sakanaction's new song to be used as drama theme song!

Jacket artwork

It was revealed that the title song of the new sakanaction single releasing on 23rd January 2013 will be used as a theme song of a drama. Single details have also been revealed.

The new single will be titled "Music" (ミュージック), and will be the theme song of the Fuji TV drama "dinner" starting 13 January 2013, which stars Eguchi Yosuke and Kurashina Kana. It airs every Sunday at 9PM JST. The story takes place in a restaurant setting.

Of the title track, frontman Yamaguchi Ichiro says it is an ambitious work that talks about "What kind of direction should we (sakanaction) be facing to go towards for music?" and it was made into a song from this line of thought.

The coupling song in the single is curiously titled "Eiga (Konte 2012/11/16 17:24)" (映画（コンテ 2012/11/16 17:24）). In English, that means "Movie (Continuity 2012/11/16 17:24)".

This will mark the second time a sakanaction song is used as a drama theme song, after "Boku to Hana".


Yay for more publicity, but nay if Music is going to sound as underwhelming as Boku to Hana was for me. On the other hand, the coupling song has a really interesting title. Excitedly awaiting this new release.

sakanaction's new work is the band's first "one-coin single"

It has been announced that sakanaction will be releasing a new single (title to be announced) on 23 January 2013.

The band's first release of 2013 is also the first time they are releasing a "one-coin single" - a single that costs 500 yen. 500 yen is the largest denomination of coins in Japanese currency, thus it is called a "one-coin single" since it will cost just one coin.

The single will contain two tracks. It will be released in both limited first press and regular editions, and the limited edition will have a special packaging. Both versions cost 500 yen. Details will be released at a later date.

Isn't it exciting? I'm sure they are thinking of trying to make their music reach more people, thus the price. With the single at just 500 yen, about half off the usual cost of a regular edition, there'll be less excuse for fans not to buy!

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sakanaction to release live audio of ZEPP ALIVE via Japanese iTunes Store

Cover artwork of SAKANAQUARIUM 2012 "ZEPP ALIVE"

sakanaction will be releasing the recorded live audio of SAKANAQUARIUM 2012 "ZEPP ALIVE", exclusively through the Japanese iTunes Store, tomorrow November 14, 2012.

The audio is recorded from the Zepp Tokyo final leg of the ZEPP ALIVE tour held on June 19 earlier this year. The complete 18 songs will be available, and fans who purchase the songs as a whole album will be able to download a special bonus track, "sequence of 18 tracks", which has all 18 tracks play in a continuous flow.

In addition, the "Yoru no Odoriko ZEPP ALIVE ALONE" video recording that was included on the DVD of the Yoru no Odoriko single will be available to purchase on iTunes from tomorrow onwards. This is the performance of Yoru no Odoriko at Zepp Tokyo without the audience, with binaural audio, so as to make the viewer feel he/she is experiencing it live.

Yoru no Odoriko sales

sakanaction's latest and 7th single Yoru no Odoriko clinched 5th spot on the Oricon Weekly Charts for the week of 27 Aug to 2 Sep.

It started with them ranking 6th place on the first day, and then moving up and down slightly throughout the week, with a peak position of #3 on the 5th day (which happened to be a day after their Music Station performance).

They also achieved their highest ever first week sales for a single with 30,616 reported copies sold. Many congratulations to the band and Team Sakanaction!

Yoru no Odoriko music video revealed!

Just less than an hour ago, the music video for Yoru no Odoriko, which releases tomorrow, was put up on Victor Entertainment's Youtube Channel! Please check it out below!



The director of this PV is Tanaka Yusuke, who previously worked on the award-winning "Bach no Senritsu wo Yoru ni Kiita Sei desu." music video. The styling and creative direction was helmed by no other than Kitazawa "momo" Hisashi who has been indispensable to Sakanaction's works.

With the thick traditional-style makeup and kimonos, the band members and the two dancers performing at the foothills of Mount Fuji, it is a music video with both impact and a surreal feel.

In addition, the release commemorative Ustream (link) to be held on 29 August 10PM JST has also been revealed to have director Tanaka and creative director Kitazawa as guests. The choreographer of the two dancing women in the music video, Hananomoto Kai, will be appearing as well in this talk session.

sakanaction to appear on Music Station!

Airing on 31 August, the Music Station music program will feature sakanaction!

The popular Asahi TV program that airs every week at 8PM JST will have sakanaction perform their latest single "Yoru no Odoriko" on next week's show.

sakanaction appeared for the first time on Music Station last year, 22 July, to perform "Bach no Senritsu wo Yoru ni Kiita Sei desu." Since then they have not had the opportunity to appear on the program again, even when "Boku to Hana" was released.

An appearance on Music Station again was hoped for by many fans, as performances on television will help the band to be known and it helps the sales as well. Thus far, Music Station is the only music program which has had Sakanaction on it.

Check out the performance list for 31 August below! (May not in performance order.)

sakanaction to release official band score books

cover artwork

For the first time ever, sakanaction will be releasing official band score books. There will be 2 books released one month apart from each other.

TItled SAKANA ENSEMBLE 2007-2009 and SAKANA ENSEMBLE 2010-2011, the books featuring the music scores of sakanaction's songs will release on 12 Sep 2012 and 12 Aug 2012 respectively.

It's uncertain at this point if the usual avenues like CD Japan and HMV Japan will be retailing these books. For now, the only confirmed site for overseas fans to buy the books without using a proxy service is Amazon Japan.

Update: You can currently order the book at either Amazon Japan or HMV Japan.

Tracklist after the cut.

