AKB48 still visits devastated areas

March 26, 2015

AKB48 members continue to bring smiles to disaster-hit areas despite initial criticism

http://ajw.asahi.com/article/0311disaster/recovery/AJ201503260011

By TAKANORI TSUJI/ Staff Writer

Four years after the Great East Japan Earthquake and tsunami, the number of entertainers visiting the devastated areas is declining.

However, members of the popular girls idol group AKB48 are continuing to make the long trek from their home base in Tokyo's Akihabara district.

On the Internet, many favorable messages have been posted such as, “There is criticism (of AKB48's activities in disaster areas). But it is a fact that the group is continuing to bring smiles.”

On March 11, which marked the fourth anniversary of the disaster, AKB48 members made their 47th visit to the disaster-affected areas.

During the tour, the group’s leader, Minami Takahashi, 23, said, “Though our ability to help may be small, we will continue to support the affected areas.”

On that day, AKB48 members held live concerts in six locations in the three heavily impacted prefectures of Iwate, Miyagi and Fukushima. One of the six venues was in Kamaishi, Iwate Prefecture, where about 900 people were killed by the tsunami.

After the conclusion of a memorial ceremony, eight members of the group appeared on stage in a shopping center at 5 p.m. They included not only Takahashi but also Nanami Sato, 15, whose hometown is in Iwate Prefecture.

“We will never forget this day," Takahashi told the crowd. "We are happy if we can convey our smiles to you.”

Then, the members began to sing one of their hits, “Heavy Rotation.” About 1,000 spectators let out a big cheer. Some children began to dance, while some elderly people began to clap their hands, albeit clumsily.

From 6 p.m., the concert was aired live in theaters in Tokyo, Osaka, Nagoya and Fukuoka. The spectators there joined in when AKB48 members in Kamaishi started to sing “Tenohira ga Katarukoto” (What our palms speak to us), the group’s song to support the reconstruction of affected areas.

Momona Yahata, 13, a first-year student of Kamaishi Junior High School, who was one of the spectators in Kamaishi, said, “I was able to get much energy (from the group).”

Four years ago, members of AKB48 were also affected by the disaster. Their concerts, held daily at a theater in Akihabara dedicated exclusively to the group, were suspended for about two weeks. TV programs in which they were scheduled to appear were replaced by other programs.

Immediately following the disaster, AKB48 announced that it would launch the “Dareka no Tameni Project” (Project for someone), with part of the proceeds from the sales of their music CDs being donated to disaster victims.

On May 22, 2011, members of the group began to hold live concerts in affected areas.

However, critical messages were posted on the Internet. One asked, “Is it meaningful for members of an idol group to go to affected areas?” Another said, “They are just putting on a performance for show immediately after the disaster.”

On one occasion, the group planned to hold a concert at a corner of a school playground where temporary housing facilities are sited for evacuees. However, it was not able to secure the venue. So members used a truck as a mobile stage.

The group did not publicize the concert in advance except to residents around the school, so that many fans would not come there.

“We were half in doubt about whether the group would really come here,” said a teacher of the junior high school in Miyagi Prefecture.

When the group tried to use a school in a coastal area of Iwate Prefecture as a concert venue, the school declined, saying, “The mental care of children is important.”

Members of AKB48 also had conflicts in their minds. Initially, Takahashi had fears about seeing the devastation in the impacted areas. She also thought that there would be nothing AKB48 members could do.

However, Yasushi Akimoto, 56, AKB48 producer, encouraged them, saying, “Doing something is better than doing nothing.”

When Takahashi was talking about the status of affected areas in an event in the Kanto region in February 2012, some audience members made noise. She chided them, saying, “What occurred on March 11 is something that could happen to us. Please think seriously about it.”

Yura Sanouchi, 15, who graduated this month from Ogatsu Junior High School in Ishinomaki, Miyagi Prefecture, clearly remembers AKB48 members visiting the area about three years ago.

“Though four years have passed since the disaster, they have yet to forget us (people in affected areas),” she said.