Mr. Children
Encyclopedia
, commonly called , is a Japan
ese rock band
formed in 1988 by Kazutoshi Sakurai
, Kenichi Tahara, Keisuke Nakagawa, and Hideya Suzuki. As a group, they are one of the most successful Japanese rock artists, having sold over 50 million records and creating the 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 , have 29 consecutive number 1 singles, replaced Glay
as the all-male band (with 3 or more members) 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 2010, Mr. Children has published thirteen original studio album
s and 33 physical single
s, along with three compilation
s, a live album
, and fifteen home video
releases. The band's music is mainly composed and written by lead singer Sakurai, with the exception of the Suzuki-penned songs "Asia" and "#2601" from the albums Atomic Heart
and Discovery
, and occasional collaborative song writing with producer Takeshi Kobayashi.
, was a political activist, and because of this The Walls too became a political band. Drummer Hideya Suzuki was not an original member of The Walls. When the original drummer departed, the band recruited Suzuki, who went to the same school as the other members. They changed their name in late 1988 after sending a demo tape that generated no interest from record companies, during a talk in a dinner. The group thought the word "children" had a nice ring to it, but because they were no longer children themselves, they decided to add Mr. in front of it. They credit this change as a new way they started to look at the group.
After changing their name, Mr.Children auditioned at a music club called La Mama, failing to pass the first time, but passing a second audition to play at the club. After playing in the club, they were asked to try and debut as professionals. Mr.Children sent out five demo tapes; all failed to generate record label interest, and the group took a three month hiatus in 1991. Suzuki Hideya worked as a receptionist at an economy hotel, while Kazutoshi Sakurai worked with his father who owned a construction company. When they returned, the group created a sixth demo tape and caught the attention of Toy's Factory. The label signed the group and had them play as the opening act for the rock group Jun Sky Walkers. It was also during this time that they were introduced to their long-time friend and producer Takeshi Kobayashi. Kobayashi was already known in the music industry as a music composer for Keisuke Kuwata
of Southern All Stars
and Kyōko Koizumi
.
, was released and represented the long journey they took to get to this point. Three months later their first single was released on August 21, 1992. After the release of the single the group held two tours for the album, both held between September 23, 1992 and November 5 of the same year, the '92 Everything Tour comprising ten and the '92 Your Everything Tour consisting of twelve performances. To cap off the year and lead them into the next, Mr. Children released their second album, Kind of Love
and their second single on December 1, 1992. "Dakishimetai" was later used as an insert song for the Japanese drama
. Shortly after, a new tour called '92–93 Kind of Love Tour started and lasted from December 7, 1992 till January 25, 1993.
In 1993, with the completion of the band’s tour they began work on for their third album. The first single of the new year to be released was "Replay", released on July 1, 1993 and used in commercials. On September 9, 1993 their third album Versus
was released, but failed to bring the group into the spotlight. They continued on and held a new tour. The '93 Versus Tour was held from September 23 until November 5 and had the band holding nine performances. Shortly after, "Cross Road
" was released on November 10, 1993, which was used to promote the Japanese drama . The single was not a hit, but through word of mouth "Cross Road
" gained popularity and after 22 weeks sold over a million copies and later, though released in 1993, managed to become the fifteenth best selling single in Oricon
's 1994 yearly charts. Sakurai confessed years later as to not liking his works up to this point. According to him:
On June 1, 1994 a new single called "Innocent World
" was released and used a promotional song for the soft drink . The single solidified the groups popularity with its sales, managing to sell 1,935,830 copies and becoming the No. 1 selling single in Oricon
's 1994 yearly charts. Afterwards work began on their fourth original album Atomic Heart
. The album was released on September 1, 1994 and became the bands highest selling album to date. Due to the huge success the band received from the album and "Innocent World" single, the groups popularity built up creating the in Japan.
The band also had Takeshi Kobayashi produce two new tours for them. The first tour, named after the "Innocent World
" single was held from September 18 to December 18. The band also released their sixth single "Tomorrow Never Knows
" on November 10, 1994 which was used as the theme song to the Japanese drama . The song was written while the group was on tour, was later voted in 2006 as fans No. 1 all-time favorite song on Music Station
, and is currently the third highest selling drama tie-in single in Japan. The next single, was released on December 12, 1994, though originally intended to be the B-side
of "Tomorrow Never Knows
". To end the year, "Innocent World
" won the Song of the Year award at the 36th annual Japan Record Awards.
of Southern All Stars
. The single was used as the theme song for the Act Against AIDS campaign, was produced by Mr. Children and written by Kuwata. To promote the single and the campaign, they held a one month tour from April 18 until May 14, entitled , where the group did cover songs of many English speaking artists such as The Rolling Stones
and Bob Dylan
. During the tour the group was also filming a documentary/concert movie called Es ~Mr. Children in Film~. It was released in theaters on June 6, 1995, preceded by the group's eight single "Es (Theme of Es)" on May 10, to promote the movie. Two months later the group held an open air tour titled from July 16 to September 10, during which the ninth single, was released on August 10.
On February 6, 1996 Mr. Children's tenth single was released, to promote the Japanese drama and also for Daio Paper's commercial. The single went on to become Japan's highest first week selling single of all time and is currently Japan's eighth highest selling drama tie-in single. The success of the single was also a surprise for Sakurai, who admitted to spending very little time writing the song. Two months later, on April 5, 1996 the group's eleventh single was released, followed by their fifth original album on June 24 and their twelfth single , on August 8. To close the year, the Regress or Progress Tour started and lasted from August 24, 1996 to March 28, 1997. The group visited 14 cities and held 55 concerts.
Mr. Children's 13th single, "Everything (It's You)
", was released on February 5, 1997, with the title track used as the theme song to the Japanese drama . A month later, on March 5 Bolero
, Mr. Children's sixth album was released. Soon after, rumors started of the group disbanding. Sakurai's reply: "The band will dissolve only when we have no more talent and have relationship problems with each other." Yet the group then decided to take some time off. Nakagawa and Suzuki start a side project band called Hayashi Hideo, and joined by Kenji Fujii from My Little Lover
and Sawao Yamanaka from The Pillows
, went on a club tour.
On January 13, 1999, , their 16th single, was released, followed by their seventh album, Discovery
, on February 3, 1999. Sakurai compared his approach to the songwriting for the record to surfing:
Eleven days later they began the Discovery Tour '99, from February 14 to July 12, where the group visited 16 cities and held 42 shows. During the tour, Mr. Children released their 17th single "I'll Be" on May 12, which was used in Sea Breeze commercials. Though originally released on the Discovery
album, the song was re-released as a single with a lighter beat. The single was not a success and became Mr. Children's lowest selling single since "Cross Road
". During the Discovery Tour '99, an idea for a live album was brought up. It was released as a 500,000 copy limited edition on September 8, 1999 and called 1/42
(referring to one of the 42 shows in the tour). Most of the tracks were recorded on June 16, 1999 at the Makomanai ice arena, while the bonus track "Dakishimetai" was recorded at the Okinawa Ginowan-Shi seaside park.
At the beginning of a new century , released on January 13, 2000 became the groups 18th single. While "I'll Be" failed to be a success, "Kuchibue" proved to be a hit selling 724,070 copies. On August 9, 2000, their 19th single "Not Found" was also used as the theme song to the Japanese drama , followed a month later by their 9th original album Q
on September 27, 2000. The band went to New York to record this album, where they re-recorded some of their old indie
material and for the first time, producer Takeshi Kobayashi performed with the band on a recording. The cover for the album was shot bought Size, Inc. at the Bonneville Salt Flats in the United States. The album was not a favorite amongst fans for various reasons and became their first album since Atomic Heart
to not sell over one million copies. ‘Concert tour Q’ started, visiting 13 cities and holding 35 concerts between October 15, 2000 and February 24, 2001.
Sakurai stated the best of albums weren't something they had planned on doing yet. During this time, the group was finishing up work for their new upcoming album and had planned to start promoting singles on it. However it was decided that a best of album was needed and so they were released. Four days following the dual album release, the group launched the ‘popsaurus’ tour, visiting 10 cities and playing 15 shows, lasting from July 15, 2001 all the way through September 25, 2001. A month into the tour their 20th single was released and used to promote the beverage . Two months after the popsaurus tour ended, "Youthful Days" was released. Released on November 7, 2001, it was their 21st single and was an insert song for the Japanese drama . It ended up being their best selling single for the year. The b-side for the single, "Drawing", originally had no commercial tie-in, but two years later was used as the theme song to the 2003 Japanese drama .
Mr. Children released their 22nd single on January 1, 2002, which was used as a show song in the Japanese drama . Four months later their tenth original album It's a Wonderful World
was released on May 10, the groups' tenth anniversary. The release of the album on their 10th anniversary was not something that had originally intended. As the group was wrapping up recording, Sakurai asked if the album could be released in the spring time. While the group and their management was trying to think of how to promote an album in the spring time, they came up with releasing the album on their 10th anniversary. A new tour, titled Mr. Children Tour 2002 Dear Wonderful World was set to begin later that year. The previous single "I'll Be" from the Discovery
album was selected to be used as an official theme for the 2002 FIFA World Cup
, held in Japan and South Korea
. On May 24, 2002 Mr. Children attended the first ever MTV Video Music Awards Japan
and topped the awards show by winning 'Video of the year' for the song "Kimi ga suki". Two months after the release of the new album, Mr.Children's 23rd single "Any", was released on July 11, 2002 and used to promote Group 10th Anniversry. The group was not able to properly promote the single. As preparations for the new tour were beginning and promotion for the new single were being done, lead singer Sakurai was hospitalized on July 21, 2002, after a blockage in his cerebellum
was detected. The Mr. Children Tour 2002 Dear Wonderful World was canceled and all group activities were put on a temporary hiatus. While recovering, Sakurai wrote a song called "Hero", that was inspired by his hospitalization. The song was released as the groups 24th single on December 11, 2002 and was used in Group 10th Anniversry commercial. The first press version of the single included a DVD
where, in addition to a Mr. Children 2002 documentary -Hero- that was aired, the singer talked about his hospitalization and inspiration for the song. On November 15, 2002 Mr.Children's website announced the bands return to the stage for a "stew of home pride" with a one night only live, December 21, 2002 the group returned to the stage for a single concert, later released on DVD, titled Wonederful World on Dec. 21.
