- Release Date: 1993
- Genre: Shooter
- Style: Fixed Screen Shooter
| Games: Arashi |
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| Wikipedia: Arashi |
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This article may require cleanup to meet Wikipedia's quality standards. Please improve this article if you can. (November 2009) |
| Arashi 嵐 |
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|---|---|
| Origin | Japan |
| Genres | Pop Japanese pop R&B Hip-pop Rock |
| Years active | 1999-present |
| Labels | Pony Canyon (1999-2001) J Storm (2002-present) |
| Website | www.j-storm.co.jp/arashi |
| Members | |
| Masaki Aiba Jun Matsumoto Kazunari Ninomiya Satoshi Ohno Sho Sakurai |
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Arashi (嵐, literally Storm) is a Japanese boy band formed under the Japanese talent agency Johnny & Associates. Consisting of Satoshi Ohno, Sho Sakurai, Masaki Aiba, Kazunari Ninomiya and Jun Matsumoto, the group was officially announced on September 15, 1999 in Honolulu, Hawaii. Arashi covers a wide range of music, including R&B, hip hop and various forms of pop music. Aside from being a popular idol group in Japan, the group is known across Asia and to J-pop fans all over the world.
After releasing one studio album, one greatest hits album and six singles under the Pony Canyon label, the group moved to the Johnny's subsidiary label, J Storm in 2002, initially set up for their succeeding releases. Most of the group's album and single releases have debuted at the top of the Japanese Oricon charts. Nine years after their debut they took the top two placings on the 2008 annual sales ranking, attesting to the group's longevity in the Japanese music scene in spite of their idol group image.[1][2]
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Johnny's & Associates (or Johnny's) announced the group's debut on September 15, 1999 through a press conference aboard a cruise ship off the coast of Honolulu, Hawaiʻi.[3] Arashi, the Japanese word for storm, was chosen by Johnny's to represent the group's thrust of "creating a storm throughout the world." Their debut single, "Arashi", became the theme song for the 8th World Cup of Volleyball hosted by Japan in 1999.[3] They gained widespread exposure when they sang their debut single at the cup's opening on November 2, 1999. At the debut event a day later, an estimated 80,000 fans showed up at the Yoyogi National Hippodrome to see the group's live performance.[4] The single went on to become a major hit, selling 557,430 copies in its first week[5] and almost a million copies by the end of its chart run. In 2000, their singles "Sunrise Nippon/Horizon", "Typhoon Generation" and "Kansha Kangeki Ame Arashi" debuted within the Oricon Top 5.[6][7][8]
From March 25 to April 30, 2001, the group embarked on their first nationwide tour entitled Arashi Spring Concert 2001. The tour took place in Sendai, Osaka, Nagoya, Hokkaido, Fukuoka, Hiroshima, Kanazawa, Toyama and Tokyo with an unprecedented twenty-six performances.[9]
In November 2001, they left the Pony Canyon label to move to their private record label J Storm and went on to become maverick, falling into the shadows of their rising juniors.[10][11] The group's subsequent releases were moderate hits until the release of "Wish", the theme song for the drama Hana Yori Dango which starred member Matsumoto as one of the lead actors, in 2005. The single went on to sell over 200,000 copies in its first week and over 303,000 copies by the end of its chart run, making it the group's first single sell over 300,000 copies in nearly three years since "A Day in Our Life" in 2002.[12]
By 2006, the group's singles and albums were being released outside of Japan. Their album, Arashic, was released not only in Japan, but in Hong Kong, South Korea, Taiwan and Thailand as well. The album was successful in Korea as the first 10,000 copies of the album were sold out on the first day, and it even topped the non Korean sales charts on the third week of July.[13] On July 31, 2006, the group embarked on their Jet Storm Tour, which aimed to promote the album. The one-day tour covered Taiwan, Thailand and South Korea, countries which later became part of their Asia tour (The Thailand concert, Thai-J Pop Concert, was canceled due to a military coup d'etat).
