First Love is the debut Japanese-language studio album by Japanese-American recording artist Hikaru Utada, released on 10 March 1999 by Toshiba-EMI.
The discography of Japanese-American R&B and pop singer Hikaru Utada consists of nine studio albums, three compilation albums, eleven video albums and numerous singles and promotional singles. Utada began as a musician in the early 1990s as a member of U3, a family unit made up of her, her mother Junko Utada, also known as 1970s enka singer Keiko Fuji, and her father, musical producer Teruzane Utada. U3 released their debut album Star in 1993, with the hope to debut in America. In 1996, the group was rebranded as Cubic U, an R&B project focusing on Hikaru Utada, resulting in the English language album Precious in 1998 with record label Toshiba EMI.
"This Is Love" is Utada Hikaru's first Japanese digital single. It was released on May 31, 2006 as a promotional single for her fourth Japanese studio album. "This Is Love" was tied-in as the CM song for a Nissin cup noodle campaign and the opening theme for an anime "Freedom," which was also tied into the Nippon campaign. The digital single reached number one in virtually every online music store in Japan prior to the ULTRA BLUE album's release, including the most used store in Japan, iTunes Japan, as well as OnGen, among others. Utada herself is quoted to have said that this song is about expressing that "Love is like a mix of extremes: anxiety and peace."
The solo discography of Ringo Sheena features seven studio albums, five compilation albums, two extended plays and twenty-three singles. These were released on the Toshiba EMI sublabel East World from 1998 to 2000, before Shiina moved to the Virgin Music sub-label. In April 2013, EMI Music Japan was absorbed into Universal Music Japan, meaning all releases since 2013 have been on the new EMI R sub-label of Universal.
The discography of Japanese R&B singer Misia consists of nine studio albums, three compilation albums, one extended play (EP), one live album, six remix albums, twenty-six singles, twelve promotional singles, eighteen video albums and thirty-seven music videos. In 1997, Misia signed a recording contract with BMG Japan and joined the then up-and-coming talent agency, Rhythmedia. Under the sub-label Arista Japan, Misia released her first single, "Tsutsumikomu Yō ni..." in February 1998, followed by "Hi no Ataru Basho" in May. In June, her debut album, Mother Father Brother Sister, opened at number three on the Oricon chart. The album peaked at number one three weeks later and stayed in the top five for eleven consecutive weeks. Mother Father Brother Sister was certified double million and won a Japan Record Award for Best Album, as well as a Japan Gold Disc Award for Pop Album of the Year. In 2000, Misia's second studio album, Love Is the Message, debuted at number one and was certified double million. It won a Japan Record Award for Best Album and a Japan Gold Disc Award for Pop Album of the Year. The album spawned three top ten hits: "Believe," "Wasurenai Hibi" and "Sweetness." Misia's first remix album, Misia Remix 2000 Little Tokyo, was released three months later and shot to number one. It sold over 800,000 copies and is the second best-selling remix album of all time in Japan.
"Climax Jump" is the 13th single by the Japanese group AAA, released by Avex Mode on March 21, 2007. The song was composed by Shuhei Naruse with the lyrics by Shoko Fujibayashi. The song is the first opening theme for the 2007 tokusatsu series Kamen Rider Den-O. For the release of the single, the band temporarily changed their name to AAA DEN-O Form for Den-O.
Friends is the fourth Mini-Album for the Japanese rock duo B'z, released in 1992. The album sold 1,355,530 copies and reached No. 1 at Oricon. The track "Itsuka no Merry Christmas" became extremely commercially successful, being certified by the RIAJ as being downloaded 500,000+ times as a ringtone and more than 100,000 times as a full-length cellphone download, despite being released in the early 1990s and not as a single.
Alone is the ninth single by B'z, released on October 10, 1991. This song is one of B'z many number-one singles in Oricon chart. The single was re-released in 2003, and re-entered at #8. It sold over 1,127,000 copies according to Oricon. It was used as the drama Hotel Woman's theme song. The song was the 10th best selling single of 1991 and the 56th best selling single of 1992, making their only single to chart for two years in the yearly charts.
