By Dasha Konopatova (A.K.A. Dasha KO)
Katya on the left, Dasha on the right
I’ve been dreaming of a trip to Japan for many years, but some factors prevented this. Since I’ve been into Space Battleship Yamato lately, I also dreamed of going to one of the Yamato events: a premiere in a cinema, Yamaket or a concert.
So, from the beginning of 2025 I began to actively plan travel to Japan. Fortunately, the release dates of the new chapters and Yamaket were known in advance, so it was possible to focus on the first half of April. My companion here was my friend Katya (A.K.A. PandaWithOar), who is also a fan of Yamato.
A few days before our departure, the artist Eight_07_07 (I’ll use Twitter nicknames from here) wrote me and offered to help us with tickets to one of the special screenings at the Marunouchi cinema with a welcoming speech from the director and the voice actors. It was unexpected and sounded really cool! I gladly agreed and scheduled the movie watching on April 12th. In addition, Eight invited us to a Yamato fan meeting and karaoke. It sounded so crazy that I thought this was a chance we couldn’t miss.
We arrived in Tokyo on the night of April 10. We were pretty tired after the 19 hours journey from Moscow, and it would be too difficult to watch Yamato on the first day of the screening (don’t forget also about 6 hours jet lag). Therefore, on April 11th we just walked around Tokyo.
April 12th came – the day of the show and the fan meeting! We met with Eight, and she immediately introduced us to other Yamato fans and artists, as well as the fan meeting admin – Akira. At the entrance to the cinema there was distribution of postcards depicting Domon vs Ageha in a fierce noodle battle.
The theater was full. Although neither my friend nor I spoke Japanese, it was incredible to see the people working on Yamato in person. Then the movie began. It was bright, beautiful and completely…incomprehensible. But we were impressed and happy. We were watching Yamato in Japan, isn’t that amazing?
Small digression, there were some Yamato goods in the cinema store, but the selection wasn’t very wide, so the fans recommended us to visit Shinjuku sometime. Well, we were there a few days later and most of official merchandise had been sold out! It was a shame, but still great that the Yamato products were popular. Or, probably, our new friends were faster than us?
After the movie we went to karaoke with a big group of fans. I was wearing the same cap as Daria from the Bolar Federation, so they quickly started calling us “Bora” [Bolar] and promised to sing “Bolar songs” at karaoke (thank goodness it did not come to this :D).
The Yamato fan meeting was an incredible experience. It’s only your 3rd day in Japan, but you’re already sitting and drinking sake together and, of course, singing the Yamato opening theme. Memories for a lifetime! There were many artists at the meeting who were supposed to participate in Yamaket the next day. In general, I was pleasantly surprised that most of the Yamato fans were older adults. Now I really know who otaku are!
I prepared my “50th Anniversary” postcards and a batch of mini-matryoshka dolls (from Bolar with love, you know). Katya brought various Russian sweets as gifts. We also had Yamato keychains made by our friend who wanted to put them “into the good hands of the fans” and this task was successfully completed. We exchanged gifts all evening, and even played “rock/paper/scissors” for the keychains. I also placed my sketchbook on display. There weren’t many Yamato images in it, but everyone liked it.
Akira turned on the Blu-ray with the new chapter of Yamato and fast-forwarded through some moments. The fans discussed the episodes. We realized that even the Japanese themselves didn’t understand everything in the new episodes. The only thing I really regret is that I didn’t perform the opening in Russian. I did a good translation for the opening a long time ago, as well as the Garmillas anthem and The Scarlet Scarf. Well, I’ll save that for the next time.
A special surprise of the evening was live performances of themes from Yamato on the piano. There were several people with different levels of skill, but they were all warmly received. Live piano performance is magic! In general, the atmosphere that evening was so homey and friendly that I asked myself more than once, “Is this really happening?” And I’m glad that our “Bora” delegation made a positive impression. At the end of the evening a group photo was taken for memory.
Yamaket Day, April 13th. It was a rainy day – it rained from early morning until night. Great weather when the main action takes place indoors. When I became interested in Yamato a few years ago, I also quickly became interested in Yamaket. A thematic market dedicated only to Yamato and a place where you can meet artists you only know on the socials. I dreamed of visiting this market someday and it came true!
There were many people in the room and crowds were gathering at some tables. The atmosphere here was also extremely welcoming. We continued to exchange gifts with artists at the market. I was also given many cool things, for example, some merchandise from the Yamato exhibition which was held in Tokyo until the end of March. The assortment on the tables was impressive, many works for every taste! As a result we bought tons of art books and doujinshi. Unfortunately, I didn’t have enough time to visit every table, I’m very sorry about that.
At the end of the event, a lottery was held. During the market, participants could write their name on a form and drop it into a special box. On the form you also had to write some phrase that you had to say in the case of winning, so nobody could cheat and get someone else’s prize. The lottery prizes were quite varied: volumes of the Yamato manga, a vinyl record, posters, and all sorts of official and unofficial Yamato merch. And besides, original works by the artist ProjectNIRU (the best exclusives of all the items, in my opinion).
And who do you think was the first winner of the lottery? ME!!! It was extremely unexpected. I stepped forward with my crazy “HURRAY!” phrase and chose the art with image of Sanada (the chief engineer is my favorite character). The Japanese approvingly applauded and patted me on the shoulder, it was unforgettable. BTW, when I saw the originals of the author’s works, I found out that they weren’t for sale. It was a pity, because they were amazing. But in the end, fate decreed that I got my favorite one.
I was invited to participate in the next Yamaket, but then we all found out that this was probably the last one. However, I think that with such love for Yamato and fan support, Yamaket will definitely continue to exist.
This is how the crazy Yamato days passed at the very beginning of our trip to Japan. I have a very warm impression of all these events and Yamato fans. It was unforgettable and I want to meet Yamato friends again in the future.
