Japonism (album)

Japonism
Studio album by
Arashi
Released October 21, 2015
Recorded 2014–2015
Genre
Length 86:37 (Regular Edition)
69:39 (Limited Edition)
121:10 (Yoitoko Limited Edition)
Language
  • Japanese
  • English
Label J Storm
Producer Julie K.
Arashi chronology
The Digitalian
(2014) 		Japonism
(2015) 		Are You Happy?
(2016)
Singles from Japonism
  1. "Sakura"
    Released: February 25, 2015
  2. "Aozora no Shita, Kimi no Tonari"
    Released: May 13, 2015

Japonism is the fourteenth studio album of the Japanese idol group Arashi. The album was released on October 21, 2015 under their record label J Storm in three editions: a first press/limited edition, a Yoitoko limited edition, and a regular edition. The first press edition comes with an 84-page photo lyrics booklet and bonus DVD with the music video and making-of for the album's lead track, "Kokoro no Sora". The Yoitoko limited edition comes with a 32-page lyrics booklet, and the regular edition comes with a 36-page lyrics booklet. The album sold over 820,000 copies in its first week and topped the Oricon charts for two consecutive weeks. With more than 1,000,000 copies sold, the album was certified for Million by the Recording Industry Association of Japan (RIAJ). On December 23, 2015, Oricon ranked Japonism as the best-selling album of 2015 in Japan. On February 27, 2016, Japonism was awarded Album of the Year in the 2016 Japan Gold Disc Awards.

It was released digitally on February 7, 2020.

Album information

The first press edition contains a CD with sixteen tracks and the Yoitoko edition contains a CD with seventeen tracks. The regular edition contains a CD with twenty tracks. The first press edition comes with an 84-page photo lyrics booklet and a bonus DVD with the music video and making of for "Kokoro no Sora", while the Yoitoko limited edition comes with a 32-page lyrics booklet, a bonus track, and an original talk track "Arajapo Talk". The regular edition comes with a 36-page lyrics booklet and four bonus tracks. The album jacket cover for the Yoitoko and regular editions are the same. The first press edition has a different jacket cover.

Songs

In Japonism, Arashi expresses their interpretations of the "wonderfulness of Japan". The album showcases Arashi's ambitious challenging spirit and continuous evolution. The lead track "Kokoro no Sora" was composed by Tomoyasu Hotei, who is based in London, with the theme "Japan seen from the outside" in mind. Described as a "passionate and manly song", Arashi sings to a fast-paced Hotei sound, where a battle between Arashi, Hotei, and Japanese instruments take place. The album includes a cover of Shonentai's "Nihon Yoitoko Maka Fushigi".

Japonism includes two of the group's previously released singles: "Sakura" and "Aozora no Shita, Kimi no Tonari". This album also includes fourteen new songs plus five of each member's solo songs. It also includes their previously unreleased song "Furusato" which they have sung regularly since 2010.

"Sakura" was used as the theme song for the drama Ouroborous, starring actors Toma Ikuta and Shun Oguri. This is the first time Arashi has provided a theme song for a drama that did not star one of its members. "Aozora no Shita, Kimi no Tonari" was used as the theme song for the drama Yokoso, Wagaya E, which stars Arashi member Masaki Aiba.

Promotion

To support their new album, Arashi performed a live tour, ARASHI LIVE TOUR 2015 Japonism, performing at all the major dome stadiums in Japan. They had 17 performances beginning on November 6 at the Nagoya Dome, followed by Sapporo Dome on November 8, Kyocera Osaka Dome on November 26, Fukuoka Dome on December 17, and Tokyo Dome on December 23, 2015.