"Sake no Sakana" Mini Screenshot Gallery

Yesterday night, it was the "Sake no Sakana" Ustream. 

The two guys played games and answered questions from fans, and had their usual acoustic guitar singing corner, entertaining and indulging all the fans viewing.

The mini setlist for the singing section was:

1. Fukurou - Yamaguchi

2. Film - Hoshino

3. Boku to Hana - Yamaguchi

4. Yume no Soto e - Hoshino 

Oh, by the end of the program, they had hit over 70,000 combined total views, and the hashtag #sakenosakana was the top Twitter trend in Japan.

congrats!

And now, on to...Gallery - Lots of Yamaguchi and Hoshino fooling around. Enjoy!

Side note: Ugh, didn't capture the part where Yamaguchi was showing off his toned stomach muscles ._.

"Sake no Sakana" returns!

About seven months have passed since the previous "Sake no Sakana" on New Year's Day, and now it has been announced that Yamaguchi Ichiro and Hoshino Gen will once again get together to do the Ustream program!

This Tuesday, 24th July, at 9PM JST, they'll stream on Victor Music Ustream Channel. This time, in addition to the two just talking, there will be games during the show and also a Q&A corner for fans. The questions will be taken from Twitter. Fans can send the questions by mentioning @VictorMusic while using the hashtag #sakenosakana.

Fans have been anticipating the next "Sake no Sakana" for awhile, and just a couple of weeks ago, Yamaguchi and Hoshino were tweeting each other for fun and brought up "Sake no Sakana" and how they would like to do it again. They did a mini version of "Sake no Sakana" on Twitter, by playing shiritori with each other with the topic of "things you like". The game was cut off as Yamaguchi was tweeting during his break at a Sakanaction recording session and he was required back to work.

Yoru no Odoriko full tracklist revealed!

Freshly announced minutes ago, the full contents of Sakanaction's 7th single, Yoru no Odoriko, has been revealed!

Besides title track "Yoru no Odoriko", a new track called "multiple exposure" as well as Sakanaction's own remix of previous single "Boku to Hana", will be included in the CD. "multiple exposure" is a song that was approached with a chillout sound and its lyrics talks about realistic perspectives towards modern society.

The limited edition version comes with a DVD that includes selected live performances from the rehearsal for the final leg of SAKANAQUARIUM 2012 ZEPP ALIVE tour on 19th June. It was specially recorded in a way that would let viewers feel like they are actually experiencing the live.

Tracklist

CD
01. Yoru no Odoriko [夜の踊り子]
02. multiple exposure
03. Boku to Hana (sakanaction Remix) [僕と花 (sakanaction Remix)]

DVD (limited edition only)

SAKANAQUARIUM 2012 "ZEPP ALIVE ALONE"
- Boku to Hana [僕と花]
- Boku to Hana (sakanaction Remix) [僕と花 (sakanaction Remix)]
- Native Dancer [ネイティブダンサー]
- Identity [アイデンティティ]
- Rookie [ルーキー]

SAKANAQUARIUM 2012 "ZEPP ALIVE"~
- Yoru no Odoriko [夜の踊り子]



What do you think of the contents? Are you excited? I've already pre-ordered my copy yesterday! 

Yamaguchi Ichiro produces new song for SMAP!

Today, it was revealed that Sakanaction's frontman Yamaguchi Ichiro is the composer and lyricist behind the title song of the new single of longtime-popular Johnny's boyband SMAP!

The new single is called "Moment" and will be released on 1 August 2012. In addition, the song is also the theme song for Japanese television station Tokyo Broadcasting Station (TBS)'s telecast of the 2012 London Olympics. This program is co-hosted by SMAP member Nakai Masahiro. 

In short, the song will be getting a lot of publicity. You can hear a preview of it here, starting around 0:48. The video will be taken down soon so hear it while you can!

It's amazing to have Yamaguchi producing the song for SMAP. This marks the second time he has worked directly with SMAP, but this time the song will be more prominent because it is a single. Previously, he wrote and composed "Magic Time" in for SMAP's 2010 album "We are SMAP". 

Of course, not forgetting that Sakanaction was behind the theme song for the recently-concluded drama 37sai de Isha ni Natta which starred SMAP's Kusanagi Tsuyoshi, it seems that record label Victor Entertainment has decided to push Sakanaction by giving them these opportunities (the two bands are signed to Victor). Let's hope that Sakanaction will go even further!

Sakana LOCKS! Homework #7 and #8

Check out the Sakana LOCKS! homework #7 and #8 now translated below!

Sorry about these updates being rather irregular. I haven't been following Sakana LOCKS! ever since Keyhole TV took the Tokyo FM channel off.

However, there is still a way to catch back Sakana LOCKS! episodes at your own convenient time - a Nico Nico Douga user uploads them every week. All you have to do is type in サカナLOCKS in the search bar.

Without further ado, on to the homework assignments!

New Sakanaction single titled "Yoru no Odoriko"

Just announced yesterday evening during the Sakanaquarium 2012 Zepp Alive tour final leg at ZEPP TOKYO, Sakanaction will release a new single on 29 August 2012, titled "Yoru no Odoriko" (夜の踊り子, meaning dancer of the night).

The song is actually the one used in the Mode School (Mode Gakuen) commercial, airing since approximately 3 months ago around the same time their 5th single, Boku to Hana was announced.

Up til now we have only heard a short cut of the song because of the CM and many fans have been wondering when we would get the song. The announcement came sooner than expected, as Sakanaction usually doesn't release singles so close to each other. In this case, I believe it is because the titular track was already completed even before Boku to Hana released. 

