"Keep the faith" is the fifth overall single by the

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

boy band A boy band is loosely defined as a vocal group consisting of young male singers, usually in their teenage years or in their twenties at the time of formation. Generally, boy bands perform Love song, love songs marketed towards girls and young ...

KAT-TUN is a Japanese boy band formed under Johnny & Associates (Johnny's) in 2001. The group's name was originally an acronym based on the first letter of each member's family name: Kazuya Kamenashi, Jin Akanishi, Junnosuke Taguchi, Koki Tanaka, ...

, and the second from their third studio album, '' KAT-TUN III: Queen of Pirates''. It was released in three editions with three different covers; the regular edition contains all the songs and its instrumental versions, the first press edition came with a bonus track entitled "Lovin'U" and its instrumental track and the second limited edition was packaged with a DVD with the single's

music video A music video is a video of variable duration, that integrates a music song or a music album with imagery that is produced for promotion (marketing), promotional or musical artistic purposes. Modern music videos are primarily made and used as a m ...

and a

short film A short film is any motion picture that is short enough in running time not to be considered a feature film. The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences defines a short film as "an original motion picture that has a running time of 40 minutes ...

about the making of the music video. The single was released on November 21, 2007, and was KAT-TUN's fifth consecutive number 1 on the Oricon weekly singles chart.

Song information

"Keep the faith" was co-written by the former

Boøwy Boøwy ( ; stylized as BOØWY) was a Japanese rock band formed in Takasaki, Gunma in 1981. The classic lineup of vocalist Kyosuke Himuro, guitarist Tomoyasu Hotei, bassist Tsunematsu Matsui, and drummer Makoto Takahashi reached legendary status ...

lead vocalist and lyricist

Kyosuke Himuro is a former Japanese musician and singer-songwriter. He was lead vocalist of the rock band Boøwy from 1981 to 1988. After the band disbanded he started a successful solo career, becoming one of Japan's best-selling artists. In 2003, HMV Japan r ...

(who later released a cover version of the song on a 2008 compilation of his) and SPIN, a frequent songwriter for the group.

Koki Tanaka is a Japanese singer–songwriter and actor. He was a member of Jpop idol boy band KAT-TUN from their debut until September 30, 2013 when his contract with Johnny & Associates (the company that manages KAT-TUN) was terminated. When he was a me ...

also provided his own rap verses whilst ha-j

arranged In music, an arrangement is a musical adaptation of an existing composition. Differences from the original composition may include reharmonization, melodic paraphrasing, orchestration, or formal development. Arranging differs from orchestra ...

the track. A hard rock number, the song was used as the theme song to

Jin Akanishi is a Japanese musician, singer, songwriter and actor. He has been active since 1998 as one of the two lead vocalists of the J-pop boy-band KAT-TUN before starting a solo career in 2009. Akanishi has also acted in several films and dramas. Biog ...

and

Junnosuke Taguchi in Sagamihara, Kanagawa, Japan), is a singer-songwriter, actor, and model. He is a former member of the Japanese idol group KAT-TUN. He joined the talent agency Johnny & Associates in 1999 and officially debuted as part of KAT-TUN in 2006. Apar ...

's school comedy series, ''

Yukan Club Koumala is a rural town and coastal locality in the Mackay Region, Queensland, Australia. In the , the locality of Koumala had a population of 831 people. Geography In the east, Cape Palmerston National Park protects the landscape surroundin ...

'', shown on

NTV NTV may refer to: Television * NTV (Bangladesh), a Bengali-language satellite television channel in Bangladesh * NTV (India), Telugu regional channel * NTV (Kenya) * NTV (Mongolia), a television channel based in Mongolia * NTV (Newport Television) ...

Promotion

KAT-TUN first performed the song live on ''

Music Station is a Japanese music television program. Broadcasting live weekly on TV Asahi since October 24, 1986, it currently airs from 9PM-10PM on Fridays. The program is also colloquially known as , , and . The show is currently syndicated throughout th ...

'' on November 14, 2007, and on their own late-night variety/talk show ''

Cartoon KAT-TUN was a Japanese variety show hosted by KAT-TUN, a Japanese boy band formed by Johnny & Associates. The show began airing on April 4, 2007, and ended on March 24, 2010. It aired every Wednesday from 11:55 pm to 12:26 am on NTV for 3 years. ...

'' on November 21, the day the single was released. The group made their third appearance on ''

Utaban was a Japanese music variety show, broadcast weekly from October 15, 1996 until March 23, 2010 on TBS. The name of the show is an abbreviation of , meaning "music program". A special version of the show, running for two hours, was occasionally ai ...

'' on November 29, performed on ''

Hey! Hey! Hey! Music Champ ''Hey! Hey! Hey! Music Champ'' was a Japanese music variety show on Fuji Television hosted by the comedy duo Downtown, which consists of Hitoshi Matsumoto and Masatoshi Hamada. It is a very popular show with comical hosts who like to pick on thei ...

'' on December 3 and on NTV's "Best Artists 2007" special on December 11. KAT-TUN also visited ''

Shounen Club is a Japanese music variety show that airs on NHK BS Premium. The show premiered on NHK BS 2 on April 9, 2000 and continues to this day. Worldwide, it airs on NHK World Premium and TV Japan (US) as Pop Music Club It features the juniors of Joh ...

Premium'' and ''Music Lovers'' on December 16 before returning to ''Music Station'' on December 21 to perform a medley of the single and " Yorokobi no Uta".

Chart performance and reception

In its first week of release, "Keep the faith" debuted at number 1 with 350,863 copies sold knocking

Hey! Say! JUMP Hey! Say! JUMP (HSJ or JUMP) is an eight-member Japanese boy band under the Japanese talent agency Johnny & Associates. The group is split into two sub-groups: Hey! Say! BEST and Hey! Say! 7. In Japan they sold more than 10 million physical co ...

's official debut single "Ultra Music Power" from the top spot. It stayed on the charts for 16 weeks and was certified as the fifth best-selling single of 2007 with total reported sales of over 459,919 units by the end of its chart-run. KAT-TUN became one of only two artists in Japanese music history to sell more than 300,000 copies of five or more consecutive singles in the first week (the other being another JE boy band and '' senpai'',

KinKi Kids is a Japanese duo consisting of Koichi Domoto and Tsuyoshi Domoto under the talent agency Johnny & Associates. KinKi Kids was formed in 1993 and officially debuted on July 21, 1997. With more than 30 million physical copies sold, they are one of ...

).Charts: KAT-TUN sets 2007 record, L'Arc returns to top
Tokyograph. Retrieved on July 29, 2008. The single was certified platinum 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 ...

in November 2007 denoting more than 250,000 shipments. The song was honored at the 22nd

Japan Gold Disc Awards 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 ...

when it was placed on the "Best 10 Music Singles (Domestic)" list alongside "Yorokobi no Uta".(Japanese)''
Recording Industry Association of Japan: November 2007 certifications
retrieved on August 9, 2008.
retrieved on July 29, 2008.

Track listing

* Normal edition * First press edition *DVD

Sales and certifications

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Keep The Faith (Kat-Tun Song) KAT-TUN songs 2007 singles Oricon Weekly number-one singles Japanese television drama theme songs 2007 songs Songs written by Koki Tanaka