Track listing

CD 1
No. Title Lyrics Music Arrangement Length
1. "Sakura" eltvo eltvo Hirofumi Sasaki 4:39
2. "Kokoro no Sora" (心の空)
Hotei Hotei 4:33
3. "Kimi e no Omoi" (君への想い)
  • wonder note
  • Macoto56
  • Sakurai
 wonder note Tomoki Ishizuka 4:53
4. "Don't You Love Me?" (Jun Matsumoto solo)
  • wonder note
  • paddy
  • wonder note
  • takarot
 Ishizuka 4:00
5. "Miyabi-night"
  • Macoto56
  • AKJ & ASIL
 AKJ & ASIL A.K.Janeway 4:37
6. "Mikazuki" (三日月) youth case A-bee A-bee 4:30
7. "Bolero!" Sakra Sakra Slice of Life 3:38
8. "Mr. Funk" (Masaki Aiba solo)
  • youth case
  • Shigeo
  • Ricky Hanley
  • Daniel Sherman
 metropolitan digital clique 4:45
9. "Akatsuki" (暁, Satoshi Ohno solo) s-Tnk Kazumi Mitome Mitome 4:13
10. "Aozora no Shita, Kimi no Tonari" (青空の下、キミのとなり)
  • wonder note
  • s-Tnk
  • Gigi
  • wonder note
 metropolitan digital clique 4:04
11. "Rolling Days" (Sho Sakurai solo)
  • Octobar
  • Sakurai
 Octobar pieni tonttu 5:05
12. "In the Room" (イン・ザ・ルーム)
  • Takashi Ogawa
  • Sakurai
 Jeremy Hammond Hammond 3:18
13. "Masquerade" (マスカレード) Hydrant Hydrant Motoki Funayama 4:50
14. "Music" (Kazunari Ninomiya solo) Akira Takahiro Furukawa Taku Yoshioka 3:38
15. "Tsutaetai Koto" (伝えたいこと)
  • ASIL
  • s-Tnk
pieni tonttu 4:39
16. "Japonesque"
  • MiNE
  • R.P.P.
  • sk-etch
  • MiNE
  • ha-j
  • sk-etch
 4:11
CD 2: Regular edition
No. Title Lyrics Music Arrangement Length
1. "Bokura ga Tsunaideiku" (僕らがつないでいく)
  • SQUAREF
  • John World
  • Pippi Svensson
  • Josef Melin
 BJ Khan 4:25
2. "The Deep End" 100+
A.K.Janeway 3:27
3. "Make a Wish" Sachiko Inamura
  • sk-etch
  • Shu Kanematsu
  • BEAT
  • ROLF
 Sasaki 4:24
4. "Furusato" (ふるさと) Kundō Koyama youth case Sachiko Miyano 4:41
Total length: 86:37
CD 2 Yoitoko limited edition
No. Title Lyrics Music Arrangement Length
1. "Nihon Yoitoko Makafushigi" (日本よいとこ摩訶不思議, Shonentai cover) Yoshio Nomura Nomura Sasaki 2:55
2. "Arajapo Talk" (アラジャポ・トーク, Original Talk Track)       48:36
Total length: 121:10
DVD limited edition
No. Title Length
1. "Kokoro no Sora (video clip + making)" (心の空（ビデオ・クリップ＋メイキング）)  

Chart performance

The album debuted at number one on the Oricon daily album chart selling 412,826 copies upon its release and selling over 820,000 copies by the end of the week, topping the Oricon weekly album chart. The album maintained its number-one spot on the Oricon weekly album chart selling 56,890 copies in its second week and stayed in the top ten for six consecutive weeks. The album placed second on Billboard Japan's yearly top albums list and first on Oricon's yearly album chart, making it the best-selling album of 2015 in Japan. This makes Arashi the first and only solo or group artist to reach number one five times on the yearly charts, beating Hikaru Utada's 2004 record of four number one albums on the yearly charts.

"Japonism" sold 3,513 copies in its twelfth week which pushed the overall sales for the album past the one million mark, making "Japonism" Arashi's third million-selling album after All the Best! 1999–2009 and Boku no Miteiru Fūkei. It also marks the first time in three years and seven months a male artist has sold over one million copies of their album (since Mr Children's Mr. Children 2001–2005 ＜micro＞ in 2012). With more than 1,000,000 copies sold, "Japonism" was certified for Million by the Recording Industry Association of Japan (RIAJ).

Charts and certifications

Awards

  • The album won Album of the Year and was listed as one of the Best 5 Albums for the 30th Japan Gold Disc Awards.

Release history

Country Release date Label Format Catalog
Japan October 21, 2015 J Storm CD+DVD JACA-5480-5481
2CD JACA-5482-5483
2CD JACA-5484-5485
South Korea November 11, 2015 S.M. Entertainment CD+DVD SMKJT0593/B
2CD SMKJT0594
2CD SMKJT0595
Taiwan November 11, 2015 Avex Asia CD+DVD JAJCD26025/A
2CD JAJCD26025/B
2CD JAJCD26025/6