In any case, you can hear the sample of the track again through the CM:

  

Boku to Hana Chart Performance

First week rank and sales on Oricon Weekly Chart

Congratulations to Sakanaction for a good first week in sales for their latest single, Boku to Hana!

There wasn't any television performances this time round, whereas for Bach, there was a Music Station performance which helped to boost sales. However, Boku to Hana is the first time Sakanaction did a tie-up with a drama series, which most certainly gave more exposure to the band. But since Sakanaction's popularity was already on the rise, it's difficult to tell how much influence the drama had.

Below is a comparison chart of ranks and sales on Oricon for reference.

"Boku to Hana" Release Commemorative Ustream Roundup

(I sincerely apologize that I did not manage to post about this prior to the stream. I try my best to keep up with the news but for this stream they did same-day announcement and streaming... I did not know about it until it had started, and I missed a huge chunk of it myself as I was working.)

Today it was announced that there would be a commemorative Ustream for the release of "Boku to Hana" at 9PM JST, similar to what Sakanaction has done before for the Sakanaquarium 2012 DVD.

Previews for Boku to Hana coupling tracks up!

The previews for the coupling tracks on upcoming 6th single "Boku to Hana" have been revealed through Sakanaction's label website!

We've already previous heard the title track Boku to Hana itself and the PV has already gone up on YouTube so the preview is no surprise. But now for the first time, we get to hear what coupling track Neptunus and Takkyu Ishino's remix of Rookie sound like.

Go ahead and have a listen now at the following link:
http://www.jvcmusic.co.jp/-/Discography/A020936/VICL-36705.html
(You'll have to click on the little green microphone button next to the song titles.)

Sakana LOCKS! Answer to Question #4!

Yesterday, I posted the translation to one of the homework questions for Sakana LOCKS! and in tonight's live broadcast of the TOKYO FM radio program has revealed the answers.

Sakana LOCKS! Homework #4, #5, and #6

Catching up on Sakana LOCKS!, here's "homework" #4, #5 and last week's #6 Yamaguchi Ichiro has posed to listeners.

Boku to Hana PV officially revealed!

Today, the final version of the Boku to Hana PV was officially revealed, uploaded on VictorMusicChannel's YouTube account.

There are some minor differences from what we last saw on the Ustream versions, such as close up shots of Yamaguchi's face becoming a medium close-up shot, and additional elements starting from the second chorus.

You can view it here:


Personal opinion: For some reason, I liked the "take 2" Ustream version better. The final version seems a bit over-rehearsed; could be my imagination but Yamaguchi's reactions seem quicker, already in anticipation of what's coming. (Of course he did know what was to happen, but he's supposed to act like he doesn't.) The emotions he had on his face also seemed more raw in the Ustream version. If I hadn't seen "take 2", I might have enjoyed this better, but now it's just too polished to me. However, it is still a great concept of a PV and a lot of effort. Definitely worth applause.

Yamaguchi Ichiro to DJ in Sound Creators File for May

Radio station NHK-FM has revealed that Yamaguchi Ichiro will be DJ (host) for the month of May on their program SOUND CREATORS FILE.

SOUND CREATORS FILE airs every Sunday 9PM - 11PM JST except on the last week of each month, so we'll see Yamaguchi host the program a total of 3 times - 6th May, 13th May and 20th May.

This program features "sound creators"(musicians) of various generations to host the program, changing every month. Besides stories and influences concerning their works and music, it will also introduce selected songs of other artists which has caught attention of the host.

They are now collecting questions to Yamaguchi Ichiro. Whether your questions/ requests/ messages concerns music or things other than music, they are no problem and you can submit your questions here or tweet to @nhk_scf (in Japanese). 

*You can tune in to NHK-FM from overseas using a Japanese proxy, then going to this link. [corrected]

"Boku to Hana" PV takes revealed on Ustream

Earlier today, there was a sudden announcement that there would be a Ustream for something related to the new single "Boku to Hana". (Tweeted on this blog's Twitter account as soon as I found out). As it turned out, what was streamed was behind-the-scenes footage of the filming of the PV.

Most of the footage was dark and blurry so not much could be seen. However, after about an hour of rehearsals or so (rehearsals were needed as the whole thing was to be filmed in one take), they showed 2 takes of the PV. As it is not yet fully edited, the audio was echoey (the song is played in the background during the filming). Other than that, it's probably safe to say the 2nd take is going to be pretty close to what the final PV will be.

You can watch take 2 in the video below if you have a Nico Nico Douga account, before it gets taken off. The audio and video is slightly off-sync, unfortunately.

Sakanaction for Space Shower TV Station ID

Sakanaction is now featured on SPACE SHOWER TV's station ID! Check out the video above.

As with most promotional materials, it only features frontman Yamaguchi Ichiro. The background music used is the yet-untitled new song that's been used in the Mode School commercials. Yamaguchi does hand gestures in the video to seem as if he is controlling the movement of the lights. These lights are actually NINJAR LIGHTS, the same LED lights used during the performance of "years" in the DocumentaLy tour Makuhari Messe live.

The concept of the station ID is "music as a real existence". To symbolize "people" and "sound", the lights move in synchronisation with Yamaguchi, depicting the appearance of sensitivity to the music.

(If you don't know what a station ID is, it's basically a short reminder of which channel you're on, and usually done in a stylish manner or creatively to brand the channel as such. This is why at the end of the video, the SPACE SHOWER TV logo pops in and covers Yamaguchi.)

"Boku to Hana" full version to be revealed!

