On July 16, 2007, a magnitude 6.6 earthquake struck offshore from the Niigata prefecture of Japan. There were significant injuries and loss of life, as well as extensive damage throughout the region. Gackt had strong ties with the region through his portrayal of Uesugi Kenshin in the NHK Taiga drama “Fuurin Kazan”, and was scheduled to appear at the 82nd Kenshin Festival in Joetsu City, Niigata, on August 25-26. On August 27, 2007 the Dears site announced a charity project called “Save Our Dears” to assist the victims of the earthquake.

The charity project involved the sale of special goods, with the proceeds going to assist the victims. The following goods were sold in the Save Our Dears project:

A pink, heart-shaped crystal keyholder with a metal chain and the letter G attached to one side. The crystal is personalized, with the wording “Save Our Dears, Gackt & ___”, where you can put in your own (or someone else’s) name in the blank space. A message from Gackt was also included in the packaging for the keyholder. The keyholder was 10,000 yen.

A brown crystal bead bracelet that Gackt wore in Fuurin Kazan (and similar in style to the onyx bracelet). It has one larger bead carved with a choice between two kanjis: 龍 (ryu) or 毘 (bi). The bracelet was 10,000 yen.

In addition to the charity goods, there is also the “Dears Card UPty” and “Save Our Dears Card UPty” credit cards. You pay an annual fee of 1,500 yen for the credit card, and 1,000 yen of that goes to the Save Our Dears charity.

Details regarding the Save Our Dears campaign is found at this website: http://gackt.com/assets/files/japanese/html/dears_kikin/

"Dears" is what we call Gackt's fanclub.
There were also members of Dears who were hit by the 2007 Niigata earthquake.
From one human being to another,
if we can extend a helping hand, no matter how small it is...
It was from these thoughts that the "Save Our Dears" fund-raising campaign was created.
Profits from this campaign will be used in charity programs throughout Asia.
--As translated from Gackt.com - Dears基金

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