Arashi leader Satoshi Ohno (29) has asked fans to keep supporting them as the group celebrated the news that their latest album “僕の見ている風景 (Boku no Miteiru Fukei)” has sold more than one million copies according to figures released today, reports Oricon.
The album, released on August 4, has sold 8561 copies in the past week, bringing it to a total of 1007896 copies sold to date.
The group had turned up at their “JAL嵐JET” event at Haneda Airport today, ahead of the October 21st opening of the airport’s newest international terminal.
During the event, the members had thanked their fans for all of their support.
“Everyone, I hope you don’t turn away from Arashi…please, fly on our jet! We’ll be flying on it too,” Ohno said.
“When I hear our songs being played in the convenience stores, it makes me realize that a lot of people listen to us,” Masaki Aiba (27) said.
“I’m really happy,” Jun Matsumoto (27) said.
“The (album) release was in summer so everything’s been able to sink into me slowly over time,” Sho Sakurai (28) said.
Kazunari Ninomiya (27) could only say “it’s amazing…” upon hearing that Arashi’s latest single had also claimed the number one spot this week.
“It was a song made especially for my movie so I hope everyone who made the movie will listen to it,” he said.
The last Arashi album to sell more than one million copies was their best album “All the BEST! 1999 – 2009″ released in August 2009, making it two years in a row that the group has had a million-seller album. As an original album, it is the group’s first million-seller.
“僕の見ている風景 (Boku no Miteiru Fukei)” is Arashi’s ninth original album, which includes their hit singles “Troublemaker” and “Monster”, and a number of solo songs. When the album had been first released in August, more than 730,000 records were sold in the first week.
Their record streak had earned them a place in last year’s NHK 紅白歌合戦 (NHK Kouhaku Uta-gassen) show, and Matsumoto has been reported to have said the group hopes to be invited again.
“It’s not something we decide, but if we do get invited (to Kouhaku) it would make me happy,” he said.
Today, the group continued to promote their Arashi Jet, and talked about their explorations inside and outside the plane.
It started with Sakurai, who softly mouthed “Hello, Tokyo” as he tried to copy the way The Beatles spoke when they had first stepped off the plane in Tokyo back in the 1960s.
“Our faces (on the plane)…wow, Arashi look cool! This is amazing, I can’t believe it,” Aiba said.
“I sat where the flight attendants usually sit. You don’t get that sort of opportunity very often. I feel a little embarrassed,” said Ohno.
“I sat opposite him and took lots of photos,” said Ninomiya.
“I was like the father figure watching the four of them running around,” said Matsumoto.
From Momoedgewood
