[TRANS] *RUMOUR* Arashi’s 1-Night Only Reunion At Tokyo Olympics

[karened]

Also on Twitter here: https://twitter.com/arashickarened/status/1347376308100108289?s=20

I don’t want to speculate why OSA were at NHK building (there could be tens of reasons), but the fact that the ‘successor’ special navigator has not been appointed even until now (and we know that advance planning is a thing in Japan, especially for something as huge as the Olympics), gives me hope that MAYBE it’s because they are still trying to see if Arashi can continue this role.

Also, no offence to other Japanese artistes (and only Japanese artistes because it defies logic if a non-Japanese artiste is appointed the special navigator for the Tokyo Olympics), but it’ll be rather stressful to take over as ‘successor’ of this role. 

My only concern is that….I feel like it’s tons of expectations heaped onto our Riida and I don’t want him to feel forced to appear under the spotlight again. 

What are your thoughts?

*disclaimer*
Friday is a tabloid so I would take this with a huge pinch of salt. Let's not get our hopes up high solely based on this rumour, and let's not go to their official accounts requesting that they continue the special navigator role.

The group entered into hiatus at a touching New Year's Eve concert. However, there is something they have yet to do as "The face of Japan".

ARASHI’S 1-NIGHT ONLY REUNION AT TOKYO OLYMPICS

At the end of 31 Dec 2020, Arashi went into hiatus, suspending group activities. At the year end NHK Kouhaku and live broadcast concert, the 5 of them touched the hearts of people across Japan, but actually there was one more thing that they have yet to do: to generate excitement for the Tokyo Olympics planned for the summer, as "The face of Japan".

"Arashi" was appointed special navigators for NHK's Tokyo Olympics broadcast. However, due to the Corona pandemic, the Tokyo Olympics was postponed to the following year. With that, Arashi would be in their hiatus already. (related personnel)

In the midst of that, it seems that there are shocking developments amongst the Olympics personnel. The plan for a "reunion" of the 5 persons just for the Olympics.

"After the postponement was decided, there were discussions held with the 5 of them to request for their appearance (T/N: as special navigators). Nothing has been concluded yet, but they are discussing and finding ways for them to attend." (the same related personnel as before)

Although that's probably something the fans would be glad about, there are some conditions for this to materialise. A media commentator said the following.

"It's necessary that Ohno Satoshi continues to be under J&A in order for the reunion to happen. If that condition is met, since they have such strong sense of responsibility, they probably wouldn't just appear as 5 on that one night for the opening ceremony. Sponsors for the Olympics and also the media will probably make many requests to Arashi, since they are attract so much attention. If we go further, we can say that the Olympics is considered a major event for the country. It wouldn't be strange if the government had made an offer to J&A.

In fact, in the middle of December last year, we witnessed a scene which supports the rumours of an Arashi reunion. Two weeks before their hiatus, the members appeared at NHK's broadcasting station in Shibuya, Tokyo. In order of appearance at the exit were Sakurai Sho, Ohno, and Aiba Masaki. Although we thought that it could be for meetings in relation to Kouhaku, we didn't see other Kouhaku performers in the vicinity. Perhaps they were asked by NHK to attend discussions regarding continuing their role as the Tokyo Olympics Special Navigators that day?

Are the TV stations anticipating this as they start to move towards the reunion? The media commentator above spoke on this.

"Arashi's TV programs such as VS Arashi (Fuji TV) and Arashi ni Shiyagare (NTV) are taken over by Aiba and Sakurai respectively. What the TV stations were aiming for by allowing the individual members to continue the TV programs was this: In the event that there is an Arashi reunion during the Olympics period, the 5 of them can make appearances on those TV programs. There is also a high probability of a reunion in 2024 as they approach their 25th anniversary. For J&A, retaining the program timeslot also meant maintaining their brand power."

This is the Arashi which had generated excitement across Japan. There is no doubt that they will also surprise the world in the future.