The concert in Korea was decided because about 1,500 Korean fans gathered at the Incheon International Airport during the group's Jet Storm press conference.[14] The concert, held on November 12, 2006, made Arashi the first group from Johnny's to perform an individual concert in South Korea.[15][16] The group proved popular to Korean fans when their concert tickets were sold out in an hour, as some 150,000 people rushed to book tickets online.[17] Aside from their concert performances, the group represented Japan in the 2006 Asia Song Festival, also held in South Korea.[14]
On February 21, 2007, the group released their first single of the year, "Love So Sweet", the theme song for the high-rating television drama Hana Yori Dango 2, which peaked at the number one spot on Oricon's daily and weekly charts. Their nineteenth single, "We Can Make It!", released on May 2, 2007, also charted number one on Oricon's daily and weekly charts, before falling out of the Oricon Top 10 in its second week, only to return back to the Top 10 on its third week. On April 2007, the group performed in one of their largest concerts: Arashi Around Asia in Dome, which was a continuation of their Triumphant Homecoming concert, aimed to celebrate the successful Asia tour held in January 2007. Due to a surge of balloting from fans for the January concerts, it was decided that they would hold a dome version of the concert. Arashi Around Asia in Dome was held at the Kyocera Dome in Osaka and Tokyo Dome. With a combined total capacity of 100,000 people at Tokyo Dome, the concert had an attendance of over 200,000.[18]
Their seventh studio album, Time released in July, continued the group's string of number one releases, selling over 190,000 copies in its first week.[19] Also in July, the premiere of the TBS drama production of the manga, Yamada Taro Monogatari starring members Kazunari Ninomiya and Sho Sakurai. The theme song of the series, "Happiness", was sung by the group and also debuted at the top spot of the Japanese single charts. The year proved successful for the group as all of their singles ranked within the Top 30 of the annual Oricon charts, with "Love So Sweet" ranking fourth in single sales overall, making it the group's first single to rank within the Top 10 of the annual charts.[20]
The group's success in 2007 sparked renewed interest, with two major announcements in February 2008. The first was the announcement that the group would be doing a concert tour of the five major domes in Tokyo, Nagoya, Osaka, Fukuoka and Sapporo. The tour, titled Arashi Marks 2008 Dream-A-live, consisted of 10 performances, from May 16 in Osaka to July 6 in Sapporo. The only other Johnny's artists who have done a five dome tour are SMAP and KinKi Kids.[21] The second announcement was from the Japanese television network TBS, announcing that the group would host their first primetime variety program entitled Himitsu no Arashi-chan.[22]
Arashi was the third musical group (after SMAP and Dreams Come True) to perform at Tokyo's National Stadium in their first major outdoor concert on September 5, 2008 as the start of the group's second Asia tour, which included Taipei, Seoul and Shanghai; Johnny & Associates' first concert in China.[23][24] 2008 proved to be an extremely successful year for the group with their twenty-third single, "Truth/Kaze no Mukō e", topping the Oricon singles chart for the year with "One Love" coming second. They are the first artist since 1989 to take the top two placings on the charts and the fifth artist to do so in history.[1] Their twenty-fourth single, "Beautiful Days", also placed as the tenth best selling single of the year.[25][26]
The group released two double A-side singles "Believe/Kumorinochi, Kaisei" and "Ashita no Kioku/Crazy Moon: Kimi wa Muteki" on March 4 and May 27 respectively in 2009. Both singles sold over 500,000 copies in first week sales, making Arashi the first artist to have two consecutive singles exceed the 500,000 mark within a week in seven years seven months since Keisuke Kuwata.[27] Their live DVD Arashi Around Asia 2008 in Tokyo, released on March 25, topped the comprehensive DVD sales rankings for three consecutive weeks on the Oricon charts, making them the first artist to do so since the rankings started in April 1999.[28] Prior to this, other artists such as Mr. Children, Hikaru Utada and Ayumi Hamasaki could only top the charts for two consecutive weeks.[28] By the end of the first half of 2009, the group had taken over the top spot in both the singles and DVD categories.[29][30] The last time an artist simultaneously topped two categories was Hikaru Utada in 2001.[31] Furthermore, Arashi was the first artist to dominate the top two spots in the singles category for the first half of the year since Hikaru Genji in 1988.[31] Arashi Around Asia 2008 in Tokyo also became the first music DVD in Oricon history to be number one for a first half of the year ranking.[32]
