Arashi on Bullying - News Zero 2006.12.11

Everybody remember Kazoku Game and its shocking depiction of the malicious extents to which young teenagers (I'm talking like middle schoolers) can go to inflict pain and humiliation upon their peers? Perhaps the scenes in the drama were representative of the more extreme and violent forms of bullying, but there is no doubt that even if the bullying that occurs in most schools is not half as dramatic as Kazoku Game, it still leaves a powerful and lasting psychological wound on its victims, subjecting them to the torment of low self-esteem, social ostracization, depression, and in worst cases, suicidal tendencies.

Sho and Nino reading thank you letters from victims of bullying.

On the 2006.12.11 episode of News Zero, of which our beloved Sakurai Sho is a newscaster for, the program talked about how they had received lots of letters from victims of bullying on their homepage (I think they were doing some sort of special discussion about this topic at the time). Many of these letters were addressed to Arashi and talked about how Arashi's songs had given the writers strength to face life. One girl who was so afraid of her bullies that she developed a fear of going to school said that the lyrics "Dareka ga dareka wo sasaete ikite irun da" from Arashi's song Kansha Kangeki Ame Arashi really gave her the courage to step into her classroom again. Other letters which were handed out personally to the five Arashi members spoke of how Arashi's music and their example encouraged victims of bullying to face their tormentors and some even said that Arashi saved them from suicide.