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- Bijomen / Charity / memorial / NFT / traffic accidents
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On October 5th, 2013, comedian, singer, and voice actor Yakkun Sakurazuka and his manager died in a tragic traffic accident on an expressway while en route to a concert. The talented performer (born Saitō Yasuo) was not only popular as a comedian in which he performed routines while dressed as a schoolgirl and carrying a bamboo sword, but he was also known as a singer and released a total of 7 albums.
But he was known internationally for launching 美女♂men (Bijomen) (2010-2016), a band whose members dressed as girls.
On the occasion of the 8th anniversary of the untimely death of Yakkun and his manager, SPIKe Co., Ltd., a music-related company mainly in the Kansai region, launched a charity campaign on October 5th, 2021. The campaign is selling special Bijomen items as NFT memorial goods with proceeds to be donated to the prevention of expressway accidents and the repair of accident areas nationwide.
The project was announced at the "Japan NFT LIVE Performance Festival 2021" held on Saturday, October 16th.
The special items include photos, music, and videos. The members of Bijomen hope that the charity drive will help retain the memory of Yakkun and Bijomen forever through one-and-only memorial goods.
Promotional video
You can get an overview of the project by watching this video, posted on Iori-dono's YouTube Channel here:
Here is a video of Iori-dono's presentation at "Japan NFT LIVE Performance Festival 2021" (you can turn on automatic translation subtitles to get the gist of it). Iori-dono is active as a singer and "crossdressing researcher."
Charity details
Each pack contains photos, music and videos:
Future plans
November 2021: Launching of a special website
December: Begin sales of first NFT items
About 美女♂men (Bijomen)
In 2010, they started their activities as a five-member band with Iori-dono (bass), Toru-ch (keyboards), Nacchi (guitar), and RUI (drums), and led by Yakkun Sakurazuka, through an audition project on the TBS music program "Music Birth.
At first, the band was called "Bijomen Vlossom," but the name was changed to "Bijomen Z" in February 2013 after RUI left the band.
Their debut song "Koi no Metamorphose" was produced by Toshihiko Takamizawa of THE ALFEE and reached No. 2 on the Recochoku ranking. In 2010, they covered SHAZNA's "Melty Love." The song was released as a Chaku-Uta (mobile phone-based audio) song on the digital content network RecoChoku, and reached No.1 on the RecoChoku Weekly Ranking.
The band's first live performance was held at the Japan Industry Pavilion at the Shanghai World Expo in China, and their first live performance in Japan was later held at Yokohama Cosmo World. In September 2013, the band participated in "Tokyo Crazy Kawaii Paris" in France, which was a great success, and they had just started touring in Japan with an eye to expanding overseas when Yakkun Sakurazuka and his manager died in a highway accident.
In April 2014, the band held a memorial concert at Akasaka BLITZ, attracting nearly 1,000 fans and supporters. After that, they held an audition for a new vocalist (Tsubasa) and resumed their activities. They continued performing live and on stage in Japan and abroad for the following two years, but disbanded after a final show on May 21st, 2016.
For updates on the project, visit the official website of SPIKe Co., Ltd.