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Yoko Kanno Writes Song to Mark March 11 Quake Anniversary

The Japanese public broadcaster disaster. Kanno and Iwai are contributing their earnings from the song to earthquake relief efforts.

The "Hana wa Saku" (Flowers Are Blooming) song's instrumental recording is complete, and vocals are now being recorded. 33 singers, celebrities, and sports figures who hail from Miyagi, Iwate and Fukushima Prefectures — the prefectures hardest hit by the diasters — are contributing to the vocals. Kanno, as well as Iwai, are from Miyagi Prefecture, and their hometowns were affected by the disaster.

The one-year anniversary will occur on March 11. NHK will air a "Shinsai Kara Ichi-nen 'Ashita e' Concert" (One Year Since The Disaster: "To the Future" Concert) on March 10 on its General channel (from 7:30 p.m. to 8:45 p.m.) and its Masahiro Nakai will host.

Kanno is best known for her posted a tribute song, entitled "Kimi de Ite Buji de Ite" (embedded below), to the victims of the disaster only a few days after it occurred.

Iwai is best known for directing such films as All About Lily Chou-Chou, Hana and Alice, and PicNic, as well as acting in Hideaki Anno's 2000 live action film Shiki-Jitsu. He is now finishing his first English language feature film, Vampire.

Currently, the following singers have been announced:

Iwate Prefecture: Yamakawa

Miyagi Prefecture: Mimori Yusa

Tomio Umezawa, Cha Kato, Yuki Kadokura, B-saku Sato, Toshiyuki Nishida, Naoyuki Harada, Takeshi Honda