The group remained quiet for most of 2003. Sakurai helped to launch Artists' Power Bank (AP Bank), a non-profit environmental financial institution, in June. Sakamoto Ryuichi, a well known composer, came up with the initial idea to build a wind-power plant. With the help of Sakurai and music producer Takeshi Kobayashi, their goal later became to invest in environmentally friendly projects, such as renewable energy, and as of 2007, participated in other social issues such as helping the victims of a Chuetsu offshore earthquake in Niigata Prefecture on July 16, 2007. Near the end of the year, Mr. Children re-grouped and released their 25th single . It became their first double a-side single with "Tenohira" receiving no commercial tie-in, and "Kurumi" used to promote . The single was a hit and became Mr.Children's best selling single since 2001's "Youthful Days" single.
Cup Noodle – NO Border' commercials and as the 'News 23' theme song. According to Sakurai, is
In the following month, they released their 26th single, "Sign", on May 26, which was used as the theme song to the Japanese drama Orange Days
and went on to win the Song of the Year award at the 46th annual Japan Record Awards ten years after their win for 'Innocent World'.
Most of the 2005 was spent working on a new album. As a solo act, Kazutoshi Sakurai appeared at Golden Circle vol.7 on February 28, 2005. Finally on June 29, 2005 the group released their 27th single . The single became a monster hit selling 569,000 copies its first week, and ending with 925,632 copies sold. As a quad a-side single, all four songs had a commercial tie in. promoted 'Pocari Sweat', "and I love you" promoted 'Nissin
Cup Noodle – NO Border', became the theme song for the Japanese movie 'Fly Daddy Fly', and was used as a promotional song for Fuji TV's educational program 'Kodomo bangumi Ponkikkiizu, Gachagachapon'. Even though it was released as a single, it was classified as an album by the Recording Industry Association of Japan. A month later the group attended Kazutoshi Sakurai's 3-day festival 'ap bank fes’ 05' from July 16, 2005 through July 18, 2005, followed by 'SETSTOCK '05' at Kokuei bihoku kyuuryou park on July 23, 2005 and 'Higher Ground 2005' at Umi no nakamichi kaihinkouen outdoor theater on July 30, 2005. Three months later on September 21, 2005, I Love U
(I♥U), Mr.Children’s 12th original album, was released. Two months later Dome Tour 2005 'I Love U' began, running from November 12, 2005 through December 27, 2005 and were only the fourth artist in Japanese history to play at the Osaka, Tokyo, Sapporo, Nagoya and Fukuoka dome's. The tour ended in Tokyo Come where they played to 45,000 fans, bringing the tour total to almost 390,000 fans. By the end of the year the group managed to pass the 45 million mark in sold records.
The first single for 2006, was their 28th single released on July 5, 2006 and used as the promotion song for Toyota's "Tobira wo akeyou" commercial and as the theme song to NTV's 2006 FIFA World Cup
broadcasting. Due to the groups involvement with ap bank fes. '06, there were no magazine or radio promotions, and only 3 live performances were done to promote the single. However the commercial tie-in's for the single proved to be a success and "Houkiboshi" was voted #3 as the favorite commercial song for 2006 and voted as the favorite winter song heard in the summer. Ten days following the release of 'Houkiboshi', Mr.Children participated in the 3 day festival, ap bank fes '06, where they performed "Hero", "Strange Chameleon", "Owarinaki tabi", and "Hokiboshi". One month later Mr.Children were special guests at The Mujintou fes. 2006 and performed "Mirai", "Innocent world", "Hokorobi", "Sign", "Owarinaki tabi", "Worlds end", and "Houkiboshi". Shortly after Mr.Children announced a joint tour with fellow Japanese rockers the pillows
, known as 'Mr.Children & the pillows new big bang tour ~This is Hybrid Innocent~'. The tour was held from September 26, 2006 through October 11, 2006. On November 15, 2006, the group released their 29th single , which was used as the theme song , by NTV
, a controversial television drama about underage pregnancy
. Kazutoshi Sakurai had begun writing the song in February 2006 and finished writing in March 2006. and shot the promotional video in September 2006. One of the b-sides of single was a re-recording of Mr. Children's 2003 song "Kurumi", used as a theme song in the movie .
was released on March 14, which would become the group's first in almost 13 years to chart at No. 1 for two consecutive weeks. It was also the first Japan
ese album in 2007 to sell more than a million copies. Work on the record had come to a standstill, during the recording of the song "Houkiboshi", due to a dispute among the group over "Home"'s direction. Producer Kobayashi suggested to make an album that "pays attention to the world with a message".
The album reflected a more personal touch from the group, with talking about the 9/11 attacks at New York City
, and , being inspired by Kazutoshi Sakurai father who had been sick. The title of the album 'Home', was originally suggested to be titled "Home Made" or "Home Ground", because the group wanted the album to having the meaning that is was made by hand. However they choose to name it just 'Home' because they felt that by adding an additional word it would be limiting the idea in mind. Three days after the release of Home, Mr. Children won the awards Best Video of the Year and Best Group Video for the single "Shirushi" at the Space Shower Music Awards '07. For the album, the group held two promotional tours. The first half called Mr. Children Home Tour 2007, started on May 4 and lasted until June 23. During the tour, a new compilation album titled B-Side
was released on May 10, which was also the group's 15th anniversary. The release of a b-side compilation had been suggested by singer Sakurai while working on Home:
Releasing a public statement on their official site at Toy's Factory, both the group and Sakurai felt that the a-side tracks on their singles had started to dictate and overall theme as to who Mr. Children were as a group. They felt a lot of feelings and desires which have shaped them as a group came from these coupling songs, and thus decided to released them as a compilation album.
On May 5, 2007 after the second concert for the first half of the Home tour, drummer Hideya Suzuki injured his hand after accidentally touching a ventilator. He injured his left index finger, which required 4 stitches and the following two concerts had to be re-scheduled. Publicity for the tour reached a high, when they performed in front of a sold-out tour for 15,000 fans at Yokohama Arena on June 7, 2007 and reignited speculation that the Mr.Children phenomenon was alive and well. A second half of the tour to promote 'Home', titled Mr.Children Home Tour 2007 -In the Field- took place from August 4 to September 30. Both tours ended up being a big success for the group, and became the most attended Japan
tour in 2007 at 550,000 fans. The main promotional track for the Home album, , was selected to promote the Olympus
E-410. During the E Goes to World campaign, the camera manufacturer had customers submit pictures to create a new promotional video for the song.
On July 10 Mr. Children announced a new song on their website titled . While initially a single release date wasn't issued, the group announced a month later it would be released on October 30, 2007. The title track, "Tabidachi no Uta", was used as a theme song for the Japanese movie , and a month later also be used to promote NTT Higashi Nihon. With the release of the single, Mr. Children managed to debut at number 1 for the week and in return obtained their 27th consecutive number 1 single. Similar to Jyūyonsai no Haha before, the movie Koizora deals with the struggles of a young girl, involving betrayal, rape and abortion. The group was scheduled to play at the ap bank fes '07 from July 14 to July 16, but due to a typhoon, the first two days had to be canceled, and only the final day proceeded as planned. With the announcement of the new single Mr.Children also announced the 'Home' tour 2007 DVD, which was released on November 14, 2007. On December 18, 2007, Oricon announced that Home became their first album to top the yearly album charts since their debut with the sales of 1.18 million copies, surpassing the sales of Kumi Koda
's album Black Cherry
of 1.02 million copies.
. Afterwards Mr. Children announced the release of two singles. The first, "Gift", released on July 30, 2008, was used as the official theme song to the 2008 Beijing Olympics
coverage on NHK. When writing this song, Sakurai focused on the meaning behind the Olympics and wanted to write a song not just for those who win, but for everyone who participates.
The ap bank announced that Mr.Children would appear for all 3 days at ap bank fes '08. Their second single of the year, "Hanabi", released on September 3, 2008, was used as the theme song to the Japanese drama Code Blue, in which Tomohisa Yamashita
played a main role. The single "Hanabi" topped the Oricon single charts for two weeks, becoming their 29th consecutive number-one single. However, their next single became their first download-only single for the music download
market. The nun full-track ringtone downloads (Chaku Uta) of the song began on October 1 and the full-track downloads (Chaku Uta Full) began on November 1, 2008. Their studio album Supermarket Fantasy
was released on December 10, 2008. Supermarket Fantasy sold about 708,000 copies in its initial week, debuting at the number-one position on the Oricon weekly album charts.
theme "Fanfare" for the movie One Piece Film: Strong World
. "Fanfare" was digitally released as a non full-track ringtone song (Chaku Uta) on November 16 as a full-track ringtone song (Chaku Uta Full) on December 2, 2009. The song debuted at the number-one position on the RIAJ Digital Track Chart
.
On May 10, 2010, Mr. Children released the DVD Mr. Children Dome Tour 2009 Supermarket Fantasy in Tokyo Dome, but it sold about 49,000 copies one day before the official release day, debuting at No. 1 on the Oricon weekly music DVD chart with the one day sales. It became their seventh consecutive number-one music DVD and they tied the records of Arashi
and KAT-TUN
for having the most consecutive number-one DVDs on the Oricon weekly music DVD chart. It also debuted at No. 1 on the Oricon weekly comprehensive DVD chart, eclipsing the sales of Avatar in the week. It topped the Oricon comprehensive DVD charts for three consecutive weeks, making them the second artist to achieve that with the music DVD while the first is Arashi.
