Cast of Harry Potter sends messages to tsunami victims on flag of Japan

Sorry, but IMO this is just a meaningless PR gesture to gain more exposure for the movie. If they really wanted to do something meaningful for the folks in Miyagi why didn't they have special advanced showings of the movie for them for FREE? Or why didn't they pledge to give a percentage of all the profits from the movie here in Japan to Miyagi rebuilding? Four months since the disaster and the best they could do was an auotgraphed flag -- and still charge the folks there JPY 1,800 to see the movie. Lame.

Farmboy, it is done all of the time. The Japanese troops often carried such flags into battle during WWII. I am sure it was done as an act of goodwill.

ah..more bitterness from the 'don't like Japan, but can't get paid anywhere else in the world with my skillset' brigade. Sad how Japan Today has let this happen.

....and yes, This was meant to be nothing more than goodwill, thank you for pointing that out Yuri.

Ireton said, “We offer you this in the hope that the victims of this terrible disaster find the strength and bravery to piece together their lives once again.” This is great. I read “Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows " ,but I want to see a movie too. I am looking forward to see it.

talk about squeezing the market.

why didn't they pledge to give a percentage of all the profits from the movie

Just like the rest of the monies collected so far, it would most probably go into the wrong pockets. (According to the news reports, the milliards of yen collected have yet to be distributed - and what can they buy with the money anyway ?) Necessities, such as food, paper plates, paper diapers (for both adults and babies) these are some of the things my son collected from his colleagues and friends from five different European countries, bringing over 300 kilos of goods for the victims.

i agree it was just to promote the movie. what is a written on flag gonna do? they should have been Giving MONEY & or Helping out with rebuilding stuff. HOW much money has all HP movies grossed? & they give them a Flag!? most likley polyester.

Japanese people in Tohoku can feel happier when foreign friendship is shown as well as more foreigners come back to Japan doing business, tourism, studies and volunteer works.

rainman1@ ah....more cynical generalizations

FightingViking -- fair enough. How about they build a couple of new cinemas and make them FREE admission for the next three years or so? They could even show only WB movies. I think that would do more to lift people's spirits there than some flag which 99% will never even see. IMO, a company taking in hundreds of milions yen a year here could have done something more meaningful and long-lasting than this. Japan is the world's second biggest market for movies afterall. Ask yourself a question -- How much did this "gesture" cost versus how much WB is spending to advertise/promote the movie? And then tell me you think this is nothing more than an after-thought developed because none of the stars could come here for the premiere.

ah..more bitterness from the 'don't like Japan, but can't get paid anywhere else in the world with my skillset' brigade. Sad how Japan Today has let this happen.

This was meant to be nothing more than goodwill, thank you for pointing that out Yuri

rainman1 -- Great comments -- lol. Critisizing WB is not equivalent to critisizing Japan. (But, for the record, I saw the hand-writing on the wall for Japan months ago, and am happily applying my "skillset" somewhere where I can breathe the air and eat the meat without concerns.) Let's cut through the smoke-screen here, shall we? The reality is that none of the stars of the movie were likely willing to come here for the premiere due to concerns about safety, so they came up with this lame act. And, if WB wanted to show "goodwill" why did they wait until the day before the premiere to do so? This is nothing but using the continued suffering of the folks in Miyagi to try to gain some positive PR.