"Bokura no Machi de" (僕らの街で in Japanese text, translates to "''In Our City''") is the third overall single by the Japanese boy band

KAT-TUN is a Japanese boy band formed under Johnny & Associates (Johnny's) in 2001. The group's name was originally an acronym based on the first letter of each member's family name: Kazuya Kamenashi, Jin Akanishi, Junnosuke Taguchi, Koki Tanaka, ...

, and the second from their second studio album, ''

Cartoon KAT-TUN II You ''Cartoon KAT-TUN II You'' is the second studio album by Japanese boy band KAT-TUN, released in Japan on April 18, 2007 by J Storm, J-One Records. It is the group's first album that does not feature all six members, as Jin Akanishi had taken a sabb ...

''. The first

ballad A ballad is a form of verse, often a narrative set to music. Ballads derive from the medieval French ''chanson balladée'' or ''ballade'', which were originally "dance songs". Ballads were particularly characteristic of the popular poetry and ...

to be released as a single, it is also the first commercially released song to not feature

Jin Akanishi is a Japanese musician, singer, songwriter and actor. He has been active since 1998 as one of the two lead vocalists of the J-pop boy-band KAT-TUN before starting a solo career in 2009. Akanishi has also acted in several films and dramas. Biog ...

who took a sabbatical from the group in October 2006 to study in Los Angeles. The single was released in three editions; a regular edition with instrumental versions of the title track and a b-side, a first press limited edition with a bonus track and its instrumental version and a limited edition with the single's music video.Bokura no Machi de with DVD, Limited Edition
CD Japan; retrieved on July 29, 2008. It was released on December 7, 2006, and became KAT-TUN's third consecutive number 1 on the

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 ...

singles charts.

Single information

"Bokura no Machi de" was written entirely by

folk Folk or Folks may refer to: Sociology *Nation *People * Folklore ** Folk art ** Folk dance ** Folk hero ** Folk music *** Folk metal *** Folk punk *** Folk rock ** Folk religion * Folk taxonomy Arts, entertainment, and media * Folk Plus or Fol ...

singer-songwriter

Kazumasa Oda is a Japanese singer-songwriter, and composer. He was the leader of folk rock band Off Course from 1969 to 1989, and has done solo work since 1985. As the vocalist of Off Course, Oda wrote many Japanese standard numbers in the 70s and 80s. Th ...

for KAT-TUN. He was an active participant in the recording studio attending each member's recording session from start to finish while providing advice for each of them.''

Music Station is a Japanese music television program. Broadcasting live weekly on TV Asahi since October 24, 1986, it currently airs from 9PM-10PM on Fridays. The program is also colloquially known as , , and . The show is currently syndicated throughout th ...

'' interview, December 2006 appearance. The song was featured as the ending

theme song Theme music is a musical composition that is often written specifically for radio programming, television shows, video games, or films and is usually played during the title sequence, opening credits, closing credits, and in some instances at so ...

Kazuya Kamenashi is a Japanese singer, actor, host, producer, magazine model and a member of KAT-TUN. Born and raised in Edogawa, Tokyo, he joined the Japanese talent agency, Johnny & Associates, at the age of 12. He was drafted as a member and co-lead vocalist o ...

and

Koki Tanaka is a Japanese singer–songwriter and actor. He was a member of Jpop idol boy band KAT-TUN from their debut until September 30, 2013 when his contract with Johnny & Associates (the company that manages KAT-TUN) was terminated. When he was a me ...

romance drama Romance films or movies involve romantic love stories recorded in visual media for broadcast in theatres or on television that focus on passion, emotion, and the affectionate romantic involvement of the main characters. Typically their journey ...

, ''

Tatta Hitotsu no Koi
-

Nippon TV ...

'', and as such, the lyrics correspond with the troubled relationship Kamenashi's character and his love interest (portrayed by

Haruka Ayase is a Japanese actress, model and singer who started her career as a gravure idol in 2000. She has since become a leading actress in television and film. Life and career Early life and education Haruka Ayase was born as Aya Tademaru on March ...

) once shared.

Promotion

KAT-TUN debuted the song on television on ''Utawara'' on December 3, 2006, and were guests on their '' senpai''

Masahiro Nakai is a Japanese television host, actor, news presenter, radio personality. He was the leader of the now defunct boy band SMAP, which had been the best-selling boy band in Asia. While working as a member of a boy band, he worked extensively as a te ...