On September 4, 2010, Mr. Children released their second documentary/concert movie Mr. Children / Split the Difference (since first "Es" ~Mr. Children in Film~) and released DVD + CD includes the movie and selected songs by the band on November 10, 2010. It debuted at No. 1 on the Oricon weekly music DVD chart and they also became the first artist to have their eighth consecutive number-one music DVD.
On December 1, 2010, Mr. Children released their sixteenth studio album Sense
includes digital release only single "Fanfare". But the details such as track list, number of tracks, cover and title of the album were not announced until just before a release date, November 29.
On April 4, 2011, Mr. Children released the download single "Kazoe Uta" to collect donations for the 2011 Tōhoku earthquake. "Kazoe Uta" debuted at number 1 on the RIAJ Digital Track Chart, surpassing the download sales of AKB48
's charity single "Dareka no Tame ni (What Can I Do for Someone?)".
. The proceeds from the event were donated to support children living with HIV
. The live was followed up by a collaboration Act Against AIDS charity single with fellow Japanese artist Kuwata Keisuke titled ‘Kiseki no hoshi’ and released on January 23, 1995. On April 25, 2001 Kazutoshi Sakurai also participated in the recording of Zero Landmine
, a single created to promote awareness of the problem of landmines and promote a ban on landmines. In addition the group has also participated in Kazutoshi Sakura's solo project, AP bank. AP Bank, a nonprofit lending group, carries the goal of tackling environmental problems by financing environmentally friendly projects such as renewable energy, in addition to holding yearly festivals to raise money to fund additional projects. Since its inception in 2005, Mr.Children has been actively participating in the festivals, with an announcement in 2008 that the group will now work more closely with its cause by participating during the entire three day festival duration in addition to further details to be announced at a later time.
Members Kazutoshi Sakurai and Kenichi Tahara joined together to create Acid Test for the concert ‘Dream Power John Lennon Super live broadcasting’ on October 9, 2001. The live was part of Yoko Ono
’s Dream Power and educational platform where artists came together to hold a charity concert to raise money for school construction funds for children in Africa and Asia. The John Lennon song covered by Acid Test during the live, "Mother
", was later recorded and released on a tribute album Happy Birthday, John, and released on September 30, 2005.
In addition to social causes, Mr.Children's music has been used as background music for numerous television advertisements, television programs, television drama's, and motion pictures. Examples of the groups commercial tie-ins include "and I love you", "Bokura no Oto", and "Tagatame" for Nissin Cup Noodle no Border commercials, 'Gift' for the 2008 Beijing Olympics on NHK, and "Tabidachi no uta" for the 2007 Japanese movie . As a group, Mr.Children have not endorsed products by physically appearing in television commercials or printed media advertisements. One of the methods used to help promote the group is through Brajackets, a dust jacket for books, which are available at stands in bookstores for free. The Brajacket serve as free advertising for various products from icecream to movies and musicals. Mr. Children have used this method to promote singles and albums; for example and I Love U
(I♥U).
Recurring support members
* Compilation album.
** Live album
Japan
Japan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...
ese rock band
Rock Band
Rock Band is a music video game developed by Harmonix Music Systems, published by MTV Games and Electronic Arts. It is the first title in the Rock Band series. The PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 versions were released in the United States on November 20, 2007, while the PlayStation 2 version was...
formed in 1988 by Kazutoshi Sakurai
Kazutoshi Sakurai
is a Japanese musician and entrepreneur. He composes and writes almost all of the songs for his band Mr. Children, in addition to writing lyrics and singing for his solo project group Bank Band. In 2006, Sakurai ranked #8 in HMV's "Top 30 Best Japanese Singers of All Time" and in 2007 was voted #4...
, Kenichi Tahara, Keisuke Nakagawa, and Hideya Suzuki. As a group, they are one of the most successful Japanese rock artists, having sold over 50 million records and creating the 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 , have 29 consecutive number 1 singles, replaced Glay
Glay
Glay is a rock/pop band from Hakodate, Hokkaidō, Japan formed by guitarist Takuro and vocalist Teru in high school in 1988. Glay primarily composes songs in the rock and pop genres, but they have also composed songs using elements of different styles such as reggae and gospel...
as the all-male band (with 3 or more members) to have the most number 1 albums on the 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...
charts, and won the Japan Record Award in 1994 for "Innocent World
Innocent World
-Overview:"Innocent World" was Mr. Children's first No. 1 single on the Oricon Japanese charts, managing to sell 1,935,830 copies during its run on the chart and was the No. 1 selling single for Oricon's 1994 yearly chart. The title track was used as the promotional song for the soft drink and...
" and in 2004 for "Sign". As of 2010, Mr. Children has published thirteen original studio album
Studio album
A studio album is an album made up of tracks recorded in the controlled environment of a recording studio. A studio album contains newly written and recorded or previously unreleased or remixed material, distinguishing itself from a compilation or reissue album of previously recorded material, or...
s and 33 physical single
Single (music)
In music, a single or record single is a type of release, typically a recording of fewer tracks than an LP or a CD. This can be released for sale to the public in a variety of different formats. In most cases, the single is a song that is released separately from an album, but it can still appear...
s, along with three compilation
Compilation album
A compilation album is an album featuring tracks from one or more performers, often culled from a variety of sources The tracks are usually collected according to a common characteristic, such as popularity, genre, source or subject matter...
s, a live album
Live album
A live album is a recording consisting of material recorded during stage performances using remote recording techniques, commonly contrasted with a studio album...
, and fifteen home video
Home video
Home video is a blanket term used for pre-recorded media that is either sold or rented/hired for home cinema entertainment. The term originates from the VHS/Betamax era but has carried over into current optical disc formats like DVD and Blu-ray Disc and, to a lesser extent, into methods of digital...
releases. The band's music is mainly composed and written by lead singer Sakurai, with the exception of the Suzuki-penned songs "Asia" and "#2601" from the albums Atomic Heart
Atomic Heart
Atomic Heart is the fourth original album by Japanese rock band Mr. Children released on September 1, 1994. The album debuted on the Japanese Oricon music charts at #1 and sold 3,429,650 copies during its run on the chart. The album contained two songs released. The first, Innocent World, was...
and Discovery
Discovery (Mr. Children album)
-Track listing:#Discovery#Hikari no sasu hō e#Prism#Under shorts#Nishi e higashi e#Simple#I'll be#2601#La la la#Owarinaki tabi#Image...
, and occasional collaborative song writing with producer Takeshi Kobayashi.
1988–1992
The group first formed in 1988. The band was originally called The Walls due to their original influence by the band Echoes; the frontman of Echoes, Jinsei TsujiHitonari Tsuji
is a Tokyo-born Japanese writer, composer, and film director. In his film and singing work he uses the name Jinsei Tsuji, an alternative reading of the Japanese writing of his name. He debuted as a writer in 1989. His films include and ....
, was a political activist, and because of this The Walls too became a political band. Drummer Hideya Suzuki was not an original member of The Walls. When the original drummer departed, the band recruited Suzuki, who went to the same school as the other members. They changed their name in late 1988 after sending a demo tape that generated no interest from record companies, during a talk in a dinner. The group thought the word "children" had a nice ring to it, but because they were no longer children themselves, they decided to add Mr. in front of it. They credit this change as a new way they started to look at the group.
After changing their name, Mr.Children auditioned at a music club called La Mama, failing to pass the first time, but passing a second audition to play at the club. After playing in the club, they were asked to try and debut as professionals. Mr.Children sent out five demo tapes; all failed to generate record label interest, and the group took a three month hiatus in 1991. Suzuki Hideya worked as a receptionist at an economy hotel, while Kazutoshi Sakurai worked with his father who owned a construction company. When they returned, the group created a sixth demo tape and caught the attention of Toy's Factory. The label signed the group and had them play as the opening act for the rock group Jun Sky Walkers. It was also during this time that they were introduced to their long-time friend and producer Takeshi Kobayashi. Kobayashi was already known in the music industry as a music composer for Keisuke Kuwata
Keisuke Kuwata
has gained fame as a Japanese multi-instrumentalist, singer-songwriter, and frontman for the Southern All-Stars, as well as his own solo band, the Kuwata band. He has also done significant amount of scoring music for films. He went to Aoyama Gakuin University....
of Southern All Stars
Southern All Stars
, also known by the abbreviations or SAS, is a Japanese pop/rock band that formed in the mid 1970s.The band is composed of Keisuke Kuwata , Yuko Hara , Kazuyuki Sekiguchi , Hiroshi Matsuda and Hideyuki "Kegani" Nozawa...
and Kyōko Koizumi
Kyoko Koizumi
' is a Japanese singer and actress. Her music is released through Victor Entertainment . She is also known by the nickname Kyon Kyon. She had singles reach the Top ten for 12 consecutive years between 1983 and 1994, a female solo artist record, until this was broken by Namie Amuro...
.
1992–1994
On May 10, 1992, Mr. Children's debut album, EverythingEverything (Mr. Children album)
Everything, is the first mini-album, and debut album, by Japanese Japanese rock band Mr. Children on May 10, 1992. The album debuted on the Japanese Oricon music charts at #25 and sold 451,440 copies during its run on the chart...
, was released and represented the long journey they took to get to this point. Three months later their first single was released on August 21, 1992. After the release of the single the group held two tours for the album, both held between September 23, 1992 and November 5 of the same year, the '92 Everything Tour comprising ten and the '92 Your Everything Tour consisting of twelve performances. To cap off the year and lead them into the next, Mr. Children released their second album, Kind of Love
Kind of Love
Kind of Love is the second, and first full length album, by Japanese rock band Mr. Children released on December 1, 1992.The album debuted on the Japanese Oricon music charts at #13 and sold 1,179,780 copies during its run on the chart. The album contains only one single released on December 1,...
and their second single on December 1, 1992. "Dakishimetai" was later used as an insert song for the Japanese drama
Japanese drama
Japanese drama may refer to:*Japanese television drama or Dorama, about dramatic television shows in Japan*Radio drama in Japan, often related to anime and manga series- See also :...
