[OWV] Fukushima Minyu Shinbun / Minyu.Net 230224

https://www.minyu-net.com/news/sinsai/shinsai12/news/FM20230224-760081.php

OWV’s Honda Kosuke-san: ”I want to convey the current Fukushima”. His first concert in Koriyama on 11th March

“I want as many people as possible to feel that ‘Fukushima is a good place’”, says Honda-san at the Kenshin Koriyama Bunka Center in Koriyama. .

On 11th March, 12 years after the Great Eastern Japan Earthquake, the four-member boy group OWV, led by Honda Kosuke-san (27) who comes from this prefecture (Fukushima) will hold their first live concert in the prefecture, in the city of Koriyama. Honda-san, who experienced the earthquake as a middle school student, says “Through this concert I want to convey the charm of the current Fukushima and I want as many people as possible to feel that ‘Fukushima is a good place’”.

In 2020 his group made their debut under Yoshimoto Kyogo. They released 7 singles and have live performances all over the country. Honda-san also widens his activities by for example appearing on variety shows on TV and in a drama.

“Having a concert on 11th March makes me half happy and half anxious.” On 11th March 2011, Honda-san was a Nakadori* third year middle school student. His graduation ceremony was over and when he went home he was shaken by the huge earthquake. The electricity broke down and thus the night was spent under candlelight. Seeing footage of the tsunami and the damage in the TV news made him feel that he “had encountered something terrible”.
TN: Nakadori is a region in the prefecture of Fukushima, the middle third of the prefecture. The city Koriyama as well as Fukushima City are located there.

The announcement of whether he was accepted into high school was postponed and the gymnasium of his high school was used as an evacuation center even after his enrolment. He also had classmates who had moved into it because they were unable to return to their homes due to the TEPCO Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Accident.

12 years have passed since then. After his graduation from highschool, he went to a vocational school in order to become a dancer and thanks to the audition he participated in, his activities as a member of OWV began. This live tour will be the first day of a tour that will visit four cities. The first live performance as a member of OWV in his old hometown coincides with a significant date. “It was a dream for me to have a concert in Fukushima. I would be happy if more people become interested in Fukushima because of me.”. In preparation for this concert, we visited the venue of the show, the Kenshin Koriyama Bunka Center. Honda-san powerfully expressed: “I want to show a lot of people that Fukushima experienced something terrible, overcame this and works hard towards recovery.”

The first show of “OWV LIVE TOUR 2023 - CASINO-“ in the prefecture will be held at the Kenshin Koriyama Bunka Center, Big Hall on 11th March. The tour also stops at the NHK Osaka Hall in the prefecture Osaka on 19th March, at the Fukushima International Conference Center in the prefecture Fukushima on 21st March and at the NHK Hall in Tokyo on 1st April. For more details please check their official homepage.