Frontman Yamaguchi Ichiro said earlier on the Sakana LOCKS! radio program that for the first time, the full version of "Boku to Hana" will be revealed!

Come this Wednesday, the full version of "Boku to Hana" will be played on TOKYO FM's SCHOOL OF LOCK! program. This means anytime from 10PM JST onwards, so be sure to tune in!

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As a side note, you will notice this blog now has a Twitter widget on the sidebar. I decided to start it because sometimes there are small updates that don't really need a post, hence the Twitter will be good for that. Since it's also displayed here, you don't have to specially follow it. However, if you want to, of course you can! ^_^

"Boku to Hana" jacket artwork and tracklist revealed!

Boku to Hana jacket artwork.

Just a few hours ago, the jacket artwork and track details for Sakanaction's 6th single "Boku to Hana", was revealed.

Shown above, the jacket artwork is rather weird at first glance. However, look closely and you'll find the words "television" "music" and "for many people". My interpretation of what the artwork is trying to convey is that Sakanaction's music is created for the people, and so this time with their collaboration with the television drama, they can reach out to many.

The little illustrated people of course represent the band members, whereas the red colour circle held by the little "Ichiro" might be the representation of him presenting the CD to people. In the background, a photo of a TV programme guide, with depth of field adjusted to focus on the title of the drama that the song is the theme for, completes the artwork.

The single will contain 3 songs. The second song is titled "Neptunus", whereas the third song is Ishino Takkyu's remix of "Rookie".

As a reminder, the single is set to release on 30th May 2012.

[6th Single] Boku to Hana Tracklist
01. Boku to Hana
02. Neptunus
03. Rookie (Takkyu Ishino remix)

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Sakana LOCKS! 4/9 Homework

The content for Sakana LOCKS! from 9th of April is up at the website, so do remember to check it out. By the way, the content goes up around Thursdays JPT.

This week's homework is...

Questions about the band you want Yamaguchi Ichiro to answer

Everyone from the "band section"! Please continue to write in the band section of the bulletin board.
And then, this time we want to collect questions about the band that you want to directly ask Yamaguchi-sensei of Sakanaction!
Whether about putting heart into writing, doing arrangement, worries of a band leader, and etc., please write it in the band section of the bulletin board!

*The bulletin board requires sign up via Japanese mobile phones before you are able to make posts. Which means, unless you are in Japan, you can't.

Sakanaction new song tie-up with Mode School CM

It was revealed yesterday evening that Sakanaction created a song for a Mode School (Mode Gakuen) commercial.

In this commercial, JONTE', or Jonte Moaning, a well-known choreographer and dancer, dances along to the song created by Sakanaction. Mode School is an academic institution for the arts, and they have courses for fashion, makeup, hairstyling, design, interior design, and so on. Thus, the feel of the CM is highly artistic.

The title and release date of this song has not been announced. All that we have currently is a short preview of the song in the CM below:

 

Hopefully, we can hear some details about the song soon. It seems a bit weird for it not to be in the Boku to Hana single as that is the only upcoming release announced. For it to be another single, would mean a long wait... I wonder when we'll hear the full version of this because I think it's really good.

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Sakana LOCKS! Website Content

Usually, the practice for any artist section in the School of Lock! (SOL) program is that a report, "homework" submission box and several photos of the artist during recording will be uploaded on the artist's page on the SOL website. Sakana LOCKS! is no different, and the website content for 2nd April's Sakana LOCKS! is up.

I probably will not be able to translate the whole lengthy report due to time constraints, but I will try to translate the "homework" portion!

SAKANAQUARIUM 2011 DocumentaLy BD/DVD Chart Rankings

Just a quick roundup of how the DVD and BD did on the Oricon Charts! 

Unfortunately, Oricon doesn't provide hard numbers for amount of copies sold when it comes the DVDs and Blu-ray discs, but you can get a general idea of how it's selling by looking at the ranking.

Boku to Hana preview!

A short preview of Sakanaction's 6th single, Boku to Hana, can now be heard in the background of the trailer for the drama it is the theme song for. Check it out below!

It's very chillout compared to all the songs they've put out as singles so far! Definitely more easy listening for the drama viewers, but it still retains the Sakanaction "style". In fact, it sounds like it would fit in NIGHT FISHING or Shinshiro. Would love to hear a longer preview!

New Sakanaction Single Announced!

It has been announced that Sakanaction will be releasing their 6th single "Boku to Hana"(僕と花) on 30th May 2012!!

This is news much awaited by fans, and what's even more exciting is that the song will be used as the theme song for the Kansai/Fuji TV drama "37sai de Isha ni Natta Boku ~Kenshui Junjou Monogatari"(37歳で医者になった僕 ～研修医純情物語～) which stars Kusanagi Tsuyoshi of SMAP. This drama starts airing on the 10th of April so we will get to hear some of the song much earlier.

Take note that there is a commemorative Ustream tonight for the Makuhari DVD's release. Be sure to tune in as there might be some talk about the new single!

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SAKANAQUARIUM 2011 DocumentaLy release commemorative USTREAM!

To commemorate the release of the Makuhari Live DVD/BD, there will be 3 upcoming Ustreams! Get ready to mark your calendars.

SAKANAQUARIUM 2011 DocumentaLy -Live at Makuhari Messe- is set to drop in the coming week, but before that, you get to enjoy the first Ustream on 24th March at 8PM JST and stave off your anticipation temporarily. This first Ustream will feature Yamaguchi Ichiro and guest, ROCKIN ON JAPAN writer Shiba Tomonori.

