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The story
On September 15, 2026, details were announced for the fan-club-only birthday event of Morning Musume。’26 member Rio Sakurai. The Tokyo show will be held at NEW PIER HALL in Takeshiba on November 10, with two performances priced at ¥4,700. Details for an Osaka show (YES THEATER, November 16) were released at the same time. Rather than focusing on what the venue actually offers, the thread zeroed in on the seating layout shown in the sample image on the official site, with comments like “You can’t see from either side” and “It’s flat, so it might be hard to see” sparking comparisons to other venues used in the past, like Yamano Hall.
What people said
●Performer: Rio Sakurai (Morning Musume。'26)
●Venue: NEW PIER HALL (Tokyo)
●Date: Tuesday, November 10, 2026
[Show 01] Doors 16:20 / Start 17:00
[Show 02] Doors 18:50 / Start 19:30
●Seat types: General seating, Elementary school seating (all reserved)
●Ticket price: ¥4,700 (tax included)
●Purchase limit: 1 general seat and up to 2 elementary school seats per show
What is this venue…
Like last year, Rairii's (Rio Sakurai's nickname) Morning Musume birthday events always seem to end up at some odd venue
https://www.upfc.jp/helloproject/news_detail.php?@uid=K3vi9AiyxUHymirM
●Performer: Rio Sakurai (Morning Musume。'26)
●Venue: YES THEATER (Osaka)
●Date: Monday, November 16, 2026
[Show 01] Doors 16:00 / Start 16:30
[Show 02] Doors 18:00 / Start 18:30
●Seat types: General seating, Elementary school seating (all reserved)
●Ticket price: ¥4,700 (tax included, fan club special price)
●Purchase limit: Up to 2 tickets per show
I doubt they'll line up chairs all the way to max capacity
You can't see from either side, and even the official sample shows seats cut out
So this light-blue area is the flat section? Not exactly a venue to get excited about
Capacity can be adjusted by how the chairs are arranged
Not bad at all
You can also walk there from JR/Tokyo Monorail Hamamatsucho Station, or Toei Asakusa/Oedo Line Daimon Station
NEW PIER HALL 【795 seats】
2025
Shibuya Culture Central Owada, Sakura Hall 【735 seats】
Definitely worse than Ranma
It's 4 rows deep, and if someone about your height is sitting in front of you, you can't see the members at all
> *This performance is not eligible for resale.
Having a disclaimer like this makes me think they're planning to make the resale system a permanent fixture going forward?
Mainly for concerts, maybe?
So far MOALA's only been used for big venues, but I wonder if they'll start using it for regular shows too
Sounds like FC events are just going to stay like this though
Never noticed this until now, but
that disclaimer's been added since the BEYOOOOONDS Okamura birthday event announced on 9/9
People in the back won't be able to see a thing
Last year both shows had a second (meet-and-greet)
Pretty sure they used it for Kawamura's birthday event
UP-FRONT has used it a few times
At the 2019 Fukutake event it was 4 rows deep, and if the person in front was about your height and stood up, you couldn't see anything
Background and Talking Points
The “birthday event” discussed here is a small-scale, fan-club-members-only show, held separately from concerts as a recurring event built around an individual member. The “not eligible for resale” note that caught the thread’s attention reportedly started appearing with the September 9 announcement, according to one reply — suggesting the resale system may be becoming permanent, though no official explanation has been given yet. As for the seating layout, most of the discussion is speculation based on the sample image posted on the official site; the actual arrangement won’t be confirmed until the day of the event. Opinions on the venue split largely between fans used to flat-floor venues and those used to tiered seating, since their standards for “how well you can see” differ — making it a debate that doesn’t reduce to a simple good-or-bad verdict.
*This article is excerpted and summarized from the 5ch (Hello Project) thread “★Fan Club Members Only Event★ “Morning Musume。’26 Rio Sakurai Birthday Event” Tokyo Show Confirmed!“.
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