At the end of June, Arashi announced their tenth anniversary tour, which included three consecutive shows at the National Stadium in Tokyo once again. They became the first artist ever to play at the stadium for three days straight.[33] Their third single of the year, "Everything", was released on July 1, 2009. With the single selling over 342,000 copies in the first week, Arashi has the three best first-week single sales of 2009 at this point in time.[34]
They released their greatest hits album All the Best! 1999-2009 on August 19, 2009, featuring most of their singles since debut, a new song with lyrics written by the members themselves and a limited edition third disc containing ten of the group's selections. Thirteen days after the release, the album broke the one million mark, a first in Arashi's history.[35][36][37] It became the first album of 2009 to break one million and is the best selling album of 2009 as of September 2009.[35][38]
Their music video collection DVD 5x10 All the Best! Clips 1999-2009, released on October 28, 2009, sold around 428,000 copies within one week, establishing the first-week music DVD sales record on the Japanese Oricon charts.[39] Selling another 73,000 copies in its second week, Oricon declared that it is also the first music DVD to exceed 500,000 in sales in two weeks.[40]
On November 23, 2009, NHK revealed that Arashi will participate in the 60th NHK Kōhaku Uta Gassen.[41] It will mark the group's first appearance on the annual New Year's Eve music show.[41]
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Aside from their music careers, Arashi has also appeared in movies, variety programs, commercials and events. They are the hosts of the variety program Arashi no Shukudai-kun as of 2006, and the hosts of variety program Himitsu no Arashi-chan and game show VS Arashi as of 2008.
During the time of the group's debut, all five members participated in a short Fuji TV drama entitled V no Arashi, in which the plot was centered around volleyball due to the group's role as the supporters for the 8th World Cup of Volleyball hosted by Japan in 1999.
Fuji TV announced on November 11, 2009 that the group would appear in their first drama together in ten years. Described as a human suspense drama, The Last Promise will air in the spring of 2010.[42][43]
In 2002, Arashi released their first movie together called Pikanchi Life Is Hard Dakedo Happy, which was directed by Yukihiko Tsutsumi. Based on the original idea of V6 member Yoshihiko Inohara, the movie told a story of five friends struggling to strive for their individual dreams and happiness.[44] A sequel called Pikanchi Life Is Hard Dakara Happy was released in 2004, continuing the story three years after the events of first movie.[45]
2007 saw the group's third movie together called Kiiroi Namida. With Aiba, Ninomiya, Sakurai and Ohno playing the movie's primary characters, the movie told a story of four young men who moved to Tokyo in order to achieve their own way of living as a manga artist, singer, novelist and oil painter respectively. Matsumoto played a minor role of a young man who would lend a hand of support to the others from time to time.[46]
From April 15, 2000 to March 10, 2001, Arashi joined other Johnny's artists such as Tackey & Tsubasa member Hideaki Takizawa and NEWS member Tomohisa Yamashita as the hosts of the variety show Gakibara Teikoku 2000! (renamed to Gakibara in 2001).[47] Shortly after the end of Gakibara, the show was replaced by USO!? Japan (with USO standing for "Unconfirmed Stories Organization"). The hosts of Gakibara joined Tokio member Taichi Kokubun to host the program that was mainly centered around the theme of the supernatural.[48]
On October 3, 2001, Arashi's first solo variety show Mayonaka no Arashi began airing on NTV. The theme of the show was focused on solitarily exploring different parts of Japan until sunrise without money or a map after getting off the last train of the night.[49] The show lasted for 38 episodes and ended on June 26, 2002. The group moved on to host their next late-night program called C no Arashi. Forming Japan's first claim processing company and acting as "Claim Agents", at least one member would help process the complaints of government offices and enterprises every week.[50] Lasting under a year, the show ran from July 13, 2002 to June 25, 2003.
