"Chu-Lip" is Ai Otsuka

Ai Otsuka

is a Japanese pop singer-songwriter, composer, pianist and actress from Suminoe-ku, Osaka City, Osaka Prefecture, Japan. She is a popular artist on the Avex Trax label and is best known for her 2003 hit "Sakuranbo," which stayed in the Top 200 Oricon Weekly Singles Chart for 103 weeks.A piano...

's 14th single under the avex trax

Avex Trax

, listed in the Tokyo Stock Exchange as 7860 and abbreviated as AGHD, is the holding company for a group of entertainment-related subsidiaries based in Japan...

 label. It is also her first single released in 2007.

"Chu-Lip", marks the first time that Otsuka has released more than 3 singles before the release of an album. "Chu-Lip" is a play on the Japanese word for tulip

Tulip

The tulip is a perennial, bulbous plant with showy flowers in the genus Tulipa, which comprises 109 species and belongs to the family Liliaceae. The genus's native range extends from as far west as Southern Europe, North Africa, Anatolia, and Iran to the Northwest of China. The tulip's centre of...

, combining the sound of a kiss ("chu") with the English word "lip." The title track of the single is used as the theme song for the TBS drama Kirakira Kenshuii, starring Manami Konishi

Manami Konishi

is a Japanese actress and singer from Satsumasendai, Kagoshima, Japan. She is a part of Sony Music Japan.-Biography:Born in Kagoshima Prefecture, Japan, in 1978, Manami Konishi joined Kohei Tsuka's Theatre Company in 1999, and made her stage debut in Tsuka's play "Netorare Sosuke." She established...

 and Eiji Wentz

Eiji Wentz

is a Japanese singer, entertainer, and actor. He is a member of the singer-songwriter duo WaT, and belongs to the production company Burning Productions.-Early career:...

 from WaT

WaT

WaT is a Japanese pop duo composed of singers/songwriters Eiji Wentz and Teppei Koike. They met each other in 2002 and formed WaT, playing live street performances with their guitars. Their debut single, "Boku no Kimochi", was released in 2005. Wentz, who is half German-American and half Japanese,...

. The b-side of the single is "Kimi ni Kaeru.", which is a med-tempo song. The term kaeru can mean "returning" or "frog," thus the title can also be translated into "Giving You a Frog.". Otsuka can sometimes be seen carrying a stuffed animal frog on her TV performances for "CHU-LIP" because of this. Otsuka also wore a frog ring at the 58th Kōhaku Uta Gassen.

The single debuted at #3 during its first week with 55,362 copies sold. Altogether it has sold 105,233 copies and continues to chart on Oricon

Oricon

, established in 1999, is the holding company at the head of a Japanese corporate group that supplies statistics and information on music and the music industry in Japan. It started as , which was founded by Sōkō Koike in November 1967 and became known for its music charts. Oricon Inc...

.

The single has been certified as being downloaded more than 1,000,000 times as a ringtone by the RIAJ, and more than 250,000 times as a full-length download to cellphones.

Track listing

Charts

Oricon Sales Chart (Japan)

Release	Chart	Peak Position	First Week Sales	Sales Total	Chart Run
February 21, 2007	Oricon Daily Charts	2
	Oricon Weekly Charts	3	55,362	120,779*	5 weeks
	Oricon Monthly Charts
	Oricon Yearly Charts