Official HIGE DANdism one-man tour 2026 K-Arena Final Live Diary
It has been a full year since I attended the semi-final at Nissan Stadium last year, and finally, another HIGE DAN live show! With zero luck in ticket lotteries, I couldn't win any for the Zepp tour, so I held onto this final show ticket, which I finally won through the W-member pre-order, and waited patiently for this day.
This time, it was my first time attending with my daughter. Since I usually go to live shows alone, I was nervous about going together. I am beyond grateful that the members of HIGE DAN were able to complete the tour safely, that my daughter and I were healthy, that nothing happened to our family, and that no sudden work came up.
Being able to attend a live show is not something to be taken for granted; it is truly a series of miracles.
At the time I left the house, it was raining and thundering outside, and I laughed when I saw a post on X saying, 'It's a real-life CryBaby.' It was perfect for the HIGE DAN finale. 🤭
I sprayed my sneakers with rain guard, opened my umbrella, and set off, but by the time I got close to the venue, the rain had stopped and the sun was shining. It reminded me of Nissan last year. My daughter, who had been swamped with university assignments, was fast asleep on the train. 😆
Since this was my third time at K-Arena, I thought I'd be fine, but I got off at the wrong ticket gate and my 'getting lost' skills kicked in. My daughter, who was at K-Arena for the first time, showed me the way.
“Geez! Why don't you look at the map?”
While my daughter said that to me, I, being an analog and directionally challenged person, ended up staring intently at the map on the bulletin board. But thanks to my daughter's navigation, we arrived at K-Arena safely.
My daughter wanted to go to the merchandise booth, but the line was so long that we gave up and tried our luck at the fan club corner instead.
We managed to get a paper ticket. This is a gift for my daughter, who is attending for the first time. 🎁
Since tickets are digital these days, I'm very happy to receive a paper one.
Even if it's just data that I print out myself, I wish I could get paper tickets for other live shows too.
Next, I took my daughter, who said, 'It's been my dream to take a picture holding up a towel!', to the tour truck area. I usually go alone, so I don't take pictures, but since there were two of us today, we lined up for the photo queue. The line wasn't that long, and the heat was bearable, so we waited for less than an hour and managed to take our picture by the 16:30 venue opening time.
While waiting, it was fun to brainstorm poses together and look at the poses of people taking pictures for inspiration.
HIGE DAN's live shows really have such a wide age range, with many families and parents and children, which made me realize once again that they are a national band.
I found out there was an eat-in corner inside K-Arena, so we moved to the gate as soon as we finished taking pictures. It seems like admission was delayed by about 15 minutes today, so the entrance was a bit chaotic, but once we got inside, we immediately received a set of flyers, and there was a sticker inside.
Also, there were many flower stands on the left side of the entrance.
The scent of the flowers was soothing.
Today we are on Level 5, so first, we checked our seats. The location was directly in front of the stage, a great seat where you could see the entire venue. The front section is for guests.
The seats are plush and have two drink holders, and the layout is slightly staggered, so you can see well without being blocked by the person in front of you. Both my daughter and I are about 148 cm tall, so this is a blessing! We bought pork cutlet sandwiches, churros, fried chicken, and drinks at the shop. My daughter was in a good mood, saying, 'It's like a movie theater!' The restrooms on Level 4 also have many stalls, so I was able to make a 'final restroom stop' without waiting too long. It really is the best arena.
The live show, which started with 'Editorial', first shook my heart with the quality of the sound.
The silhouettes of the four swaying behind the curtain were an opening that symbolized how this arena was connected from the hall and how the four of them were proceeding compactly with themselves at the center.
The curtain disappeared as if it were being sucked in, but it was so smooth that I don't even remember it. 🤣 Later, when I saw it in photos, I was like, 'Wow!!!!!!', and I really wonder what I was looking at that day. 😓
During the MC, Sato-chan said,
“Please think of this as a family restaurant for music. I'm feeling like Gusto, Royal Host, Jonathan's, Denny's, Joyfull. We used family restaurants for our after-parties.”
And it was exactly that kind of setlist. Also, Joyfull? I've never been there? Is it famous in Western Japan, perhaps?
When Sato-chan called out to the venue,
“Level 7!” “Whoa!”
When that happened, the people on Level 5 said,
“Oh no! We can't lose!”
which was kind of fun. After 'Level 5', 'Level 3', and 'Arena', he said 'Guest Seats', and it was funny how he even involved the guest seats.
When Sato-chan's in-ear monitor got waterlogged early on and he had to leave the stage,
“The Pokémon named Satoshi is returning to his ball.”
“Even though you're Satoshi?”
