Details for 9th single "Goodbye/Eureka"

Cover artwork

sakanaction's upcoming 9th single titled "Goodbye/Eureka", to be released on January 15, has had its jacket artwork and tracklist details revealed.

As the band's first double A-side single, it includes a spectacular ballad "Goodbye", and the ending theme song to the movie "Judge!", "Eureka". Aoki Takamasa will once again work his magic with sakanaction and contribute a remix of "Eiga", bringing the total tracks on the single to three.

In the limited edition version of the single will be the music video for "Eureka", and a special behind the scenes look of the "SAKANAQUARIUM 2013 sakanaction" live at Chiba prefecture's Makuhari Messe.

Furthermore, designer Kamikene of Hatos has produced the jacket artwork as usual with a lot of sakanaction's releases. The limited edition will contain a 40-page booklet of visuals and typography expressing the world view of the title track.

sakanaction to appear on Kouhaku Utagassen for the first time!!

5-member mixed rock band sakanaction will be appearing on New Year's Eve music show Kouhaku Utagassen for the very first time.

sakanaction was formed 2005 and major debuted in 2007. With their unique sound which mixes rock, pop, techno, dance music and other genres together well, and being the representative of a new era rock band, they've gathered up popularity, especially among those in their 20s. The lyrics written by vocalist Yamaguchi Ichiro (33) are also creative, leading to him also writing for SMAP and getting high praise within the music industry. It is also known that there are many firmly-rooted fans who are celebrities, such as actor Tsumabuki Satoshi who has been listening to the band even before their break came.

As their popularity continues to permeate, the number of big-scale tie-ups with CMs and dramas have also increased. "Boku to Hana" which was released last year in May was used as the theme song for Kusanagi Tsuyoshi's drama "37sai de Isha ni Natta Boku ~Kenshuui Junjou Monogatari", and "Music" which was released January this year was used as the theme song for Eguchi Yousuke's drama "dinner".

One of the conditions which led to the Kouhaku participation is their big contribution to television broadcaster NHK (the station that produces Kouhaku). "Aoi" which was included in the self-titled album "sakanaction", released this year in March, was appointed as the theme of NHK's soccer broadcasts. There may be a high possibility that they will perform "Aoi" at Kouhaku.

"sakanaction", released March this year, achieved 1st place on the Oricon charts, the first release from the band to do so. With the Kouhaku appearance included now, the band looks to round out their 2013 activities with a bang.

news source

**For those who may not get why Kouhaku is a big deal - it's the most watched music television show of the year in Japan, every year. Artists have to be invited to appear on the show, and many long to perform on it. 
The artists are separated into White (male) and Red (female) teams to compete for viewers' votes. For sakanaction, they will be in the White team as they have more males than females (general Kouhaku rule).

New song titled "Eureka" is a movie theme song tie-up!

It has been revealed that sakanaction will be doing both the theme song and ending theme of the movie, "Judge!" (ジャッジ！) which will open in cinemas on 11th January 2014.

The theme song of the movie will be the fan favourite "Identity", which was previously released as a single in August 2010. The ending theme song will be a new song, titled "Eureka" (ユリイカ yuriika). The release for this song has not been decided.

"Judge!" is a movie starring Tsumabuki Satoshi, and directed by Nagai Satoshi who is also known for his work on commercials. Besides Tsumabuki, the movie cast also includes Kitagawa Keiko, Hamano Kenta, Agata Morio which are all very individualistic actors. The luxurious cast is also attracting attention.

Billboard Japan First Half of Year Charts 2013

Billboard Japan has released its First Half of Year Charts, which counts from 19 November 2012 to 26 May 2013.

sakanaction showed impressive results on the charts, ranking in 4 categories. Each category only shows the top 20 charters.

At a glance...

