is a song recorded by Japanese singer

Ken Hirai is a Japanese R&B and pop singer. Since his debut, Hirai has worked as a model, actor, composer, lyricist, singer, and brand ambassador. During his career, Hirai has released 45 singles and nine studio albums as of January 2019.Sentimentalovers ''Sentimentalovers'' is the sixth full-length album released by singer and songwriter Ken Hirai. It was released on November 24, 2004 and sold over 1,660,885 copies. Summary ''Sentimentalovers'' charted for 52 weeks. Hirai wrote the songs and ...

''. It was released by Defstar Records as the album's second single on April 28, 2004. It is the theme song to the film ''

Crying Out Love in the Center of the World is a 2004 Japanese drama film directed by Isao Yukisada and based on the novel ''Socrates in Love'' by Kyoichi Katayama. The story follows a man (Takao Osawa) who returns to his hometown and listens to audio diaries recorded by his school sweeth ...

''. "Hitomi o Tojite" was the most successful song of 2004, topping the year-end

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 ...

with over 800,000 units sold. Hirai performed the song on his fourth appearance on

Kōhaku Uta Gassen , more commonly known simply as ''Kōhaku'', is an annual New Year's Eve television special produced by Japanese public broadcaster NHK. It is broadcast live simultaneously on television and radio, nationally and internationally by the NHK net ...

on December 31, 2004. "Hitomi o Tojite" was one of the eleven recipients of the

Japan Gold Disc Award 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 ...

for Song of the Year. Although the song was considered for contention at the

46th Japan Record Awards The 46th Japan Record Awards were held on December 31, 2004, and were broadcast live on TBS. Award winners *Japan Record Award: **Takeshi Kobayashi (producer), Kazutoshi Sakurai (Songwriter and Composer) & Mr. Children for Sign *Best Vocalist: ...

, Hirai declined the Japan Record Award nomination.

Cover versions

In 2005,

Park Yong-ha Park Yong-ha (Korean: 박용하, August 12, 1977 – June 30, 2010) was a South Korean actor and singer. Career At seventeen, Park was noted for his acting and musical skills, as well as his good looks which earned him popularity with fans. A ...

recorded a Korean version of the song for his EP ''Sometime''. The same year, the song was covered by Jung Jae Wook, dubbed "With My Eyes Closed" (가만히 눈을 감고), and subsequently included on the album ''13th Month Love'' (13월의 사랑) (2006). In 2015, Jung collaborated with the vocal group Heart B on a remake of the song. In 2006,

Chris Yu Chris Yu (; born October 30, 1968) is a Taiwanese singer and songwriter. Known for his ballads, Yu has written for several pop music artists, including Alan Tam, Andy Lau, Stefanie Sun, Sammi Cheng, Coco Lee, and Cass Phang. His 2002 release ...

recorded a Mandarin Chinese version of the song, dubbed "Wo Ke Yi" (我可以), for his album ''The Poet's Tears'' (詩人的眼淚). In 2007, G-Families recorded the first Japanese cover of the song for their cover album ''Paradox II: New COVER''. In 2008, Ameji recorded a jazz version of the song for his cover album ''Love Stories''. The same year, the song was covered by Ayumi Nakamura,

Akira Fuse is a Japanese singer and actor. He debuted in 1965 with the single . Career His greatest hits are and . He currently makes consistent appearances on television, performs occasional seasonal tours, hosts a late night talk show, and is involve ...

and

Anri , known as , is a Japanese pop singer-songwriter, originating from Yamato, Kanagawa Prefecture. Biography Her debut release was the 1978 ''Oribia o Kikinagara'' (While Listening to Olivia), written by Amii Ozaki. Her song "Cat's Eye" was use ...

for their cover albums ''Voice'', ''Ballade'' and ''Tears of Anri 2'', respectively.

Debbie Gibson Deborah Ann Gibson (born August 31, 1970) is an American singer-songwriter, record producer and actress. Gibson released her debut album '' Out of the Blue'' in 1987, which spawned several international hits, later being certified triple plati ...

covered the song in English on her 2010 cover album ''

Ms. Vocalist ''Ms. Vocalist'' is the ninth studio album by American singer-songwriter Debbie Gibson. Released on November 3, 2010 exclusively in Japan by Sony Music Japan, the album features Gibson's English-language covers of popular male-oriented Japanese so ...

''. In 2012, 2AM recorded a cover of the song which was included as a B-side to their single "Denwa ni Denai Kimi ni" (電話に出ない君に),

Beni is a Japanese R&B singer, who debuted in 2004 under the Avex Trax label. In 2008, Arashiro left Avex Trax and transferred to Universal Music Japan where she started to perform as simply Beni (stylized as BENI). She was initially best known fo ...

covered the song in English for the cover album '' Cover''' and

Lisa Lisa or LISA may refer to: People People with the mononym * Lisa Lisa (born 1967), American actress and lead singer of the Cult Jam * Lisa (Japanese musician, born 1974), stylized "LISA", Japanese singer and producer * Lisa Komine (born 1978), J ...

recorded a version of the song featuring

Kotaro Oshio is an acoustic guitarist from Japan. Born in Suita, Osaka, on February 1, 1968, he is best known for his work on the steel string guitar. Oshio is a part of Sony Music Japan's SME Records division. Oshio was voted the second greatest Japanese gui ...

for her fifth studio album ''Family''. In 2013, Chris Hart and

Ayaka , known simply as Ayaka, is a female Japanese singer, songwriter and record producer formerly signed to Warner Music Japan. Born in Osaka, she moved to Tokyo to pursue a singing career. She married actor Hiro Mizushima on February 22, 2009. B ...

recorded covers of the song for their respective cover albums ''Heart Song'' and ''Yūon Club: 1st Grade''. In 2014, Mirei Touyama included a cover of the song as a B-side to her single "Memories". In 2015, Minami Kizuki recorded a cover of the song for her first cover album ''Sakuranagashi'', released on January 21. The same day,

Sumire Haruno is a Japanese actress, a former member of Takarazuka Revue, specializing in otokoyaku. She joined the revue in 1991, became the top star in 2002 and resigned from the company in 2007. She is from Komae, Tokyo, her birthday is December 15, 1972. ...

released the Takarazuka cover album ''Reijin'' which included a cover of the song.

Chart performance

"Hitomi o Tojite" debuted at number 2 on the

with 77,000 units sold, short of the second-week total tallied by

Hikaru Utada , who is also known by the mononym Utada, is a Japanese-American pop singer, songwriter and producer. By 2010, Utada had become one of the most influential, and best-selling, musical artists in Japan. Born in the United States to Japanese parent ...

's " Dareka no Negai ga Kanau Koro". The song spent the following four weeks alternating between number 2 and 3, blocked from the top spot by new releases. The single stayed in the top five for an additional five weeks, bringing its ten-week total to just shy of the 600,000 mark. "Hitomi o Tojite" charted in and out of the top twenty until the end of October 2004. The single came back into the top twenty for a week in January 2005, following Hirai's performance on Kōhaku Uta Gassen. "Hitomi o Tojite" charted for fifty-nine weeks on the Oricon Singles Chart, selling a reported total of 893,000 copies during its run. The single topped the year-end chart and charted in the top ten of the monthly chart for three straight months.

Track listing

Charts

Certifications

References