is the ninth, Christmas single by Japanese singer-songwriter

Gackt , better known by his mononymous stage name Gackt (stylized as GACKT), is a Japanese musician, singer, songwriter, record producer and actor. Born in Okinawa, Japan, to a Ryukyuan family, Gackt learned the piano at a young age and was raise ...

, released on December 16, 2001, under

Nippon Crown is a Japanese record label established as Crown Records on 6 September 1963. It is a spin-off of Nippon Columbia and is owned by karaoke maker Daiichikosho. The record label singles which topped the Oricon Singles Chart are Kaze's "22-Sai no ...

. It was also recorded in English, Chinese and Korean language until 2004, all versions charting in the Top 10 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 selling cumulatively over 340,000 copies. They, with some updated recordings, were released in limited edition '' Jūnigatsu no Love Songs: Complete Box'' (2006).

Summary

In 2001 Gackt went to visit one of the poorest countries in the world,

Madagascar Madagascar (; mg, Madagasikara, ), officially the Republic of Madagascar ( mg, Repoblikan'i Madagasikara, links=no, ; french: République de Madagascar), is an island country in the Indian Ocean, approximately off the coast of East Africa ...

, and afterwards the world was in a state of tension due to

September 11 attacks The September 11 attacks, commonly known as 9/11, were four coordinated suicide terrorist attacks carried out by al-Qaeda against the United States on Tuesday, September 11, 2001. That morning, nineteen terrorists hijacked four commercia ...

in the

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

, and he was moved and impressed how the children smile in the moment when they're hungry and there's a gap between the rich and the poor worldwide. Gackt decided to write a song for a world peace and love, and to film the music video in New York. The single was first released on December 16, 2001, as a Christmas single, but until 2004, was recorded in four different languages,

Japanese Japanese may refer to: * Something from or related to Japan, an island country in East Asia * Japanese language, spoken mainly in Japan * Japanese people, the ethnic group that identifies with Japan through ancestry or culture ** Japanese diaspor ...

English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England ** English national ide ...

Chinese Chinese can refer to: * Something related to China * Chinese people, people of Chinese nationality, citizenship, and/or ethnicity **''Zhonghua minzu'', the supra-ethnic concept of the Chinese nation ** List of ethnic groups in China, people of va ...

and

Korean Korean may refer to: People and culture * Koreans, ethnic group originating in the Korean Peninsula * Korean cuisine * Korean culture * Korean language **Korean alphabet, known as Hangul or Chosŏn'gŭl **Korean dialects and the Jeju language ** ...

. In 2005, was re-recorded the Korean version of the song in collaboration with M.C the Max (Isoo), and released as a digital download. The Chinese version of the song was re-recorded in duet with

Leehom Wang Wang Leehom (; born May 17, 1976), sometimes credited as Leehom Wang, is an American singer-songwriter, actor, producer, and film director. Formally trained at Eastman School of Music, Williams College and Berklee College of Music, his music i ...

, and others versions were also re-recorded, and released in the last installment of this single-series, '' Jūnigatsu no Love Songs ~Complete Box~'', box set released on December 13, 2006. On November 27, Gackt appeared and performed the song in Japanese, Korean, and Mandarin language on the grand concert of the "2007 Japan-China Cultural Exchange" in

Beijing } Beijing ( ; ; ), alternatively romanized as Peking ( ), is the capital of the People's Republic of China. It is the center of power and development of the country. Beijing is the world's most populous national capital city, with over 21 ...

Release

The single in ''Japanese'' language, reached number six on the fourth counting week of December 2001, with sales of 56,030 copies. In the upcoming three weeks, one in December and two in January 2002, it was at number five, ten and seventeen, with sales of 48,710, and 41,250, and 9,670 copies. It charted for 9 weeks, and in 2002, with sales of 171,050 copies, was the 73rd best selling single of the year. The ''English'' single reached number five on the second counting week of December 2002, with sales of 38,396 copies. In the upcoming week, it was at number sixteen, with sales of 13,269 copies. It charted for 11 weeks, and sold 81,594 copies. The ''Chinese'' single reached number six on the third counting week of December 2003, with sales of 26,997 copies. In the upcoming week, it was at number eighteen, with sales of 8,924 copies. It charted for 8 week, and sold 51,748 copies. The final single in ''Korean'' reached number eight, with sales of 22,592 copies. It charted for 7 weeks, and sold 36,767 copies.

Track listing

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Junigatsu No Love Song 2001 singles 2003 singles 2004 singles 2005 singles Gackt songs 2001 songs Songs written by Gackt