"Nippon" is a song by Japanese musician Ringo Sheena. It was released as a single on June 11, 2014, two weeks after her self-cover album '' Gyakuyunyū: Kōwankyoku'' and a year after her previous solo single " Irohanihoheto" / " Kodoku no Akatsuki". The song is being used as the 2014 soccer theme song for NHK., Including the NHK broadcast of

2014 FIFA World Cup The 2014 FIFA World Cup was the 20th FIFA World Cup, the quadrennial world championship for men's national football teams organised by FIFA. It took place in Brazil from 12 June to 13 July 2014, after the country was awarded the hosting ri ...

Background and development

In 2013 and 2014, Sheena had celebrated her 15th anniversary since her debut single "

Kōfukuron is the debut single by Japanese singer Ringo Sheena and it was released on May 27, 1998 by Toshiba EMI, East World. Since Sheena suddenly gained popularity, it was decided that this single was resold as a 12 cm single. New edition, includ ...

". She began with the single " Irohanihoheto/Kodoku no Akatsuki" in May, following this up in November with two compilation albums, ''

Ukina , also known by its English name ''Talk of the Town'', is a compilation album by Japanese musician Ringo Sheena. It was released on her 15th anniversary on November 13, 2013, by Universal Music Japan sublabel EMI Records Japan, alongside a live re ...

'' and ''

Mitsugetsu-shō , is a live compilation album by Japanese people, Japanese musician Ringo Sheena. It was released on her 15th anniversary on November 13, 2013, alongside a collaborations compilation album called ''Ukina''. The album consists of recordings taken f ...

'', and a series of lives entitled . She finished the anniversary year on the day with an album called '' Gyakuyunyū: Kōwankyoku'', which featured new versions of songs she had given to other musicians. In previous years, NHK had selected Superfly's " Tamashii Revolution" (2010),

Radwimps is a Japanese rock band who debuted independently in 2003 and signed with Toshiba EMI in 2005. The band's name, Radwimps, was formed from two English slang terms, " rad" and "wimp". According to the band, the coined word had several meanings, i ...

' "Kimi to Hitsuji to Ao" (2011–2012) and

Sakanaction , stylised as sakanaction, are a Japanese rock band from Sapporo, Hokkaido. Their music is a fusion of alternative rock, electronic, pop, and new wave styles. The band consists of five members: Ichiro Yamaguchi, Motoharu Iwadera, Ami Kusakari, ...

's " Aoi" (2013–2014) as their soccer broadcast theme song. "Tamashii Revolution" in particular was commercially successful, being certified gold twice by the

RIAJ 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 p ...

for digital downloads.

Writing and production

The song was written for NHK after they requested a song by Sheena for their soccer broadcasts. NHK asked Sheena to create the song in March, and she quickly produced it at the start of April. NHK requested a song that expressed the samurai and nadeshiko spirit of Japan that could also be used for broadcasts featuring other teams, and asked if the song could feature "blue" in the lyrics (i.e. the colour of the

Japan national football team The , nicknamed the , represents Japan in men's international Association football, football. It is controlled by the Japan Football Association (JFA), the governing body for football in Japan. Japan was not a major football force until the e ...

) Sheena wanted to use the Tokyo Jihen song "

Gunjō Biyori , also known by its English name "Ideal Days for Ultramarine", is the debut single by Japanese rock band Tokyo Jihen, led by musician Ringo Sheena. It was released on September 8, 2004, ten months after Sheena's solo single " Ringo no Uta". Back ...

" due to its mention of blue and its well-fitting tempo and chords, however created a new song after considering's specific requests for the song they desired. The song was inspired by her time living in

Shimizu, Shizuoka is a town in Suntō District of Shizuoka Prefecture, Japan. , the town had an estimated population of 32,453 in 14058 households, and a population density of 3,700 persons per km2. The total area of the town was . Geography Shimizu is located ...

, which she considers the "soccer kingdom" of Japan. It was also inspired by everything she experienced with her band Tokyo Jihen, such as their 2010 sports-themed album ''

Sports Sport pertains to any form of competitive physical activity or game that aims to use, maintain, or improve physical ability and skills while providing enjoyment to participants and, in some cases, entertainment to spectators. Sports can, th ...

'' and the song "Atarashii Bunmeimaika" (2011). Sheena felt a lot of pressure, as she does not consider herself seen as a sporty musician. The B-side "Sakasa ni Kazoete" was also given the Spanish language title "Cuenta atrás" ("count back"), her second song title in Spanish after "Paisaje" on ''Gyakuyunyū: Kōwankyoku''. Contrasting "Nippon", a song about special occasions, Sheena wrote the song dealing with everyday things. The song featured three guitarists: Sheena, Shinichi Ubukata of the bands

Ellegarden Ellegarden (stylized as ELLEGARDEN) is a Japanese rock band formed in December 1998 in Chiba, Japan. Ellegarden consists of drummer Hirotaka Takahashi, vocalist/guitarist Takeshi Hosomi, guitarist Shinichi Ubukata, and bassist Yuichi Takada. In ...

and

Nothing's Carved in Stone Nothing's Carved in Stone is a Japanese rock band formed in January 2009. After Ellegarden decided to go into hiatus in 2008, the group's guitarist Shinichi Ubukata created Nothing's Carved in Stone as his solo project. Their debut album ''Paral ...

