Radwimps 4: Okazu no Gohan
Encyclopedia
, stylised as RADWIMPS 4 ~Okazu no Gohan~, is Japanese
rock
band Radwimps
' fourth album, released on December 6, 2006. It was the band's break-through commercial album, debuting at number five on Oricon
's albums charts, and was their first album to be certified platinum by the RIAJ.
"Yūshinron" was awarded in 2007 in the Space Shower Music Video Awards, with the award for best art direction.
For the band's fourth album, the members consciously focused on the sound the band had. This is in comparison to the band's first album, in which they had an image, but had not really considered what it was. However, the band did not start out with a particular concept to work around. Vocalist and lyricist Yojiro Noda noted that while lyrics were the central point of Radwimps 3, the importance of the lyrics were more balanced with other aspects in Radwimps 4. When the band recorded "Bagoodbye" (after the sessions that produced "Yūshinron"), they noted there was stylistically something good about it, and then considered it the focal stylistic point of the album. Noda also felt that it was exactly the sort of statement Radwimps had wanted to make in a song. Radwimps 4 felt like a point in experimentation where the band had wanted to get to, where in Radwimps 2 they first felt this desire, and in Radwimps 3 they felt closer to their target.
"Enren" is the first Radwimps song based around fictional events. It was created by Noda after fans had kept requesting a long-distance relationship-themed song.
Many of the song titles in the album contain wordplay. "05410-(n)" is goroawase (writing numbers and using their phonetic pronunciations) for the Japanese word . The -(ん) in the title is intended to indicate the 10 should be pronounced as the English world ten, but with the n removed. "Masumaru" is written with the hiragana
masu, followed by a Japanese-style circle full-stop, in this instance pronounced . The resulting name, masumaru, which is similar to the Japanese pronunciation to marshmallow
, .
"Setsuna Rensa" and "Sanbyōshi" are songs with multiple readings of the same words. In "Setsuna Rensa", means chain/connection, while setsuna has a duel meaning of and . is the Japanese word for 3/4 metre
, while san in the title is given the different kanji 傘, which means umbrella.
Of the songs on the album, eight are sung completely in Japanese, two primarily in Japanese with English phrases, one entirely in English, and three primarily in English with Japanese stanzas.
" in May, "Yūshinron
" in July and "Setsuna Rensa" in November.
After the album's release, the songs "Ii n Desu ka?" and "Me Me She" received music videos, both directed by long-time collaborator with the band, Daisuke Shimada.
In promotion of the album, the band toured throughout March and April 2007, on their 15 date tour. The tour was released on DVD in July 2007, and was the number one selling music DVD for the week.
Japanese people
The are an ethnic group originating in the Japanese archipelago and are the predominant ethnic group of Japan. Worldwide, approximately 130 million people are of Japanese descent; of these, approximately 127 million are residents of Japan. People of Japanese ancestry who live in other countries...
rock
Rock music
Rock music is a genre of popular music that developed during and after the 1960s, particularly in the United Kingdom and the United States. It has its roots in 1940s and 1950s rock and roll, itself heavily influenced by rhythm and blues and country music...
band Radwimps
Radwimps
is a Japanese rock band, who debuted independently in 2003 and later on major label Toshiba EMI in 2005. The band achieved great commercial success in 2006 album their album Radwimps 4: Okazu no Gohan, and are best known for their later singles "Order Made" and "Dada" , both of which hit number...
' fourth album, released on December 6, 2006. It was the band's break-through commercial album, debuting at number five on Oricon
Oricon
, established in 1999, is the holding company at the head of a Japanese corporate group that supplies statistics and information on music and the music industry in Japan. It started as , which was founded by Sōkō Koike in November 1967 and became known for its music charts. Oricon Inc...
's albums charts, and was their first album to be certified platinum by the RIAJ.
"Yūshinron" was awarded in 2007 in the Space Shower Music Video Awards, with the award for best art direction.
