On March 18th, singer-songwriter Fukuyama Masaharu held a special live at Sumiyoshi Junior High School in Ishinomaki, Miyagi.

Sumiyoshi Junior High School was once a safe shelter for 2,000 people after the Tohoku Earthquake. This event was held out of Fukuyama's request, and was broadcast live through the nationwide radio station FM 52.

In April of last year, Fukuyama called for assistance to listeners through a 24-hour charity radio program. He also asked victims, "What do you need right now?", and received many messages from listeners across Japan.

Among them, there was one particular message from a teacher of Sumiyoshi Junior High School that touched Fukuyama. It read, "I want the cleaning utensils that were washed away by the tsunami, the cassette tapes for English listening class, and trays for school lunches." In response, the staff delivered cleaning equipment to the school during the program.

Later in June, Fukuyama visited the school himself with cassette tapes and lunch trays.�To thank the singer for his kindness, the students gifted a handwritten banner for his year-end live.

It's been about 20 years since Fukuyama has held a live at a school gymnasium. For this event, he invited 326 students, their guardians, and radio listeners nationwide, for a total of 1,000 people.

Fukuyama called out to the students, "I think it's important to continue running this relay of life," and encouraged them by singing 10 songs, including "Ikiteru Ikiteku" and "Kazoku ni Narou yo".

Source & Image: Oricon