Japanese distributor and sales agent Gaga Corporation has added “ARASHI Anniversary Tour 5 x 20 Film – Record of Memories,” a concert film by the now disbanded Japanese mega-group Arashi, to its international sales line-up.
Directed by veteran hitmaker Tsutsumi Yuikihiko, who also made the group’s 2002 debut film “Pikanchi,” “Record of Memories” will have its world premiere as a gala screening at the upcoming Shanghai International Film Festival.
once a major act for the long-powerful Johnny & Associates agency, the five-man group Arashi debuted in 1999 and racked up a long list of hit singles, albums and DVDs, while successfully extending their activities into TV and films, before suspending activities indefinitely in December 2020.
The group was also popular across Asia, embarking on a 2006 Asian concert tour with sell-out dates in Thailand, Taiwan and South Korea. In December 2019, Arashi was named goodwill ambassador to China, a post they held through 2020, while promoting sports and cultural exchanges in the lead-up to this year’s Tokyo Olympics.
One member, Ninomiya Kazunari, starred in the 2006 Clint Eastwood WWII drama “Letters from Iwo Jima.” He was also won best actor honors from the Japan Academy for his starring turn in the 2015 Yamada Yoji-directed WWII drama “Nagasaki: Memories of My Son.”
The new film captures the group in one of its last concerts on its 2018-2019 “5×20” anniversary tour. It is also the first concert film from Johnny & Associates, which long kept a tight lid on media and fan exposure by its acts after its founding by the U.S.-born Johnny Kitagawa in 1962.