The second Ustream airs at 10PM JST on the release date of the DVD/BD itself, 28th March. It will feature Yamaguchi Ichiro as well as Team Sakanaction. Same goes for the third Ustream, airing also 10PM JST, on 30th March.

The Ustream channel is here!

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Sakanaction regular radio show to start in April!

TOKYO FM's SCHOOL OF LOCK! programme, which is a regular radio programme that features musicians and celebrities, will have new additions soon, and Sakanaction is one of them!

From April onwards, every Monday night there will be "SAKANA LOCKS!". The time has not been confirmed but these special "musician-focused" slots usually take 11:05PM - 11:55PM JST. However, Asian Kung-Fu Generation's AJIKAN LOCKS! currently occupies this slot, so it is uncertain if there will be two LOCKS in one night or it is being replaced. The other new addition to SCHOOL OF LOCK! is Sekai no Owari.

SCHOOL OF LOCK!'s roster of artists includes artists like Base Ball Bear and Perfume.

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Note: For those outside Japan, you can tune in to TOKYO FM by using keyhole TV (Windows, Mac, Linux).

Bach PV takes home Best Video of the Year from MVA!

In a rather exciting night, it has been announced that Sakanaction once again received the big prize of Space Shower TV's Music Video Awards -Best Video of the Year with their PV "Bach no Senritsu wo Yoru ni Kiita Sei desu."!

Last year, Sakanaction took home the same big prize with Aruku Around and caused them to gain wider recognition. With this, I believe they will become even better known.

Congratulations to Sakanaction and the team!

MVA Winners

Bach PV nominated for Best Rock Video in MTV VMAJ 2012

Sakanaction's "Bach no Senritsu wo Yoru ni Kiita Sei desu." PV has been nominated for Best Rock Video in MTV Video Music Awards Japan 2012. Congratulations to Sakanaction and the team behind the video for getting yet another award nomination!

Check out all the nominees here!
http://gyao.yahoo.co.jp/vmaj2012/nominee/

*Update* VOTE FOR SAKANACTION HERE!! (Facebook required)
https://www.facebook.com/mtvjapan/app_312805645448290

Feature: Go To The Future Minisite Translations

Well, I had some time to finally do this. Presenting... translations of the GO TO THE FUTURE Minisite!

Take note that the original text was in 2007 and whatever is translated here is of them and their feelings during then, so it may have changed. However, the self-liners gives a nice insight into the album.

(It is always difficult to translate Yamaguchi's complex written thoughts, so sorry for any translation errors.)

Trailer for Makuhari Live DVD revealed!

Just revealed today on the Victor Music Channel on Youtube, Sakanaction's SAKANAQUARIUM 2011 DocumentaLy -LIVE at MAKUHARI MESSE- DVD trailer! Enjoy!

Ustream: HighApps in Taiwan full report feature

Group photos at TheWall Gong Guan

As reported previously, the HighApps in Taiwan Ustream started at 9PM JST. The sequence for the bands were not known until just before each band came out, during intervals. It turned out that futuristic rockers avengers in sci-fi were the concert opener, followed by instrumental band LITE. Sakanaction was the final act, thus their actual performance started at 11.15PM JST.

In total they had about one hour, first ending at 12MN JST, but with an encore it ended at 12.15 JST. The band performed far more songs than I had predicted, and it was almost a proper concert with 11 songs.

There was an average of 11,500 current viewers during Sakanaction's set, and by the end of program, there were more than 70000 total views. Also, サカナ(sakana) trended in Japan on Twitter.

Sakanaction goods being sold at the event

The set proved a real spectacle for Sakanaction fans (myself included) who had not watched the DocumentaLy tour live, as it was the first time we saw the album's songs performed live. Full report after the jump.

Setlist
M1. RL
M2. Monochrome Tokyo
M3. Sentorei
M4. Kamen no Gai
M5. Endless
M6. Bach no Senritsu wo Yoru ni Kiita Sei desu
M7. DocumentaRy  ~mixed with Sample instrumental
M8. Rookie
M9. Aruku Around
M10. Identity


Encore
MC
EN1. Night Fishing is Good

Setlists for the other bands can be found here (in Japanese)

HighApps in Taiwan to be Ustreamed

HighApps in Taiwan is going to be streamed tomorrow, 24th February, at 9PM JST.

This is the live concert featuring Sakanaction, LITE and avengers in sci-fi. It starts at 8PM Taiwan time which translates to 9PM JST.

HighApps Ustream Channel

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Fishmans x Sakanaction on TOKYO FM

To commemorate TOKYO FM & JFN present EARTH×HEART LIVE 2012 at Saitama Super Arena, there will be a special radio program on TOKYO FM this Sunday, from 7PM to 7.55PM JST.

The program will have Motegi Kin'ichi of Fishmans (Motegi is also part of Tokyo Ska Paradise Orchestra) and Yamaguchi Ichiro of Sakanaction, for the first time having a dialogue with each other. They will talk about the two groups' thoughts on the upcoming live, and Yamaguchi's influence from Fishmans. Shikano Atsushi will be the interviewer.

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Note: For those outside Japan, you can tune in to TOKYO FM by using keyhole TV (Windows, Mac, Linux).

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SAKANAQUARIUM 2011 DocumentaLy DVD/BD full details revealed!

Jacket artwork

SAKANAQUARIUM 2011 DocumentaLy -LIVE at MAKUHARI MESSE-'s jacket artwork and full content details have been revealed tonight!

The jacket artwork, as seen above, is designed by Hatos, regular Sakanaction cover designer.

