SHANGHAI--As one of Japanese's hottest female idol groups, AKB48 thanked an appreciative young Chinese audience in its own special way.
Staff Writer
Staff Writer
SHANGHAI--As one of Japanese's hottest female idol groups, AKB48 thanked an appreciative young Chinese audience in its own special way.
Sixteen of the AKB48 lovelies gave a free concert in Shanghai on Sept. 24, their first performance in the city, to show their gratitude for Chinese support for Japan following the March 11 Great East Japan Earthquake.
"Japan is beginning to walk forward step by step," an AKB48 member told the audience.
The group sang more than 10 songs in front of about 1,000 young people. Outside the concert hall, on the Shanghai International Studies University campus in a Shanghai suburb, the area was packed with young people who were unable to obtain a ticket.
The concert was held as part of cultural exchange events between Japan and China during the three-day Shanghai Japan Week.
After the March 11 disaster, Chinese companies brought donations to the Consulate-General of Japan in Shanghai, and many Chinese elementary students also donated their allowances for disaster relief. Those contributions totaled about 340 million yen ($4.43 million).
For the AKB48 concert, several hundred tickets were offered to the general public, while other tickets were reserved for people affiliated with the university or Japanese companies that had made contributions to Shanghai Japan Week events.