[WITHNEWS 2020.09.30] A fan letter To Arashi - From my mother in 2013
Withnews published this moving article which depicted a mother's fan letter to Arashi, 7 years after she had passed away. Her son received the letter in his first year of high school, as Arashi celebrated their 21st anniversary.
“Dear Arashi-san,
From, my mother on December 15th, 2013”
On the morning of September 15th, as popular idol group Arashi welcomed their 21st anniversary, Ichito-san, who had just started his first year in high school, received a letter from his father. The sender was Ichito’s mother, who had passed away 7 years ago. It was a fan letter that his mother had written before she died. It got a huge response when Ichito published the letter on Twitter. I sat down with Ichito, who said how meaningful the letter was to him.
“Your mother was way too cool”
The tweet that generated the commotion contained 4 pieces of letter-writing paper. Ichito wrote the following comment as he posted the photos:
“To Arashi-san on September 15th, 2020; From my mother on December 15th, 2013. It made me cry since this morning. To have written a letter to Arashi-san 7 years later, she had so much life in her! (laughs)”
Many replies to the tweet stated “I wept”, “Your mother is so cool”, “It really warmed my heart,” and the tweet garnered over 13,000 likes.
When I asked Ichito if he could tell his story, he shared it with me through our correspondence. The letter was not only a fan letter, but it also contained a huge secret about Ichito and his mother, Hikari.
“By the time you read this letter, I would have…”
"To Arashi-san on September 15th, 2020:
Congratulations on your 21st year. By the time you read this letter, I suppose I would no longer be on this earth. Why, I can’t help but come up with such conventional openings. (laughs)
I wanted to convey my thanks and feelings to Arashi-san, so I have penned down my thoughts in this manner.”
On the morning of September 15th, when Ichito woke up, his father passed him this letter.
The letter was dated December 15th, 2013. Ichito’s mother, Hikari, was 31, and her cancer had relapsed then.
Ichito said, “My mother had written letters to me while she was still alive, and I would receive those letters on my birthday. Every year, I looked forward to her letters. However, I couldn’t believe that she would give me a letter on Arashi’s anniversary, so I was reeling from the shock.”
Hikari’s letter continued like this:
“When I was young, I was brought up in a foster home. I was all by myself and it was so painful, so lonely, and I could see nothing but darkness before me.”
To help her to become independent, a teacher at the foster home bought Arashi’s “Kansha Kangeki Ame Arashi” for Hikari before she left the home.
“Smile again, we’re born crying into the world, but we’re probably strong in a pinch”
When Hikari heard these lyrics, her tears wouldn’t stop.
“Even though I was abused as a child, and brought up in a foster home, everyone is born crying into this world. It made me realize that it was up to me to become strong and live on.
If I had my own children one day, I would pour all my love on them, create a family that would never stop smiling, be strong and live on, and when they grow older we would support Arashi-san together."
However, a disease would soon plague the dream-filled Hikari. In 2004, she had to remove her uterus, and give up on becoming pregnant.
The letter contained a truth which Ichito was learning for the first time.
“I wanted to love a child who had the same feelings as well. I wanted to teach them about how wonderful it is to have a family. With that in mind, I adopted my son from a foster home. However, I have yet to reveal the truth. I think he would know it, now that he has read this letter.”
When Hikari welcomed Ichito into the family, Ichito was still 3 years old.
As he read the letter, Ichito connected this to his childhood memories. “My suspicions turned into conviction,” he said, though he was not surprised.
“When I was young, I vaguely remember being chased onto the veranda, and many adults entering my home. (Now that I think about this, those were probably the people who rescued me.) My mother and father were kind people, so they couldn’t have done those things, so I somehow experienced that somewhere else,” says Ichito.
Having learnt that his parents were not his biological parents, Ichito continues, “Even if we’re not related by blood, it doesn’t change the days that the three of us have spent together, so I can fully accept this.”
The last and best memory
When she wrote the letter on December 15th, 2013, it was an important day for her.
“Today, I brought my son to your concert, “LOVE”, for the first time.
Before we went, he said, “I’m embarrassed, Mom, can’t you go on your own?” However, after we returned home, he was so excited as he told me, “Mom, let’s go again! It’s the first time I’ve seen guys that are so cool! It’s a promise! (laughs)
I have nothing but gratitude towards Arashi-san, who allowed me to create such wonderful memories in an awesome and fun manner in my last days.”
On December 15th 2013, Arashi held the “ARASHI Live Tour 2013, LOVE” at Tokyo Dome. Ichito vividly remembers what happened that day. At that time, Ichito was 9 years old and in 3rd grade. His mother was hospitalized, but attended the concert from the hospital. “I didn’t know it back then, but her condition was apparently rather severe, so she begged her doctor to let her go to the concert.”