As for extras, both the Blu-ray Disc and DVD versions of the Limited Edition will come with a 52-page hard cover booklet. In this booklet, it includes interviews with other people in the music industry about Sakanaction, lyrics of the songs included in the concert, photos of the live concert.

Promotional photo

Meanwhile, for the special content on the BD/DVD, there is "TEAM SAKANACTION INTERVIEW", which are interviews with staff members and Yamaguchi Ichiro. Also included is rehearsal footage for Me ga Aku Aiiro at the tour's final in Kyoto KBS Hall.

Unfortunately for those without BD players, you will have to miss out on special content included only on the BD versions (both limited and regular) - maruchi angles of Bach no Senritsu wo Yoru ni Kiita Sei desu., Rookie, and Identity. Maruchi angles mean that several angles of the performance were recorded and then provided separately in full, so you can choose which angle to watch.

In addition, if you buy from Tower Records, Lawson HMV, or TSUTAYA, you will receive a special bonus of a laminated pass similar to what staff used during the tour itself. It probably looks like this one that Kusakari Ami posted:

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"Bach no Senritsu wo Yoru ni Kiita Sei desu" makes it to MVA nominee list

The yearly music video awards organised by SPACE SHOWER TV, "SPACE SHOWER MUSIC VIDEO AWARDS", or better known as MVA, is back, and a list of 50 nominees have been revealed.

Sakanaction has 4 music videos that qualify (videos from 2011), and they are Coelacanth to Boku (Special video from the SAKANAQUARIUM 2010 DVD), Rookie, Bach no Senritsu wo Yoru ni Kiita Sei desu, and Endless. Bach ended up in the list of nominees.

There are many categories in MVA, but the "top prize" is the BEST VIDEO OF THE YEAR, one that Sakanaction has previously won with Arukuaround last year. It will probably be hard for them to repeat the feat but anything is possible.

There is also a special BEST YOUR CHOICE award that anyone can vote online for, from now until 1st March. You can vote for only one music video.

On 20th March, a special programme will be broadcasted at 9pm JST to announce all the winners.

View the list of nominees as well as vote for the BEST YOUR CHOICE award here:
MVA Website

How to vote:
1. Go to the website and click the obvious black button that says "投票はコチラ"
2. On the next page, click the blue button that says "応募はこちら"
3. Press the radio button on the right, above the box; it's the option that has "アーティスト名".
4. Enter "サカナクション" in the box and hit enter.
5. Select your favorite Sakanaction music video from the list.
6. You will have to enter your email address in the top box to vote. The second larger box is for comments which is optional.
7. Hit enter and you'll reach a confirmation page. Click "送信" and the vote is sent.

The 4th CD Shop Grand Prix winners

The 4th CD Shop Grand Prix, an award decided by nationwide CD shops' staff, has determined the winners.

Previously, 14 nominees were announced. It then went through a secondary voting round, which determined the 7 winning works as follows:

[Japanese]	[Romaji]
熊谷育美 「その先の青へ」	Kumagai Ikumi "Sono Saki no Ao e"
サカナクション 「DocumentaLy」	Sakanaction "DocumentaLy"
高橋優 「リアルタイム・シンガーソングライター」	Takahashi Yuu "Real Time Singer Songwriter"
back number 「スーパースター」	back number "Superstar"
星野源 「エピソード」	Hoshino Gen "Episode"
MAN WITH A MISSION 「MAN WITH A MISSION」	MAN WITH A MISSION "MAN WITH A MISSION"
ももいろクローバーZ 「バトル・アンド・ロマンス」	Momoiro Clover Z "Battle and Romance"

The other categories and the Grand Prize itself will be announced at the awards ceremony, to be held on 27 February.

The past 3 years saw Soutai Seiriron's "Chiffon Shugi", THE BAWDIES "THIS IS MY STORY", andymori's "Fanfare to Nekkyou" taking the Grand Prize. Which album will win this year?

Fingers crossed for DocumentaLy.

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Yamaguchi Ichiro to be part of supersized collab song

Synthpunk rock band POLYSICS are releasing an album on 29th February to commemorate their 15th anniversary. On this album, there are several collaboration songs, but one of them stands out. Track 6 of the album 15th P, is a song called "Tomodachi Kecha featuring tomodachi" (友達ケチャ featuring 友達). In Japanese, "tomodachi" means friends, so "tomodachi" here is not referring to another artist, but rather, a collection of a mind-boggling 67 other musicians (counting each individual from bands and solo artists) who will be featured on the song.

As the title of this post says, Sakanaction's vocalist Yamaguchi Ichiro is one of those 67 people. Check out the list of collaborators below for this particular song! There will definitely be more than a few familiar names if you listen to a lot of Japanese rock.

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Tomodachi Kecha collaborators