I laughed at Daichan's retort. From here, Chanmatsu also came to the front, and it was the three of them's talk time. Since they said they would talk about the tour, I thought it would be about music, but it turned into a talk about food, which is so HIGE DAN. lol. The story about how they all ate the catering, and they even ate the portion Sato-chan was looking forward to eating after the live show, and Sato-chan was sad, or the story about how when they ate Peking duck in Chinatown a long time ago, when Narachan gave Chanmatsu a bite, he ate the whole duck part (🤣) and it came back with no duck left—it was really funny. In the middle of the talk, Sato-chan secretly sat at the drum set and returned.
“I was listening to everything from below,” he said as he returned. 😆
When 'Sanitizer' started, the people around me started to sit down, and when I sat down, the view became very clear, and I was able to immerse myself in the world of the song. During 'Fuusen' (Balloon), he said something like, 'We are going to perform a song that hasn't been released yet. When this song is released, when I record it, I will remember this live show, and when you listen to the released song, you will remember this live show. Usually, we make new songs and listen to them before coming to the live show, but I think it's okay to have songs that are tied to memories.' I thought that was really wonderful.
A song that is sent out with various memories folded into it; I can't wait for the day when memories jump out of the song like untying the ribbon on a present. After the slow numbers continued, when 'Pretender' was performed, the people around me were like, 'Should we stand? Should we sit?', looking around, but the people around me stayed seated and listened carefully.
Sato-chan said during the MC,
“Please sit down and listen from this song on. I want you to feel the resonance of K-Arena.”
And we entered 'sit-down time'. 'Elderflower' had such a beautiful resonance, and it felt like Sato-chan's voice was wrapping around K-Arena, and as I sat deep in my chair, it felt like I was floating in mid-air.
The highlight was after 'Trailer' ended, there was an alarm-like sound, the lighting became like a background of flying in Doraemon's time machine, and it flowed directly into 'Apoptosis'. It was such a beautiful sound and visual that it gave me goosebumps. I couldn't help but close my eyes because it was so bright, but that was also realistic, like being on a time machine. Then, in 'Apoptosis', images of cell division were projected, and my heart was shaken by the singing voice and lyrics. My daughter was crying next to me. When I asked her later,
“Tears just came out on their own before I even knew it.”
she said. I wondered if this is what it means for music to soak into your heart.
Everyone stood up naturally during 'Anarchy,' and the venue gradually began to shake.
From 'TATTOO' onwards, we entered the call-and-response time.
The audience's singing of 'Isn't it just right for us to be a bit indifferent? Surely tears and words can just be extras' echoed through the venue, and things started heating up.
During 'Make Me Wander,' there was a huge sing-along of 'NANANANANANANA.' From level 5, it felt like the whole venue was shaking and becoming one.
Then, for 'Rashisa,' all the lyrics were projected on the screen, and the speed of it made my heart race whether I liked it or not. I sang my heart out.
During 'Stand By You,' a rain of clapping poured down, and the venue expressed its joy with its whole body. After this final song of the main set ended, along with the small whispers of people sharing their thoughts, it felt like the joy and satisfaction of everyone in the venue was floating in the air.
The person sitting next to me said they came from Okinawa, and they had a hard time because they accidentally went to Yokohama Arena instead of K-Arena on their way here. We excitedly guessed how many songs would be in the encore, and this feeling of being able to talk naturally with a stranger just because we are both Hige Dan fans is something unique to live concerts.
The encore started with 'Stardust.' The lighting looked like the brilliance of stars and was so beautiful. Being able to see the entire venue wrapped in sparkle might be a privilege of level 5.
The final song, '50%,' was also so much fun with the calls and singing.
It felt like the whole venue was tightening up and becoming one single mass.
From the very first 'Oh-oh-oh-oh-oh-oh,' Sato-chan was gesturing and inciting the crowd, making the tension rise whether we liked it or not.
The sight of the glittering silver streamers raining down on the venue was also very beautiful.
This song is truly perfect for a live show. I think it's a song especially suited for large venues. If there's ever a time they perform at a dome, this is a song I definitely want to sing!
After the concert, my daughter said,
'It's god-tier that they put out the setlist right away! But it's so different from the recorded versions that I don't think I'll be satisfied just listening to it on streaming services.' I nodded so hard at that. Hige Dan's live shows are truly once-in-a-lifetime experiences. There is so much you can only receive at the live show.
It seems the next tour hasn't been decided yet, but my daughter has already started begging me, saying, 'I want to go together next time too' lol
The concert I waited a year for really ended in a second. Fun things go by in a flash. But since I've stored so many things in the drawers of my heart, I'll wait patiently for the next chance. Believing in the next miracle.
