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These Japanese idol fans at the 2016 Tokyo Idol Festival show us that, when it comes to being first to the front of the stage, all etiquette is thrown out the window.

Japan is known for its politeness and incredible manners but this group of idol fans wasn’t having any of that.

The Tokyo Idol Festival held in Odaiba has grown massively in popularity from its inaugural concert in 2010, becoming the “World’s largest idol event”. But not even security gates were enough to stop this year’s fans as they actually carried the barriers forward in their efforts to be first to the front of the stage to watch Keyakizaka46 perform.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XO78oWBuOcE

▼ Tokyo Idol Festival 2016 logo

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We can hear people yelling out “kowai” (scary) who are already standing near the front of the stage (presumably staff or VIP) as the large crowd forces their way through security and makes a mad scramble for the best viewing positions.

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The tsunami of fans quickly descends on the person filming with the final impact causing some wild camera movement. You have to hand it to the security staff though; they don’t give up until the very last moments when the crowd has basically carried the blockades within a few meters of the front of the stage.

Although the frantic front stage crush appears to be quite extreme, the announcers and performers on stage don’t appear to be too fazed and continue to try to rev up the crowd. We can hear someone with a microphone asking the crowd, “Moriagete ikimashouka?” (Shall we get excited?).

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We can also hear people in the crowd yelling out, “Sagare!” (Get back!) and “Yabai!” (Not good!), but we are yet to hear any reports of injuries, so we assume everyone managed to escape without harm.

▼ Cheeky Parade performing “Bunbun Nine9” at last year’s Tokyo Idol Festival.

I guess we all learnt one thing from this video – never get in the way of a crowd of stampeding idol fans.

Source: Virates, YouTube/保管庫ちゃんねる, Tokyo Idol Festival Homepage
Images: YouTube/保管庫ちゃんねる, Tokyo Idol Festival Homepage