A Guide to Donating to Japanese Flowerstands
Have you ever seen photos of gorgeous flower stands like these at lives or events?
Sending your own flower stand to an event is difficult; it requires connections to artists and local florists, planning, and quite a bit of money. Luckily, there's another way to get involved! Many long-time flower stand project organizers publicly accept donations to help create intricate, gorgeous flower stands for their favorite artists. If you've ever thought to yourself "I want to participate" but weren't sure how, you're in the right place!
Joining a Flower Stand Project
LoveLive! fans tend to organize on both Minsaka and Twipla, so I've included guides for both sites below. Some organize directly on twitter as well, but those are less common and harder to find. Organizers don't typically cross-promote on both platforms, so its good to check both regularly! Most projects are announced and accepting donations approximately one month before the event, but some get announced much closer.
When you're searching for projects to join, terms like ラブライブ, Liella!, character names (i.e. 澁谷かのん) or seiyuu names (i.e. 伊達さゆり) will help drive you in the right direction. "Flower stand" in Japanese is often shortened to フラスタ.
Minsaka
https://www.sakaseru.jp/mina/search-event
Minsaka is a crowdfunding and organizing platform run by the Japanese florist/flowerstand company Sakaseru that's popular with LoveLive! flowerstand organizers. They handle collecting payment and info from donors as well as the flowerstand. Because they accept foreign credit cards and handle everything on-platform for the organizer, they're the lowest barrier to entry for overseas participants.
To participate in a flowerstand project on Minsaka, create an account (or login via twitter), and search for a project via the link above or this button on the site.
Once you find a project to join, fill out the form and submit payment via credit card. That's it!
The form will ask for a message to the organizer, so make sure to include something for them! You can look at examples on the project page. 「参加します！よろしくお願いします！」 ("I'll participate! Thank you for having me!") is a good message at a minimum.
Twipla
Twipla is a website used for planning all kinds of events, from flower stands to parties and DJ/anikura nights. Twipla only aggregates users who are interested in a particular project, so the rest of the logistics are handled directly by the flower stand organizer. Payment methods, deadlines, and communication are different with every organizer, so it's critical to read each project and understand what is asked of participants before joining.
Twipla is short for "twitter plan", so you must authenticate with your twitter account. Search for a project using the link above, and use translation tools if necessary to make sure you find a flower stand (instead of an offkai or other type of project).
Read the details of the project carefully, and double check that you have a supported method of payment. If you don't (say they only accept PayPay) and you're intent on joining it's worth asking the organizer if they'd be willing to accept an alternate method like Wise. If they've never had any foreign donors before, they may not have considered platforms we can access as an option. Whether or not they'll accommodate you is entirely at their discretion.
Once you find a project you want to join, add yourself to the list using the blue button at the bottom of the page. It'll ask you to leave a comment, and by default will also post it to Twitter (the checkbox disables the tweet).
Keep your eye on twitter, because over the next couple of days the organizer will reach out to you either via DM or a group message. It's best to follow them on Twitter and to make sure you can be reached via DM ahead of time. Each organizer has their own process for collecting payment and information from participants which they'll explain to you as you go. Be careful not to miss any deadlines, and ask them questions if you're confused! They're fans like us, and want our help to make beautiful flower displays for our girls!
Common questions you might be asked include:
- how many units (usually increments of 1000/1500/2000 yen, set by the organizer) you'd like to sponsor
- what name you'd like to appear as on the credits/name board
- how you want to pay
After Joining
If the project is still accepting donations, you can always retweet the announcement post from the organizer to help it gain more traction!
When the day of the live comes, visit the flower stand area and witness the beautiful creation you had a small hand in bringing to life! If you get a good photo of the flower stand, send it to the organizer. They'll really appreciate it!