are a

Japanese idol An is a type of entertainer marketed for image, attractiveness, and personality in Japanese pop culture. Idols are primarily singers with training in acting, dancing, and modeling. Idols are commercialized through merchandise and endorsements b ...

group. It consists of singer "Ayumi", DJ "Kurika" and hype-woman "Maki". The three girls are managed by Id Entertainment agency.

History

2012: Origins and formation

Kurika and Maki met as high-school classmates in

Kobe Kobe ( , ; officially , ) is the capital city of Hyōgo Prefecture Japan. With a population around 1.5 million, Kobe is Japan's seventh-largest city and the third-largest port city after Tokyo and Yokohama. It is located in Kansai region, whic ...

prefecture, and started out as a DJ unit Kurikamaki (くりかまき) in January, 2012.Geki-Rock Entertainment Inc. feature article on Ayumikurikamaki (posted 3/4/2015, checked 7/4/2015)
/ref> Since the Japanese abbreviation of their name makes the word "kuma", which means bear in Japanese, they dress up in bear costumes and claim to be 3-year-old bears.Natalie interview with Ayumikurikamaki (checked 7/4/2015)
/ref> They posted their DJ performance on Niconico, which caught the management agency's attention. They officially started their activity in November 2012, performing as an opening DJ in over 20 events a month.

2013-2014: Indie kuma era

They released their first CD single "アナログマガール" (Analoguma-girl) on August 21, 2013, ranking 136 in

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 and Western music. It started as, which was founded by Sōkō Koike in Nov ...

weekly chart. They released their second CD single "クマトナデシコ" (Kumatonadeshiko) on March 21, 2014, ranking 41 in the Oricon weekly chart. One of the CD's B-side tracks, ”春色ディスカバリー feat. ともだち” (Seishun Discovery featuring Tomodachi), featured Ayumi, a girl in the same management agency.Natalie live report (posted 3/24/2014, checked 7/4/2015)
/ref> Her singing caught Kurikamaki's attention, and they claim to have persuaded her to join their group for over 5 months. On May 5, 2014, Ayumi officially joined Kurikamaki, and the group's name was changed to Ayumikurikamaki,
/ref> which is frequently abbreviated as Ayukuma. On July 22, 2014, they released their first CD single as Ayumikurikamaki "ジェットクマスター" (Jet kumastar) on July 22, 2014, ranking 23 in the Oricon weekly chart.

2015-7/2016: Major kuma era

They debuted on a major record label with the single "鮭鮭鮭" ("''Shakeh Shakeh Shakeh''", which translates to "Salmon Salmon Salmon") on March 4, 2015, ranking 11 in the

Oricon Singles Chart The Oricon Singles Chart is the Japanese music industry-standard singles popularity chart issued daily, weekly, monthly and yearly by Oricon. Chart rankings are based on physical singles' sales. Until 2017, Oricon did not track download sales. In J ...

. They released their second major single "蜜蜜蜜" (Honey Honey Honey) on June 24, 2015. It reached number 9 on the Oricon chart, and it was their first single to rank in Oricon weekly chart's top 10. It was also an ending theme for the anime ''

Punch Line A punch line (a. k. a. punch-line or punchline) concludes a joke; it is intended to make people laugh. It is the third and final part of the typical joke structure. It follows the introductory framing of the joke and the narrative which sets up ...

''.Musicman-NET news (posted 3/10/2015, checked 7/5/2015)
/ref> They released their third major single "心友フォーエヴァー" ("Shin-yuu Forever", which roughly means "Best Friend Forever") on November 25, 2015, ranking 17 in the

.心友フォーエヴァー on Oricon chart (checked 1/23/2016)
/ref> On December 27, 2015, the members got involved in a car accident. The vehicle they were in rolled over due to a tire burst, leaving them with sprains and bruises bad enough to cancel several planned live events.tokyohive news (posted 12/29/2015, checked 4/25/2016)
/ref> However, they successfully restarted their activity with a live concert on January 31, 2016.Natalie live report (posted 2/3/2016, checked 4/25/2016)
/ref> They released their first album "あゆみくりかまきがやって来る！クマァ！クマァ！クマァ！" (Ayumikurikamaki ga yattekuru! Kuma! Kuma! Kuma!) on April 13, 2016. Its title and art were inspired from ''

The Beatles The Beatles were an English Rock music, rock band, formed in Liverpool in 1960, that comprised John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison and Ringo Starr. They are regarded as the Cultural impact of the Beatles, most influential band of al ...

