"Sakura" is the 45th single by Japanese

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 ...

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 February 25, 2015 under their record label J Storm. "Sakura" was used as the theme song for the television drama ''Ouroborous'', starring actors

Toma Ikuta is a Japanese actor. Ikuta is known for his roles in ''Hanazakari no Kimitachi e'', '' Honey & Clover'', ''Sensei!'', '' Maō'' and ''Ouroboros''. He also stars in feature films, notably '' Hanamizuki'', '' Ningen Shikkaku'' and ''Brain Man''. ...

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 ...

. The single was released in two editions: a first press/limited edition and a regular edition. The first press/limited edition contains the

B-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 compan ...

"Rise and Shine" and the music video and making-of for "Sakura" while the regular edition contains two B-sides. The single sold 465,381 copies in its first week and topped the weekly

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 ...

. With over 520,000 copies sold, the single was certified Double 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 ...

(RIAJ). The single placed 11th on Oricon's 2015 yearly singles ranking.

Single information

The first press/limited edition contains the music video and making-of for "Sakura", the B-side "Rise and Shine" and its instrumental, and a 16-page lyrics booklet while the regular edition contains the B-sides "Onaji Sora no Shita de" and "more and more", and the instrumentals for all three tracks. The album jacket covers for both versions are different. "Sakura" was used as the theme song for the television drama ''Ouroborous'', starring actors

and

. This marks the first time Arashi has provided a theme song for a drama that did not star one of its members.

Track listing

Chart performance

The single debuted at number one on the Oricon daily singles chart selling 239,867 copies upon its release and selling 465,381 copies by the end of the week, topping the Oricon and

Billboard Japan ''Billboard Japan'' is a sister organization of the U.S.-based music magazine ''Billboard''. It is operated by the Japanese Osaka-based company Hanshin Contents Link (a subsidiary of Hanshin Electric Railway), holding an exclusive licence from ''Bi ...

weekly singles charts. The single sold 30,490 copies in its second week and stayed in the top ten for three consecutive weeks. With 521,067 copies sold, the single placed 11th on Oricon's 2015 yearly singles ranking and third on Billboard Japan's top singles year-end list.

Single information

Track listing

Chart performance

Charts and certifications

Charts

Sales and certifications

Release history

References

External links