On June 4, Johnny & Associate's charity project "Marching J" formally declared that they will be providing financial support to borrow pandas from China to bring smiles to the people of Sendai.

The label proposed at the end of last year that they would aid the invitation of pandas to Sendai. Marching J's board chairman Sato Shunichi personally delivered a document stating that Marching J would be providing the funds to pay for a panda habitat and other expenses to mayor Okuyama Emiko.

He stated, "Next year we'll be building a home for the pandas... we'd like to make the child disaster victims smile, and to grant their dreams and wishes."

According to Marching J, in addition to paying for the pandas' habitat, they will also take the responsibility of paying for the panda rental fee, their transport costs, and their feed costs. The sum total is estimated to be approximately one hundred million yen (approximately $1,280,000 USD).

Source: Sanspo