Mr. Children, commonly referred to by their contracted nickname "Misu-Chiru" (ミスチル), are a Japanese pop rock band formed in 1989. Consisting of Kazutoshi Sakurai, Kenichi Tahara, Keisuke Nakagawa, and Hideya Suzuki, they made their major label debut in 1992. They are one of the best selling artists in Japan and one of the most successful Japanese rock artists, having sold over 75 million records and creating the "Mis-chil Phenomenon" (ミスチル現象) in the mid-1990s in Japan. They held the record for the highest first week sales of a single in Japan for 15 years, with 1.2 million copies of their 10th single "Namonaki Uta" (名もなき詩), have 30 consecutive number 1 singles, replaced Glay as the all-male band to have the most number 1 albums on the Oricon charts, and won the Japan Record Award in 1994 for "Innocent World" and in 2004 for "Sign". As of 2012, Mr. Children has published fifteen original studio albums and 34 physical singles, along with five compilations, a live album, and fifteen home video releases.
J-pop, natively also known simply as pops, is the name for a form of popular music that entered the musical mainstream of Japan in the 1990s. Modern J-pop has its roots in traditional music of Japan, and significantly in 1960s pop and rock music. J-pop replaced kayōkyoku in the Japanese music scene.
Arashi is a Japanese boy band consisting of five members formed under the Johnny & Associates talent agency. The members are Satoshi Ohno, Sho Sakurai, Masaki Aiba, Kazunari Ninomiya, and Jun Matsumoto. Arashi officially formed on September 15, 1999, in Honolulu, Hawaii, and made their debut CD on November 3, 1999. The group was initially signed to Pony Canyon and released one studio album and six singles—beginning with their 1999 eponymous debut single before moving to the Johnny's subsidiary label J Storm in 2001, which was initially set up for their succeeding releases. While their debut single sold close to a million copies, the group took a mixture of pop and alternate/contemporary approach to its music which attracted core followers, but subsequently faced commercially slow sales.
Hitomi Takahashi is a Japanese pop rock singer from Shiogama, Miyagi. She is best known through her songs Bokutachi no Yukue and Aozora no Namida, which were theme songs to animation programs Gundam Seed Destiny and Blood+, respectively. With the former, she became the third artist in to top the Oricon charts with a debut single.
Blue Blood is the second studio album by Japanese rock band X Japan, then known as simply X. It was released on April 21, 1989, by CBS/Sony as the band's major label debut. Blue Blood sold more than 700,000 copies, reached number 6 on the Oricon chart and stayed on the chart for more than 100 weeks. The album's singles would also reach the top five on the chart. In 2007, Rolling Stone Japan ranked Blue Blood number 15 on their list of the "100 Greatest Japanese Rock Albums of All Time".
"Namida no Niji/Save Me" is the fifteenth single by Japanese recording artist Aya Ueto. It was released on May 30, 2007.
The discography for the Japanese band Mr. Children consists of 18 studio albums, 5 compilations albums and 38 singles. They are one of the best selling artists in Japan.
Atomic Heart is the fourth studio album by Japanese rock band Mr. Children, released in September 1994. The album features two successful lead singles "Cross Road" and "Innocent World".
All the Best! 1999–2009 is the third greatest hits album by Japanese pop boy band Arashi. The album was released on August 19, 2009 in Japan under their record label J Storm in two editions, a limited 3CD version and a regular 2CD version. The album debuted at number-one on the Oricon album weekly chart, selling 753,430 copies. Thirteen days after the release of All the Best! 1999–2009 the album sold over a million copies. As of September 22, 2009, All the Best! 1999–2009 had overtaken Supermarket Fantasy to claim the title of best-selling album of the year in Japan. On December 18, 2009, Oricon officially ranked All the Best! 1999–2009 as the best-selling album in Japan for 2009, with over 1.43 million copies sold.
Opera is the third official Japanese single of South Korean boy band Super Junior, released on 9 May 2012 by Avex Trax. It was originally released in Korean as part of their fifth Korean studio album, Mr. Simple on 3 August 2011. This single set a new record as the most singles sold by a Korean artist in a week.
Mr. Children 2005–2010 <macro> is a compilation album by Japanese rock band, Mr. Children, released on May 10, 2012 along with Mr. Children 2001–2005 <micro>.
"Face Down" is a song by the Japanese boy band Arashi. It was released on May 9, 2012, under the record label J Storm as the third single from their eleventh studio album Popcorn (2012). "Face Down" is the theme song of the Japanese television series Kagi no Kakatta Heya, which stars Satoshi Ohno, the member of the group. The single was released in two versions; the regular edition came with the song "Mezashita Mirai e" (目指した未来へ) as B-side and the instrumental versions of both songs, the limited edition accompanied with a DVD including the music video of "Face Down" and the B-side "Hitori Janai sa"(ひとりじゃないさ).
Generations from Exile Tribe is a seven-member Japanese dance and vocal group formed and managed by LDH. The group is part of the "Exile Tribe" collective related to Exile and is signed to the record label Rhythm Zone from the Avex Group. Generations debuted on 21 November 2012.
Japonism is the fourteenth studio album of the Japanese idol group Arashi. The album was released on October 21, 2015 under their record label J Storm in three editions: a first press/limited edition, a Yoitoko limited edition, and a regular edition. The first press edition comes with an 84-page photo lyrics booklet and bonus DVD with the music video and making-of for the album's lead track, "Kokoro no Sora". The Yoitoko limited edition comes with a 32-page lyrics booklet, and the regular edition comes with a 36-page lyrics booklet. The album sold over 820,000 copies in its first week and topped the Oricon charts for two consecutive weeks. With more than 1,000,000 copies sold, the album was certified for Million by the Recording Industry Association of Japan (RIAJ). On December 23, 2015, Oricon ranked Japonism as the best-selling album of 2015 in Japan. On February 27, 2016, Japonism was awarded Album of the Year in the 2016 Japan Gold Disc Awards.
"Orphans no Namida" is a song recorded by Japanese singer Misia. It was released on 25 November 2015 by Ariola Japan as the fifth and final single from her twelfth studio album, Love Bebop (2016). Misia wrote the lyrics and Shirō Sagisu composed, arranged and produced the track. "Orphans no Namida" serves as the first ending theme to the 2015 anime series Mobile Suit Gundam: Iron-Blooded Orphans. In commemoration of the 70th postwar broadcast, Misia performed the album version of "Orphans no Namida" at the 66th NHK Kōhaku Uta Gassen, live from the Nagasaki Peace Park.
"Ai o Sakebe" (愛を叫べ) is the 47th single by Japanese boy band Arashi. It was released on September 2, 2015 under their record label J Storm. "Ai o Sakebe" was used as the background song for the Recruit Zexy commercial. The single sold 462,550 copies in its first week and topped the weekly Oricon Singles Chart. With over 519,000 copies sold, the single was certified Double Platinum by the Recording Industry Association of Japan (RIAJ). "Ai o Sakebe" placed 12th on Oricon's 2015 yearly singles ranking.