''.Nikkan Sports news (posted 4/8/2016, checked 4/25/2016)
/ref> It ranked 8 in the

Oricon Albums Chart The Oricon Albums Chart is the Japanese music industry standard albums popularity chart issued daily, weekly, monthly and yearly by Oricon. Oricon originally published LP, CT, Cartridge and CD charts prior to the establishment of the Oricon Albu ...

.あゆみくりかまきがやって来る!クマァ!クマァ!クマァ! on Oricon chart (checked 4/25/2016)
/ref> On May 12, 2016, the group announced that they can continue to perform as bears only until their solo live concert on July 8, 2016, after which they must perform as humans. They also announced that they can return to being bears only if they can announce until the end of 2017 a solo live concert at ''

Nippon Budokan The , often shortened to simply Budokan, is an indoor arena located in Chiyoda, Tokyo, Japan. It was originally built for the inaugural Olympic judo competition in the 1964 Summer Olympics. While its primary purpose is to host martial arts con ...

''.Natalie music news (posted 5/12/2016, checked 5/14/2016)
/ref>

7/2016-present: Major human era

On November 23, 2016, they released their fourth major single "旅立ちの唄" ("Tabidachi-no-Uta", which roughly means "Song of Departure"). It was their first release as humans,Natalie music news (posted 8/29/2016, checked 2/12/2017)
/ref> and ranked 27 in the

.旅立ちの唄 on Oricon chart (checked 2/12/2017)
/ref>

Live performance

Ayumikurikamaki's solo live concerts consist of a DJ part where they mix recorded music for an audience, and a second part where they perform their original songs. They sing " I Met A Bear" only in live concerts, and

circle pit Moshing (also known as slam dancing or simply slamming) is an extreme style of dancing in which participants push or slam into each other, typically performed to "aggressive" live music such as heavy metal and punk rock. Moshing usually happen ...

is sometimes formed.Natalie live report (posted 4/27/2015, checked 7/4/2015)
/ref>Live video of Ayumikurikamaki (posted 3/21/2015, checked 7/6/2015)
/ref> They announce beforehand the type of cheering to be done in the next concert: TTD, a moderate cheering, and DIM, an aggressive cheering. TTD stands for "To Tokyo Dome", and is mainly for a free live and in-store events where they want to attract new fans. DIM stands for "Donna Idol nimo Makenaizo", and is for their solo concerts, as well as idol and subcultural events.MUSICにゅっと。 (posted 6/23/2015, checked 7/5/2015)
/ref>

Original terminology and cheering

''Matagi'': They call their fans matagi, which means animal hunter in Japanese. It is sometimes abbreviated to MTG.AYUMIKURIKAMAKI profile in TOWER RECORDS ONLINE (checked 7/4/2015)
/ref>
''Nikukyuu

Kecak ''Kecak'' (pronounced ("kechak"), alternate spellings: ''kechak'' and ''ketjak''), known in Indonesian as ''tari kecakilolahhe'', is a form of Balinese Hindu dance and music drama that was developed in the 1930s in Bali, Indonesia. Since its ...

'': Raising both hands with all fingers bent at second joints.Natalie live report (posted 5/17/2015, checked 7/4/2015)
/ref> ''Nikukyuu'' means paw in Japanese.
''Analoguma-tonton'': Jumping with a hand raised diagonally that occurs during a performance of Analoguma-girl.

Discography

CD singles

CD albums

Oricon Style albums ranking of Ayumikurikamaki
/ref>

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Ayumikurikamaki Japanese idol groups Japanese girl groups Japanese pop rock music groups Japanese electropop groups Japanese dance music groups Musical groups established in 2012 2012 establishments in Japan Japanese pop music groups Musical groups from Tokyo