Singapore, 12 November 2019 – ARASHI, one of Japan’s top idols, made their first appearance in Singapore today. All five members – Satoshi Ohno, Sho Sakurai, Masaki Aiba, Kazunari Ninomiya, and Jun Matsumoto – attended a press conference and fan meet session at Jewel Changi Airport this afternoon. The event was part of “JET STORM”, a promotional tour in Asia, aimed at getting closer to their fans beyond Japan.
Over 1,000 fans joined ARASHI members in Singapore at the event, where two special fan zones were added to the venue to bring fans closer to their idols. As a goodwill gesture to welcome ARASHI into Singapore, ARASHI members were presented with Merlion plushies, as well as orchid bouquets.
During the event, ARASHI expressed their gratitude to the fans from both Japan and overseas for their support over the past 20 years. Fans can look forward to more social media activities on their official accounts on five social media platforms – Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, TikTok and Weibo.
On their new music video “Turning Up”, Jun Matsumoto shared that the group had decided to make their music available on music streaming services so that fans can continue to enjoy their music whenever they want to, even after the group goes on hiatus.
Satoshi Ohno gave an update on the upcoming concerts – on 15 & 16 May 2020, a concert will be held at the new National Stadium in Tokyo. A concert in Beijing is also slated to be held in Spring 2020.
When asked on their reaction on the popularity of ARASHI’s official SNS accounts in various regions shortly after the accounts were launched, ARASHI members shared that while they were aware of the support by their overseas fans, it was a fresh new experience receiving feedback based on what they shared on social media. They have been sharing their JET STORM journey since this morning on social media and are delighted with the fan reactions received.
Since their debut in November 3, 1999 with the single “A・RA・SHI”, ARASHI has found widespread popularity, with an extensive fan base all over the world, including in Singapore. On November 3, 2019, ARASHI celebrated the 20th anniversary of their debut with a world’s first digital single “Turning Up”, which has begun streaming worldwide on music services such as Spotify and Apple Music. They have since launched official social media accounts on Twitter, Instagram, Facebook, Weibo and Tiktok.
The JET STORM tour, held on 10 and 11 November, consisted of press conferences held at Jakarta, Singapore and Bangkok, the 3 Asian cities that ARASHI has yet to visit for concerts so far. In addition, a press conference will also be held at Taipei to thank fans for 20 years of unending support.