's talk show ''

Utaban was a Japanese music variety show, broadcast weekly from October 15, 1996 until March 23, 2010 on TBS. The name of the show is an abbreviation of , meaning "music program". A special version of the show, running for two hours, was occasionally ai ...

'' on the day the single was released. The group performed on ''

'' the day after and were invited to perform on ''Music Stations special end-of-year show, Super Live, on December 22 where they also performed their debut hit single, "

Real Face Real may refer to: Currencies * Brazilian real (R$) * Central American Republic real * Mexican real * Portuguese real * Spanish real * Spanish colonial real Music Albums * ''Real'' (L'Arc-en-Ciel album) (2000) * ''Real'' (Bright album) (2010) ...

". The group rounded off the year by performing with other

Johnny's Entertainment is a Japanese talent agency, formed by Johnny Kitagawa in 1962, which trains and promotes groups of male entertainers known as . History 1962–1989 In 1962, Kitagawa launched his first group, Johnnys. In its early days, Kitagawa's agency rent ...

groups on the special end-of-year countdown concert at

Tokyo Dome is an indoor stadium in Bunkyo, Tokyo, Japan. It was designed as a baseball stadium following its predecessor, Korakuen Stadium. Construction on the stadium began on May 16, 1985, and it opened on March 17, 1988. It was built on the site of th ...

. On March 18, 2007, co-lead vocalist

was a guest on ''

Shounen Club is a Japanese music variety show that airs on NHK BS Premium. The show premiered on NHK BS 2 on April 9, 2000 and continues to this day. Worldwide, it airs on NHK World Premium and TV Japan (US) as Pop Music Club It features the juniors of Joh ...

Premium'' where he collaborated with

Tokio Tokio may refer to: * , the capital of Japan, used primarily in non-English-speaking countries may also refer to: Music * Tokio (band), a Japanese pop/rock band ** ''Tokio'' (album), their debut album * Tokio Hotel, a German rock band * Toki ...

vocalist and keyboardist

Tomoya Nagase is a Japanese singer-songwriter, actor, and model. He was a member of Tokio, a Johnny & Associates musical group. He was the primary vocalist, in addition to playing the guitar alongside Tokio's leader, Shigeru Joshima. Career As an arti ...

and Kokubun Taichi for a one-off performance of the single.

also performed with Every Little Thing on their talk show ''

Cartoon KAT-TUN was a Japanese variety show hosted by KAT-TUN, a Japanese boy band formed by Johnny & Associates. The show began airing on April 4, 2007, and ended on March 24, 2010. It aired every Wednesday from 11:55 pm to 12:26 am on NTV for 3 years. ...

'' on February 27, 2008, singing the title track and ELT's single, " Shapes of Love".

Chart performance

In its first week of its release, the single knocked off

KinKi Kids is a Japanese duo consisting of Koichi Domoto and Tsuyoshi Domoto under the talent agency Johnny & Associates. KinKi Kids was formed in 1993 and officially debuted on July 21, 1997. With more than 30 million physical copies sold, they are one of ...

' "Harmony of December" from the top spot on the Oricon singles chart. It reportedly sold 410,103 copies and was certified as the 13th best-selling song of 2006 with those numbers alone. By the end of its chart run in early 2007, the song had reportedly sold over 558,491 copies and was later certified Double Platinum by

RIAJ The is an industry trade group composed of Japanese corporations involved in the music industry. It was founded in 1942 as the Japan Phonogram Record Cultural Association, and adopted its current name in 1969. The RIAJ's activities include p ...

denoting over 500,000 shipments. The single was honored at the 21st

Japan Gold Disc Awards The is an award presented by the Recording Industry Association of Japan The is an industry trade group composed of Japanese corporations involved in the music industry. It was founded in 1942 as the Japan Phonogram Record Cultural Associa ...

when it placed on the "Best 10 Singles (Domestic)" list along with "

" and "

Signal In signal processing, a signal is a function that conveys information about a phenomenon. Any quantity that can vary over space or time can be used as a signal to share messages between observers. The ''IEEE Transactions on Signal Processing'' ...

".Recording Industry Association of Japan – 21st Japan Gold Disc Awards
retrieved on July 29, 2008.

Track listings

* Normal Edition * First Press Edition * Limited Edition

Sales and certifications

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Bokura No Machi De KAT-TUN songs 2006 singles Oricon Weekly number-one singles Japanese television drama theme songs Songs written by Kazumasa Oda 2006 songs