. Shortly after, a new tour called '92–93 Kind of Love Tour started and lasted from December 7, 1992 till January 25, 1993.
In 1993, with the completion of the band’s tour they began work on for their third album. The first single of the new year to be released was "Replay", released on July 1, 1993 and used in commercials. On September 9, 1993 their third album Versus
Versus (Mr. Children album)
Versus is the third, and second full length album, by Japanese rock band Mr. Children released on September 1, 1993. The album debuted on the Japanese Oricon music charts at #3 and sold 802,140 copies during its run on the chart...
was released, but failed to bring the group into the spotlight. They continued on and held a new tour. The '93 Versus Tour was held from September 23 until November 5 and had the band holding nine performances. Shortly after, "Cross Road
Cross Road (song)
"Cross Road" is the fourth single released by Mr. Children on November 10, 1993.-Overview:The single reached #6 on the Oricon Japanese charts selling 1,255,940 copies during its run on the chart. The title track, "Cross Road", was used to promote the Japanese drama and also included in Mr....
" was released on November 10, 1993, which was used to promote the Japanese drama . The single was not a hit, but through word of mouth "Cross Road
Cross Road (song)
"Cross Road" is the fourth single released by Mr. Children on November 10, 1993.-Overview:The single reached #6 on the Oricon Japanese charts selling 1,255,940 copies during its run on the chart. The title track, "Cross Road", was used to promote the Japanese drama and also included in Mr....
" gained popularity and after 22 weeks sold over a million copies and later, though released in 1993, managed to become the fifteenth best selling single in 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...
's 1994 yearly charts. Sakurai confessed years later as to not liking his works up to this point. According to him:
On June 1, 1994 a new single called "Innocent World
Innocent World
-Overview:"Innocent World" was Mr. Children's first No. 1 single on the Oricon Japanese charts, managing to sell 1,935,830 copies during its run on the chart and was the No. 1 selling single for Oricon's 1994 yearly chart. The title track was used as the promotional song for the soft drink and...
" was released and used a promotional song for the soft drink . The single solidified the groups popularity with its sales, managing to sell 1,935,830 copies and becoming the No. 1 selling single in 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...
's 1994 yearly charts. Afterwards work began on their fourth original album Atomic Heart
Atomic Heart
Atomic Heart is the fourth original album by Japanese rock band Mr. Children released on September 1, 1994. The album debuted on the Japanese Oricon music charts at #1 and sold 3,429,650 copies during its run on the chart. The album contained two songs released. The first, Innocent World, was...
. The album was released on September 1, 1994 and became the bands highest selling album to date. Due to the huge success the band received from the album and "Innocent World" single, the groups popularity built up creating the in Japan.
The band also had Takeshi Kobayashi produce two new tours for them. The first tour, named after the "Innocent World
Innocent World
-Overview:"Innocent World" was Mr. Children's first No. 1 single on the Oricon Japanese charts, managing to sell 1,935,830 copies during its run on the chart and was the No. 1 selling single for Oricon's 1994 yearly chart. The title track was used as the promotional song for the soft drink and...
" single was held from September 18 to December 18. The band also released their sixth single "Tomorrow Never Knows
Tomorrow Never Knows (Mr. Children song)
"Tomorrow Never Knows" is the sixth single released by Mr. Children on November 10, 1994. The single sold 2.766 million copies and is the seventh highest-selling single in Japan in the Oricon history.-Overview:...
" on November 10, 1994 which was used as the theme song to the Japanese drama . The song was written while the group was on tour, was later voted in 2006 as fans No. 1 all-time favorite song on Music Station
Music Station
is a Japanese music television program. It began broadcasting on October 24, 1986 and continues to be broadcast weekly in High-definition from 8PM-9PM on tv asahi...
, and is currently the third highest selling drama tie-in single in Japan. The next single, was released on December 12, 1994, though originally intended to be the B-side
A-side and B-side
A-side and B-side originally referred to the two sides of gramophone records on which singles were released beginning in the 1950s. The terms have come to refer to the types of song conventionally placed on each side of the record, with the A-side being the featured song , while the B-side, or...
of "Tomorrow Never Knows
Tomorrow Never Knows (Mr. Children song)
"Tomorrow Never Knows" is the sixth single released by Mr. Children on November 10, 1994. The single sold 2.766 million copies and is the seventh highest-selling single in Japan in the Oricon history.-Overview:...
". To end the year, "Innocent World
Innocent World
-Overview:"Innocent World" was Mr. Children's first No. 1 single on the Oricon Japanese charts, managing to sell 1,935,830 copies during its run on the chart and was the No. 1 selling single for Oricon's 1994 yearly chart. The title track was used as the promotional song for the soft drink and...
" won the Song of the Year award at the 36th annual Japan Record Awards.
1995–1997
In 1995, the second half of the Atomic Heart tour started, lasting from January 1 to February 2. Mr. Children also became involved in charity work, doing a collaboration song with Keisuke KuwataKeisuke Kuwata
has gained fame as a Japanese multi-instrumentalist, singer-songwriter, and frontman for the Southern All-Stars, as well as his own solo band, the Kuwata band. He has also done significant amount of scoring music for films. He went to Aoyama Gakuin University....
of Southern All Stars
Southern All Stars
, also known by the abbreviations or SAS, is a Japanese pop/rock band that formed in the mid 1970s.The band is composed of Keisuke Kuwata , Yuko Hara , Kazuyuki Sekiguchi , Hiroshi Matsuda and Hideyuki "Kegani" Nozawa...
. The single was used as the theme song for the Act Against AIDS campaign, was produced by Mr. Children and written by Kuwata. To promote the single and the campaign, they held a one month tour from April 18 until May 14, entitled , where the group did cover songs of many English speaking artists such as The Rolling Stones
The Rolling Stones
The Rolling Stones are an English rock band, formed in London in April 1962 by Brian Jones , Ian Stewart , Mick Jagger , and Keith Richards . Bassist Bill Wyman and drummer Charlie Watts completed the early line-up...
and Bob Dylan
Bob Dylan
Bob Dylan is an American singer-songwriter, musician, poet, film director and painter. He has been a major and profoundly influential figure in popular music and culture for five decades. Much of his most celebrated work dates from the 1960s when he was an informal chronicler and a seemingly...
. During the tour the group was also filming a documentary/concert movie called Es ~Mr. Children in Film~. It was released in theaters on June 6, 1995, preceded by the group's eight single "Es (Theme of Es)" on May 10, to promote the movie. Two months later the group held an open air tour titled from July 16 to September 10, during which the ninth single, was released on August 10.
On February 6, 1996 Mr. Children's tenth single was released, to promote the Japanese drama and also for Daio Paper's commercial. The single went on to become Japan's highest first week selling single of all time and is currently Japan's eighth highest selling drama tie-in single. The success of the single was also a surprise for Sakurai, who admitted to spending very little time writing the song. Two months later, on April 5, 1996 the group's eleventh single was released, followed by their fifth original album on June 24 and their twelfth single , on August 8. To close the year, the Regress or Progress Tour started and lasted from August 24, 1996 to March 28, 1997. The group visited 14 cities and held 55 concerts.
Mr. Children's 13th single, "Everything (It's You)
Everything (It's You)
"Everything " is the thirteenth single released by Japanese rock band Mr. Children on February 5, 1997. The song was the theme song of Japanese television drama Koi no Vacance. The single debuted at No...
", was released on February 5, 1997, with the title track used as the theme song to the Japanese drama . A month later, on March 5 Bolero
Bolero (album)
Bolero, is Mr. Children's 6th studio album and was released on March 5, 1997. The album debuted at the number-one position on Oricon weekly charts, with the first week sales of over 1,734,000 copies. It sold over 471,000 copies in the next week, but was ranked at No...
, Mr. Children's sixth album was released. Soon after, rumors started of the group disbanding. Sakurai's reply: "The band will dissolve only when we have no more talent and have relationship problems with each other." Yet the group then decided to take some time off. Nakagawa and Suzuki start a side project band called Hayashi Hideo, and joined by Kenji Fujii from My Little Lover
My Little Lover
My Little Lover is a Japanese pop group belonging to the Avex Trax label as of the single and the album Akko. Previous releases were under Toy's Factory...
and Sawao Yamanaka from The Pillows
The Pillows
The Pillows are a Japanese rock band. The group has released more than a dozen original studio albums, along with several EPs, singles and compilations...
, went on a club tour.
1998–2000
On February 11, 1998, they released their 14th single , theme song to the Japanese drama . The group was still on hiatus during this time and made no live performances to promote the single and did not appear in the music video for the song. Finally on October 21, 1998, Mr. Children officially re-grouped and released their 15th single, with the Japanese drama using it as their theme song. The song remains a public favorite in voting polls, Oricon citing its inspirational lyrics as the reason.On January 13, 1999, , their 16th single, was released, followed by their seventh album, Discovery
Discovery (Mr. Children album)
-Track listing:#Discovery#Hikari no sasu hō e#Prism#Under shorts#Nishi e higashi e#Simple#I'll be#2601#La la la#Owarinaki tabi#Image...
, on February 3, 1999. Sakurai compared his approach to the songwriting for the record to surfing:
Eleven days later they began the Discovery Tour '99, from February 14 to July 12, where the group visited 16 cities and held 42 shows. During the tour, Mr. Children released their 17th single "I'll Be" on May 12, which was used in Sea Breeze commercials. Though originally released on the Discovery
Discovery (Mr. Children album)
-Track listing:#Discovery#Hikari no sasu hō e#Prism#Under shorts#Nishi e higashi e#Simple#I'll be#2601#La la la#Owarinaki tabi#Image...
album, the song was re-released as a single with a lighter beat. The single was not a success and became Mr. Children's lowest selling single since "Cross Road
Cross Road (song)
"Cross Road" is the fourth single released by Mr. Children on November 10, 1993.-Overview:The single reached #6 on the Oricon Japanese charts selling 1,255,940 copies during its run on the chart. The title track, "Cross Road", was used to promote the Japanese drama and also included in Mr....
