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.
L'Arc-en-Ciel is a Japanese rock band, founded in Osaka in 1991. With a reported 40 million records sold, they were the first Japanese act to headline at Madison Square Garden. In 2003, they were ranked 58 on a list of the top 100 Japanese pop musicians by HMV Japan. While they first got their start as a visual kei band, they have not had any association with the movement since their major label debut in 1994.
Arashi is 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.
Hideto Takarai, known by his stage name Hyde, is a Japanese musician, singer-songwriter, record producer, and actor. Best known as the lead vocalist of the rock band L'Arc-en-Ciel since 1991, he is also the lead vocalist of Vamps and has a solo career.
Toshinobu "Toshi" Kubota is a Japanese singer, songwriter, musician, music producer, and radio personality. Toshinobu Kubota has produced six million-seller records and thirty-three Top 40 singles during his career. He is currently part of Sony Music Japan. In addition, Kubota has composed and written songs for many singers including Iwasaki Hiromi, Misia, Toshinori Yonekura, Koizumi Kyoko, and many other recording artists.
Kumiko Kōda, known professionally as Koda Kumi, is a Japanese singer from Kyoto, known for her urban and R&B songs.
Orange Range are a 5-member Japanese rock band, based in Okinawa, Japan. Formed in 2001, the band began with Spice Music and later signed with Sony Music Japan's gr8! records division in 2003. The band left gr8! records in 2010 to start their own label, Super Echo.
Rainbow is the fifth studio album by Japanese recording artist Ayumi Hamasaki, released on 18 December 2002 by Avex Trax. Production of Rainbow had commenced after the release of Hamasaki's fourth studio album I Am... that January; All lyrics were written by Hamasaki, and Japanese producer Max Matsuura returned to produce the album. The album was Hamasaki's first to feature conversational English lyrics, where in her previous works she had only used single words.
KAT-TUN is a Japanese boy band formed under Johnny & Associates (Johnny's) in 2001. The group's name was originally an acronym based on the first letter of each member's family name: Kazuya Kamenashi, Jin Akanishi, Junnosuke Taguchi, Koki Tanaka, Tatsuya Ueda, and Yuichi Nakamaru. Their debut on March 22, 2006 was marked by a tripartite release of a CD single, album and music DVD on their exclusive record label J-One Records. Since then, all of their single, album and music DVD releases have debuted at number one on the Oricon music and DVD charts.
High and Mighty Color was a Japanese rock band active from 2003 to 2010. They had two vocalists; a male and a female.
Speed were a Japanese female vocal/dance group comprising Hiroko Shimabukuro, Eriko Imai, Takako Uehara and Hitoe Arakaki. All four members are former students of the Okinawa Actors School which also trained popular artists Namie Amuro and MAX.
"Appears" is a song recorded by Japanese recording artist Ayumi Hamasaki. It was released by Avex Trax on November 10, 1999 as the sixth single from her second studio album Loveppears (1999), which was released on the same day. Alongside this, it has been released in several other territories with different release dates under her Western alias Ayu. It also served as Hamasaki's first limited edition single, limiting physical sales to 300,000 copies. The track was written by Hamasaki herself, while production was handled by long-time collaborator Max Matsuura. Musically, "Appears" is a dance song written in third person perspective, and is about the third person watching what appears to be a happy and loving relationship. Upon its release, "Appears" received positive reviews from music critics. Alexey Eremenko, writing for AllMusic, selected the track as the best song from the album and her career. However, an editor from CD Journal criticized the amount of remixes on the CD single.
"Vogue" is a song recorded by Japanese recording artist Ayumi Hamasaki for her third studio album, Duty (2000). It was written by Hamasaki, while production was handled by Max Matsuura. It premiered on April 26, 2000 as the lead single from the album. Her third consecutive lead single to be produced by Matsuura, the song is part of a trilogy from Duty; the other two singles being "Far Away" and "Seasons".
"Seasons" is a song recorded by Japanese recording artist Ayumi Hamasaki for her third studio album, Duty (2000). It was written by Hamasaki, while production was handled by Max Matsuura. It premiered on June 7, 2000 as the third single from the album. The song is the final part of a trilogy from Duty; the other two singles being "Vogue" and "Far Away".
D is a Japanese visual kei metal/rock band formed in 2003 by Asagi, Ruiza and Sin, after their previous band Syndrome disbanded. D's music includes heavy guitar songs, as well as melancholic ballads and even medieval music and folk dance from around the world. Their lyrics focus on love, human nature and esoteric themes, such as spirituality and the relationship between persons and nature, and their costumes are closely related to the stories they tell. Their styling matches their music: fantastical, gothic and elegant.
JAM Project are a Japanese anison band founded on July 19, 2000 by anison singer Ichirou Mizuki. The band is composed of many vocal artists well known in the anime music industry. Aside from the many anime, tokusatsu, and video game theme songs the band has performed together, each member is famous for his or her own solo performances of Japanese theme songs. JAM Project is especially well known for their contributions of theme music for Garo, and One Punch Man.
Uverworld is a Japanese rock band consisting of six members and originating from Kusatsu, Shiga. "Uverworld" is a term coined by the band members, combining the German word "über" with the English word "world" to form a phrase that means "crossing above the world". They have released nine studio albums and over twenty singles and have sold over three million records worldwide. The band's musical style was influenced by 1960s rock bands like The Beatles, The Zombies, and The Beach Boys, and later influenced by The Cookies, The Kinks, and The Cramps. Vocalist Takuya cited Frank Sinatra, Queen, David Bowie, Weezer, Green Day, and later My Chemical Romance as influences for the band.
Lead is a Japanese hip-hop dance and vocal group, initially formed under the name Rhymix in Osaka, Japan in March 2002. They went through two name changes before debuting as "Lead" in May 2002 under the Pony Canyon sub-label Flight Master. The group consists of Shinya Taniuichi, Keita Furuya, Akira Kagimoto and, formerly, Hiroki Nakadoi.
"Never Gonna Give You Up" is a song recorded by Japanese singer Mai Kuraki. It was released on June 7, 2000, in Japan as a CD single and as a 12" vinyl by Giza Studio, Giza Inc., and Tent House as the fourth and final single from her debut studio album, Delicious Way (2000). The track features lyrics in Japanese and English language, written by Kuraki and Michael Africk, respectively. He also served as the single's composer, backing singer and producer, alongside Kanonji, Miguel Sá Pessoa, and Perry Geyer. The CD release of the track included the B-side recording "Trying to Find My Way". Musically, "Never Gonna Give You Up" is an R&B and pop song whose lyrics delve on themes of love and relationships, a common trait on its parent album.
Coupling Songs: 'Side B' is a compilation album by Japanese musical unit Superfly. Released on December 2, 2015, the album was packaged as a 2-CD set with Superfly's single "Kuroi Shizuku", and compiles Superfly's original B-sides released between 2007 and 2014.
