is a single by Japanese rock band

Tokyo Jihen , also known as Tokyo Incidents, is a Japanese rock band formed by Ringo Sheena, after leaving her solo career. The band's debut single " Gunjō Biyori" was released in September 2004, and they ended activities in February 2012. The band sold 2. ...

, led by musician

Ringo Sheena , known by her stage name , is a Japanese singer, songwriter and musician. She is also the founder and lead vocalist of the band Tokyo Jihen. She describes herself as "". She was ranked number 36 in a list of Japan's top 100 musicians compiled ...

. It was released on October 23, 2010, and was used in commercials for

Ezaki Glico , commonly known as just Glico, is a Japanese multinational food processing company headquartered in Nishiyodogawa-ku, Osaka. It does business across 30 countries, in North America, Asia-Pacific and Europe. Overview Ezaki Glico's primary b ...

's Watering Kissmint gum.

Background and development

In 2009, Tokyo Jihen released the single "

Nōdōteki Sanpunkan , also known by its English name "3min.", is a single by Japanese rock band Tokyo Jihen, led by musician Ringo Sheena. The song was the band's first release in two years, and was used in a commercial campaign for Ezaki Glico's Watering KissMint br ...

", which was their first song to feature in commercials for

's Watering Kissmint brand of gum. The single was commercially successful, peaking at number one on

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's singles chart, and being certified gold twice for digital downloads. Tokyo Jihen's song "Kachi Ikusa" from the album ''

Sports Sport pertains to any form of competitive physical activity or game that aims to use, maintain, or improve physical ability and skills while providing enjoyment to participants and, in some cases, entertainment to spectators. Sports can, th ...

'' served at the second commercial song for the campaign in January 2010. A week before the single's digital release, Tokyo Jihen had released " Tengoku e Yōkoso", the theme song for the Japanese drama ''Atami no Sōsakan''. Both songs were compiled together on a digital EP.

Writing and production

Two editions of the song exist, the original and the version that appears on ''Dai Hakken'', labelled "Dopa-mint! BPM103", as opposed to the original version's BPM of 199. The original version was eventually released to CD in 2013, on Tokyo Jihen's ''Hard Disk'' box set. The song was recorded in June 2010, after the band had finished their ''Ultra C'' tour. Unlike "Tengoku e Yōkoso" which was tailored specifically for the drama ''Atami no Sōsakan'', the band members brought many demos to the recording sessions for everyone to decide which the best one was. Eventually, a song Izawa had written especially was chosen, and the band worked on it through the night right up until the deadline that Ezaki Glico had set. The song was rearranged for ''Dai Hakken'', as it was an album where the band considered the album's arrangement more carefully.

Promotion and release

The song served as the third song used in Ezaki Glico's Watering Kissmint advertisement campaign featuring Ringo Sheena as a spokesperson. The commercials began airing on July 27, 2010. Tokyo Jihen were featured in issues of ''

Rockin' On Japan ''Rockin'On Japan'', often stylized in all caps, is a monthly magazine that covers the Japanese music scene and various cultural events in Japan, such as art venues and culinary expos. History The magazine was founded in 1972, and focused on prov ...

'' and ''Switch'' to promote the release, as well as the

NHK , also known as NHK, is a Japanese public broadcaster. NHK, which has always been known by this romanized initialism in Japanese, is a statutory corporation funded by viewers' payments of a television license fee. NHK operates two terrestri ...

program ''The Star'' airing an interview with Sheena. The song was first performed at the ''EMI Rocks'' festival on November 6, 2010. The band performed the song once during a Tokyo Jihen tour, the 2011 ''Discovery'' tour, in which they played the BPM103 version.

Critical reception

In reviewing the BPM103 version, CDJournal reviewers felt the song's development was "unrestrainted", feeling that each member of Tokyo Jihen's abilities could be seen in parts of the song.

Track listing

Chart rankings

Release history

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Dopa-mint 2010 songs 2010 singles Songs in Japanese Songs used as jingles Songs written by Ringo Sheena Songs written by Ichiyo Izawa Tokyo Jihen songs