". During the Discovery Tour '99, an idea for a live album was brought up. It was released as a 500,000 copy limited edition on September 8, 1999 and called 1/42
1/42
1/42 is the only live recording album for the Japanese band Mr.Children, released as the limited item that were pressed only 500,000 units in September 1999....
(referring to one of the 42 shows in the tour). Most of the tracks were recorded on June 16, 1999 at the Makomanai ice arena, while the bonus track "Dakishimetai" was recorded at the Okinawa Ginowan-Shi seaside park.
At the beginning of a new century , released on January 13, 2000 became the groups 18th single. While "I'll Be" failed to be a success, "Kuchibue" proved to be a hit selling 724,070 copies. On August 9, 2000, their 19th single "Not Found" was also used as the theme song to the Japanese drama , followed a month later by their 9th original album Q
Q (album)
Q was eighth studio album released by Mr. Children on September 27, 2000.Since the beginning of their success in 1994, "Q" was the first album not to reach the #1 position because Ayumi Hamasaki outsold them by gapping 1 million copies in first week on the Oricon chart...
on September 27, 2000. The band went to New York to record this album, where they re-recorded some of their old indie
Indie (music)
In music, independent music, often shortened to indie music or "indie" is a term used to describe independence from major commercial record labels or their subsidiaries, and an autonomous, Do-It-Yourself approach to recording and publishing....
material and for the first time, producer Takeshi Kobayashi performed with the band on a recording. The cover for the album was shot bought Size, Inc. at the Bonneville Salt Flats in the United States. The album was not a favorite amongst fans for various reasons and became their first album since Atomic Heart
Atomic Heart
Atomic Heart is the fourth original album by Japanese rock band Mr. Children released on September 1, 1994. The album debuted on the Japanese Oricon music charts at #1 and sold 3,429,650 copies during its run on the chart. The album contained two songs released. The first, Innocent World, was...
to not sell over one million copies. ‘Concert tour Q’ started, visiting 13 cities and holding 35 concerts between October 15, 2000 and February 24, 2001.
2001–2003
In 2001, Mr. Children continued their Q tour, followed by dual "Best Of" albums. Titled Mr. Children 1992–1995 and Mr. Children 1996–2000, they were both released on July 11, 2001. Both albums went on to sell a combined total of 4,034,785 copies. According to an interview done with MTV JapanMTV Japan
MTV Japan is the Japanese version of the cable television network based in Japan. It is a subsidiary of MTV Networks, and was launched on December 24, 1992. It can be viewed on cable television, SKY PerfecTV!, SKY PerfecTV! e2 and IPTV.-History:MTV originally was a music block on JORX-TV from 1989...
Sakurai stated the best of albums weren't something they had planned on doing yet. During this time, the group was finishing up work for their new upcoming album and had planned to start promoting singles on it. However it was decided that a best of album was needed and so they were released. Four days following the dual album release, the group launched the ‘popsaurus’ tour, visiting 10 cities and playing 15 shows, lasting from July 15, 2001 all the way through September 25, 2001. A month into the tour their 20th single was released and used to promote the beverage . Two months after the popsaurus tour ended, "Youthful Days" was released. Released on November 7, 2001, it was their 21st single and was an insert song for the Japanese drama . It ended up being their best selling single for the year. The b-side for the single, "Drawing", originally had no commercial tie-in, but two years later was used as the theme song to the 2003 Japanese drama .
Mr. Children released their 22nd single on January 1, 2002, which was used as a show song in the Japanese drama . Four months later their tenth original album It's a Wonderful World
It's a Wonderful World (album)
IT'S A WONDERFUL WORLD is the ninth studio album released by Mr. Children, released on May 10, 2002, which marks the tenth anniversary of their first album's release.-Track listing:# overture - 1:56# - 6:08# Dear wonderful world - 2:18...
was released on May 10, the groups' tenth anniversary. The release of the album on their 10th anniversary was not something that had originally intended. As the group was wrapping up recording, Sakurai asked if the album could be released in the spring time. While the group and their management was trying to think of how to promote an album in the spring time, they came up with releasing the album on their 10th anniversary. A new tour, titled Mr. Children Tour 2002 Dear Wonderful World was set to begin later that year. The previous single "I'll Be" from the Discovery
Discovery (Mr. Children album)
-Track listing:#Discovery#Hikari no sasu hō e#Prism#Under shorts#Nishi e higashi e#Simple#I'll be#2601#La la la#Owarinaki tabi#Image...
album was selected to be used as an official theme for the 2002 FIFA World Cup
2002 FIFA World Cup
The 2002 FIFA World Cup was the 17th staging of the FIFA World Cup, held in South Korea and Japan from 31 May to 30 June. It was also the first World Cup held in Asia, and the last in which the golden goal rule was implemented. Brazil won the tournament for a record fifth time, beating Germany 2–0...
, held in Japan and South Korea
South Korea
The Republic of Korea , , is a sovereign state in East Asia, located on the southern portion of the Korean Peninsula. It is neighbored by the People's Republic of China to the west, Japan to the east, North Korea to the north, and the East China Sea and Republic of China to the south...
. On May 24, 2002 Mr. Children attended the first ever MTV Video Music Awards Japan
MTV Video Music Awards Japan
The MTV Video Music Awards Japan are the Japanese version of the MTV Video Music Awards.Like the MTV Video Music Awards in the United States, in this event artists are awarded for their songs and videos through online voting from the same channel viewers...
and topped the awards show by winning 'Video of the year' for the song "Kimi ga suki". Two months after the release of the new album, Mr.Children's 23rd single "Any", was released on July 11, 2002 and used to promote Group 10th Anniversry. The group was not able to properly promote the single. As preparations for the new tour were beginning and promotion for the new single were being done, lead singer Sakurai was hospitalized on July 21, 2002, after a blockage in his cerebellum
Cerebellum
The cerebellum is a region of the brain that plays an important role in motor control. It may also be involved in some cognitive functions such as attention and language, and in regulating fear and pleasure responses, but its movement-related functions are the most solidly established...
was detected. The Mr. Children Tour 2002 Dear Wonderful World was canceled and all group activities were put on a temporary hiatus. While recovering, Sakurai wrote a song called "Hero", that was inspired by his hospitalization. The song was released as the groups 24th single on December 11, 2002 and was used in Group 10th Anniversry commercial. The first press version of the single included a DVD
DVD
A DVD is an optical disc storage media format, invented and developed by Philips, Sony, Toshiba, and Panasonic in 1995. DVDs offer higher storage capacity than Compact Discs while having the same dimensions....
where, in addition to a Mr. Children 2002 documentary -Hero- that was aired, the singer talked about his hospitalization and inspiration for the song. On November 15, 2002 Mr.Children's website announced the bands return to the stage for a "stew of home pride" with a one night only live, December 21, 2002 the group returned to the stage for a single concert, later released on DVD, titled Wonederful World on Dec. 21.
The group remained quiet for most of 2003. Sakurai helped to launch Artists' Power Bank (AP Bank), a non-profit environmental financial institution, in June. Sakamoto Ryuichi, a well known composer, came up with the initial idea to build a wind-power plant. With the help of Sakurai and music producer Takeshi Kobayashi, their goal later became to invest in environmentally friendly projects, such as renewable energy, and as of 2007, participated in other social issues such as helping the victims of a Chuetsu offshore earthquake in Niigata Prefecture on July 16, 2007. Near the end of the year, Mr. Children re-grouped and released their 25th single . It became their first double a-side single with "Tenohira" receiving no commercial tie-in, and "Kurumi" used to promote . The single was a hit and became Mr.Children's best selling single since 2001's "Youthful Days" single.
2004–2006
In 2004, Sakurai started a solo project titled Bank Band, which became a spin off of AP Bank. As Bank Band, Sakurai released a first album, titled , which contained covers of two Mr. Children songs, "Hero" and "Yasashii Uta". Mr. Children released their eleventh album on April 4, 2004, titled , which came with a documentary DVD showing the group working and talking about the concept behind the album. To help promote the album, Mr. Children used the song in 'NissinNissin
Nissin Foods is a world-wide company that makes instant ramen noodles. It was established in Japan on September 4, 1948 by Momofuku Ando as and ten years later introduced the first instant ramen noodle product, Chikin Ramen . They established a US subsidiary Nissin Foods in 1970 and sold instant...
Cup Noodle – NO Border' commercials and as the 'News 23' theme song. According to Sakurai, is
In the following month, they released their 26th single, "Sign", on May 26, which was used as the theme song to the Japanese drama Orange Days
Orange Days
is a drama series that aired in Japan on TBS in 2004.-Cast:* Satoshi Tsumabuki as Kai Yuuki - leading role* Kou Shibasaki as Sae Hagio - heroine* Manami Konishi as Maho Takagi - Kai's girlfriend, postgraduate student...
and went on to win the Song of the Year award at the 46th annual Japan Record Awards ten years after their win for 'Innocent World'.
Most of the 2005 was spent working on a new album. As a solo act, Kazutoshi Sakurai appeared at Golden Circle vol.7 on February 28, 2005. Finally on June 29, 2005 the group released their 27th single . The single became a monster hit selling 569,000 copies its first week, and ending with 925,632 copies sold. As a quad a-side single, all four songs had a commercial tie in. promoted 'Pocari Sweat', "and I love you" promoted 'Nissin
Nissin
Nissin Foods is a world-wide company that makes instant ramen noodles. It was established in Japan on September 4, 1948 by Momofuku Ando as and ten years later introduced the first instant ramen noodle product, Chikin Ramen . They established a US subsidiary Nissin Foods in 1970 and sold instant...
