Jo Hyun Jae

DIARY OF A STAR-CHASER (Part 2 – OSAKA)
An eyewitness account of Jo Hyun-Jae’s Fan Meetings in Osaka and Tokyo, Japan, in June 2008

My Japan Fan Meeting tickets

2008.6.22 (Sunday) Osaka’s NHK Hall

I had it from a reliable source that in Osaka Jo Hyun-Jae had a rehearsal soon after he arrived from Seoul in the afternoon of June 21. Two lucky Japanese fans in Osaka (and another two in Tokyo) were selected to watch the rehearsal. On the day of the fan meeting, JHJ arrived at NHK Hall at 11:30 a.m. (This is from another eyewitness.) The meeting begins at 2 p.m. This just shows how seriously Hyun-Jae takes his work.

At a little after 12 noon, JHJ fans were already gathering in the lobby of the NHK hall. Everybody was very excited and anticipation was in the air. At 1 p.m. we were allowed to enter; the queue was moving slowly because there were so many people. When we got to the top of the escalator, we saw many huge posters of JHJ — all unspeakably handsome! And there were all these JHJ souvenirs spread out on several tables. So we started charging at once! I made a beeline for the photo albums. They are BIG and BEAUTIFUL, with many previously unpublished photos of JHJ and his signature. I also collected a set of cups (2) with different JHJ photos on each, and cell phone straps (with JHJ’s signature.)

Clutching my precious purchases, I entered the hall which could hold 1500 people (full house.) Three huge JHJ banners were hung on stage, one on each side of JHJ in a black suit, and a set of three in the centre of JHJ in a grey cotton cardigan and white T-shirt with grey-and-yellow striped sleeves. Just looking at these made my heart beat to an unnatural rhythm.

A little after 2 p.m. the lights dimmed. Wah…..wah…..wah….. screams could be heard all over the main auditorium and the 1/F balcony. Suddenly projected on the big screen was a pair of black leather shoes. Then the camera panned to reveal a pair of ash-white trousers and then a jacket. It stopped at the neck! By that time everybody in the audience knew that it was JHJ backstage. Screams were reaching fever pitch. Drum roll……and Hyun-Jae appeared on stage left, walking to centre stage. Everybody was screaming at the top of their lungs.

The vision that appeared before our eyes was Hyun-Jae in an ash-white suit (short jacket — must be this year’s style), black shirt with polka dot lining (strategically revealed at the open collar), black leather shoes, and short hair (in the “3 Dads/1 Mom” style.)

Hyun-Jae started to sing. I didn’t understand a word but it was beautiful music. I have only heard him sing on MVs before. On stage he sounded much better and stronger; his voice was a rich, deep baritone. When he finished, the applause was deafening.

Then the Master of Ceremony (MC) and the interpreter appeared on stage, and they all sat on high stools, the two women on either side of JHJ. Hyun-Jae sat with his left foot on the lower crossbar of the high stool and his right foot on the floor in a pose that could only be described as elegant. (Try sitting on a high stool for over an hour with your back straight up and you’ll know how difficult it is to maintain such a pose.) The MC started with her questions, which Hyun-Jae answered in his characteristically terse way (not many words.) The interpreter was translating simultaneously and she was doing a good job, because almost as soon as the Japanese MC finished asking her questions, Hyun-Jae was ready to answer. (The interpreter was the same one as in the 2006 Japan Fan Meeting.)

On the big screen appeared first Lee Dong Gun (whose younger brother’s funeral JHJ attended a few months earlier) and then JHJ’s co-stars in “3 Dads/1 Mom” — Shin Shing Rok, Jae Hee, and Eugene. I think they were wishing JHJ success with the fan meeting (the last two words were spoken in English.) Lee appeared thinner, Shin looked exactly the same as in 3/1, Jae was sporting a smart new hairstyle, and Eugene — I did not recognize her at first (without the wigs she wore in 3/1). Her real hair was very short which made her face look very round and full.

On stage Hyun-Jae was like a bright-eyed little boy who was curious about everything. He kept turning his head to look at his friends on the big screen. I guess the MC’s questions were about JHJ’s various TV dramas. I could hear the words “Seo Dong Yo”, “Only You”, and Andrea.

I did not understand a single word of Japanese or Korean, but I was caught up in the fervour of the moment. I laughed when everybody laughed, and I clapped when everybody clapped. We all know JHJ is a man of few words. But he seemed to be warming up after a while, and even spoke more than ten words at a time (Just kidding!) Seriously, he must have become more humourous because his answers were evoking constant laughter. We laughed and he smiled. We laughed some more and he smiled some more. The atmosphere was warm and electrifying.

After more than an hour, Part 1 came to an end. JHJ went backstage, waving and bowing. On the big screen appeared various scenes from his TV dramas which brought back happy memories.

After an interval of about ten minutes, JHJ re-appeared — on the 1/F balcony! He had changed into casual wear —  a short-sleeved white shirt on top of a white collarless T-shirt, black vest, black trousers, and white canvas shoes — and he was so drop-dead gorgeous! He made his way across the whole balcony before coming down to the main auditorium which he criss-crossed, so that everyone had the chance to see him up close. He passed right in front of me, but the fans on the other side grabbed hold of him, so I didn’t even manage to touch his back!

 (TO BE CONTINUED)

 (Originally published on johyunjaeChina in June 2008.)