Indonesian fans of Arashi were pleasantly shocked upon finding out that the J-pop idol group will visit Jakarta in less than a week — though not for a concert. Yet.
In a live stream on their official Youtube channel yesterday, the 20-year-old group announced an upcoming tour to several major Asian cities, including Jakarta.
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“Next week, we will come to Bangkok, Taipei, Jakarta, and Singapore. We can’t wait to meet you all,” member Sakurai Sho said in the live stream yesterday.
The group — which is made up of Satoshi Ohno, Sho Sakurai, Masaki Aiba, Kazunari Ninomiya, and Jun Matsumoto — will arrive in Jakarta from Tokyo on Nov. 9, before they jet off to Singapore the next day. Arashi will hold a press conference in each city to commemorate their 20th anniversary as part of a tour titled Jet Storm, but fans are speculating that they will use the opportunity to announce concerts in those cities.
Arashi fans took to social media to express their surprise at the announcement.
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“I never planned/attempted to meet Arashi because Johnny Entertainment’s artists are simply unreachable from outside Japan. Then they suddenly visit Jakarta”
In another surprise move, Arashi has finally arrived on social media through Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, Tik Tok, and Weibo after the group also recently launched its Youtube and Spotify channels. Their talent agency, major J-pop player Johnny & Associates, has been known for exercising strict control over information on their talents including banning them from using social media.
They also released a new single titled Turning Up yesterday on Youtube and Spotify, as well as other digital streaming platforms such as Amazon Prime Music and Apple Music.
Arashi, meaning “storm” in Japanese, debuted in 1999 through an eponymous hit single. They were initially signed to label Pony Canyon before moving to J Storm, Johnny’s associate label, in 2001. In 2007, the group gained commercial success and wider recognition through single Love So Sweet, which was used as the opening theme song for hit J-drama series Hana Yori Dango 2 — with Jun Matsumoto playing the protagonist. The group has since become one of the best-selling groups in Asia.
As of 2019, Arashi has released 16 studio albums, five compilation albums, and more than 50 singles, among others. In January of this year, the quintet announced their hiatus due in late 2020 after member Satoshi Ohno expressed his need to take a break from entertainment industry.
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