is the fourth studio album of Japanese boy band

Arashi is a Japanese boy band consisting of five members formed under the Johnny & Associates talent agency. The members are Satoshi Ohno, Sho Sakurai, Masaki Aiba, Kazunari Ninomiya, and Jun Matsumoto. Arashi officially formed on September 15, 1999 ...

. It was released on 21 July 2004 through

J Storm is a Japanese music and film company owned by Johnny & Associates. It was established on November 12, 2001, initially as a label for the Johnny's group, Arashi, after which it was named. Aside from producing and releasing CDs and DVDs, the co ...

. Two singles were released from the album: "

Hadashi no Mirai/Kotoba Yori Taisetsu na Mono is the eleventh single of the Japanese boy band Arashi and their second double A-side single. The single was released in two editions: a regular edition containing the karaoke versions of all the songs released in the single, and a limited editio ...

" and "

Pikanchi Double "Pikanchi Double" (stylized as PIKA★★NCHI DOUBLE) is the twelfth single of the Japanese boy band Arashi is a Japanese boy band consisting of five members formed under the Johnny & Associates talent agency. The members are Satoshi Ohno ...

". The album debuted at number one in Japan, selling 115,000 copies in its first week.

Background and release

The album comes one year after the group's third studio album ''

How's It Going? ''How's It Going?'' is the third studio album by Japanese boy band Arashi. The album was released in Japan on July 9, 2003, under their record label J Storm in two editions: a regular and limited edition, with the latter bearing a different cove ...

''. According to Arashi member

Masaki Aiba (born December 24, 1982) is a Japanese singer, actor, television personality, radio host and dancer. He is a member of the boy band Arashi. Aiba began his career in the entertainment industry when he joined the Japanese talent agency Johnny & A ...

, the album's title ''Iza, Now!'' means . Member

Sho Sakurai (born January 25, 1982) is a Japanese singer, songwriter, rapper, actor, news anchor, host and former radio host. He is a member of the boy band Arashi. Sakurai began his career in the entertainment industry when he joined the Japanese talent a ...

co-wrote lyrics for the songs "Kotoba Yori Taisetsu na Mono", "The Bubble", "Pikanchi Double", "Eyes with Delight", and "Right Back to You". "Right Back to You" was used as the background song for a Parco commercial. American musician

Omar Hakim Omar Hakim (born February 12, 1959) is an American jazz, jazz fusion and pop music drummer, producer, arranger and composer. He has worked with Weather Report, David Bowie, Foo Fighters, Sting, Madonna, Dire Straits, Bryan Ferry, Journey, Kate B ...

participated in recording the songs "Jam", "Eyes With Delight", and "Rainbow". ''Iza, Now!'' was released on 21 July 2004 in Japan, in two editions: a regular edition and a limited edition. Though the two editions contains the same tracks, only the limited edition contained a booklet and a DVD containing five music videos chosen by fans. It was released under the

Avex Asia is a Japanese entertainment conglomerate led by founder Max Matsuura and headquartered in Tokyo, Japan. Founded in 1988, the company manages J-pop talents like Ayumi Hamasaki and internet sensation PikoTaro. It has also shifted into other busi ...

label in Taiwan and Hong Kong on 24 August 2004 and 8 September 2004, respectively. The album was released digitally on February 7, 2020.

Promotion

To promote the album, Arashi embarked on the '' Iza, Now Tour!!''. They had 27 shows beginning on 27 July at the

Osaka-jō Hall is a multi-purpose arena located in the Kyōbashi area of Osaka, Japan. The hall opened in 1983 and can seat up to 16,000 people. Built on a site area of 36,351 square meters, part of its form uses stone walls, modeled after those of the Cast ...

, followed by

Yokohama Arena is an indoor arena located in Yokohama, Kanagawa Prefecture, Japan. The capacity of the arena is 17,000 and was opened in 1989. The arena was modeled after US sports venue Madison Square Garden in New York City. It is a five-minute walk from the ...

on 2 August,

Nagoya Rainbow Hall , formerly Nagoya Rainbow Hall, is an indoor sports arena located in Nagoya, Japan. From April 1, 2007, its name was changed to Nippon Gaishi Hall, to reflect the sponsorship of the NGK Insulators. The capacity of the arena is 10,000 people. The ...

on 6 August,

Hokkaido Prefectural Sports Center is an indoor sporting arena located in Toyohira-ku, Sapporo, Japan. Sometimes called Kitayell, the capacity of the main arena is 8,000. It hosted some of the group games for the 2006 FIBA World Championship and also for the 2006 Women's Volleyba ...

on 11 August,

Sekisui Heim Super Arena (formerly Grande 21 General Gymnasium and Hot House Super Arena) is a multi-purpose indoor arena in the Grande 21 Complex in Rifu, Miyagi Prefecture, Miyagi, Japan. The capacity of the arena is 7,063 and was opened in 1997. The Sekisui Heim Sup ...

