YOSHIKI has donated 10 million yen (converted to euros we speak of € 83.000) in support of the victims and survivors of the Kyoto Animation fire which occurred on Thursday 18 July, two weeks ago.
After learning about the tragedy that befell the studio, YOSHIKI made the donation to the dedicated support fund established by Kyoto Animation through his nonprofit organisation Yoshiki Foundation America.
YOSHIKI currently resides in Los Angeles and heard about the fire when news reports reached the U.S. media. In the reaction of this news he posted his personal message to Twitter:
アメリカにいます。 今現地のニュースで京都アニメーションの火災の事を知りました。心が痛みます。
犠牲になられた方々とご遺族の方々にお悔やみとお見舞いを申し上げます。
日本のアニメ、そしてそのクリエイター１人１人が世界の宝です。
一日も早い回復をお祈りしています。#PrayForKyoani— Yoshiki (@YoshikiOfficial) July 19, 2019
“I am in the United States. I learned about the Kyoto Animation fire on the local news. My heart aches. Japanese anime, and each one of those creators, is a treasure of the world. I hope they recover as soon as possible.”
The incident affected YOSHIKI deeply due to his personal and professional connection to anime which has lasted for over two decades, and he was moved to take action as soon as he could.
“I’m always doing tours around the world,” said YOSHIKI. “No matter where I go, animation fans come to my concerts and support my global activities. I’m always grateful to them. And I always want to contribute to the development of Japan’s anime culture, which I consider one of the world’s treasures. I truly share the pain of those who lost their families. I really hope this will assist the bereaved, and also hope that the circle of support around them will expand.”
As composer, rock drummer, classically-trained pianist, and leader of the rock group X JAPAN, YOSHIKI’s artistic connection to the world of anime spans 22 years. His compositions include Forever Love, the theme song for CLAMP’s original animation movie X (1996), Scarlet Love Song, the theme song for the anime movie Tezuka Osamu’s Buddha: The Great Departure (2011), and Hero (Yoshiki Classical version), the theme song for the anime movie Saint Seiya: Legend of Sanctuary (2014). In 2018, he composed the opening theme Red Swan for the TV anime Attack on Titan Season 3.
Through his humanitarian work with Yoshiki Foundation America, YOSHIKI donated several times to support victims of the 2011 Great East Japan earthquake, the Kumamoto earthquakes, Hurrican Harvey in Texas, for the reconstruction effort after the 2018 floods in Japan and to music education in the United States. His ongoing charity work includes supporting the Japanese Red Cross, the Make A Wish Foundation, the Points of Light Foundation, the Grammy Foundation, and multiple other organisations.
It is possible to support Kyoto Animation by donating money directly to Kyoto Animation. More information can be found on the official website of Kyoto Animation. Furthermore, you can buy high-resolution digital images on the website of Kyoto Animation. To get informed about how to do that, you can follow the steps that Twitter user @zetsubouzhainu put together in a tweet. Sentai Filmworks made a GoFundMe page to collect donations, it was possible to donate till the end of the month of July. More than € 2.100.000 got donated during the campaign.
On July 18 a fire was started in the animation studio of Kyoto Animation (also known under the nickname KyoAni). At least 35 people died.
Source: Press release