, and studio musician Yukio Nagoshi, who had collaborated in 2009 with Sheena on her song "Yokyō". Additional members included Hitoshi Watanabe of the 1980s band Shi-Shonen on bass, ''

Muzai Moratorium , also known as ''Innocence Moratorium'', is the debut studio album by Japanese singer and songwriter Ringo Sheena, released on February 24, 1999 by Toshiba EMI. The album debuted at #2 and has sold over 1,433,000 copies. The album was certified t ...

'' drummer Noriyasu Kawamura and programming by Nobuhiko Nakayama. Great Eida Strings performed an orchestral backing, led by conductor

Neko Saito , better known by his stage name , is a Japanese violinist, conductor, composer and music arranger. Saito is the leader of the Saito Neko Quartet, and is known for his many collaborations with musician Ringo Sheena. Biography Saito began playi ...

. Several of these musicians had collaborated with Sheena on ''Gyakuyunyū: Kōwankyoku'': Ubukata and Kawamura had performed together on " Amagasa", while Nagoshi has performed on "

Cappuccino A cappuccino (; ; Italian plural: ''cappuccini'') is an espresso-based coffee drink that originated in Austria and was later popularized in Italy and is prepared with steamed milk foam (microfoam). Variations of the drink involve the use of cre ...

". Nakayama had produced the song "

Ketteiteki Sanpunkan (stylised as "The Decisive 3min.") is one of the two songs that made up the fourth single by Japanese entertainer Chiaki Kuriyama, along with "Oishii Kisetsu". They were released on March 2, 2011, as the lead singles from her debut album ''Circus ...

", while Great Eida Strings had performed "Bōenkyō no Soto no Keshiki".

Promotion and release

NHK timed the switch over of theme songs from Sakanaction's "Aoi" to "Nippon" to coincide with the

. Sheena performed "Nippon" on NHK on June 8, first airing on the NHK BS premium program ''Soccer World Cup Kōfun wa Oto to Tomo ni'' and the clip again on ''Music Japan''. It featured 300 people performing the song, including Sheena, a traditional rock band, a string orchestra and a cheer-squad. The song was performed again at ''

CDTV The CDTV (from Commodore Dynamic Total Vision, later treated as a backronym for Compact Disc Television) is a home multimedia entertainment and video game console – convertible into a full-fledged personal computer by the addition of optional ...

'' on June 14, and at '' Music Station'' on June 20, in a special

-themed broadcast, including

News News is information about current events. This may be provided through many different Media (communication), media: word of mouth, printing, Mail, postal systems, broadcasting, Telecommunications, electronic communication, or through the tes ...

' "One (For the Win)" and

Naoto Inti Raymi , better known by his stage name , is a Japanese singer-songwriter and composer. He was born in Mie Prefecture in Japan and later grew up in Chiba Prefecture. For two years from 2001, he used his given name Naoto as his stage name. In 2001, whil ...

's "The World Is Ours!". Sheena performed the song at the 65th ''

Kōhaku Uta Gassen , more commonly known simply as ''Kōhaku'', is an annual New Year's Eve television special produced by Japanese public broadcaster NHK. It is broadcast live simultaneously on television and radio, nationally and internationally by the NHK netw ...

'' on December 31, 2014, therein titled "NIPPON -Kōhaku Borderless Edit-", again featuring a cheer squad. Sheena appeared on Seiji Kameda's radio corner ''Behind the Melody: FM Kameda'' on the J-Wave radio program ''Beat Corner'', on June 9, 10, 11 and 12, making it the first time the pair have worked together publicly since the break-up of Tokyo Jihen in 2012. For the release of ''Gyakuyunyū: Kōwankyoku'', Sheena performed a four date tour called . She performed "Sakasa ni Kazoete" at these lives as one of the encore songs. On June 10, 2014, a music video was released for the song. The

Yuichi Kodama Yuichi Kodama (児玉裕一 ''Kodama Yuichi''） is a Japanese video director. He has mainly directed music videos and ads. He often produces music videos and ads that are strongly connected or "tied-up" to each other, such as Perfume's "Secret Secr ...

-directed music video featured scenes of Sheena and her bandmates performing the song in greyscale, in a studio. The B-side "Sakasa ni Kazoete" was successful enough to chart at number 91 on the ''

Billboard A billboard (also called a hoarding in the UK and many other parts of the world) is a large outdoor advertising structure (a billing board), typically found in high-traffic areas such as alongside busy roads. Billboards present large advertise ...

