is the fourth single by Japanese band Globe. Written by

Tetsuya Komuro is a Japanese musician, songwriter and record producer. He is recognized as the most successful producer in Japanese music history and introduced contemporary electronic dance music to the Japanese mainstream. He was also a former owner of the ...

, the single was released on January 1, 1996, by Avex Globe.

Background and release

"Departures" was written by Komuro as a tie-in for

JR East The is a major passenger railway company in Japan and is the largest of the seven Japan Railways Group companies. The company name is officially abbreviated as JR-EAST or JR East in English, and as in Japanese. The company's headquarters are ...

's "JR Ski Ski" campaign of 1996. The jacket photo was taken at the Ambassador Hotel in

Los Angeles Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the world' ...

. The single became Globe's second No. 1 on

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 ...

's weekly chart. It went on to become the second best-selling single in Japan in 1996 and it is the 15th best-selling physical single in Japan, having sold a total of 2.288 million copies.

Music video

To celebrate the band's 20th anniversary, a new music video for "Departures" was released on May 3, 2016 as part of the "Music Video Drama Project." Directed by Shogo Yabuuchi and starring

Ayaka Miyoshi is a Japanese actress, model and former idol. She is represented by the talent agency Amuse, Inc. and from 2010 to 2012 was a member of the agency's girl group Sakura Gakuin. Discography : ''For Ayaka Miyoshi's discography as a member of Saku ...

, the video's theme is "breaking away from tragedy caused by love". In the video, Miyoshi plays a grief-stricken woman who exits a train and climbs a snowy mountain with a rifle in hand. Overwhelmed by her sadness, she fires her rifle in the air twice.

Track listing

Charts

Weekly charts Year-end charts

Certification

Cover versions

Demon Kogure , previously known as , is a Japanese musician, songwriter, entertainer, journalist, sumo commentator, actor and voice actor. He first gained fame in the 1980s as vocalist of the heavy metal band Seikima-II, before starting a solo career in ...

covered the song on his 2009 album ''Girls' Rock: Tiara''. *

Spontania is a Japanese hip-hop/reggae group. The name "Spontania" comes from the English word "spontaneous". In 2010, singer Kaori Natori became the permanent vocalist for the band. Members *Massattack (マサタック ''masatakku'' ?) **Born in Yokoha ...

covered the song on their self-titled 2010 album. *

AAA AAA, Triple A, or Triple-A is a three-letter initialism or abbreviation which may refer to: Airports * Anaa Airport in French Polynesia (IATA airport code AAA) * Logan County Airport (Illinois) (FAA airport code AAA) Arts, entertainment, and me ...

covered the song on their 2011 album ''Buzz Communication''. *

Diana Garnet Diana Caroline Garnett (Japanese: ダイアナ・キャロライン・ガーネット, Hepburn romanization, Hepburn: ''Daiana Kyarorain Gānetto''), better known by her stage name Diana Garnet is an American J-pop singer from Washington, D.C., ...

covered the song on her 2013 cover album ''Cover Girl'' * Tomomi Kahara covered the song on her 2014 cover album ''Memories: Kahara Covers''. * Ms.OOJA covered the song on her 2014 cover album ''Woman 2: Love Song Covers''. * Hyde covered the song on the 2015 Globe tribute album ''#Globe20th: Special Cover Best''. *

Desurabbits ''Desurabbits'' (stylized as ), was a Japanese idol group based in Tokyo. Alongside contemporary idol groups such as Babymetal, they are notable for being one of the early pioneers of the death metal/J-pop cross-over music style known as "japan ...

covered the song on their 2016 compilation album ''Exa Idol Complex: Super Duper!'' *

Raise A Suilen Raise A Suilen (stylized as RAISE A SUILEN) is a Japanese all-female rock band that is part of Bushiroad's media franchise ''BanG Dream!''. Formed in 2018, the group's members portray fictional characters in the project's anime series and mobile ...

covered the song from ''

Bang Dream ''BanG Dream!'', also known as , is a Japanese music media franchise owned by Bushiroad. Created by Bushiroad president Takaaki Kidani in January 2015 with original story by Kō Nakamura, the project began as a manga before exp ...

''.

References

External links

Official website
* * {{authority control 1996 singles 1996 songs Japanese-language songs Songs written by Tetsuya Komuro Avex Trax singles Oricon Weekly number-one singles