WIDE

Sunday, September 5, 2010, 8:48 PM

Arashi is driving me crazy.

(from arama @livejournal)
Copies of the mysterious book “Nippon No Arashi” arrived in state elementary, junior high, and senior high schools all over Japan today. According to the accompanying letter, the aims of this book are to teach children about the beauty of Japan and Japanese culture, and to encourage them to visit different parts of Japan. The letter also states that the book itself is not for sale, and that Arashi joined the project as volunteers.

In “Nippon no Arashi”, Arashi feature as tour navigators, presenting a chapter each on different areas of Japan, the people who live there, and the work that they do. For example, Sho visits a rural town in Aichi Prefecture and helps with the Japanese-style farming. There are many pictures in each chapter of Sho, Jun, Aiba, Ninomiya, and Ohno getting hands-on experience and spending time with the locals. These pictures are accompanied by lengthy articles, which are not interviews but detailed reports written by professionals who observed Arashi’s activities.

Published only two days, two copies of “Nippon no Arashi” have already been sent to each school and are destined to be put on school library shelves. Filled with pictures of mostly unknown faces, long articles dotted with words that may be difficult for even junior high students, and with a serious tone overall, it is unknown how many children will fully grasp the meaning of this book. If one thing is certain though, it’s that Arashi’s involvement will keep “Nippon no Arashi” in the hands of Japanese youngsters for years to come.

The introduction of the government-endorsed culture and tourism guide “Nippon no Arashi”, is a strong testament to the popularity of Arashi amongst Japan’s younger generations.

ARASHI TEXTBOOK!?!?!