is the major-label debut EP by

Japan Japan ( ja, 日本, or , and formally , ''Nihonkoku'') is an island country in East Asia. It is situated in the northwest Pacific Ocean, and is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan, while extending from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north ...

ese

rock Rock most often refers to: * Rock (geology), a naturally occurring solid aggregate of minerals or mineraloids * Rock music, a genre of popular music Rock or Rocks may also refer to: Places United Kingdom * Rock, Caerphilly, a location in Wales ...

band

Asian Kung-Fu Generation (stylized as ASIAN KUNG-FU GENERATION) is a Japanese alternative rock band formed in Yokohama in 1996. For its entire career, the band has consisted of vocalist Masafumi Gotoh, guitarist Kensuke Kita, bassist Takahiro Yamada, and drummer Kiyosh ...

, released on November 25, 2002 on Under Flower Records.

Background

After six years since its inception and three independent releases,

contributed to the Under Flower compilation album, ''Whatch You Gonna Do?'', before dropping their first major-label EP. The critically acclaimed mini-album topped the High Line Records weekly chart for two weeks straight and peaked at number thirty-five 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 ...

indies sales chart. Due to its success, ''Hōkai Amplifier'' was re-released by

Ki/oon Records is a Japanese record label, a subsidiary of Sony Music Entertainment Japan. Artists Their artists include L'Arc-en-Ciel, Asian Kung-Fu Generation, Home Made Kazoku, Puffy AmiYumi, Polysics, Supercar, Pushim, Chatmonchy, Denki Groove, Tomoe ...

on April 23, 2003. Although the mini-album didn't release any singles, the intro track "Haruka Kanata" enjoyed immense domestic and international popularity after it came to be used as the second opening theme for the anime series ''

Naruto ''Naruto'' is a Japanese manga series written and illustrated by Masashi Kishimoto. It tells the story of Naruto Uzumaki, a young ninja who seeks recognition from his peers and dreams of becoming the Hokage, the leader of his village. T ...

''. In 2014, the album was released again as a 12-inch analog record.

Track listing

Personnel

Masafumi Gotoh (December 2, 1976) is the lead vocalist, main songwriter and rhythm guitarist of the Japanese rock band Asian Kung-Fu Generation. Masafumi met fellow band members Kensuke Kita and Takahiro Yamada while attending a music club of Kanto Gakuin Uni ...

– lead vocals, guitar, lyrics *

Kensuke Kita (January 24, 1977) is the lead guitarist and backing singer of the Japanese rock band Asian Kung-Fu Generation. Kensuke met fellow band members Masafumi Gotō and Takahiro Yamada while attending a music club of Kanto Gakuin University. The three ...

– lead guitar, background vocals * Takahiro Yamada – bass, background vocals *

Kiyoshi Ijichi (born September 25, 1977) is the drummer of the Japanese rock band Asian Kung-Fu Generation. Ijichi credits the origin of his drumming ability to playing in marching bands in junior high. He met fellow band members Masafumi Gotō, Kensuke Kita, ...

– drums *Kumiko Ishikawa – additional vocals *

/Katsuhisa Ogawa – producer *Jun-ya Iwata – engineering, mixing *Masato Wantanabe – mixing *Kazuhiro Yamagata – mastering *Kenichi Nakamura – recording *Kanetsugu "Kan" Tanaka – directing *Yusuke Nakamura/KAN – art direction

Chart positions

References

CDJapan
{{DEFAULTSORT:Hokai Amplifier Asian Kung-Fu Generation EPs 2002 debut EPs Japanese-language EPs