on 15 August, Nagano Wakasato Tamokuteki Sports Arena on 17 August,

Hiroshima Prefectural Sports Center is an indoor arena located in Hiroshima, Japan. The original arena was built sometime shortly after World War II. The arena was rebuilt for the 1994 Asian Games. It hosted some of the group games for the 2006 FIVB Men's World Championship an ...

on 20 August,

Toki Messe is a multi-purpose international convention center in Niigata, Niigata Prefecture, Japan. The center was opened on May 1, 2003, and contains a hotel, restaurants, an art museum, conference rooms, and the offices of several international organiz ...

on 24 August,

Hamamatsu Arena is a　multipurpose indoor sporting arena located in Hamamatsu, Shizuoka, Japan. It is a 15-minute walk from Tenryūgawa Station on the Tōkaidō Main Line railway, or a 10-minute drive from the Hamamatsu Interchange on the Tōmei Expressway. W ...

on 29 August, and

Marine Messe Fukuoka in Hakata-ku, Fukuoka, Japan is a collection of three separate buildings operated by the Fukuoka Convention Center Foundation. Fukuoka Kokusai Center The Fukuoka Kokusai Center opened in . A Sumo Tournament is held here every November. Man ...

on 31 August 2004.

Singles

Arashi released the

double A-side The A-side and B-side are the two sides of phonograph records and cassettes; these terms have often been printed on the labels of two-sided music recordings. The A-side usually features a recording that its artist, producer, or record company ...

single "

" on 3 September 2003. It peaked at number two on the

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 ...

and achieved a platinum certification. "Hadashi no Mirai" was used as the campaign song for

Coca-Cola Coca-Cola, or Coke, is a carbonated soft drink manufactured by the Coca-Cola Company. Originally marketed as a temperance drink and intended as a patent medicine, it was invented in the late 19th century by John Stith Pemberton in Atlanta ...

while "Kotoba Yori Taisetsu na Mono" was used as the theme song for the television series ''

Stand Up!! is a Japanese television drama which ran weekly for three months in 2003. The drama, which stars Kazunari Ninomiya of Arashi and Tomohisa Yamashita of NEWS, centers on the lives of the last four virgins left in their highschool as they struggle ...

'', starring Arashi member

Kazunari Ninomiya , often called , is a Japanese singer, songwriter, actor, voice actor, presenter and radio host. He is a member of the Japanese idol group Arashi. His career began in the entertainment industry after joining the Japanese talent agency Johnny & As ...

Tomohisa Yamashita , also widely known as , or Tomo, is a Japanese singer, actor, and TV host. Yamashita joined the Japanese talent agency Johnny & Associates as a trainee in 1996 (age 11) and made his small acting debut for NHK's ''Shonentachi'' (1998) and has be ...

Anne Suzuki is a Japanese actress. Career Suzuki co-starred in Shunji Iwai's ''Hana and Alice'' with Yū Aoi. She voiced the title character Ray Steam in Katsuhiro Otomo's animated film ''Steamboy''. Suzuki played a supporting role in Andrew Lau and Alan ...

Hiroki Narimiya (born September 14, 1982), better known as , is a former Japanese actor. Early life He was born and raised in Tokyo, Japan. His parents are from Okinawa Prefecture. His parents divorced when he was young, and in his third year of junior high sch ...

, and

Shun Oguri is a Japanese actor and voice actor, son of stage director Tetsuya Oguri, and the youngest of 3 siblings, including older brother Ryo, who is also an actor. He started in small roles as extra in the works in which his father and brother worked ...

. "

" was released on 18 February 2004, and was used as the theme song for Arashi's starring film ''Pikanchi: Life is Hard dakara Happy'', the sequel to ''Pikanchi: Life is Hard dakedo Happy''. It peaked at number one on the Oricon Singles Chart.

Commercial performance

''Iza, Now!'' debuted at number one on the

Oricon Albums Chart The Oricon Albums Chart is the Japanese music industry standard albums popularity chart issued daily, weekly, monthly and yearly by Oricon. Oricon originally published LP, CT, Cartridge and CD charts prior to the establishment of the Oricon Albu ...

, marking the group's second number-one album in Japan. It sold 115,000 copies in its first week and spent eight weeks on the chart. The album went on to sell around 151,000 copies overall. In July 2004, the album was certified Gold for shipments of 100,000 copies 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 Association, and adopted its current name in 1969. The RIAJ's activities include pr ...

Track listing

Charts and certifications

Weekly charts

Certifications

Release history

References

External links

Iza, Now! product information

Iza, Now! Oricon profile
{{authority control Arashi albums 2004 albums Japanese-language albums J Storm albums