Billboard Japan Hot 100 Overall Singles Chart
#6 - Music / sakanaction
(#1 - Sayonara Crawl / AKB48, #2 - Calling / Arashi, #3 - So long! / AKB48)

Top Albums
#14 - sakanaction / sakanaction
(#1 - [an imitation)blood orange] / Mr.Children, #2 - Nihon no Koi to, Yuumin to. / Matsutoya Yumi, #3 - EXILE BEST HITS -LOVE SIDE/SOUL SIDE- / EXILE)

Hot Top Airplay
#3 - Music / sakanaction
(#1 - Suit and Tie / Justin Timberlake, #2 - Spectrum / Zedd)
**sakanaction were the only Japanese artist in the Top 5.

Adult Contemporary Airplay
#2 - Music / sakanaction
(#1 - Suit and Tie / Justin Timberlake, #3 - Because We Can / Bon Jovi)
**sakanaction were the only Japanese artist in the Top 9.

You may view the full charts here.

Voting for Billboard Japan Top Pop Artist 2013

sakanaction has been nominated for Billboard JAPAN's Top Pop Artist 2013 award!

There are a total of 83 artists nominated, and the winner is awarded based on votes. The full list can be seen here, and among the list there are many idols like Johnnys boybands and the AKB48 groups. This means that the odds are pretty low that sakanaction will actually take home the award, but it still means that they have enough mainstream recognition. 

Even though they might not win, we can always give voting a shot. At the very least it might show Billboard Japan that they deserved that nomination and be considered again next year. So here I've written out the instructions on how to vote. 

SAKANAQUARIUM 2013 sakanaction DVD/BD details revealed

The contents of the "SAKANAQUARIUM 2013 sakanaction -LIVE at MAKUHARI MESSE 2013.5.19-" DVD and Blu-ray Disc(BD), set to be released on 13 November 2013, have been revealed.

As previously reported, the performance of 19 May at Makuhari Messe will include Dolby 5.1ch surround sound on the BD version. However, for those who do not have a viewing environment for the 5.1ch surround sound, both the DVD and BD will contain the option of watching with binaural audio. Various methods have been attempted in order to let viewers fully enjoy the sounds as if they were at the live performance.

In addition, the BD version will also contain a video of the live performance of "Bach no Senritsu wo Yoru ni Kiita Sei desu. -SAKANAQUARIUM 2013 version-" at Osaka-jo Hall on 22 May. The performance was captured from many different angles in full high-definition and is "remixed" by the videography unit LAPTHOD. Another special addition for the BD version is the sound recording of the full concert at Osaka-jo Hall in binaural audio.

Furthermore, the first press limited edition of both the DVD and BD contains ticket balloting information for "SAKANAQUARIUM 2014 'SAKANATRIBE'. For those who would like to quickly secure the tickets, don't miss this chance.

Tracklist and more details below.

sakanaction's new song tied up with Toshin High School!

sakanaction has provided a brand new song for Toshin High School commercials!

This is the fourth time sakanaction has provided songs for Toshin High School. The previous songs that were used in their commercials were Identity, Rookie and Bach no Senritsu wo Yoru ni Kiita Sei desu.

It's also the first new song since their 6th album released in March this year. The song starts from the phrase "sayonara wa emotion" (emotions are goodbye). The impressive number has a strong melody and majestic chorus work.

Details about the release and title has not been announced at this time. You can hear the new song in the background in the commercials here.

[Blog] Yamaguchi Ichiro 6/9/13

Friday 6th September 2013, 5:42am

Apartment Words.

It's already become empty.
I could say that of my apartment.*

But I will persuade the room with a light rearranging.
Please keep me company for just one more song.



When the music and words collide,
I start wanting to drink Pepsi.


In the midst of working hard with lyrics.


Ichiro.


--------

*He's previously implied in tweets that he's drained the apartment of creativity by creating a whole album in it, and he wants to move.

I may be translating more of his blog posts when I have the time. 

[Feature] Compilation of known musical equipment used by sakanaction

Ever curious about the instruments and equipment the members of sakanaction use? Even if you can't play any musical instruments, you might have wondered once or twice while watching them perform.

Hence, this post will be a compilation of known instruments that the members use.

