<<Back Page Next Page>> Miracle of Jyoshi 12 Gakubo Japan Tour 2004 Presented by Bourbon Mr. Kazuma Toumoto Plantia Entertainment Co. CEO and General Producer Attendance of 60,000 people in Hall A On April 17th(Saturday) and 18th(Sunday), there was a concert held by “Jyoshi 12 Gakubou” in Hall A. Since the tickets were sold out upon its release, there were additional performance held on May 7th(Friday) and 8th(Saturday). The attendance marked 60,000 people solely in the International Forum. Jyoshi 12 Gakubou, one of the hottest artist in Japan now, was formed in Beijing three years ago by a music producer named Wang Shao Xing. This music group is formed by beautiful 12 women. They are elite out of elites selected from 4000 people out of Music Schools all over China. A key person, who started this Jyoshi 12 Gakubou and made them a social phenomenon in Japan, is a General Producer named Toumoto Kazuma. He states, “Last Summer, I was watching a live film which I received from China and thought, this will definitely will be a massive hit in Japan. I replied to Mr. Wang and told him I wanted to work together.” Soon after, Mr. Toumoto resigned from foreign affiliated record company, and founded a brand new company named Plantia Entertainment. “With a strong belief of wanting to develop the artists I trust, as thoroughly as possible, I dedicated myself into producing business. Jyoshi 12 Gakubou was the first artist I produced after I started my own company. However, it was not a successful start. Debut in Japan coincided with SARS,　which lead to cancellation on their TV appearances. But their one and only TV appearance gave them a chance for smash hit in Japan. A Key to a Success is from KKDD In order to sell Jyoshi 12 Gakubo in Japan, Mr. Toumoto had a strategy, which was to have them appear on TV spots and barter programs to have effective exposures. “I’ve spend 200,000,000 yen for promotion itself, so I needed at least 200,000 CD sales in order make it break even. This was a big bet for me, but this strategy was very successful. I believe success comes from KKDD: Kan(hunch), Keiken(experience), Dokyo(courage), and Kanjyo(calculation).” On the first album, in order to familiarize, “not only Chinese music, but also Japanese cover songs like “Sekai Ni Hitostsudake No Hana” and “Chijyo no Hoshi” was included. Also, the price of CD and DVD set were setup cheaper than the price of one CD. Cheaper price setting was aimed to let more people buy the CDs. This kind of strategy was not possible with the big record company.” The first album released last July recorded a “million seller” only after 57 days of release. As a Chinese artist and as instrumentalists, it was a first time record. Searching for Quality Mr. Toumoto stated as following regarding the tour. “We’ve done concerts with similar capacity before, but it was just like an auditorium. Playing in the Forum was a first time experience for the group. They were all happy to “play good music” in a large convert hall with good organized acoustic properties. Traditional instruments cannot play loud, and also it is very fragile instrument that is weak to rain, humidity, and cold temperature. So it makes it difficult to play outside or even in the dome. It is possible for the group to gather enough people in Dome to have a concert, however, listeners of Jyoshi 12 Gakubo would rather be listening to the music deeply. So we rather have 7 days of concerts in the Forum than having just one performance in Dome.” Debut in US is scheduled this coming August, hoping to be a steppingstone to the success in the world “Jyoshi 12 Gakubo has its originality. With the added value and high quality, my goal is to make them a long lasting artist. In order to achieve that goal, our challenge is to plan a project with a great content. Collaboration with Australian or Japanese artists, and playing with artists from all over the world, or either to have vocals in the group are the greatest theme for us.” Next goal for Mr. Tsukamoto is to have an orchestra using only Chinese ethnic instruments. “To challenge playing violin 1 and 2 using Chinese Erhu or putting together various Chinese ethnic instruments may be very exciting. I would like to consider playing at the Forum when that opportunity comes.“