A pop band featuring four Liberal Democratic Party politicians has recorded a CD to raise funds for bone marrow donations.
The band, Gi!nz ("giinzu," which means "lawmakers"), will release its eponymously titled disc Jan. 21. The CD features eight original songs "with the feel of 1970s Japan."
The band's leader is House of Councilors lawmaker Yoshimasa Hayashi, 43, who formed Gi!nz in May 1997. The other three are Seiji Matsuyama, 45, also from the Upper House, and House of Representatives members Yasuichi Hamada, 49, and Hachiro Okonogi, 39. All are registered marrow donors.
"When I first won an election (in 1993), only about 40,000 people were registered at marrow banks," Okonogi said at the band's Christmas concert on Dec. 13 in Tokyo. "But now the number has grown to 200,000. We will continue our drive to lift the figure to 300,000."
