"Maple" is a song recorded by Japanese singer

Shizuka Kudo , known by her maiden name , is a Japanese singer, actress and former idol, born in Hamura, Tokyo, Japan. She was a member of Onyanko Club between May 1986 and September 1987 and went on to have a successful solo career with 11 number-one hits. ...

for her fifteenth studio album, ''

Jewelry Box A casket is a decorative box or container that is usually smaller than a chest and is typically decorated. In recent centuries they are often used as boxes for jewelry, but in earlier periods they were also used for keeping important documents an ...

''. It was released through Extasy Japan as the album's second and final single on April 24, 2002. The song was featured on the EX television series ''Kowloon de Aimashō'', on which Kudo guest starred. "Maple" is Kudo's last single released under the label Extasy Japan.

Background and composition

"Maple" marks the first single release by Kudo since the birth of her first daughter and marriage to

Takuya Kimura is a Japanese actor, singer, and radio personality. He is regarded as a Japanese icon after achieving success as an actor. He was also a popular member of SMAP, one of the best-selling boy bands in Asia. A 1996 television drama series, ''Long ...

. It was released one day shy of a year after the scheduled release of the song "Us", also included on ''Jewelry Box'', was canceled. The song was written by Kudo, under the pseudonym Aeri, and Satoru Sugawara, who also arranged the song. It is composed in the key of

B major B major (or the key of B) is a major scale based on B. The pitches B, C, D, E, F, G, and A are all part of the B major scale. Its key signature has five sharps. Its relative minor is G-sharp minor, its parallel minor is B minor, and its ...

and set to a tempo of 70

beats per minute Beat, beats or beating may refer to: Common uses * Patrol, or beat, a group of personnel assigned to monitor a specific area ** Beat (police), the territory that a police officer patrols ** Gay beat, an area frequented by gay men * Battery ( ...

. "Maple" is described as a melancholy-tinged ambient pop song. Lyrically, the song explores the theme of welcoming a new life, an experience which the narrator compares to a "rainbow-colored flower fluttering through the sky and landing in the palm of my hand".

Chart performance

"Maple" debuted at number 35 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 ...

, selling 6,000 copies in its first week. It fell to number 59 the following week, with sales of 3,000 copies. The single charted for a third and last week in the top 100, ranking at number 69 and logging under 3,000 copies sold, bringing its total sales to a little over 11,000 copies.

Track listing

Charts

References

{{authority control 2002 songs 2002 singles 2000s ballads Pop ballads Songs with lyrics by Shizuka Kudo Japanese television drama theme songs Shizuka Kudo songs Extasy Japan singles