At the kick-off party for the “YOSHIKI FOUNDATION AMERICA” which was held last week (July 1st, local time) in Los Angeles, YOSHIKI had personally made donations to the GRAMMY FOUNDATION, St. Vincent Meals on Wheels and Make-A-Wish of America. Guests at the kick-off party include the CEO of the Grammy Foundation, Neil Portnow and Hollywood directors such as Lloyd Levin of “Watchmen” fame with Ginger Fish from Marilyn Manson taking on the duties of DJ. Former president and Chairman of Marvel Comics, Stan Lee (creator of Spider-Man, X-men, etc.), who made a guest appearance in the X JAPAN “Born To Be Free” music video which was directed by YOSHIKI, was also at hand. This promotional video, through the cooperation of Panasonic, was shot using a new prototype 3D camera in addition to regular 2D cameras.
On the day after the kick-off party for the “YOSHIKI FOUNDATION AMERICA”, YOSHIKI and Toshi flew to France (Paris), for YOSHIKI to hold a signing event at the CD shop, FNAC, located on the Champs-Élysées. There, a group of fans had lined up from the night before, and the YOSHIKI and Hello Kitty collaboration “YOSHIKITTY”, had instantly sold out.
On the next day (July 4th, local time), YOSHIKI and Toshi held an acoustic live event at the “JAPAN EXPO” which was taking place in France. Toshi performed a portion of “ENDLESS RAIN” in French, while YOSHIKI greeted people in French, making for a heartfelt moment with their fans.
Although the appearance at “JAPAN EXPO” was not originally scheduled, 8,000 fans had gathered, setting a new record for the size of an audience attending a single artist’s event at the JAPAN EXPO. YOSHIKI and Toshi of X JAPAN continued to play while the fans called out “We are X”, and many fans were seen weeping as they sang along. YOSHIKI arrived in Japan yesterday, July 7th (Wed) and Toshi today, July 8th (Thu). YOSHIKI has taken yesterday and today to work on the completion of X JAPAN’s new album, while also taking some time this morning to visit HIDE’s grave.
After this press meeting, YOSHIKI will be attending the “234th American Independence Day reception” to be held at the residence of the Ambassador of the United States, where he has been invited to attend by Susan H. Roos, wife of the U.S. Ambassador to Japan.
At the end of this month, YOSHIKI and SUGIZO will be going to Baltimore, MD in order to make an appearance at the Otaku Convention, Otakon, which will be held on July 31st, followed by a main stage appearance at Lollapalooza on August 8th for their long awaited American debut. Starting in October, an American tour consisting of more than ten locations has been scheduled. Details will be announced soon, or at Lollapalooza.