Marching J attracted almost 390,000 fans over three days
The 3/11 disaster relief project which featured SMAP and every talent at Johnny’s & Associates had attracted 389,000 fans over its three-day period, reports the Japan Press Network, TV Asahi, Oricon, and News 24 (1 & 2).
It has been reported “Marching J” had attracted 101,000 fans on April 1, 127,000 fans on April 2, and 161,000 fans on April 3.
On Sunday, SMAP made an appearance at Marching J’s stage outside the Yoyogi Dai-ichi Taikukuan, Harajuku for the second day in a row, and thanked their fans for their efforts.
“I think your thoughts right now will reach thousands of people,” said Shingo Katori.
“This is the last time we’ll be collecting donations from Yoyogi [Dai-ichi Taikukan] but I hope you all keep an eye on the situation for a longer period of time,” said Masahiro Nakai.
“To show my gratitude to you all,” said Tsuyoshi Kusanagi before he did a back flip.
The group also performed their hit numbers “世界に一つだけの花 (Sekai ni Hitotsu dake no Hana)” and “夜空ノムコウ (Yozora no Mukou)” in a cappella in front of the crowd.
It has been reported Nakai had been singing softly compared to the others.
“I didn’t want to cause trouble…,” he said, making the crowd laugh.
Donations on Sunday started half and hour early, and so the event ran from 9:30am to 6pm. Johnny’s talents who appeared on April 3 were:
- Noriyuki Higashiyama
- Koji Uchiumi
- Atsuhiro Sato
- Kenichi Okamoto
- SMAP
- V6′s Masayuki Sakamoto, Hiroshi Nagano, Go Morita, Junichi Okada, and Ken Miyake
- Arashi’s Masaki Aiba, Jun Matsumoto, and Satoshi Ohno
- NEWS’ Keiichiro Koyama, Shigeaki Kato, Takahisa Masuda, Yuya Tegoshi
- Hey! Say! JUMP
- Toma Ikuta
- Tomoyuki Yara
- Shunsuke Kazama
- Jun Hasegawa
- Hiroki Uchi
- Kis-My-Ft2
- B.I.Shadow
“Marching J” gave Higashiyama the chance to see some old friends like Koji Uchiumi.
“I can’t remember the last time we met. How’ve you been?,” he said.
It has also been reported Keinchi Okamoto and his son Keito Okamato (Hey! Say! JUMP) appeared on stage together for the first time to give families in the crowd some advice.
“I’ve heard there are a lot of families here today, please be careful not to let go of your children’s hands. Have fun,” Kenichi Okamoto said.
Sources: Japan Press Network, TV Asahi, Oricon, and News 24
Credit: Momoedgewood