Cup Noodle – NO Border', became the theme song for the Japanese movie 'Fly Daddy Fly', and was used as a promotional song for Fuji TV's educational program 'Kodomo bangumi Ponkikkiizu, Gachagachapon'. Even though it was released as a single, it was classified as an album by the Recording Industry Association of Japan. A month later the group attended Kazutoshi Sakurai's 3-day festival 'ap bank fes’ 05' from July 16, 2005 through July 18, 2005, followed by 'SETSTOCK '05' at Kokuei bihoku kyuuryou park on July 23, 2005 and 'Higher Ground 2005' at Umi no nakamichi kaihinkouen outdoor theater on July 30, 2005. Three months later on September 21, 2005, I Love U
I Love U (Mr. Children album)
I Love U is the eleventh studio album by japanese rock band Mr. Children on September 25, 2005. The first single, "Sign", released on May 26, 2004, was used as the theme song for the Japanese television drama, Orange Days...
(I♥U), Mr.Children’s 12th original album, was released. Two months later Dome Tour 2005 'I Love U' began, running from November 12, 2005 through December 27, 2005 and were only the fourth artist in Japanese history to play at the Osaka, Tokyo, Sapporo, Nagoya and Fukuoka dome's. The tour ended in Tokyo Come where they played to 45,000 fans, bringing the tour total to almost 390,000 fans. By the end of the year the group managed to pass the 45 million mark in sold records.
The first single for 2006, was their 28th single released on July 5, 2006 and used as the promotion song for Toyota's "Tobira wo akeyou" commercial and as the theme song to NTV's 2006 FIFA World Cup
FIFA World Cup
The FIFA World Cup, often simply the World Cup, is an international association football competition contested by the senior men's national teams of the members of Fédération Internationale de Football Association , the sport's global governing body...
broadcasting. Due to the groups involvement with ap bank fes. '06, there were no magazine or radio promotions, and only 3 live performances were done to promote the single. However the commercial tie-in's for the single proved to be a success and "Houkiboshi" was voted #3 as the favorite commercial song for 2006 and voted as the favorite winter song heard in the summer. Ten days following the release of 'Houkiboshi', Mr.Children participated in the 3 day festival, ap bank fes '06, where they performed "Hero", "Strange Chameleon", "Owarinaki tabi", and "Hokiboshi". One month later Mr.Children were special guests at The Mujintou fes. 2006 and performed "Mirai", "Innocent world", "Hokorobi", "Sign", "Owarinaki tabi", "Worlds end", and "Houkiboshi". Shortly after Mr.Children announced a joint tour with fellow Japanese rockers the pillows
The pillows
The Pillows are a Japanese rock band. The group has released more than a dozen original studio albums, along with several EPs, singles and compilations...
, known as 'Mr.Children & the pillows new big bang tour ~This is Hybrid Innocent~'. The tour was held from September 26, 2006 through October 11, 2006. On November 15, 2006, the group released their 29th single , which was used as the theme song , by NTV
Nippon Television
is a television network based in the Shiodome area of Minato, Tokyo, Japan and is controlled by the Yomiuri Shimbun publishing company. Broadcasting terrestrially across Japan, the network is commonly known as , contracted to , and abbreviated as "NTV" or "AX".-Offices:*The Headquarters : 6-1,...
, a controversial television drama about underage pregnancy
Teenage pregnancy
Teenage pregnancy is a pregnancy of a female under the age of 20 when the pregnancy ends. It generally refers to a female who is unmarried and usually refers to an unplanned pregnancy...
. Kazutoshi Sakurai had begun writing the song in February 2006 and finished writing in March 2006. and shot the promotional video in September 2006. One of the b-sides of single was a re-recording of Mr. Children's 2003 song "Kurumi", used as a theme song in the movie .
2007
On January 24, 2007 the band released their 30th single, , which was used as the theme song for the movie , and while only a limited edition single, brought the group to 26 consecutive No. 1 singles. Shortly after, the 13th original album, HomeHome (Mr. Children album)
HOME is the twelfth studio album by Mr. Children, released on March 14, 2007. Its first press limited edition includes a documentary DVD on the making of the album and live performances by members of the group between recording sessions...
was released on March 14, which would become the group's first in almost 13 years to chart at No. 1 for two consecutive weeks. It was also the first Japan
Japan
Japan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...
ese album in 2007 to sell more than a million copies. Work on the record had come to a standstill, during the recording of the song "Houkiboshi", due to a dispute among the group over "Home"'s direction. Producer Kobayashi suggested to make an album that "pays attention to the world with a message".
The album reflected a more personal touch from the group, with talking about the 9/11 attacks at New York City
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
, and , being inspired by Kazutoshi Sakurai father who had been sick. The title of the album 'Home', was originally suggested to be titled "Home Made" or "Home Ground", because the group wanted the album to having the meaning that is was made by hand. However they choose to name it just 'Home' because they felt that by adding an additional word it would be limiting the idea in mind. Three days after the release of Home, Mr. Children won the awards Best Video of the Year and Best Group Video for the single "Shirushi" at the Space Shower Music Awards '07. For the album, the group held two promotional tours. The first half called Mr. Children Home Tour 2007, started on May 4 and lasted until June 23. During the tour, a new compilation album titled B-Side
B-Side (album)
B-SIDE is a compilation album by Mr. Children, released on May 10, 2007, marking the fifteenth anniversary of their first album's release. It collects all of the group's B-sides, with a booklet providing liner notes for each of them....
was released on May 10, which was also the group's 15th anniversary. The release of a b-side compilation had been suggested by singer Sakurai while working on Home:
Releasing a public statement on their official site at Toy's Factory, both the group and Sakurai felt that the a-side tracks on their singles had started to dictate and overall theme as to who Mr. Children were as a group. They felt a lot of feelings and desires which have shaped them as a group came from these coupling songs, and thus decided to released them as a compilation album.
On May 5, 2007 after the second concert for the first half of the Home tour, drummer Hideya Suzuki injured his hand after accidentally touching a ventilator. He injured his left index finger, which required 4 stitches and the following two concerts had to be re-scheduled. Publicity for the tour reached a high, when they performed in front of a sold-out tour for 15,000 fans at Yokohama Arena on June 7, 2007 and reignited speculation that the Mr.Children phenomenon was alive and well. A second half of the tour to promote 'Home', titled Mr.Children Home Tour 2007 -In the Field- took place from August 4 to September 30. Both tours ended up being a big success for the group, and became the most attended Japan
Japan
Japan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...
tour in 2007 at 550,000 fans. The main promotional track for the Home album, , was selected to promote the Olympus
Olympus Corporation
is a Japan-based manufacturer of optics and reprography products. Olympus was established on 12 October 1919, initially specializing in microscope and thermometer businesses. Its global headquarters are in Shinjuku, Tokyo, Japan, while its USA operations are based in Center Valley, Pennsylvania,...
E-410. During the E Goes to World campaign, the camera manufacturer had customers submit pictures to create a new promotional video for the song.
On July 10 Mr. Children announced a new song on their website titled . While initially a single release date wasn't issued, the group announced a month later it would be released on October 30, 2007. The title track, "Tabidachi no Uta", was used as a theme song for the Japanese movie , and a month later also be used to promote NTT Higashi Nihon. With the release of the single, Mr. Children managed to debut at number 1 for the week and in return obtained their 27th consecutive number 1 single. Similar to Jyūyonsai no Haha before, the movie Koizora deals with the struggles of a young girl, involving betrayal, rape and abortion. The group was scheduled to play at the ap bank fes '07 from July 14 to July 16, but due to a typhoon, the first two days had to be canceled, and only the final day proceeded as planned. With the announcement of the new single Mr.Children also announced the 'Home' tour 2007 DVD, which was released on November 14, 2007. On December 18, 2007, Oricon announced that Home became their first album to top the yearly album charts since their debut with the sales of 1.18 million copies, surpassing the sales of Kumi Koda
Kumi Koda
, better known by her stage name , is a Japanese singer and songwriter from Kyoto, known for her urban and R&B songs. Having debuted in 2000 with the single "Take Back", Koda gained fame for her seventh single, "Real Emotion/1000 no Kotoba", the songs of which were used as themes for the video game...
's album Black Cherry
Black Cherry (Kumi Koda album)
Black Cherry is Koda Kumi's 5th studio album. Much like the two best collections before it, this album came in three editions; a CD only, a CD+DVD and a CD+2DVD version. The first DVD included all but one of Koda Kumi's post: second session solo PVs and the second DVD featured a drama called...
of 1.02 million copies.
2008
For the beginning of 2008, Sakurai released an album and DVD with his solo project Bank Band, followed a month later by the official announcement of a new song, , used in the NHK Japanese television dramaJapanese television drama
, also called , are a staple of Japanese television and are broadcast daily. All major TV networks in Japan produce a variety of drama series including murder romance, comedy, detective stories, horror, and many others...
. Afterwards Mr. Children announced the release of two singles. The first, "Gift", released on July 30, 2008, was used as the official theme song to the 2008 Beijing Olympics
2008 Summer Olympics
The 2008 Summer Olympics, officially known as the Games of the XXIX Olympiad, was a major international multi-sport event that took place in Beijing, China, from August 8 to August 24, 2008. A total of 11,028 athletes from 204 National Olympic Committees competed in 28 sports and 302 events...
coverage on NHK. When writing this song, Sakurai focused on the meaning behind the Olympics and wanted to write a song not just for those who win, but for everyone who participates.
