The '70s idol group Candies still has a strong following, as evidenced by a large fan gathering on Friday to mark the 30th anniversary of their final concert.

Candies, composed of Ran Ito, Yoshiko Tanaka, and Miki Fujimura, debuted in 1973. They were incredibly popular, but they disbanded only a few years later, saying that they wanted to return to being ordinary girls. Their last concert was held on April 4, 1978 at the Korakuen Stadium. Ito and Tanaka later returned to show business and are currently active as actresses.

On Friday 2,000 fans, many of them members of the Candies fan club at the time of their breakup, gathered at JCB Hall, which sits on the former site of Korakuen Stadium. The fans staged a "reunion concert," showing the complete footage of the trio's 51-song final concert on three giant screens.

The event started with the death of a fan club member last year who requested Candies songs to play at his funeral procession. His friends carried out his wishes, and afterwards they formed the idea for a reunion. They eventually enlisted the help of Amuse chairman Yokichi Osato, who formerly managed Candies and produced their last concert.

Tickets were completely sold out at 10,500 yen each, with the proceeds going to the Japan Cancer Society. (The fan who died last year suffered from colon cancer.)