Important notes:
- It is not a complete list by any standards. Some instruments may not be current since the band is always updating their equipment.
- If you know of any, please share the information. If I find any more, I will add them.
- I don't have any musical background, so I'm not the one identifying the instruments. The sources can be found at the bottom of the article.
_______________________________________________

SAKANAQUARIUM 2013 DVD and Blu-ray release confirmed

It has been revealed that sakanaction will be releasing SAKANAQUARIUM 2013 sakanaction -LIVE at MAKUHARI MESSE 2013.5.19- on 13 November 2013.

The live performance that took place at Chiba's Makuhari Messe on 19 May will come in both DVD and Blu-ray versions. It is a performance that intoxicated the 20,000 people in attendance and special attention was paid to acoustics.

The Blu-ray version will include Dolby Digital 5.1ch surround sound, meaning you can immerse yourself and enjoy the sound as it was on that day.

The Limited Edition of both DVD and Blu-ray versions will come with special packaging and other specials. More details will be revealed later.

Additionally, on 23 October 2013, Blu-ray versions of the previously released SAKANARCHIVE 2007-2011 ~sakanaction Music Video Collection~, SAKANAQUARIUM 2010 (B) and SAKANAQUARIUM 2010 (C) will be released at one shot.

The 6th CD Shop Grand Prix

Nominees for the 6th CD Shop Grand Prix 2014 have been revealed today, and sakanaction's 6th album "sakanaction" was nominated.

The CD Shop Grand Prix is based on the nominations and votes of CD shop staff across the entire nation of Japan. This time they are expanding and will announce separately the nominees for the first half and second half of the year.

The nominees announced as of current are those works released from 1st January to 30th June 2013, and the actual award announcement will take place in Spring 2014.

If you've been following this blog for sometime you might remember that sakanaction previously won at the 4th CD Shop Grand Prix for DocumentaLy. Let's hope that winning streak continues.

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

[Japanese]	[Romaji]
ONE OK ROCK 「人生×僕＝」	ONE OK ROCK  "Jinsei x Boku ="
サカナクション 「sakanaction」	sakanaction  "sakanaction"
黒木渚 「黒キ渚」	Kuroki Nagisa "Kuroki Nagisa"
KANA-BOON 「僕がCDを出したら」	KANA-BOON "Boku ga CD wo Dashitara"
星野源 「Stranger」	Hoshino Gen "Stranger"
グッドモーニングアメリカ 「未来へのスパイラル」	Good Morning America "Mirai e no Spiral"
miwa 「Delight」	miwa "Delight"
パスピエ 「演出家出演」	Passepied "Enshutsuka Shutsuen"
andymori 「宇宙の果てはこの目の前に」	andymori "Uchuu no Hate wa Kono Me no Mae ni"
[Champagne] 「Me No Do Karate.」	[Champagne] "Me No Do Karate."

[Feature] Sakana LOCKS - Love Philosophy Interview

This is a translation of a rather interesting/amusing interview of Yamaguchi Ichiro with a listener that took place on the Sakana LOCKS radio program a couple of weeks ago. The original Japanese transcript is up on the School of Locks website here.

If you're interested to know more about Yamaguchi and what he's like, this might be a good read!

*When reading this interview, note that all School of Locks programs play on a "classroom" kind of atmosphere with listeners being called "students" and each episode is a "class". Yamaguchi refers to himself as "sensei", and the listeners also address him that way.

sakanaction's comments for Taiwanese fans

sakanaction left a couple of comments for Taiwanese fans through Bursting Core, the Taiwan promoter of "SAKANAQUARIUM 2013 sakanaction in Taiwan".

Those comments were posted by Bursting Core in Mandarin, so I'm translating them here.

---

INORI EP jacket artwork revealed

Front artwork of EP

Back artwork of EP

sakanaction's 1st analog record release, INORI EP, to be released on 26th June, had its jacket artwork revealed today.

The release includes extended mixes of INORI and Structure, both of which the original versions were released in the "sakanaction" album back in March. 

The cover artwork is composed of countless lines joined into a sphere, and a text line consisting of the artist name and track names run across the middle of the sphere in a straight line.

