Singer and famed J-pop composer Tetsuro Oda had a terrible birthday five years ago as he shared his own personal anniversary with that of the Great East Japan Earthquake and tsunami--March 11.
Amid the chaos, a birthday event planned for March 12, 2011, for his fan club members in Tokyo was postponed, and his volunteering and supporting of those directly affected by the natural disaster and subsequent nuclear accident began.
“I thought about what I can do as a person, or as a musician, for the people afflicted by the disaster, rather than somebody who happened to be born on March 11,” said Oda, whose compositions have sold millions and include the closing title song "Sekai ga owaru madewa" for the anime "Slam Dunk."
While Oda, 58, feels nothing special about the fact the catastrophe happened on his birthday, he immediately joined a voluntary relief effort and made many trips between Tokyo and the affected areas, delivering food and gasoline to evacuation centers.
A month after the March 11 disasters, he held a concert at an elementary school in Iwaki, Fukushima Prefecture. A podium in the schoolyard, which is usually used by the school principal to address students at assemblies, became a makeshift stage for Oda.
The audience was wowed when he played “Odoru ponpokorin,” his million-selling hit that closed “Chibi Maruko-chan,” a popular long-running anime series.
“Although people were in the midst of daily hardship, I wanted them to forget bad things even only for a moment. That was my intention,” he said.
In 2013, he released “Sono yumega bokuwo tsuyokusuru,” or “That dream will make me strong,” to support the rebuilding effort. The song's music was composed by Oda and the lyrics penned by Toshihiko Shinzawa.
The children in disaster-affected areas were in his mind when he wrote the slow-tempo song, and he hoped that they would sing it at schools.
“The song is a kind of prayer,” said Oda. “It is a vague prayer for the children to become happier than they are now in one way or another. I want them to keep dreaming and have a brighter future.”
Oda said he would be very happy if the song strengthened someone’s heart and added that he would continue supporting the disaster-affected people through his music.