Arashi cheer on prefecture hit with foot-and-mouth disease

Arashi are releasing a video message only to the people living in west Japan whose lives have been turned upside down by the foot-and-mouth disease outbreak, reports Sports Hochi and Daily Sports.

As the country’s tourism navigators, the group had volunteered to release a 15-second video to air only in Miyazaki prefecture, where tourist numbers have dropped considerably since April.

The cause being that the highly contagious foot-and-mouth disease had lead to almost 300,000 cattle and livestock being destroyed, which has set back the prefecture’s premium beef industry by years.  For a while road access into and out of the prefecture had been restricted in order to keep the disease from spreading, which has influenced people to think twice about visiting the area.

In Arashi’s video, the five members cheer on the locals.

“Speaking of Miyazaki, I can think of plenty of things to see!  Great food!”  Said Masaki Aiba (27).

“No matter what, Miyazaki beef is still the best in Japan,” said Satoshi Ohno (29).

“We support you,” said Jun Matsumoto (27).

The video will be broadcast on local TV stations and at local events held in Miyazaki.