I was very lucky that I got a chance to greet Mika at the backstage on New Year’s Eve in Florence.
Starting with Mika, I cannot thank enough to the people who was involved to organize this event. And of course thank my Mika-fan-friend for giving me such an incredible chance. It really became a precious and unforgettable moment with Mika.
Also, I’m glad to help someone in the world with my donations through Cesvi in return for this.
Now it’s over and I really hope that Mika had enjoyed it too. I really appreciate Mika for everything, and for treating us very friendly that night.
I’m sorry that I didn’t take lots of pics nor vids of him to share. I really wanted Mika to feel comfortable without being pointed a camera at him, in such a special occasion that came into my life at last. I just took a few after getting his permission.
Taking pictures with him was one of my dream, because I never had a chance before.

With the instructions, we were told that it’s going to be a “very” short greeting. So, we really didn’t have any clue how long it will be or how it will be held.
Trying to be ready for all kinds of situations that could happen, it turned out to be the best situation I could have imagined.
So, when the door of the Mika’s dressing room was opened, Mika and his mama was standing at the corner of the room. Waiting and welcoming us with smiles on their faces, very politely. And in that room, I found no one else except for them. Wow.
I’m sure Mika was wondering which fans will show up. And since I’m a pessimistic person and because we had already seen him several times by then, at the outside of the stage door of the Opera Di Firenze, telling him that we’re from Japan, so I started to feel quite embarrassed and I was thinking, “Sorry Mika…, it’s us again…💦💦”
My friend's dress was very beautiful, so with no doubt, Mika and his mama loved it in one glance, and started to tell her they love it and asked her where she got it. I loved it too! But as you can see in the photos, I was in a normal black and white dress, and although I was wearing my most important and gorgeous accessories that I’ve got, I started to feel small and misery.


Why do I write the thing like this? Because I saw Mika’s personality here.
He soon noticed that I was left out of that conversation, then he looked into my eyes and said “Your dress is beautiful too”.
At that moment, I thought he was just trying to be polite, and “Thank you” was the only thing I could say to him. But now, I can’t forget that moment, because, especially when I was a child, I was a type of a person who is not noticed (not ignored on purpose) and left alone easily. Even now, it’s becoming very rare but I feel like I’m invisible, and I’m not heard even I speak out loud. So, I started feeling like “Oh no. Please. Not now…” But before that kind of timid me starts to come out, Mika had vanished it! Also, during this Greeting time, I noticed that he tried to talk with both of us equally. What a gentleman he is.
After putting down my big bag in the short aisle in front of the door, I asked him “May we come in?” and although I heard him answered “Yes, come in!”, I still hesitated to enter because my friend wasn’t ready yet. But then he started to apologize that the room looks messy with all the gifts he received and he’s always like that and even tried to tidy up a bit. (Of course, at the same time, he said to us to look at all the amazing gifts, and he looked really happy!) That wasn’t a reason that I didn’t enter in right away though, that kind of his behavior that we happened to see, made me feel like I was invited to his own room.
While my friend was taking time putting out her gifts, near the door, Mika was standing still at the corner of the room. He's a superstar but he was very modest! So I went in first and said “Congratulations on your another huge success, and thank you very much for inviting us.” But afterwards, he expressed his gratitude for the donations to both of us quite formally, so I thought I should have waited… But we are told that it’s going to be very short!
I’m so glad that my idea of bringing him some Sake (Japanese rice wine) ended up to be a great moment with him.
How he prepared for the toasting was amazingly fast! Once he saw a bottle of “Sake” (the Japanese rice wine) that I brought, he said “Let’s toast!” and in the next instant he was already bending down in front of the cupboard which was a few steps away from him, to fetch some wine glasses. With excitement, I and my friend told him that she has brought some Japanese traditional cups, and he didn’t fail to hear it!
Well, at first I just wanted to bring him something Japanese and also something to celebrate him in a polite way. Then my friend decided to bring some Japanese traditional cups for him, so that we might be able to ask him to toast together, if we have enough time of course. So, when he said “Let’s toast!”, we thought he read our mind!
I’m so happy that we were able to bring back such a nice video message for the New Year’s as well. I’m sorry it’s especially for the Japanese fans only though.
While my friend was preparing her digital camera, he came to me to practice saying “Happy New Year” in Japanese. It wasn’t my first time standing right in front of him, but because I wasn’t aware of him walking towards me, when I looked up suddenly, what I could see was only the lower half of his face!
Time flies when you're having fun…
Although there are lots of “I shouldn’t have done/said that” or “Why I didn’t do/say that!”, in total, I was happy that he understood what I was trying to say in English, almost everything.
(I’ve always been imagining talkin with Mika in English, so daydreaming is not always bad, I think!)
At the very end, as I was walking out from the room behind him, I managed tell him
“Thank you for becoming a musician and doing everything what you do.”
he replied me “Yes, I’m enjoying it!”
If I’m allowed to wish more, I wanted to see childish and “enfant terrible” side of him as well. I’m hoping it for some other time.
MIKA: New Year's Greeting to Japanese Fans at Opera Di Firenze
