the hometown of her creators Crypton Future Media, is very rare so they are pulling out all the stops. The two-month-long event takes place at a large-scale venue. The opening festivities included a projection mapping event at a nearby middle school and other unique projects that made the event highly anticipated by fans before it even began.
It was a cloudy day when we visited the event on Nov. 18. Feeling the chill of the wind on our faces, it was clear that the winter season was drawing near. Aside from the rays of sunlight that broke through every now and then, it was a cold day.
The venue for the event, B-con Plaza, is a large area consisting of three domes. It may not look it from the pictures, but they have an overwhelming presence when seen firsthand. The inside of the largest dome, which has a diameter of 70-feet, is even impressive and is made up entirely of a screen on which attendees can hear Miku’s beautiful voice and watch videos of her so big, they take up your entire field of vision.
The second dome is used as exhibit space where a great variety of content related to Miku, including music and illustrations, is on display, while the third dome is used as a shop selling event-exclusive goods.
In the open space around the domes, there are special itasha with event wrappings on display, an area where attendees can register to become a citizen of Trans City, and a food cart area.
When night falls, the venue changes completely, with every inch of it being lit up. It becomes a wondrous world. Touch panels are also set up all over the place that allow attendees to freely manipulate the color of the lights.
The long-awaited projection mapping event took place at 7 p.m. at the neighboring Yamanote Junior High. Even though it was a weeknight, throngs of people all eagerly awaiting the spectacle gathered in the school yard. People of all ages attended including elderly couples and families who brought their children along. When the event began, images poured onto the school building. The junior high kids from the neighborhood couldn’t hide their astonishment as second by second the building they had become so familiar with became something entirely different. The roughly 20-minute performance ended with a big Trans City logo rising up from the bottom.
What we felt from our report of the event was that the virtual diva Hatsune Miku is no longer just supported by her core fanbase on Nico Nico Douga, but is rather supported by a wide range of people spanning all ages. People even travelled great distances to visit the event and experience an excitement that can’t be experienced anywhere else but in this imaginary city.
Hatsune Miku and onsen. If you are someone who likes both of these, then this event is an absolute must. Make sure to add Trans City to your list of places to visit this winter break.
Trans City feat. Hatsune Miku
Duration: Nov. 15, 2013 (Fri) to Jan. 15, 2014 (Wed)
Location: B-con Plaza in Beppu
Admission: free
Note: The projection mapping event was only held from Nov. 15-19.
Illustrations by Osamu, Asakura, △○□×, Maako, and Kei
Designed by Tree
Art Direction by Aono.Y
3D models by MQDL
© Crypton Future Media Inc. www.piapro.net
This is a Tokyo Otaku Mode original article.