Background and development
After the band's Radwimps Haruna Tour in September 2005, the band rush-recorded five songs, including the singles "Futarigoto" and "Yūshinron." These two songs took up an extreme amount of effort for the band. "Futarigoto" was a song originally intended for Radwimps 3, however as the band could not work out how to complete the song properly, it was shelved. "By My Side", the B-side on the "Setsuna Rensa" single was also a part of these sessions. Work on Radwimps 3 was finalised in December 2005, but as the band still had many things they wanted to try, they immediately started work on their next album.For the band's fourth album, the members consciously focused on the sound the band had. This is in comparison to the band's first album, in which they had an image, but had not really considered what it was. However, the band did not start out with a particular concept to work around. Vocalist and lyricist Yojiro Noda noted that while lyrics were the central point of Radwimps 3, the importance of the lyrics were more balanced with other aspects in Radwimps 4. When the band recorded "Bagoodbye" (after the sessions that produced "Yūshinron"), they noted there was stylistically something good about it, and then considered it the focal stylistic point of the album. Noda also felt that it was exactly the sort of statement Radwimps had wanted to make in a song. Radwimps 4 felt like a point in experimentation where the band had wanted to get to, where in Radwimps 2 they first felt this desire, and in Radwimps 3 they felt closer to their target.
"Enren" is the first Radwimps song based around fictional events. It was created by Noda after fans had kept requesting a long-distance relationship-themed song.
Many of the song titles in the album contain wordplay. "05410-(n)" is goroawase (writing numbers and using their phonetic pronunciations) for the Japanese word . The -(ん) in the title is intended to indicate the 10 should be pronounced as the English world ten, but with the n removed. "Masumaru" is written with the hiragana
Hiragana
is a Japanese syllabary, one basic component of the Japanese writing system, along with katakana, kanji, and the Latin alphabet . Hiragana and katakana are both kana systems, in which each character represents one mora...
masu, followed by a Japanese-style circle full-stop, in this instance pronounced . The resulting name, masumaru, which is similar to the Japanese pronunciation to marshmallow
Marshmallow
The marshmallow is a confection that, in its modern form, typically consists of sugar, corn syrup, water, gelatin that has been softened in hot water, dextrose, vanilla flavourings, and sometimes colouring, whipped to a spongy consistency. Some marshmallow recipes call for egg whites...
, .
"Setsuna Rensa" and "Sanbyōshi" are songs with multiple readings of the same words. In "Setsuna Rensa", means chain/connection, while setsuna has a duel meaning of and . is the Japanese word for 3/4 metre
Triple metre
Triple metre is a musical metre characterized by a primary division of 3 beats to the bar, usually indicated by 3 or 9 in the upper figure of the time signature, with 3/4, 3/2, and 3/8 being the most common examples...
, while san in the title is given the different kanji 傘, which means umbrella.
Of the songs on the album, eight are sung completely in Japanese, two primarily in Japanese with English phrases, one entirely in English, and three primarily in English with Japanese stanzas.
Promotion and release
The band's third album was released in February 2006, and throughout the rest of 2006, the band toured and released three singles: "FutarigotoFutarigoto
is a song by Japanese rock band Radwimps, released on May 17, 2006, as the first of three singles from the band's fourth album, Radwimps 4: Okazu no Gohan....
" in May, "Yūshinron
Yūshinron
is a song by Japanese rock band Radwimps, released on July 26, 2006, as the second of three singles from the band's fourth album, Radwimps 4: Okazu no Gohan....
" in July and "Setsuna Rensa" in November.
After the album's release, the songs "Ii n Desu ka?" and "Me Me She" received music videos, both directed by long-time collaborator with the band, Daisuke Shimada.
In promotion of the album, the band toured throughout March and April 2007, on their 15 date tour. The tour was released on DVD in July 2007, and was the number one selling music DVD for the week.
Track listing
Chart rankings
| Chart |
Peak position |
|---|---|
| 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... weekly albums |
5 |
| Oricon yearly albums | 76 |
Sales and certifications
| Chart | Amount |
|---|---|
| Oricon physical sales | 345,000 |
| RIAJ physical shipping certification | Platinum (250,000+) |
Release history
| Region | Date | Format | Distributing Label |
|---|---|---|---|
| Japan | CD, digital download | Toshiba EMI | |
| Taiwan Taiwan Taiwan , also known, especially in the past, as Formosa , is the largest island of the same-named island group of East Asia in the western Pacific Ocean and located off the southeastern coast of mainland China. The island forms over 99% of the current territory of the Republic of China following... |
CD | Gold Typhoon | |
| Japan | Rental CD | Toshiba EMI |