"Love Phantom" is the eighteenth single by B'z, released on October 11, 1995. This song is one of B'z many number-one singles in Oricon chart. The song was used as ending theme for The X-Files during the height of its popularity in Japan. The single sold over 950,000 copies within one week. It sold over 1,862,000 copies according to Oricon. The song won "the best five single award" at the 10th Japan Gold Disc Award.
"Kon'ya Tsuki no Mieru Oka ni" is the twenty-seventh single by B'z, released on February 9, 2000. This song is one of B'z many number-one singles in Oricon chart, and sold over a millions copies, with 1,129,000 copies sold. It was used as the main theme for the TV drama Beautiful Life.
"Ocean" is the thirty-ninth single by B'z, released on August 10, 2005. This song is one of the duo's many number-one singles in the Oricon charts, and has sold over 505,000 copies. As B-sides, the single features "Dear My Lovely Pain" and "Narifuri Kamawazu Dakishimete", which is an outtake from The Circle. "Ocean" was used as the theme of Umizaru Evolution, a Japanese television drama adaptation of the manga Umizaru.
"Ichibu to Zenbu/Dive" is the forty-sixth single by B'z, released on August 5, 2009 as a double A-side. This is one of the many number-one singles by B'z at Oricon Singles Chart. It was a long hit, staying in the top 5 and the top 10 for 8 consecutives weeks. It also reached number one on the Billboard Japan Hot 100 and the Top Singles Sales chart. On December 10, 2009, it was announced that the single won the "Hot 100 of the Year" award at the Billboard Japan Music Awards.
SoulJa is a Japanese hip-hop musician and songwriter best known for his collaborations with singer Thelma Aoyama, "Koko ni Iru yo" and "Soba ni Iru ne" – the latter of which was the former Guinness World Records holder for the best selling digital single of all-time in Japan.
"If" is a song by Japanese pop singer Kana Nishino. It was released as her 11th single on August 4, 2010. The song was given the working name "I Swear" before its release. In initial promotional material about the single, it was described as a mellow medium tempo ballad, written about "a meeting with fate."
Suki de, Suki de, Suki de./Anata dake ga(好きで、好きで、好きで。/あなただけが / Love, Love, Love./Only you) is a single by Japanese R&B/pop singer Koda Kumi. It is a concept single, featuring three different ballads with three different music videos. The B-side of the single, walk ~to the future~, is a re-arrangement of walk from Kumi's 2002 debut album, affection.
"Hello, Again " is a song by Japanese band My Little Lover. It was released as a single on August 21, 1995, and is currently the band's biggest hit single.
"Kono Yoru o Tomete yo" is a song by Japanese pop, R&B and jazz musician Juju. It was used as the theme song of the Miho Kanno and Hiroshi Tamaki starring drama Guilty: Akuma to Keiyaku Shita Onna(ギルティ 悪魔と契約した女 ), and was released on November 17, 2010.
"Jet Coaster Love" is the third Japanese single of South Korean girl group Kara. The single was originally set to be released on March 23, 2011, but following the 2011 Great Tohoku Earthquake and tsunami disaster in Japan, the physical single was rescheduled to April 6, 2011. In order to help out the areas affected by the disaster, the group had decided to donate all proceeds from the sales of this single, both physical and digital, to relief efforts. It eventually became the group's first single to reach #1 on Oricon Daily and Weekly charts.
"Sayonara Kizu Darake no Hibi yo" is the song and forty-eighth single by Japanese hard rock band, B'z, released on April 13, 2011. It was the first single from their 2011 album, C'mon. The song is written and used for a commercial song of Pepsi NEX. Also the song was first performed on Music Station "Three Hours Special" on April 1, 2011, along with the song "Brotherhood". Limited edition includes DVD with the music video for the song. The song debuted at number 1 on the Oricon Singles Chart, and became the 44th number-one-single by B'z on Japanese Singles Chart. It sold 176,000 copies, becoming the 44th best selling single of that year. It also reached number one on the Billboard Japan Hot 100 and the Top Singles Sales chart. In April, the RIAJ certified the single as Gold.
