Other Activities
In 2004, the group was appointed to be the main personality supporters for NTV's 27th annual telethon 24-Hour Television. With the theme being "Your Dream is Everybody's Dream" (あなたの夢はみんなの夢, Anata no Yume wa Minna no Yume?), it was broadcast live for about twenty-four hours from August 21 to August 22. In 2008, Arashi was once again the main personality supporters for the telethon. The 31st annual 24-Hour Television focused on the theme of "Vow: The Most Important Promise" (誓い～一番大切な約束～, Chikai: Ichiban Taisetsu na Yakusoku?), and it was broadcast live from August 30 to August 31. The telethon raised ¥1,083,666,922 (approx. US$11,902,822.61) in donations, which is the second-highest amount of donations in 24-Hour Television history to date. In 2012, Arashi was chosen to host the annual telethon again, making it their third time being appointed as the main personality for the program.
After the 2011 Tohoku earthquake in March, Arashi considered canceling their concerts scheduled from June 24 to June 26, 2011 at Tokyo Dome. However, in April, they decided to use those three days to hold charity events instead. Part of the proceeds from a possible total audience of 225,000 were donated to charity. The release of a pocket-sized version of their book Nippon no Arashi, which originally distributed to 40,000 schools in 2010, was also announced on May 19, 2011. All of the revenue was donated to charity.
On November 4, 2011, Arashi reportedly donated approximately 300 million yen to the disaster-stricken regions in northern Japan. The group split their donations between the Iwate, Miyagi, and Fukushima prefectures, with each one receiving about 100 million yen. About 50 million yen comprises the members’ total royalties received from the sale of the pocket edition of their book Nippon no Arashi. The remaining amount comes from the publisher’s revenues on the book and from the sale of goods at their charity event at Tokyo Dome in June.
On February 22, 2012, Arashi visited the temporary houses in Shichigahama, Miyagi and spoke with victims of the disaster. They also held a mini concert for 500 people, singing 11 songs over a period of one hour and shaking hands with everyone who attended.
Read more about this topic: Arashi
Famous quotes containing the word activities:
“Juggling produces both practical and psychological benefits.... A woman’s involvement in one role can enhance her functioning in another. Being a wife can make it easier to work outside the home. Being a mother can facilitate the activities and foster the skills of the efficient wife or of the effective worker. And employment outside the home can contribute in substantial, practical ways to how one works within the home, as a spouse and as a parent.”
—Faye J. Crosby (20th century)
“The interpretation of dreams is the royal road to a knowledge of the unconscious activities of the mind.”
—Sigmund Freud (1856–1939)