D no Arashi began airing on July 2, 2003 and the show's theme was about at least one member acting as a reporter and document on different topics.[51] Later in the show, the group would split into one MC and two teams of two to compete in a "Fool's Curiosity" competition, in which the teams try to pique a special guest's curiosity the most with unusual experiments or information.[52]
In addition to hosting C no Arashi and later D no Arashi, Arashi expanded onto another variety show called Nama Arashi: Live Storm on Fuji TV.[53] The program was broadcast completely live and is the group's only live variety show to date, lasting until March 27, 2004. On April 3, 2004, Arashi no Waza-ari began to air in the time slot previously held by Nama Arashi: Live Storm and focused on the theme of having Arashi learn how to be adults.[54]
Fuji TV launched Arashi's longest-running variety show to date called Mago Mago Arashi on April 9, 2005. The show contained several themes with the main one being "Arashi as Grandchildren for a Day",[note 1] in which two members pair up and visit the home of an elderly couple to help with work and spend time with them as their fill in grandchildren.[55]
Several months after the first episode of Mago Mago Arashi, D no Arashi was replaced by G no Arashi. The show centered around Arashi acting as supporters for other people, which ranged from solving personal problems to helping promote the awareness of minor sports.[56] It ended on September 27, 2006 and Arashi no Shukudai-kun began to air at a slightly earlier time slot. With morning announcer Tomoaki Ogura as their co-host, Arashi would invite other celebrities as guests and do "homework" (as the show's title literally means "Arashi's Homework") given by viewers prior to the episode's broadcast. In turn, viewers would receive homework to send in their impressions of a future guest, recommendations on certain food dishes, and games that they created themselves.[57][58]
Nearly two weeks after the end of Mago Mago Arashi, a new program called GRA (standing for Golden Rush Arashi) took over the time slot.[59] The show lasted only for 23 episodes and was replaced by VS Arashi in 2008. The show is the group's first game show, revolving around the theme of Arashi competing against guest teams.
Just two days before the first episode of VS Arashi, another program called Himitsu no Arashi-chan began to air on TBS on April 10, 2008 at primetime.[22][note 2] Produced by Saori Hirata, the show dealed with social and cultural topics. The show underwent renewal in 2009 and changed the theme of the show to focus more on guest celebrities and the members themselves.[62]
In July 2009, it was announced that VS Arashi would move from its half-hour Saturday afternoon time slot to an hour-long Thursday night time slot at 7:00 JST from October 22, 2009 onwards, making it Arashi's first show to air during Golden Time.[63][64]
With Shōnentai leader Kazukiyo Nishikiori, Aiba, Matsumoto, Ohno and Sakurai traveled to New York to film for a television special called Nishikiori & Arashi! Hajimete no N.Y. Gōka Yume no Hi Tour, which was broadcast on November 26, 2000 on NTV. Due to the unavailability of a fifth airplane ticket, Ninomiya was not able to participate in the overseas filming.[65] In 2002, the group participated in a Fuji TV dog-themed special called Arashi no Narikiri Baraetei: Inu no Kimochi ni Natte Mimashita Wan! (January 4, 2002) and Arashi no Inu no Kimochi ni Natte Mimashita Wan Wan (July 21, 2002).
NTV broadcasted a special called Australia Tairiku Jūdan! Gekitō 3000 Kilo Ultra Strong Game on March 30, 2005.[66] The filming took place in Australia, and each member led a team of athletes through several rigorous obstacle courses.
On September 26, 2006, the first of five of Arashi's experiments special Odoroki no Arashi was launched on NTV at 7:00 pm JST.[67] The theme of the special revolved around members carrying out various types of experiments with other tarento and comedians. Odoroki no Arashi Special 2, Special 3, Special 4 and Special 5 aired on March 23, 2007, October 11, 2007, April 6, 2008 and December 28, 2008 respectively. NTV aired a special called Arashi no Jikken & Shukudai-kun, a combination of Arashi no Shukudai-kun and Odoroki no Arashi, on March 24, 2009.
