On April 17th, the four members of former Hello! Project idol group, Melon Kinenbi, reunited for the first time since breaking up in order to raise funds to donate to victims of the recent disasters.

Murata Megumi (30), who grew up in the Wakabayashi district of Sendai, mobilized other ex-members, �Saito Hitomi (29), Otani Masae (29) and�Shibata Ayumi (27), and approximately 1200 fans to help collect monetary aid for the devastated prefectures of Iwate, Miyagi, Fukushima and Ibaraki. Murata expressed earnestly, "we want to combine the powers of individuals, and send strength to the affected areas. We hope for as speedy a recovery as possible".

Source: Nikkan Sports