Ichito recalls his mother bringing him to the concert with great persuasion. “As it stated in the letter, I wasn’t in the mood to go. To me back then, it was really embarrassing for a guy in elementary school to like Johnny’s.”
His mother’s physical condition should have been pretty severe. However, when the concert started, Ichito couldn’t believe his eyes.
“The moment Arashi-san appeared, my mother cried, smiling from ear to ear. I had never seen her so happy. I was so touched, to think that Arashi-san would have the power to make my mother so happy, and that they envelop so many people in smiles and joy.
Ichito looked up to Arashi then.
During the concert, Ichito leaned forward slightly while his mother, Hikari, would sit at times and both of them kept waving their penlights.
Ten days after the concert, his mother Hikari passed away on December 25th.
The second half of the letter is filled with Hikari’s feelings for her son.
“My son is a crybaby, and would often come back home in tears. I fear that after I pass away, my son would keep on crying and not be able to get back on his feet.
I want my son to smile always. Even if we’re not related by blood, I want him to live my portion of my life too. So please help my son when he’s disheartened, when he’s crying. Please, I ask of you.
The fan letter then turned into cheers for Ichito.
Hikari sent her favorite lyrics to Ichito.
“It’s fine, even if you’re a little flower. Don’t give up” (from Arashi’s “Runaway Train”, Arashic album)
“Be yourself, don’t stop smiling and please treasure your life and live on with your father and Arashi-san. Even if we’re not connected by blood, I am your mother. Please be proud of the days we spent together.”
She ended her letter with words of gratitude.
“Arashi-san, I’ll always be supporting you from heaven. Thank you for saving me. Thank you for connecting me with my son.”
Connecting me with my mother
When Hikari passed away, Ichito did not feel that it was real and was stuck in a daze.
For Ichito who was stuck in a darkness he couldn’t seem to get out of, his father passed him a voice recording that was left by his mother.
“No matter how painful or tough it might get, Arashi-san will definitely come to your rescue. If you’re feeling distressed when you remember me, go to my room and listen to Arashi-san’s music.”
From then on, Arashi’s music became a pillar of support when Ichito was going through a tough time.
During the last concert they attended together, both Ichito and his mother wept at the song, “Ai Wo Utaou”. It felt like his mother was always there with him.
“My Girl”, “Yozora E No Tegami”… As the songs resonated within his heart, he could sense his mother’s presence.
“Arashi is a ray of light for me,” says Ichito. “When my mother died, they brought me out of the darkness. They made my mother happy and saved her from the darkness too. I am so thankful to them for allowing me to create irreplaceable memories with my mother and connecting me with her.”
Ichito also wrote of his feelings for his mother. “After the day we went for the concert together, I’ve been supporting Arashi-san, and also doing my mother’s part to cheer them on too. I will never forget the days I’ve spent with my mom. Thank you for leaving this letter for me.”
Ichito thought of sending the fan letter to the agency, but it also contained a message to Ichito, so he wasn’t able to take the step to send it. “I wanted to keep it with me.”
That being said, Ichito discussed with his father and said, “I don’t want to keep my mother’s feelings solely to myself.” So he decided to post the letter on Twitter in order to share his mother’s love and gratitude to Arashi with other fans.
“My mother’s letters reached many others, way beyond what I had expected. I am so happy and thankful right now.”
His mother wrote the letter for Arashi’s 21st year, and not their 20th. When the article’s author asked Ichito’s father about Hikari’s intention, he replied, “The 21st year represents a fresh start. We felt that they would walk their path, step by step, from now on.” Since Ichito was also entering his first year of high school, Hikari decided to write this letter in Arashi’s 21st year.
Miraculously, Arashi announced that they would be going on hiatus at the end of 2020, after they had celebrated their 21st anniversary.
“It might be disrespectful of me to speak of my hopes for Arashi-san, but I hope that the 5 of them, no matter what form it may take, will go on smiling.” says Ichito.
“And one day, I hope to see these 5 men smile again. Precisely because they’ve helped me so much, what I can do now is to create a place where they can go on hiatus peacefully, and also return to us in peace.”
In our article, whenever we mentioned the word “son” in Hikari’s letter, there was a space which was covered by a heart shaped stamp.
When Hikari adopted Ichito from the foster home, she apparently changed Ichito’s name. His old name was used by his biological parents when he was being abused.
“I hope he forgets about his past and starts a new life in this family,” Hikari resolved as she changed her son’s name.
However, she couldn’t decide which name she should write in her fan letter, so she left it blank right up till the last minute, and forgot to fill it in. “I could laugh at this, it’s so typical of my mom,” says Ichito. The 4 letter-writing papers have since become his treasure.
Ichito has a dream. “I want to reduce the number of children in foster homes, like my mom and myself. I want to help rescue the children at foster homes, and make them smile. It would be great if I could share with them the wonders and warmth of a family, just like Arashi-san who saved me.”