Goto Masafumi (ASIAN KUNG-FU GENERATION)
Kinoshita Riki (ART-SCHOOL)
Kamijou Chihiro (9mm Parabellum Bullet)
Sugawara Takuro (9mm Parabellum Bullet)
Taki Yoshimitsu (9mm Parabellum Bullet)
Nakamura Kazuhiko (9mm Parabellum Bullet)
cp (group_inou)
Kurimoto Hiroko (ex. Kegawa no Maries)
Yamaguchi Ichiro (Sakanaction)
Hamano Kenta (SAKEROCK)
Kiuchi Yasufumi (Sambomaster)
Kondo Yoichi (Sambomaster)
Yamaguchi Takashi (Sambomaster)
Mizuno Masaaki (SPANK PAGE)
Ishige Akira (the telephones)
Okamoto Nobuaki (the telephones)
Nagashima Ryohei (the telephones)
Matsumoto Seiji (the telephones)
Ueno Kouji (the HIATUS)
Hosomi Takeshi (the HIATUS)
masasucks (the HIATUS)
Okamine Koushuu (THE BACK HORN)
Suganami Eijun (THE BACK HORN)
Matsuda Shinji (THE BACK HORN)
Yamanaka Sawao (the pillows)
Isobe Hiroyuki ([Champagne])
Kawakami Youhei ([Champagne])
TAKUMA (10-FEET)
NAOKI (10-FEET)
Oomori Hajime (Tokyo Ska Paradise Orchestra)
Katou Takashi (Tokyo Ska Paradise Orchestra)
Kitahara Masahiko (Tokyo Ska Paradise Orchestra)
Oki Yuichi (Tokyo Ska Paradise Orchestra)
Masuko Naozumi (Dohatsuten)
Hanaregumi
Kawazaki "FIRIPO" Hirotoshi (HiGE)
Saitou Yuuki (HiGE)
Satou "KOTEISUI" Kouichi (HiGE)
Sutou Hisashi (HiGE)
Abe Kousei (HINTO)
Itou Shinichi (HINTO)
Kakinuma Hiroya (BIGMAMA)
Kanai Masato (BIGMAMA)
Higashide Mao (BIGMAMA)
Yasui Hideto (BIGMAMA)
Riad Ibu (BIGMAMA)
Suzuki Keisuke (Flower Companyz)
Takeyasu Kenichi (Flower Companyz)
Mister Konishi (Flower Companyz)
TGMX aka SYUTA-LOW TAGAMI (FRONTIER BACKYARD)
Koide Yusuke (Base Ball Bear)
Ahito Inazawa (VOLA & THE ORIENTAL MACHINE)
MIYAVI
Takei Yasunori (MO'SOME TONEBENDER)
Fujita Isamu (MO'SOME TONEBENDER)
Momono Yousuke (MONOBRIGHT)
Izawa Atsushi (LITE)
Rekishi
Aida Shigekazu
Utsumi Youko
Okuda Tamio
Kuhara Kazuyuki
Smiley Harashima
Tabuchi Hisako
Hidaka Tooru
Matsuda "CHABE" Gakuji


Romanizing these names took me forever. Have fun spotting your favourite artists! 

[Random] The most precious photo you will ever see in your lifetime

A rare finding is about to be presented before your very eyes! Behold... 4-year-old Yamaguchi Ichiro.

The 4th CD Shop Grand Prix

The nominees for the 4th CD Shop Grand Prix have been revealed today, and Sakanaction's "DocumentaLy" album was nominated.

The CD Shop Grand Prix is based on the nominations and votes of CD shop staff across the entire nation of Japan. "There is a sound you have to meet" is the slogan of this award. This is the fourth year that this award is running, and a total of 14 works were nominated.

Other than this, there are also the "Western Music Award", "Maestro Award", "New Blood Award", "Live Performance Award", "Entire Japan CD Shop Clerks Association 2012 Special Award", as well as provincial awards which are decided by each regional block.

The announcement of results and the ceremony will be held late February.

Check out the list of nominees for the Grand Prix below:

[Japanese]	[Romaji]
amazarashi 「千年幸福論」	amazarashi  "Sennen Kofukuron"
androp 「relight」	androp  "relight"
andymori 「革命」	andymori "Kakumei"
熊谷育美 「その先の青へ」	Kumagai Ikumi "Sono Saki no Ao e"
黒川泰子 「あなたへの贈り物」	Kurokawa Yasuko "Anata e no Okurimono"
サカナクション 「DocumentaLy」	Sakanaction "DocumentaLy"
さよならポニーテール 「魔法のメロディ」	Sayonara Ponytail "Mahou no Melody"
高橋優 「リアルタイム・シンガーソングライター」	Takahashi Yuu "Real Time Singer Songwriter"
Czecho No Republic 「Maminka」	Czecho No Republic "Maminka"
back number 「スーパースター」	back number "Superstar"
FoZZtone 「NEW WORLD」	FoZZtone "NEW WORLD"
星野源 「エピソード」	Hoshino Gen "Episode"
MAN WITH A MISSION 「MAN WITH A MISSION」	MAN WITH A MISSION "MAN WITH A MISSION"
ももいろクローバーZ 「バトル・アンド・ロマンス」	Momoiro Clover Z "Battle and Romance"

Yamaguchi Ichiro to appear on NEWS ZERO

Just revealed a while ago, Yamaguchi Ichiro will be appearing on tonight(6th Jan)'s NEWS ZERO television program on NTV.

Yamaguchi appears on the program's culture corner "ZERO CULTURE". Things about Sakanaction's music, videos, collaborations, and activites up til now will be recalled in an interview.

The program airs tonight 24:28 - 25:28 JST (12:28AM - 1:28AM 7th Jan JST. Japan uses a 26 hour clock when listing TV programs.).

Comment from Yamaguchi, from NEWS ZERO Facebook Page:

2011年という年は、この時代を生きた人間、震災を経験した人間に
関わらず日本人が必ず振り返る一年になったと僕は思っています。
2012年、僕らは何を背負い何を感じて生きていくのでしょうか。
音楽というフィールドで僕らサカナクションが届けたいこと、
それはまだ煙の中ですが、来年の今頃は今よりもっと音楽が好きな
人達が増えているように活動していきたいと、心に誓っている次第です。

The year of 2011; the people living in this era, the people who have experienced the earthquake;
I think that it has become a year that Japanese people will always remember regardless.
In 2012, what kind of burdens and what kind of feelings will we be living with?
We as Sakanaction would like to reach out with the field of music.
Although it is still in progress, this year we pledge from the heart that
we want to be active more than ever to increase the number of people who like music.