The ap bank announced that Mr.Children would appear for all 3 days at ap bank fes '08. Their second single of the year, "Hanabi", released on September 3, 2008, was used as the theme song to the Japanese drama Code Blue, in which Tomohisa Yamashita
Tomohisa Yamashita
, also widely known as Yamapi, is a Japanese idol, actor, and singer.Yamashita joined the Japanese talent agency Johnny & Associates in 1996 at the age of 11 and made his official CD debut with NEWS in 2004. He debuted as a solo artist in 2006 with the hit single "Daite Senorita". His first solo...
played a main role. The single "Hanabi" topped the Oricon single charts for two weeks, becoming their 29th consecutive number-one single. However, their next single became their first download-only single for the music download
Music download
A music download is the transferral of music from an Internet-facing computer or website to a user's local computer. This term encompasses both legal downloads and downloads of copyright material without permission or payment...
market. The nun full-track ringtone downloads (Chaku Uta) of the song began on October 1 and the full-track downloads (Chaku Uta Full) began on November 1, 2008. Their studio album Supermarket Fantasy
Supermarket Fantasy
Mr. Children's thirteenth original studio album, SUPERMARKET FANTASY, debuted on the Japanese Oricon Charts at rank 1 on December 10th, 2008. It sold 707,763 copies in its first week, the 2nd best-selling debut album sales figure of the 2009 Oricon Year, and is still charting as of August 2009...
was released on December 10, 2008. Supermarket Fantasy sold about 708,000 copies in its initial week, debuting at the number-one position on the Oricon weekly album charts.
2009–present
On October 20, 2009, it was announced that Mr. Children produced their first animeAnime
is the Japanese abbreviated pronunciation of "animation". The definition sometimes changes depending on the context. In English-speaking countries, the term most commonly refers to Japanese animated cartoons....
theme "Fanfare" for the movie One Piece Film: Strong World
One Piece Film: Strong World
or simply is a 2009 Japanese animated film directed by Munehisa Sakai. It is the tenth feature film based on the shonen manga series One Piece by Eiichiro Oda. The film stars the regular television cast of Mayumi Tanaka, Kazuya Nakai, Akemi Okamura, Kappei Yamaguchi, Hiroaki Hirata, Ikue Otani,...
. "Fanfare" was digitally released as a non full-track ringtone song (Chaku Uta) on November 16 as a full-track ringtone song (Chaku Uta Full) on December 2, 2009. The song debuted at the number-one position on the RIAJ Digital Track Chart
RIAJ Digital Track Chart
The is chart ranks the best selling digital singles in Japan, provided by the Recording Industry Association of Japan since April 2009. The chart measures cellphone downloads ....
.
On May 10, 2010, Mr. Children released the DVD Mr. Children Dome Tour 2009 Supermarket Fantasy in Tokyo Dome, but it sold about 49,000 copies one day before the official release day, debuting at No. 1 on the Oricon weekly music DVD chart with the one day sales. It became their seventh consecutive number-one music DVD and they tied the records of Arashi
Arashi
is a Japanese boy band formed under the Japanese talent agency Johnny & Associates, which announced the formation of the group on November 3, 1999 in Honolulu, Hawaii...
and KAT-TUN
KAT-TUN
KAT-TUN is a Japanese boy band formed by Johnny & Associates in 2001. The group's name is an acronym based on the first letter of each member's family name until the departure of Jin Akanishi in 2010. As of 2010, KAT-TUN stands for Kazuya KAmenashi, Junnosuke Taguchi, Koki Tanaka, Tatsuya Ueda,...
for having the most consecutive number-one DVDs on the Oricon weekly music DVD chart. It also debuted at No. 1 on the Oricon weekly comprehensive DVD chart, eclipsing the sales of Avatar in the week. It topped the Oricon comprehensive DVD charts for three consecutive weeks, making them the second artist to achieve that with the music DVD while the first is Arashi.
On September 4, 2010, Mr. Children released their second documentary/concert movie Mr. Children / Split the Difference (since first "Es" ~Mr. Children in Film~) and released DVD + CD includes the movie and selected songs by the band on November 10, 2010. It debuted at No. 1 on the Oricon weekly music DVD chart and they also became the first artist to have their eighth consecutive number-one music DVD.
On December 1, 2010, Mr. Children released their sixteenth studio album Sense
Sense (Mr. Children album)
SENSE is the fourteenth studio album by Japanese pop rock band Mr. Children, released on December 1, 2010. But the details such as track list, number of tracks, cover and title of the album were not announced until just before a release date, November 29...
includes digital release only single "Fanfare". But the details such as track list, number of tracks, cover and title of the album were not announced until just before a release date, November 29.
On April 4, 2011, Mr. Children released the download single "Kazoe Uta" to collect donations for the 2011 Tōhoku earthquake. "Kazoe Uta" debuted at number 1 on the RIAJ Digital Track Chart, surpassing the download sales of AKB48
AKB48
AKB48 is a Japanese female idol group produced by Yasushi Akimoto.The group has achieved enormous popularity in Japan. Its ten latest consecutive singles topped the Oricon Weekly Singles Chart...
's charity single "Dareka no Tame ni (What Can I Do for Someone?)".
Charitable and other activities
Since their official debut, Mr.Children has engaged in social and charitable causes. As a group they participated in the live concert for Act Against Aids on December 1, 1994 and again on December 1, 1995. The goal of live was to raise awareness about AIDSAIDS
Acquired immune deficiency syndrome or acquired immunodeficiency syndrome is a disease of the human immune system caused by the human immunodeficiency virus...
. The proceeds from the event were donated to support children living with HIV
HIV
Human immunodeficiency virus is a lentivirus that causes acquired immunodeficiency syndrome , a condition in humans in which progressive failure of the immune system allows life-threatening opportunistic infections and cancers to thrive...
. The live was followed up by a collaboration Act Against AIDS charity single with fellow Japanese artist Kuwata Keisuke titled ‘Kiseki no hoshi’ and released on January 23, 1995. On April 25, 2001 Kazutoshi Sakurai also participated in the recording of Zero Landmine
Zero Landmine
Zero Landmine is an Extended play recording created to promote awareness of the problem of landmines and to promote a ban on landmines...
, a single created to promote awareness of the problem of landmines and promote a ban on landmines. In addition the group has also participated in Kazutoshi Sakura's solo project, AP bank. AP Bank, a nonprofit lending group, carries the goal of tackling environmental problems by financing environmentally friendly projects such as renewable energy, in addition to holding yearly festivals to raise money to fund additional projects. Since its inception in 2005, Mr.Children has been actively participating in the festivals, with an announcement in 2008 that the group will now work more closely with its cause by participating during the entire three day festival duration in addition to further details to be announced at a later time.
Members Kazutoshi Sakurai and Kenichi Tahara joined together to create Acid Test for the concert ‘Dream Power John Lennon Super live broadcasting’ on October 9, 2001. The live was part of Yoko Ono
Yoko Ono
is a Japanese artist, musician, author and peace activist, known for her work in avant-garde art, music and filmmaking as well as her marriage to John Lennon...
’s Dream Power and educational platform where artists came together to hold a charity concert to raise money for school construction funds for children in Africa and Asia. The John Lennon song covered by Acid Test during the live, "Mother
Mother (John Lennon song)
Mother is a song by British musician John Lennon, first released on his 1970 album John Lennon/Plastic Ono Band. An edited version of the song was issued as a single in the United States on Apple Records, catalogue 1827, about three weeks after the album. The single runs about fifteen seconds...
", was later recorded and released on a tribute album Happy Birthday, John, and released on September 30, 2005.
In addition to social causes, Mr.Children's music has been used as background music for numerous television advertisements, television programs, television drama's, and motion pictures. Examples of the groups commercial tie-ins include "and I love you", "Bokura no Oto", and "Tagatame" for Nissin Cup Noodle no Border commercials, 'Gift' for the 2008 Beijing Olympics on NHK, and "Tabidachi no uta" for the 2007 Japanese movie . As a group, Mr.Children have not endorsed products by physically appearing in television commercials or printed media advertisements. One of the methods used to help promote the group is through Brajackets, a dust jacket for books, which are available at stands in bookstores for free. The Brajacket serve as free advertising for various products from icecream to movies and musicals. Mr. Children have used this method to promote singles and albums; for example and I Love U
I Love U (Mr. Children album)
I Love U is the eleventh studio album by japanese rock band Mr. Children on September 25, 2005. The first single, "Sign", released on May 26, 2004, was used as the theme song for the Japanese television drama, Orange Days...
(I♥U).
Fan club
The official fan club of Mr. Children is called Father & Mother, the title being derived from their name. The fan club, which started in 1994, was kept relatively secretive at first, as the group has never made any mention of it on their official website. In 2006, for the release of the group's 29th single "Shirushi", the official website was revamped and with it information about the fan club was finally added. Just like before however, the fan club can only be joined by mail and requires an admission fee of 3,500 yen, with yearly re-applications for membership.Lineup
- Kazutoshi SakuraiKazutoshi Sakuraiis a Japanese musician and entrepreneur. He composes and writes almost all of the songs for his band Mr. Children, in addition to writing lyrics and singing for his solo project group Bank Band. In 2006, Sakurai ranked #8 in HMV's "Top 30 Best Japanese Singers of All Time" and in 2007 was voted #4...
– lead vocalsSingingSinging is the act of producing musical sounds with the voice, and augments regular speech by the use of both tonality and rhythm. One who sings is called a singer or vocalist. Singers perform music known as songs that can be sung either with or without accompaniment by musical instruments...
, guitarElectric guitarAn electric guitar is a guitar that uses the principle of direct electromagnetic induction to convert vibrations of its metal strings into electric audio signals. The signal generated by an electric guitar is too weak to drive a loudspeaker, so it is amplified before sending it to a loudspeaker...
, primary songwriterSongwriterA songwriter is an individual who writes both the lyrics and music to a song. Someone who solely writes lyrics may be called a lyricist, and someone who only writes music may be called a composer... - Kenichi Tahara – guitar, backing vocalsBacking vocalistA backing vocalist or backing singer is a singer who provides vocal harmony with the lead vocalist or other backing vocalists...
