After Saki Nakajima posted a thank-you message on her own X account for the “Shimashima Bus Tour,” attendance numbers became a hot topic on 5ch’s Hello! Project board. With the event run using 3 chartered buses, turnout is estimated at around 120 people — prompting comments that the scale has shrunk compared to 10 years ago, when the pair were still active idols. The thread saw split opinions over the steep ticket prices and continuing this kind of work after marriage, along with comparisons to turnout figures from other graduates’ bus tours, such as those run by Saho Sayashi and Shizuka Kudo.
Saki Nakajima
@saki_nakajima__
#ShimashimaTrip To everyone who came out for the 2-day-1-night Shimashima Bus Tour, thank you SO, SO much 😭🙏✨ It was honestly the best time. Really 🥺. Team ℃-ute is just the best, no question!!! Get home safe, everyone 🤝 Can’t wait to see all your happy faces again soon 🥹✨
Re: #7
There are still that many hardcore otaku showing up?
Guess everyone's treating it like a class reunion?
8AnonymousSep 13, 2026 19:02
Honestly, I think it's impressive any bus tour still pulls people together these days
10AnonymousSep 13, 2026 19:02
Trolling a veteran member for a half-empty venue, huh lol ("OG" = idol fan slang for a graduated/former group member)
11AnonymousSep 13, 2026 19:03
She's got a husband and kids and she's still charging for bus tours? That's kind of shameless
13AnonymousSep 13, 2026 19:04
Being able to keep doing this even after getting married makes her a total winner
19AnonymousSep 13, 2026 19:06
Re: #13
How is doing otaku-pandering work after marriage a "winner"?
The real winners are the mom-idols raking it in from blogs and commercials
14AnonymousSep 13, 2026 19:04
They're just using a venue nearby, so it can't be helped
16AnonymousSep 13, 2026 19:05
Wouldn't the Morito & Koseki bus tour still pull a bigger crowd?
28AnonymousSep 13, 2026 19:09
Re: #16
Obviously
17AnonymousSep 13, 2026 19:05
Both of them are ridiculously cute for their age
18AnonymousSep 13, 2026 19:06
Well, from her own perspective it's probably more like a moms' club activity at this point, so this scale is probably comfortable
26AnonymousSep 13, 2026 19:08
Wish she'd stop writing "Team ℃-ute" —
makes it look like the whole team is down to just 120 people
27AnonymousSep 13, 2026 19:08
I wonder who actually holds the record for biggest post-graduation bus tour
Kudo pulled over 300 people with 8 buses after Lupinranger VS Patranger
29AnonymousSep 13, 2026 19:09
Wasn't ℃-ute more popular than this?
31AnonymousSep 13, 2026 19:10
Well obviously, the longer it's been since graduation, the more the fanbase shrinks
32AnonymousSep 13, 2026 19:10
The "Ayumizuki" (Ayumi & Mizuki) 30th-birthday bus tour next year is gonna take the record
33AnonymousSep 13, 2026 19:10
I'd love to know what motivates people to pay money for these events
Probably thinking "I'm the one supporting ◯◯-chan's livelihood!"
42AnonymousSep 13, 2026 19:12
For otaku, around 100 people is probably the sweet spot
Once it drops below 30 it gets embarrassing if you're socially awkward
44AnonymousSep 13, 2026 19:12
Who even goes to see this stuff…
46AnonymousSep 13, 2026 19:13
Reina was dropping hints she wants to do a bus tour too
47AnonymousSep 13, 2026 19:13
This almost makes the shady "scenery shop" guys look decent by comparison (fan slang for scalpers/photographers who profit off idols)
48AnonymousSep 13, 2026 19:14
Back at ℃-ute's peak, even when Nakajima was right there within arm's reach on the bus tour,
the otaku never touched her — that's why people used to say Hello! Project fans were admirable
49AnonymousSep 13, 2026 19:15
Don't know much about it, but did Nakajima's whole "studying abroad" thing wrap up?
73AnonymousSep 13, 2026 19:22
Re: #49
Not even sure what she was supposedly studying in the first place
51AnonymousSep 13, 2026 19:16
No wonder it's empty — she just can't grow the numbers
52AnonymousSep 13, 2026 19:16
Nakajima seems like she's getting tired of this half-hearted entertainer life, feels like she'll go study abroad again like Ogawa or Mitsui
Though at this point she's over 30, so maybe just settle down already
53AnonymousSep 13, 2026 19:17
Guess Kusatsu just doesn't have a venue that holds around 200 people
54AnonymousSep 13, 2026 19:17
Back when she was active 10 years ago, it was more like 400 people
69AnonymousSep 13, 2026 19:20
Even so, apparently they still rake in around 10 million yen
72AnonymousSep 13, 2026 19:21
Re: #69
So that's like a sixth of what the Mikitty couple makes off a single commercial ("Mikitty" = fellow H!P alum Mari Yaguchi's nickname)
Background and Key Points
Mai Yajima and Saki Nakajima are both former members of ℃-ute who have continued fan-facing events as solo artists or in one-off units since the group’s graduation. A “bus tour” — chartered buses that shuttle fans between live shows and meet-and-greets — is a business format unique to idol fan culture, and turnout numbers are frequently debated on 5ch as an informal popularity gauge. That said, the “120” and “400” figures floated in the thread are just estimates based on fans’ headcounts and the number of buses used, not official numbers from the organizers, so some caution is warranted. The question of continuing this kind of work after marriage and childbirth is also a perennially divisive topic, and this thread was no exception, with both “she’s a winner” takes and more critical ones appearing.
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