Immediately after his return from his tour of Southwest Asian nations, Prime Minister Yoshiro Mori and his wife, Chieko, attended a performance of the play "Yujo" (Friendship) at a theater in Shinagawa-ku, Tokyo. "Yujo" is the story of a girl with leukemia and her interaction with her classmates. The play was being performed to raise funds for the Japan Marrow Donor Foundation and encourage people to register as donors with the bone marrow bank. On August 16, when the 17-member cast had paid a courtesy visit to the Prime Minister at the Prime Minister's Official Residence, he had offered to help out in any way that he could and had promised to see the play. Addressing the audience from the stage after the performance, the Prime Minister said that he had been deeply moved by the play.