- Keisuke Nakagawa – bassBass guitarThe bass guitar is a stringed instrument played primarily with the fingers or thumb , or by using a pick....
, backing vocals - Hideya Suzuki – drumsDrum kitA drum kit is a collection of drums, cymbals and often other percussion instruments, such as cowbells, wood blocks, triangles, chimes, or tambourines, arranged for convenient playing by a single person ....
, backing vocals
Recurring support members
- Takeshi Kobayashi – keyboardElectronic keyboardAn electronic keyboard is an electronic or digital keyboard instrument.The major components of a typical modern electronic keyboard are:...
s, producerRecord producerA record producer is an individual working within the music industry, whose job is to oversee and manage the recording of an artist's music... - Naoto Inti RaymiNaoto Inti Raymi, better known by his stage name , is a Japanese singer-songwriter. He initially debuted with Sony in 2001 under the stage name , however rose to fame in 2010...
– guitar, chorus - Takashi "Sunny" Katsuya – keyboards, backing vocals
- Shuji Kouguchi – guitar, harmonicaHarmonicaThe harmonica, also called harp, French harp, blues harp, and mouth organ, is a free reed wind instrument used primarily in blues and American folk music, jazz, country, and rock and roll. It is played by blowing air into it or drawing air out by placing lips over individual holes or multiple holes...
Discography
| Title | Year | Peak chart position |
|---|---|---|
| Everything Everything (Mr. Children album) Everything, is the first mini-album, and debut album, by Japanese Japanese rock band Mr. Children on May 10, 1992. The album debuted on the Japanese Oricon music charts at #25 and sold 451,440 copies during its run on the chart... |
1992 | 25 |
| Kind of Love Kind of Love Kind of Love is the second, and first full length album, by Japanese rock band Mr. Children released on December 1, 1992.The album debuted on the Japanese Oricon music charts at #13 and sold 1,179,780 copies during its run on the chart. The album contains only one single released on December 1,... |
1992 | 13 |
| Versus Versus (Mr. Children album) Versus is the third, and second full length album, by Japanese rock band Mr. Children released on September 1, 1993. The album debuted on the Japanese Oricon music charts at #3 and sold 802,140 copies during its run on the chart... |
1993 | 3 |
| Atomic Heart Atomic Heart Atomic Heart is the fourth original album by Japanese rock band Mr. Children released on September 1, 1994. The album debuted on the Japanese Oricon music charts at #1 and sold 3,429,650 copies during its run on the chart. The album contained two songs released. The first, Innocent World, was... |
1994 | 1 |
| 1996 | 1 | |
| Bolero Bolero (album) Bolero, is Mr. Children's 6th studio album and was released on March 5, 1997. The album debuted at the number-one position on Oricon weekly charts, with the first week sales of over 1,734,000 copies. It sold over 471,000 copies in the next week, but was ranked at No... |
1997 | 1 |
| Discovery Discovery (Mr. Children album) -Track listing:#Discovery#Hikari no sasu hō e#Prism#Under shorts#Nishi e higashi e#Simple#I'll be#2601#La la la#Owarinaki tabi#Image... |
1999 | 1 |
| 1/42 1/42 1/42 is the only live recording album for the Japanese band Mr.Children, released as the limited item that were pressed only 500,000 units in September 1999.... ** |
1999 | 1 |
| Q Q (album) Q was eighth studio album released by Mr. Children on September 27, 2000.Since the beginning of their success in 1994, "Q" was the first album not to reach the #1 position because Ayumi Hamasaki outsold them by gapping 1 million copies in first week on the Oricon chart... |
2000 | 2 |
| Mr. Children 1992–1995* | 2001 | 1 |
| Mr. Children 1996–2000* | 2001 | 2 |
| It's a Wonderful World It's a Wonderful World (album) IT'S A WONDERFUL WORLD is the ninth studio album released by Mr. Children, released on May 10, 2002, which marks the tenth anniversary of their first album's release.-Track listing:# overture - 1:56# - 6:08# Dear wonderful world - 2:18... |
2002 | 1 |
| Shifuku no Oto Shifuku no Oto is the tenth studio album released by Mr. Children on April 7, 2004. Its limited edition includes a documentary DVD on the making of the album and an interview with the band... (シフクノオト) |
2004 | 1 |
| I Love U I Love U (Mr. Children album) I Love U is the eleventh studio album by japanese rock band Mr. Children on September 25, 2005. The first single, "Sign", released on May 26, 2004, was used as the theme song for the Japanese television drama, Orange Days... (I♥U) |
2005 | 1 |
| Home Home (Mr. Children album) HOME is the twelfth studio album by Mr. Children, released on March 14, 2007. Its first press limited edition includes a documentary DVD on the making of the album and live performances by members of the group between recording sessions... |
2007 | 1 |
| B-Side B-Side (album) B-SIDE is a compilation album by Mr. Children, released on May 10, 2007, marking the fifteenth anniversary of their first album's release. It collects all of the group's B-sides, with a booklet providing liner notes for each of them.... * |
2007 | 1 |
| Supermarket Fantasy Supermarket Fantasy Mr. Children's thirteenth original studio album, SUPERMARKET FANTASY, debuted on the Japanese Oricon Charts at rank 1 on December 10th, 2008. It sold 707,763 copies in its first week, the 2nd best-selling debut album sales figure of the 2009 Oricon Year, and is still charting as of August 2009... |
2008 | 1 |
| Sense Sense (Mr. Children album) SENSE is the fourteenth studio album by Japanese pop rock band Mr. Children, released on December 1, 2010. But the details such as track list, number of tracks, cover and title of the album were not announced until just before a release date, November 29... |
2010 | 1 |
* Compilation album.
** Live album
Books
Official Books:- [es] Mr.Children in 370 DAYS (April 25, 1995) ISBN4-04-852567-0 C0076
- Mr.Children Everything 天才・桜井和寿 終わりなき音の冒険 (Mr.Children Everything -Tensai Sakurai Kazutoshi owarinaki oto no bouken-) (December 25, 1996) ISBN4-87233-308-X C0073
- Mr.Children詩集「優しい歌」 (Mr.Children song collection -Yasashii Uta-) (December 10, 2001) ISBN4-265-80100-5 C0092
Tours
Official Tours:- '92 Everything Tour (September 23, 1992 – November 5, 1992)
- Visited 10 cities and held 10 concerts
- '92 Your Everything Tour (September 26, 1992 – November 22, 1992)
- Visited 11 cities and held 12 concerts
- '92–93 Kind of Love Tour (December 7, 1992 – January 25, 1993)
- Visited 9 cities and held 9 concerts
- '93 Versus Tour (September 23, 1993 – November 5, 1993)
- Visited 9 cities and held 9 concerts
- Mr. Children '94 tour innocent world (September 18, 1994 – December 18, 1994)
- Visited 24 cities and held 27 concerts
- Mr.Children '95 Tour Atomic Heart (January 7, 1995 – February 20, 1995)
- Visited 10 cities and held 21 concerts (July 16, 1995 – September 10, 1995)
- Visited 11 cities and held 19 concerts
- Regress or Progress (August 24, 1996 – March 28, 1997)
- Visited 14 cities and held 55 concerts
- "Discovery" Tour '99 (February 14, 1999 – July 12, 1999)
- Visited 16 cities and held 42 concerts
- Mr. Children Concert tour Q (October 15, 2000 – February 24, 2001)
- Visited 13 cities and held 35 concerts
- Popsaurus Mr. Children (July 15, 2001 – September 25, 2001)
- Visited 10 cities and held 15 concerts
- Wonederful World on Dec. 21 (December 21, 2002)
- A one night live. Originally intended to be a 26 city and 39 concert tour, but was canceled due to Kazutoshi Sakurai's hospitalization (June 12, 2004 – September 25, 2004)
- Visited 11 cities and held 21 concerts
- Dome tour 2005 "I U" (November 12, 2005 – December 27, 2005)
- Visited 5 cities and held 10 concerts
- Mr. Children & the pillows new big bang tour ~This is Hybrid Innocent~ (September 26, 2006 – October 11, 2006)
- Visited 6 cities and held 7 concerts. The tour, a Zepp tour, was a joint effort with fellow rock group the pillowsThe pillowsThe Pillows are a Japanese rock band. The group has released more than a dozen original studio albums, along with several EPs, singles and compilations...
- Mr. Children "Home" Tour 2007 (May 4, 2007 – June 23, 2007)
- Visited 7 cities and held 14 concerts
- Mr. Children "Home" Tour 2007 -in the field- (August 4, 2007 – September 30, 2007)
- Visited 9 cities and held 14 concerts
- " (Feb 14, 2009 – March 31, 2009)
- Visited 17 cities and held 34 concerts
- Mr.Children DOME TOUR 2009 ~SUPERMARKET FANTASY~ (Nov 28, 2009 – Dec 27, 2009)
- Visited 5 cities and held 10 concerts
Awards and Records
| Years | Awards and Records |
|---|---|
| 1994 |
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| 1995 |
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| 1996 |
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| 1998 |
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| 1999 |
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| 2001 |
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See also
- Japan Record Awards
- MTV Video Music Awards JapanMTV Video Music Awards JapanThe MTV Video Music Awards Japan are the Japanese version of the MTV Video Music Awards.Like the MTV Video Music Awards in the United States, in this event artists are awarded for their songs and videos through online voting from the same channel viewers...
- List of best-selling music artists
- List of best-selling singles in Japan
- List of 50 Best Selling Artists of All-Time in Japan
External links
- Official website
- Mr. Children at Toy's Factory
- Innocent World – Unofficial English translations of Mr. Children news and articles
- Mr. Children English Fansite – Unofficial English translations of Mr. Children lyrics, guitar tabs and album reviews