In addition, the record will include a passcode for buyers to log onto a website, limited to until 22nd July, to digitally download the tracks (so people can listen to it on their electronic gadgets as well).

Sake no Sakana 7th episode: Screenshot Gallery

For your viewing pleasure, screencaps and captions of the 2-hour Sake no Sakana stream on May 2nd. Some more detailed translations of what transpired during the show can be found on the site's Twitter account.

By the way, the #sakenosakana hashtag managed to claim top trend on Twitter in Japan.

Anyway, without further ado, please enjoy the screenshots for those who didn't manage to catch the stream!

"sakanaction" chart performance and sales

sakanaction's self-titled 6th album has clinched the top spot on Oricon Weekly Charts for the first time since the band started! For the week of 11 March to 17 March, it has taken first place for album sales.

Congratulations to sakanaction! This is their best selling release to date, and also their highest ranking, breaking the record of 2011's DocumentaLy which got a 2nd place ranking. It's also a whopping increase of 78% in sales as compared to DocumentaLy, no doubt helped along by better exposure and more tie-ups this time round. Also, there wasn't very strong competition for the week.

By the way, single-wise, Aruku Around still remains their highest ranking single with a 3rd place ranking in weekly charts.

See below for the comparison charts.

[Feature] Digest of Power Push inteview on 6th album

sakanaction's frontman Yamaguchi Ichiro did an interview on their latest album, with the Natalie.mu website for their Power Push feature over here.

It's a total of 14,000 words which would be too crazy for me to translate, but there are some really interesting things you can pick up from the interview, so here I present a translated digest of points picked out from article.

sakanaction bags BEST ARTIST award at the MVA

The winners of the Space Shower Music Video Awards (MVA) were announced earlier today and once again, sakanaction took home an award for the third year running.

Unlike in 2011 and 2012 where they snagged the MUSIC VIDEO OF THE YEAR award for Aruku Around and "Bach no Senritsu wo Yoru ni Kiita Sei desu." respectively, this year they were awarded BEST ARTIST.

The representative works for sakanaction were the music videos of Boku to Hana and Yoru no Odoriko.

The below is MVA's comment:

"Of the two works in 2012, Boku to Hana was by veteran Yamaguchi Yasuyuki, and Yoru no Odoriko was by Tanaka Yusuke who was involved in last year's winner of MUSIC VIDEO OF THE YEAR, "Bach no Senritsu wo Yoru ni Kiita Sei desu." In addition to both of these works being highly accomplished, because they provided discussion by attempting to live telecast the state of shooting Boku to Hana's MV through Ustream, and are constantly working seriously in regards to visual expression, it was decided that we would present the prize of the most outstanding artist of the year to sakanaction."

And the following is vocalist Yamaguchi Ichiro's comment on winning:

"To give such an award to countryside people like us, really thank you so much. On top of that, we're honoured that it is the third consecutive year we are receiving an award. We would like to continue to work hard so as to not shame the name of 'BEST ARTIST'."

Source: Space Shower MVA Website

[Feature] Members' blog posts on 6th album

One more day left to the release of the new album! In commemoration and as well as in the hope that it will spur those still wavering over purchasing the album, I've translated a few blog posts of the members that talked a bit about the album.

This goes in chronological order.

Tracklist for sakanaction's 6th album revealed

The tracklist for sakanaction's self-titled 6th album, that is to be released on 13 March 2013, has been revealed.

In addition to the single songs "Boku to Hana", "Yoru no Odoriko" and "Music", there will be "Aoi", the theme song for NHK's football broadcasts for 2013. There is also a song titled "INORI", in which Aoki Takamasa took part in (he previously remixed "YES NO", included in "Identity" single). There is a total of 14 songs and it is listed below.

Furthermore, the limited edition first press version of the album will include the bonus track, a self-remixed version of "Bach no Senritsu wo Yoru ni Kiita Sei desu."

There will be an album preview listening party held at Tokyo's Liquidroom Ebisu on the 8th of March. Similar to what they did for DocumentaLy's release, all songs will be revealed for the first time to public during the listening party. However, it is yet unknown whether there will be a Ustream this time for those not attending the party.

