Behind Masaharu Fukuyama’s 310,000-Person Free Concert: The Balloon Trouble in Nagasaki

More than 310,000 people went wild.

On October 13, singer and actor Masaharu Fukuyama (55) held his first free live concert, “Great Freedom,” at the Nagasaki Stadium City complex in Nagasaki Prefecture, which was set to open the following day.

The facility, led by “Japanet Holdings” (based in Sasebo City, Nagasaki), a major online retailer that owns Japanet Takata, had Fukuyama, a native of Nagasaki, serving as the creative producer. 25,000 fans were selected from 530,000 applicants to attend the event. Fukuyama proposed making it a free live concert, aiming to create an exciting experience that would be remembered and talked about for decades to come.

“Fukuyama kicked off the concert with his hit song ‘HELLO,’ greeting the audience with ‘I’m back in Nagasaki! Welcome to Stadium City!’ As he spoke, colorful balloons were released from multiple spots around the venue, creating a dramatic start to the live performance. Fukuyama sang 22 songs, including a new track (title still undecided) that he had written for this occasion. The concert lasted for about three hours and ended with a stunning display of 700 fireworks, marking the conclusion of this historic live performance. Through live viewing and streaming, the performance reached over 310,000 people, including the audience at the venue.

Although the concert was free, it brought significant economic benefits to Nagasaki City. Fukuyama has now firmly established a base in his hometown, so future tours may likely include performances at the facility. Next year marks the 35th anniversary of his debut as a singer, so it’s possible that there will be a concert at Nagasaki Stadium City” (Music industry insider).

While Fukuyama successfully pulled off this major event, it was later revealed that an incident occurred backstage the following day.

The “Balloon Trouble” That Never Came to the Public’s Attention

According to an article published on October 14 by the local media outlet TV Nagasaki’s web edition, it was revealed that on the day of the concert, the Nagasaki Prefectural Police arrested a 45-year-old man, whose address was unknown and who claimed to be a delivery worker. The man was suspected of making threatening phone calls in August to two operators at the concert’s general inquiry call center, telling them, “I’ll kill you” and “I’ll kill your family members.” Police officers who were on patrol around the concert venue noticed a person who resembled the suspect and approached him, leading to the arrest. The suspect has denied the charges, claiming he did not make any threatening statements.

While this unexpected incident came to light, there was another issue during the concert that did not become public.

“Regarding the images and footage of the concert, the organizers had stipulated that only official images and footage provided by them could be used by the media. During the first song, ‘HELLO,’ when colorful balloons soared into the air, the scene was shared widely on social media, including X (formerly Twitter). However, it was reported that the organizers had issued a directive prohibiting the use of images or footage of the balloon release, as well as any official materials that featured it.

According to a staff member, the reason behind this restriction was that the area around the venue was near the JR Nagasaki Main Line tracks, and releasing the balloons could potentially interfere with train operations. The organizers failed to obtain the necessary permission from JR Kyushu for the balloon release. As a result, most media outlets, with the exception of a few local ones, did not cover the balloon scene, and no footage or images were released” (local media insider).

We spoke to the organizer of the live concert.

We asked the event organizers, Japanet Holdings, for clarification on the matter.

“It is not a legal violation to release balloons, and there is no need to apply to JR. However, in the past, we received feedback during a different event that releasing balloons could potentially interfere with safe train operations. Unfortunately, this concern was not communicated to those planning the current performance.

After the concert, we immediately confirmed with JR and the surrounding areas that no issues arose with train operations, and we issued apologies accordingly. Moving forward, we have instructed internal departments and local authorities to coordinate closely to prevent any recurrence.”

In the end, despite the successful free live event, which may one day be remembered as a “legendary live,” various incidents occurred behind the scenes.