サカナクション　山口一郎
Sakanaction - Yamaguchi Ichiro

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Sakanaction to perform in Taiwan in February

Sakanaction will be performing in Taiwan in February. It is their second time having an overseas live.

"HighApps", a live event which seeks to introduce the next generation of up and coming artists, is taking place overseas for the first time. Titled "HighApps in Taiwan", there will be two shows, one in TheWALL TAIPEI on 24th Feb (Fri) and one in TheWALL Pier 2 on 25th Feb (Sat). Both are in Taiwan.

Only 3 Japanese rock bands have been slated to perform, namely Sakanaction, LITE, and avengers in sci-fi.

Japanese source
Taiwan event venue website for details and ticket buying (in Mandarin)

I'm happy that Sakanaction is finally getting the chance to expose themselves to overseas crowds. The venue website and event title all seem to put Sakanaction as the headline act as well. Although I'm not sure if they're really popular in Taiwan, this is a really good chance to increase their popularity there. Someone I know who lives in Taiwan told me that TheWALL is a really good venue.

I would love to go myself since air tickets to Taiwan are relatively cheap, Mandarin's my second language, and the ticket prices for this event are insanely reasonable (about 3600 JPY. even cheaper if you buy as a group.). Besides Sakanaction, I really want to see avengers in sci-fi as well, so this is kind of like a perfect event of sorts for me. Unfortunately, I would be busying myself with exams on those days, so yeah...really bad timing clash. However, I would really recommend it to anyone who has the means to attend!

Yamaguchi Ichiro makes surprise appearance in Base Ball Bear's concert

update: news confirmed

I don't have an official source for this. I saw several accounts of it on Sakanaction's 2ch thread, and many more on Twitter have corroborated that this actually took place.

On January 3rd, Base Ball Bear held a live at Nippon Budoukan arena. During the concert, Base Ball Bear sung kimino-me, the song that features Yamaguchi Ichiro. Yamaguchi's part in the song starts after the first chorus, and right after the first chorus during the song's break, it was announced "Special guest! Yamaguchi Ichiro!". Yamaguchi then sang til the song was finished and that was it.

Many people on Twitter have tweeted things like "I have finally seen kimino-me done live with Ichiro-san", "During the BBB live, when I heard Yamaguchi Ichiro sing kimino-me, I cried tears of gratitude", "When Ichiro-san came out during kimino-me, I thought that I would get a nose bleed! I have seen great stuff~" and "I wanted to go to BBB's Budoukan live...I want to hear kimino-me live *cry*".

However, some accounts on 2ch say it wasn't really that great a performance, because Koide Yusuke of Base Ball Bear messed up some of the lyrics before Yamaguchi's parts, and also the microphone that Yamaguchi was using was in bad condition so his voice couldn't be heard clearly.

Whatever it is, I'm still glad to hear kimino-me was done live. Perhaps we'll be able to judge for ourselves in a few months, since I believe there's a DVD release planned.

New Year's Day Sake no Sakana (very) partial roundup

notice: I'm doing a horrible job of covering Ustreams, so if anyone has a reliable internet connection and wants to do so, please comment ;o;

Koide Yusuke and Hoshino Gen -- Photo from Yamaguchi Ichiro's Twitter

The stream started at 4PM JST today, but apparently I had an appointment set around that time and it wasn't nice to cancel it, so I thought I was going to be unfortunately missing the entire stream. I returned home at 7PM JST with zero hopes, but I opened the link anyway. Lo' and behold, the stream was still on air!

And at a nice time too - it was a black screen with the notice that they had gone for a short break. I took the time to read the tweet stream by the side and noted that Koide Yusuke of Base Ball Bear had shown up unannounced on the program earlier. The next segment was also the last segment which was the acoustic singing session. Many were tweeting that they wanted kimino-me (a very nice Base Ball Bear song featuring Yamaguchi) to be sung.

They reappeared onscreen without Koide. Then they started impromptu playing the guitar and sort of composing a relaxing sounding track which got everyone on the tweet stream excited. Until they started impromptu singing along with it as well. The lyrics made everyone laugh because it was just plain silly and it was like an ending theme for the Sake no Sakana program. The lyrics were something like... "Hoshino Gen... Yamaguchi Ichiro... lalala lalala Sake no Sakana".

Yamaguchi's silly laughing face.

Yamaguchi then proceeded to troll the audience by waving goodbye. Of course, it wasn't the end since they hadn't sung anything actual. Yamaguchi chose to sing Coelacanth to Boku. It was really good as usual. Halfway through, Koide popped up by the side and sat quietly, looking like he was genuinely enjoying the song.

After that, Hoshino sang Kudaranai no Naka ni. Check out the bromance as he sang the song:

Unfortunately, Koide didn't sing even though he was there. Yamaguchi said that he would have liked Koide to sing as well. I didn't manage to catch the reason why he didn't. Probably something like, Koide didn't bring his guitar or prepare anything.

All in all, though I didn't get to watch much, I'm just grateful to have caught the singing part. The bromance made me go "aww". I'm really glad that Yamaguchi seemed to have enjoyed the first day of new year with his buddies. And on that note, happy new year to whoever's reading this blog!

ps. What is that thing taped on Yamaguchi's MacBook Pro??
pps. Order links for Sakanaquarium 2011 DocumentaLy -live at Makuhari Messe- are up by the sidebar.