Click HERE to read Jun's reply to Ichito's story.
Source: withnews
“Dear Arashi-san,
From, my mother on December 15th, 2013”
On the morning of September 15th, as popular idol group Arashi welcomed their 21st anniversary, Ichito-san, who had just started his first year in high school, received a letter from his father. The sender was Ichito’s mother, who had passed away 7 years ago. It was a fan letter that his mother had written before she died. It got a huge response when Ichito published the letter on Twitter. I sat down with Ichito, who said how meaningful the letter was to him.
“Your mother was way too cool”
The tweet that generated the commotion contained 4 pieces of letter-writing paper. Ichito wrote the following comment as he posted the photos:
“To Arashi-san on September 15th, 2020; From my mother on December 15th, 2013. It made me cry since this morning. To have written a letter to Arashi-san 7 years later, she had so much life in her! (laughs)”
Many replies to the tweet stated “I wept”, “Your mother is so cool”, “It really warmed my heart,” and the tweet garnered over 13,000 likes.
When I asked Ichito if he could tell his story, he shared it with me through our correspondence. The letter was not only a fan letter, but it also contained a huge secret about Ichito and his mother, Hikari.
“By the time you read this letter, I would have…”
"To Arashi-san on September 15th, 2020:
Congratulations on your 21st year. By the time you read this letter, I suppose I would no longer be on this earth. Why, I can’t help but come up with such conventional openings. (laughs)
I wanted to convey my thanks and feelings to Arashi-san, so I have penned down my thoughts in this manner.”
On the morning of September 15th, when Ichito woke up, his father passed him this letter.
The letter was dated December 15th, 2013. Ichito’s mother, Hikari, was 31, and her cancer had relapsed then.
Ichito said, “My mother had written letters to me while she was still alive, and I would receive those letters on my birthday. Every year, I looked forward to her letters. However, I couldn’t believe that she would give me a letter on Arashi’s anniversary, so I was reeling from the shock.”
Hikari’s letter continued like this:
“When I was young, I was brought up in a foster home. I was all by myself and it was so painful, so lonely, and I could see nothing but darkness before me.”
To help her to become independent, a teacher at the foster home bought Arashi’s “Kansha Kangeki Ame Arashi” for Hikari before she left the home.
“Smile again, we’re born crying into the world, but we’re probably strong in a pinch”
When Hikari heard these lyrics, her tears wouldn’t stop.
“Even though I was abused as a child, and brought up in a foster home, everyone is born crying into this world. It made me realize that it was up to me to become strong and live on.
If I had my own children one day, I would pour all my love on them, create a family that would never stop smiling, be strong and live on, and when they grow older we would support Arashi-san together."
However, a disease would soon plague the dream-filled Hikari. In 2004, she had to remove her uterus, and give up on becoming pregnant.
The letter contained a truth which Ichito was learning for the first time.
“I wanted to love a child who had the same feelings as well. I wanted to teach them about how wonderful it is to have a family. With that in mind, I adopted my son from a foster home. However, I have yet to reveal the truth. I think he would know it, now that he has read this letter.”
When Hikari welcomed Ichito into the family, Ichito was still 3 years old.
As he read the letter, Ichito connected this to his childhood memories. “My suspicions turned into conviction,” he said, though he was not surprised.
“When I was young, I vaguely remember being chased onto the veranda, and many adults entering my home. (Now that I think about this, those were probably the people who rescued me.) My mother and father were kind people, so they couldn’t have done those things, so I somehow experienced that somewhere else,” says Ichito.
Having learnt that his parents were not his biological parents, Ichito continues, “Even if we’re not related by blood, it doesn’t change the days that the three of us have spent together, so I can fully accept this.”
The last and best memory
When she wrote the letter on December 15th, 2013, it was an important day for her.
“Today, I brought my son to your concert, “LOVE”, for the first time.
Before we went, he said, “I’m embarrassed, Mom, can’t you go on your own?” However, after we returned home, he was so excited as he told me, “Mom, let’s go again! It’s the first time I’ve seen guys that are so cool! It’s a promise! (laughs)
I have nothing but gratitude towards Arashi-san, who allowed me to create such wonderful memories in an awesome and fun manner in my last days.”
On December 15th 2013, Arashi held the “ARASHI Live Tour 2013, LOVE” at Tokyo Dome. Ichito vividly remembers what happened that day. At that time, Ichito was 9 years old and in 3rd grade. His mother was hospitalized, but attended the concert from the hospital. “I didn’t know it back then, but her condition was apparently rather severe, so she begged her doctor to let her go to the concert.”
Ichito recalls his mother bringing him to the concert with great persuasion. “As it stated in the letter, I wasn’t in the mood to go. To me back then, it was really embarrassing for a guy in elementary school to like Johnny’s.”