Japan Hot 100 The ''Billboard Japan'' Hot 100 is a record chart in Japan for songs. It has been compiled by ''Billboard Japan'' and '' Hanshin Contents Link'' since February 2008. The chart is updated every Wednesday at Billboard-japan.com ( JST) and every Thur ...

Critical reception

Tomoko Imai from ''

Rockin' On Japan ''Rockin'On Japan'', often stylized in all caps, is a monthly magazine that covers the Japanese music scene and various cultural events in Japan, such as art venues and culinary expos. History The magazine was founded in 1972, and focused on prov ...

'' praised the song, calling it "reassuringly catchy rock" with " vuvuzela-like sounds on top of a

Ramones The Ramones were an American punk rock band that formed in the New York City neighborhood of Forest Hills, Queens, in 1974. They are often cited as the first true punk rock group. Despite achieving a limited commercial appeal in the United ...

-like tough beat". She praised the addition of Ubukata and Nagoshi on guitars, and felt like the song was perfect for a soccer anthem. CDJournal reviewers described the song as "straight pitch rock 'n' roll overflowing with feelings of speed". They noted the song's overlaying of Sheena, the "elegant" large scale strings section and the "raging" band sound. Some internet commentators felt that the song came across as overly

nationalist Nationalism is an idea and movement that holds that the nation should be congruent with the state. As a movement, nationalism tends to promote the interests of a particular nation (as in a group of people), Smith, Anthony. ''Nationalism: The ...

. Asahi Shimbun commented that the lyric made the Japanese national soccer team colour equivalent to blood purity. Music critic Takayuki Ishiguro felt the Japan-based lyrics were a high risk for the

, given that it was predicted that Japan would be knocked out early, and that it was an inappropriate song to play during matches that did not involve Japan. Journalist Yoshiaki Sei felt that the song was a misunderstanding of what soccer culture was, as he considered soccer a "symbol of mixing peoples and cultures". Music critic Akimasa Munetaka argued that the song was not political, noting that Sheena was a musician who had incorporated traditional Japanese aspects since her debut. Munetaka felt that the song was just an exaggeration of these aspects.

Track listing

Personnel

Personnel details were sourced from "Nippon"'s liner notes booklet. To perform "Nippon", Sheena formed a band called 37564, and one called 893 for "Sakasa ni Kazoete". 893 performed with Sheena live during her Chotto Shita Recohatsu tour in May 2014. 37564 band members *Noriyasu "Kāsuke" Kawamura – drums *Yukio Nagoshi – guitar *Nobuhiko Nakayama – programming *Ringo Sheena – vocals, guitar *Shinichi Ubukata – guitar *Hitoshi Watanabe – bass 893 band members *Masaki Hayashi – Wurlitzer electric piano *Midorin from Soil & "Pimp" Sessions – drums *Yoshiaki Sato – Hammond organ *Ringo Sheena – vocals *Keisuke Torigoe – contrabass Other musicians, technical and production *Masato Abe – cello (#1) *Satoshi Akai – assistant engineer *Robbie Clark – English translator *Great Eida – 1st violin (#1) *Hirohito Furugawara – viola (#1) *Ryota Gomi – assistant engineer *Aiko Hosokawa – viola (#1) *Uni Inoue – recording engineer, mixing engineer *Akane Irie – 1st violin (#1) *Ayano Kasahara – cello (#1) *Nagisa Kiriyama – 1st violin (#1) *Shinya Kondo – assistant engineer *Ayumu Koshikawa – 1st violin (#1) *Kioko Miki – 1st violin (#1) *Takashi Konno – contrabass (#1) *Minoru Kuwata – 2nd violin (#1) *Masahiro Itadaki – 2nd violin (#1) *Shuhei Ito – cello (#1) *Yoshihiko Maeda – cello (#1) *Erika Makioka – cello (#1) *Akiko Maruyama – violin (#1) *Shigeo Miyamoto – mastering engineer *Fumio Miyata – musician coordinator *Yukinori Murata – 1st violin (#1) *Mayo Nagao – 2nd violin (#1) *Tatsuo Ogura – 2nd violin (#1) *Naoko Okisawa – cello (#1) *Atsushi Ōta – assistant engineer *Jun Saitō – contrabass (#1) *

– conductor (#1) *Teruhiko Saitō – contrabass (#1) *Kon Shirasu – 2nd violin (#1) *Mayu Takashima – viola (#1) *Kojiro Takizawa – 1st violin (#1) *Kazuhiro Tanabe – contrabass (#1) *Manami Tokutaka – viola (#1) *Chizuko Tsunoda – 2nd violin (#1) *Amiko Watabe – viola (#1) *Yūji Yamada – viola (#1) *Haruko Yano – 1st violin (#1) *Tokomo Yokota – 2nd violin (#1)

Chart rankings

Sales and certifications

Release history

References

{{authority control 2014 songs 2014 singles 2014 FIFA World Cup FIFA World Cup songs Japanese-language songs Ringo Sheena songs Songs written by Ringo Sheena Music videos directed by Yuichi Kodama EMI Music Japan singles