6th album self-titled "sakanaction", jacket artwork revealed

Album artwork

sakanaction's new and sixth album, releasing on 13 March 2013, has been announced to be self-titled "sakanaction". The contents of the DVD and Blu-ray have also been revealed.

In this first self-titled work for the band, it has already been confirmed that "Boku to Hana", "Yoru no Odoriko" and "Music" will be included.

In the DVD and Blu-ray, the activities of sakanaction in 2012 will be presented in a calendar format called "sakanacalendar 2012". This includes the contents of 10 songs' live footages, photos of their lives at summer festivals, the makings of "Boku to Hana" and "Yoru no Odoriko" music videos, what Yamaguchi Ichiro's home looks like, as well as a documentary of the recording process at the studio.

In addition, the Blu-ray will also include the music videos for "Boku to Hana", "Yoru no Odoriko" and "Music". The CD's tracklist will be revealed at a later date.

It should also be noted that "Music" will be performed at the upcoming episode (15 February) of Music Station, so do not miss it!

"Music" chart performance and sales

sakanaction's latest single, Music, achieved the number 4 ranking on Oricon Weekly Charts for the week of 21 to 27 January.

The single ranked at 3rd place for most of the week, with its peak on the daily charts being 2nd place. There was no performance on television music programs this time, and the only promotion it had was being the theme song of Fuji TV's Sunday primetime drama "dinner". Its lower price tag of 500 yen this time may also have helped.

Although they did not manage to beat the chart position "Aruku Around" achieved back in 2010, "Music" managed to outsell "Yoru no Odoriko" for first week reported sales, meaning "Music" is now their best selling single. Congrats to team sakanaction!

See below for the comparison chart with previous singles.

Short TV snippet of Yamaguchi Ichiro backstage

This is a video from a Japanese TV program that featured Yamaguchi backstage before the live performance at HighApps vol.10 Special. It's regarding "Music".

Just as a tiny token of appreciation to everyone who reads this news blog, I translated it. Please turn on the English captions to view the subs.

As always, a tiny disclaimer that I'm not totally fluent in the language.

sakanaction's 6th album announced for March release!

It has been revealed that sakanaction will be releasing their 6th album (title yet to be decided) will be released on 13 March 2013.

This is a much anticipated album by fans after a gap of a year and a half since DocumentaLy, which sold more than 100,000 copies. The contents will include "Boku to Hana", "Yoru no Odoriko" and "Music", and the Limited Edition versions will contain a bonus track.

The Limited Editions will be available in two types, either with Blu-ray Disc or DVD. Both will contain documentary footage and live performance footage. In addition, the Blu-ray Disc version will also contain music video(s).

To commemorate the release of the album, special events will be held in Sapporo, Tokyo, Nagoya, Osaka and Fukuoka, for those who purchase the album. There will also be another event for people who purchase the album from the Tokyo branches of Tower Records or Tsutaya Records.


sakanaction
6th album
Release - 13 March 2013
Limited Edition [CD + Blu-ray Disc] - 3990 yen
Limited Edition [CD + DVD] - 3780 yen
Regular Edition - 3000 yen

Vote for sakanaction's music videos in this year's MVA!

The yearly music video awards organised by SPACE SHOWER TV, "SPACE SHOWER MUSIC VIDEO AWARDS", or better known as MVA, is coming back.

Before the nominees for the usual awards are announced on the 1st of February, the voting for the special "BEST YOUR CHOICE" category has opened. This is the only award that is given out based on viewers' votes.

Voting will close on 3 March 2013. Read below on how to make your votes for sakanaction. 

HighApps vol.10 to be Ustreamed

The live event "HighApps Vol.10 SPECIAL!! 〜2013 New Year Rock Party!〜" on 14 January at Shinkiba Studio Coast, in which sakanaction will take part in, will be streamed on Ustream.

Taking into account that the tickets have been sold out, it was decided that they would stream the event live. Check out the details below!