is a song composed and recorded by Japanese singer-songwriter Kan, released as the artist's eighth single in September 1990. It was initially featured on his album ''Yakyū Senshu ga Yume datta'', issued a month before the single came out. The song became the performer's first charting hit and the most successful single with sales of over 2 million copies, and has been regarded as his

signature song A signature (; from la, signare, "to sign") is a Handwriting, handwritten (and often Stylization, stylized) depiction of someone's name, nickname, or even a simple "X" or other mark that a person writes on documents as a proof of identity and ...

Song Information

Release and reception

"Ai wa Katsu" is the lead-off track of ''Yakyu Senshu ga Yume datta'', the composer's fifth studio album which was released on July 25, 1990. Inspired by one of his most respected American singer

Billy Joel William Martin Joel (born May 9, 1949) is an American singer, pianist and songwriter. Commonly nicknamed the "Piano Man (song), Piano Man" after his album and signature song of the same name, he has led a commercially successful career as a solo ...

, KAN wanted to compose a song that had similar upbeat like Billy Joel's

Uptown Girl "Uptown Girl" is a song written and performed by the American musician Billy Joel. The lyrics describe a working-class "downtown man" attempting to woo a wealthy " uptown girl". It was released on September 29, 1983, on his ninth studio album, ...

. The whole song was quartered and has many transpositions. It was difficult, and it required multiple recordings in the studio to complete. It was used as the opening theme of a quiz show aired on

TV Asahi JOEX-DTV (channel 5), branded as (also known as EX and and stylized as TV asahi), is a television station that is owned and operated by the subsidiary of certified broadcasting holding company , itself controlled by The Asahi Shimbun Compan ...

during summer 1990, and released as the second single from the album. Kan had previously released seven singles at the time, but none of them entered the chart. Polydor Records had not anticipated it would be a big hit, and issued only 10,000 copies of CD singles at the first pressing. Therefore, "Ai wa Katsu" had not attained immediate chart success upon its release. To promote his new album, "Ai wa Katsu" first obtained intensive airplay on radio stations of the Kansai district. The song had gradually captured more attention in the country's other regions, providing the artist with the first chart entry. It was also featured on the popular variety show ''Yamada Katsutenai TV'' aired on Fuji Television, lifting the single to the summit of the Japanese Oricon sales chart by the end of 1990. "Ai wa Katsu" spent 8 weeks atop on the Oricon chart, ranking at number three on the country's best-selling singles list of 1991. Sales of the single surpassed 2 million during its chart stay of 52 weeks.

Cover Versions

*On August 28, 1991, Hong Kong singer

Jacky Cheung Jacky Cheung Hok-yau (born 10 July 1961) is a Hong Kong singer and actor. Dubbed the "God of Songs", he is regarded as one of the Four Heavenly Kings of Hong Kong pop music. Cheung is known for his technically skilled vocals, lengthy tours, and m ...

covered the song under the name 壯志驕陽 (An Aspiring Sun) for his album 一顆不變心 (An Unwavering Heart) *On October 6, 2010,

voice actor Voice acting is the art of performing voice-overs to present a character or provide information to an audience. Performers are called voice actors/actresses, voice artists, dubbing artists, voice talent, voice-over artists, or voice-over talent ...

Shintarō Asanuma is a Japanese scriptwriter, director, actor, voice actor, narrator, copywriter and designer. He was affiliated with Office Osawa and currently attached under DANDELION. Biography Filmography Television animation ;2003 *'' Origami Warriors'' ...

covered it as a

Character song An image song or character song is a song on a tie-in single or album (often called an image album or character album) for an anime, game, ''dorama'', manga, or commercial product that is sometimes sung by the voice actor or actor of a character ...

for " Ōkami-san to Shichinin no Nakamatachi – Character Song Album – Otogi Songs Best 10". *On May 25, 2011,

Jun Fukuyama is a Japanese voice actor and singer. He played Lelouch Lamperouge in ''Code Geass'', Koro-sensei in '' Assassination Classroom'', Ichimatsu in ''Osomatsu-san'', Yuta Togashi in ''Love, Chunibyo & Other Delusions'', Kraft Lawrence in ''Spice and ...

covered it for his third studio album "''Fukuyama Jun, Ai wo Utau!''".

Other Media

*The song was performed by the main character Jiro Suzuki during episode 6 of 1994–1995

anime is Traditional animation, hand-drawn and computer animation, computer-generated animation originating from Japan. Outside of Japan and in English, ''anime'' refers specifically to animation produced in Japan. However, in Japan and in Japane ...

カラオケ戦士マイク次郎 (Karaoke Senshi Mike Jirou). *On May 6, 2020, Japanese teachers and staffs from a local prefecture

Suruga-ku, Shizuoka is one of three wards of Shizuoka, Shizuoka, Japan, located in the southern part of the city. The north east of Suruga-ku faces Aoi-ku; the north west faces Shimizu-ku; the south west faces Yaizu city and south east faces Suruga Bay. Suruga- ...

Shizuoka Gakuen Junior and Senior High School is a private coeducational junior and senior high school located in Suruga-ku, Shizuoka, Japan. Shizuoka Gakuen was founded by Makino Kenichi in 1966. The junior high school and high school are part of a larger school organization which inclu ...

joined forces and performed the song altogether as a form of inspiration to 'let's overcome the

Coronavirus Coronaviruses are a group of related RNA viruses that cause diseases in mammals and birds. In humans and birds, they cause respiratory tract infections that can range from mild to lethal. Mild illnesses in humans include some cases of the com ...

together' for their students. The video has been uploaded to its official YouTube channel.

Track listing

All songs composed by KAN

Personnel

Credits adapted from ''Yakyū Senshu ga Yume datta'' album sleeve notes. *KAN: lead vocals *Shingo Kobayashi: Piano, synthesizer *Eiji Shimamura: Drums *Tsuyoshi Kon: guitar *Kenji Takamizu: bass *

Wornell Jones Wornell Jones (born November 14) is an American bassist. He has performed with many people and groups in the United States and Japan, including likes of Sly and the Family Stone, Koko Taylor, Chage and Aska, Hiromi Go, and Omega Tribe. He is ...

: chorus *J.T. Jamm: chorus

Accolades

Japan Record Awards

, - , style="width:35px; text-align:center;" rowspan="2", 1991 , , rowspan="2", "Ai wa Katsu" , , Japan Record Award – Pop/Rock , , , - , Gold Disc Prize – Pop/Rock , , , -

Japan Gold Disc Awards

, - , width="35" align="center", 1991, , "Ai wa Katsu" , , The Best 5 Singles of Year , , , -

Charts

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

All-time charts

Certifications

References

External links

* {{authority control 1990 singles Japanese-language songs Oricon Weekly number-one singles 1990 songs Polydor Records singles