His mother’s physical condition should have been pretty severe. However, when the concert started, Ichito couldn’t believe his eyes.
“The moment Arashi-san appeared, my mother cried, smiling from ear to ear. I had never seen her so happy. I was so touched, to think that Arashi-san would have the power to make my mother so happy, and that they envelop so many people in smiles and joy.
Ichito looked up to Arashi then.
During the concert, Ichito leaned forward slightly while his mother, Hikari, would sit at times and both of them kept waving their penlights.
Ten days after the concert, his mother Hikari passed away on December 25th.
The second half of the letter is filled with Hikari’s feelings for her son.
“My son is a crybaby, and would often come back home in tears. I fear that after I pass away, my son would keep on crying and not be able to get back on his feet.
I want my son to smile always. Even if we’re not related by blood, I want him to live my portion of my life too. So please help my son when he’s disheartened, when he’s crying. Please, I ask of you.
The fan letter then turned into cheers for Ichito.
Hikari sent her favorite lyrics to Ichito.
“It’s fine, even if you’re a little flower. Don’t give up” (from Arashi’s “Runaway Train”, Arashic album)
“Be yourself, don’t stop smiling and please treasure your life and live on with your father and Arashi-san. Even if we’re not connected by blood, I am your mother. Please be proud of the days we spent together.”
She ended her letter with words of gratitude.
“Arashi-san, I’ll always be supporting you from heaven. Thank you for saving me. Thank you for connecting me with my son.”
Connecting me with my mother
When Hikari passed away, Ichito did not feel that it was real and was stuck in a daze.
For Ichito who was stuck in a darkness he couldn’t seem to get out of, his father passed him a voice recording that was left by his mother.
“No matter how painful or tough it might get, Arashi-san will definitely come to your rescue. If you’re feeling distressed when you remember me, go to my room and listen to Arashi-san’s music.”
From then on, Arashi’s music became a pillar of support when Ichito was going through a tough time.
During the last concert they attended together, both Ichito and his mother wept at the song, “Ai Wo Utaou”. It felt like his mother was always there with him.
“My Girl”, “Yozora E No Tegami”… As the songs resonated within his heart, he could sense his mother’s presence.
“Arashi is a ray of light for me,” says Ichito. “When my mother died, they brought me out of the darkness. They made my mother happy and saved her from the darkness too. I am so thankful to them for allowing me to create irreplaceable memories with my mother and connecting me with her.”
Ichito also wrote of his feelings for his mother. “After the day we went for the concert together, I’ve been supporting Arashi-san, and also doing my mother’s part to cheer them on too. I will never forget the days I’ve spent with my mom. Thank you for leaving this letter for me.”
Ichito thought of sending the fan letter to the agency, but it also contained a message to Ichito, so he wasn’t able to take the step to send it. “I wanted to keep it with me.”
That being said, Ichito discussed with his father and said, “I don’t want to keep my mother’s feelings solely to myself.” So he decided to post the letter on Twitter in order to share his mother’s love and gratitude to Arashi with other fans.
“My mother’s letters reached many others, way beyond what I had expected. I am so happy and thankful right now.”
His mother wrote the letter for Arashi’s 21st year, and not their 20th. When the article’s author asked Ichito’s father about Hikari’s intention, he replied, “The 21st year represents a fresh start. We felt that they would walk their path, step by step, from now on.” Since Ichito was also entering his first year of high school, Hikari decided to write this letter in Arashi’s 21st year.
Miraculously, Arashi announced that they would be going on hiatus at the end of 2020, after they had celebrated their 21st anniversary.
“It might be disrespectful of me to speak of my hopes for Arashi-san, but I hope that the 5 of them, no matter what form it may take, will go on smiling.” says Ichito.
“And one day, I hope to see these 5 men smile again. Precisely because they’ve helped me so much, what I can do now is to create a place where they can go on hiatus peacefully, and also return to us in peace.”
In our article, whenever we mentioned the word “son” in Hikari’s letter, there was a space which was covered by a heart shaped stamp.
When Hikari adopted Ichito from the foster home, she apparently changed Ichito’s name. His old name was used by his biological parents when he was being abused.
“I hope he forgets about his past and starts a new life in this family,” Hikari resolved as she changed her son’s name.
However, she couldn’t decide which name she should write in her fan letter, so she left it blank right up till the last minute, and forgot to fill it in. “I could laugh at this, it’s so typical of my mom,” says Ichito. The 4 letter-writing papers have since become his treasure.
Ichito has a dream. “I want to reduce the number of children in foster homes, like my mom and myself. I want to help rescue the children at foster homes, and make them smile. It would be great if I could share with them the wonders and warmth of a family, just like Arashi-san who saved me.”
Click HERE to read Jun's reply to Ichito's story.
Source: withnews