Arashi teamed up with spiritual counselor Hiroyuki Ehara on a Fuji TV live special called Asu he no Tobira to discuss about viewers' problems and offer them advice on March 31, 2007.[68] On December 25, 2008, TBS broadcasted a special called 2007 Shijō Saidai Sports Dai Kansha Festival with Arashi taking part in interviews and sports challenges.[69]
On the night before the premiere of actress Mao Inoue and Matsumoto's movie Hana Yori Dango Final on June 28, 2008, a partly live television special called Hana Yori Dango Special aired on TBS.[70] The main cast of Hana Yori Dango (Shun Oguri, Shota Matsuda, Tsuyoshi Abe and Inoue) and Arashi, who provided the theme songs for the entire Hana Yori Dango trilogy, aimed to promote the movie through the special.[70] Arashi performed a special medley of "Wish", "Love So Sweet" and "One Love" called "Final Remix feat. Wish Love So Sweet & One Love", which can be found as a B-side on the "Love So Sweet" single.[70]
In celebration of the group's tenth anniversary, NTV proposed a week-long schedule for the group to take part in.[71] Entitled Arashi Challenge Week, at least one member guested on a variety show or news program airing on NTV, such as Zoom in! Super, News Zero and Waratte Koraete!, everyday from October 25, 2009 to November 1, 2009.[72] Arashi Challenge Week ended on November 1, 2009 with a partly live television special entitled Odoroki no Arashi! The Century's Biggest Experiments! Impossible Feats Special & Miracle Experiments Live Broadcast!.[note 3][73] During the pre-recorded airing of Odokori no Arashi, the group performed various songs live, such as "Kansha Kangeki Ame Arashi", "One Love", "Sakura Sake" and "Fight Song".[74] In addition, the group carried out a live 3-D experiment with their television audience and opened the time capsule which the group and then-co-host, Zoom in! Super newscaster Shinichi Hatori buried nearly ten years ago on the final episode of the group's first variety show Mayonaka no Arashi.[73][74] The three-hour special registered an average viewership rating of 23.5%, with a momentary peak rating of 29.8%.[75][76]
From November 5, 1999 to November 26, 1999, Arashi broadcasted their first radio program together called Arashi no Kinyōbi on JOLF. Soon after, they took on another radio program on FM Tokyo. It was called Arashi Oto and aired for nearly two years from April 3, 2000 to September 30, 2002.
During the month of July 2003, a special program was broadcast on JFN called Sunday Special Arashi How's It Going? every Sunday, with the first airing on July 6, 2003 and last on July 20, 2003. Almost a week after the last radio special was broadcast, JOLF aired Shitteru? 24-Jikan, which ran for five days from July 28, 2003 to August 1, 2003.
Nearly every year, the group would endorse different products through commercials such as Coca-Cola Japan's Coca-Cola, House Foods Corporation's Ozack and Tongari Corn, and House Wellness Foods Corporation's C1000 Vitamin Lemon, Vitamin Jelly, Lemon Water. In 2002, the group appeared in commercials to support Johnny's Stand Up Hawaii!! Campaign. Arashi began to endorse au by KDDI's mobile phones in 2008, appearing in the corporation's exclusive "A Different Summer from Last Year: If We Were Not Arashi" commercials.[note 4][77]
The group was appointed to be the main personality supporters for NTV's 27th annual telethon 24-Hour Television: "Your Dream is Everybody's Dream", which was broadcast live for about 24 hours from August 21, 2004 to August 22, 2004. The program raised 719,045,124 Japanese yen (approx. US$7,898,073.58) in donations.[78] Four years later, Arashi was once again the main personality supporters for the telethon.[79][80] The 31st annual 24-Hour Television: "Vow - The Most Important Promise" was broadcast live from August 30, 2008 to August 31, 2008, and the program raised ¥1,083,666,922 (approx. US$11,902,822.61),[78] which is the second-highest amount of donations in 24-Hour Television history to date.[81][82][83]
On November 20, 2009, Arashi held an event organized by House Foods called Arashi in Tokyo DisneySea Premium Event.[84][85] Reserving the entire theme park for one night, the group performed a special medley of Christmas songs and their own songs such as "Arashi" and "One Love".[84] Although there were only 7050 invitations available through a lucky drawing, over five million applications were received for the free event.[86]
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