Big Bang to shorten promotional tour in Japan

Korean boy band Big Bang [YG Entertainment]

Korean boy band Big Bang have shortened the period of their upcoming promotional tour in Japan, according to their agency YG Entertainment Wednesday.

"The boys had originally planned to tour Japan for two months but have shortened the time span to two weeks," a PR official from YG told 10Asia over the phone. "They will follow the original schedule with shows in Osaka on May 10 and 11, Chiba on May 13 till 15 and Nagoya on May 17 and 18."

“However, the group and the agency have decided to cancel the shows in Tokyo and Yokohama for the safety of the members because those cities have experienced aftershocks even after the earthquake and tsunami that hit the country on March 11.”

She further explained that Big Bang's second Japanese full-length album『BIGBANG 2』will be released on May 11, while the boys will wrap-up the promotional activities for their special edition album in Korea in early May and leave for the country soon after. "We can't reveal the date of when the boys will be leaving for Japan yet," the official remarked.

Composed of members G-Dragon, T.O.P, Seungri, Taeyang and Daesung, Big Bang has released several albums and hit songs such as "Lies" and "Haru Haru" since their debut in the K-pop scene in 2006.

The group then crossed over into the Japanese music market in June 2009 with their debut single "My Heaven" which reached No. 3 on the prestigious Oricon daily singles chart and they toured three cities in the country which attracted a total of 60,000 fans.

The quintet have released other singles in Japan such as "Tell Me Goodbye" and "Beautiful Hangover" and performed on the main stage at the Summer Sonic Festival August last year.

Currently promoting a special edition album in Korea, the boys made their return to the local music scene for the first time in over two years with their fourth mini-album which topped various online and offline charts and scored wins on televised music programs.

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Reporter : Lucia Hong luciahong@
Editor : Jessica Kim jesskim@