Historically, the Japanese geinokai (entertainment world) has been slow to catch on to the idea of the charity concert/release. But now Ryuichi Sakamoto, a la Bob Geldof and the Band Aid famine-relief project, has put together an impressive array of Japanese and overseas talents on a track called "Zero Landmine," which is dedicated to raising awareness about the problem posed by the huge number of antipersonnel land mines still in place all over the world. Wars end, but land mines still kill and maim, and their victims are all too often civilians.
"Zero Landmine" is actually the theme song of a whole land mine-awareness campaign launched by Sakamoto in conjunction with the TBS television network. Publicity generated by a TV special titled "Zero Landmine: The First Prayer of the 21st Century" and broadcast April 30 has helped the "Zero Landmine" CD maxi-single sell 570,000 copies. This week it moved into the No. 1 spot on the Oricon singles chart.
Not bad for a maxi-single whose opening track is an uncommercially long 18 minutes and 27 seconds. All proceeds from sales of the CD go to land mine-removal efforts coordinated by U.K.-based HALO Trust. You can also make cash donations to the campaign (for details, see www.tbs.co.jp/zero/).