Japanese boyband celebrates 20 years of its debut by giving its fans across the world what they have wanted all along: interaction with their idols.

In September 2018, Japanese news service NHK reported that police were investigating a case of missing articles about the country’s most popular boyband Arashi or its members from dozens of books and women’s magazines in Anjo City Library of Aichi prefecture.

The case unfolded when fans filed a complaint with the library after failing to find a certain article in a magazine. A total of 50 publications and 332 pages worth of Arashi-related material had vanished from the library’s archives, according to the report, each meticulously cut out or removed.

There was no follow-up reporting on the case, but it seems that what happened at Anjo City Library was not an isolated incident, and it shows what a die-hard fan may do to get a glimpse of the idols or at least to hold encyclopedic information about the group.

Sitting with the Japanese press on Nov. 3, Arashi — Masaki Aiba, Satoshi Ohno, Jun Matsumoto, Sho Sakurai and Kazunari Ninomiya — announced its year-long agenda, all well-planned seemingly to appease the fans before taking an indefinite break starting on Dec. 31, 2020.

On that day, the group’s management firm Johnny & Associates launched Arashi official Twitter, Instagram, Facebook, TikTok and Weibo accounts, besides releasing the new single “Turning Up” on various digital music platforms, along with the music video on the group’s YouTube channel.

The channel garnered a million subscribers within 27 hours of its prelaunch on Oct. 9, while Instagram followers numbered 2.3 million after three days.

The engagement power of Arashi is no laughing matter.

Now entering its 21st year of existence, the group still holds the records for most chart-topping hits, most album and single CD sales, and the record for amassing 10 million attendees in the shortest period of time for a single tour in Japan in 2015.

Although all of the accounts are being handled by the band’s managers and none of the followers’ comments elicited a personal reply from any of the group’s members, fans welcomed the content, which mainly consisted of updates on their activities as a group and videos of each of them greeting the fans.

Hello, goodbye: Indonesian fans of Japanese boyband Arashi greet their idols as they leave to the airport, while boyband member Jun Matsumoto films them.

“Feel free to follow us on SNS [social networking services] and enjoy our music on YouTube. We have prepared it all for the fans, so you would not feel lonely when we are on a hiatus,” said Jun at a media event in Jakarta on Nov. 10.

The five had been in town as part of their whirlwind Jet Storm event, visiting four Asian countries in two days to greet their fans and to announce a concert to go down next May in the newly renovated National Stadium in Tokyo — the main venue of the 2020 Tokyo Olympics and Paralympics. They also plan to hold a concert in Beijing in spring.

“I was surprised that many people recognized us although it was our first time as a group in Jakarta,” said Ohno.

“We are touched by your support that has kept us going for 20 years.”

The meet-and-greet event in Hotel Mulia in Central Jakarta went on in a familiar setting where the Arashi members and the fans who got in through a ballot system could talk without the help of the translator.

Hundreds of fans had waited outside the venue for hours, some of them bringing their children along, and sent off the Arashi entourage heading to the airport to continue their tour to Singapore, Bangkok and Taipei.

While there was no word on whether the social media accounts would also put on hiatus during their break, all five claimed they had yet to have any personal plan.

“Well, we’re still preoccupied with what we’re doing right now. Honestly, I have no idea [about the personal plan during the break], because we’ve been busy with the preparation and all,” said Jun.

He also explained that the decision to appear on any digital platform out there was partly made after the passing of Johnny Kitagawa last July at 87 from a subarachnoid hemorrhage.

Rabid followers: Fans welcome boyband Arashi in front of the Mulia Hotel, Central Jakarta, on Nov. 10.

Better known as Johnny-san, the founder of Johnny & Associates in 1962 had produced famous boybands including Arashi, Tokio and SMAP under his business slogan “Bringing happiness to the people all over the world through entertainment”.

“We would love to fulfill his dream of making our music global. It would be our way to show our gratitude.”

Arashi is currently on its 5x20 anniversary tour in Japan after its hits compilation album released in July.

The members, now in their early 30s, also hosted two variety TV shows as a group, while other members also actively appeared on TV as actors, newscaster and in commercials.

Arashi is the only Japanese-pop boyband that went beyond the day and age Korean-pop global phenomenon, although, of course, they are not up for comparison.

“We want to introduce the charm of J-pop to the world through ‘Turning Up’, and it’s not because we want to look like a K-pop boyband,” said Sho.

— Photos by JP/Donny Fernando