is the second single by Japanese band Princess Princess. Written by Kyōko Tomita and Kaori Okui, the single was released by

CBS Sony , often abbreviated as SMEJ or simply SME, and also known as Sony Music Japan for short (stylized as ''SonyMusic''), is a Japanese music arm for Sony. Founded in 1968 as CBS/Sony, SMEJ is directly owned by Sony, Sony Group Corporation and is ...

on July 16, 1987. It was re-released on July 1, 1989 as the band's eighth single, which became their second of five consecutive No. 1 singles on

Oricon , established in 1999, is the holding company at the head of a Japanese corporate group that supplies statistics and information on music and the music industry in Japan and Western music. It started as, which was founded by Sōkō Koike in Nov ...

's singles chart.

Background

"Sekai de Ichiban Atsui Natsu" was originally released on vinyl in 1987 with "Vibration" as the B-side. As Princess Princess was relatively unknown at the time, the single did not chart. The song was used in the

TV Asahi JOEX-DTV (channel 5), branded as (also known as EX and and stylized as TV asahi), is a television station that is owned and operated by the subsidiary of certified broadcasting holding company , itself controlled by The Asahi Shimbun Compan ...

travel show . The song's original key is A. The song was re-released in 1989 as a CD single with the B-side being a re-recording of the song (known as the ). The CD jacket was designed to resemble an airline ticket; the first edition release was colored gold while the regular release was colored pink. The Heisei version of the song was used in the TV Asahi travel show . The song was remixed in the band's 1992

compilation album A compilation album comprises Album#Tracks, tracks, which may be previously released or unreleased, usually from several separate recordings by either one or several Performing arts#Performers, performers. If by one artist, then generally the tr ...

Singles 1987–1992 ''Singles 1987–1992'' is the first compilation album by the Japanese girl band Princess Princess, released on July 15, 1992, by Sony Records. The album compiles the band's singles from 1987 to 1992, including their five consecutive No. 1 hits " ...

''. In 2001, TBS aired the drama series . It is not related to the Princess Princess song, though it is coincidental that Goro Kishitani, who starred in the drama, is married to former member Kaori Okui. To capitalize on the drama's popularity, SME Records reissued the song as a maxi-single with "

Diamonds Diamond is a solid form of the element carbon with its atoms arranged in a crystal structure called diamond cubic. Another solid form of carbon known as graphite is the chemically stable form of carbon at room temperature and pressure, b ...

" on August 8. To coincide with Princess Princess' reunion in 2012, the song was used by

Sapporo Breweries is a Japanese beer brewing company founded in 1876. Sapporo is the oldest brand of beer in Japan. It was first brewed in Sapporo, Japan, in 1876 by brewer Seibei Nakagawa. The world headquarters of Sapporo Breweries is in Ebisu, Shibuya, Toky ...

for their Sapporo Ice Lager 7 commercial, featuring the band.

Chart performance

"Sekai de Ichiban Atsui Natsu" hit No. 1 on

's singles chart and No. 2 on Oricon's year-ending chart in 1989 - second only to the band's other hit "Diamonds". It also sold over 865,000 copies and was certified Double Platinum 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 ...

in August 1990.

Track listing

All music is composed by Kaori Okui and arranged by Princess Princess.

Chart positions

;Weekly charts ;Year-end charts

Certifications

Cover versions

The Nolans The Nolans are an Anglo-Irish girl group who formed in Blackpool in 1974 as the Nolan Sisters, before changing their name in 1980. Often referred to as Ireland's ''First Family of Music'', they were the first Irish performing family to achie ...

covered the song in English in their 1992 album ''

The Hottest Place on Earth is a studio album by the Irish pop group The Nolans. Released on 21 May 1992 exclusively in Japan by Teichiku Records is a Japanese record label, run by , that specializes in enka, kayōkyoku, and similar music. Teichiku is an abbreviati ...

'', with lyrics by Des Dyer. * Patty & Jimmy covered the song in English in their 2003 album ''Fine'', with lyrics by Suzi Kim. * Kazumi Nikaidō covered the song in her 2008 album ''Nikasetra''. *

Minori Chihara is a Japanese voice actress and former singer who has had roles in several anime series.Doi, Hitoshi"Chihara Minori" ''Seiyuu Database''. January 3, 2011. Retrieved January 10, 2011. She is well known for her voice role as Yuki Nagato in '' The ...

covered the song in her 2009 live video ''Minori Chihara Live 2009 "Summer Camp"''. * Wakako Shimazaki covered the song in her 2009 single "Happy Life -Ashita ni Mukatte-''. * Eri Shingyōji covered the song in the 2009 various artists album ''R40 Dance! Dance!! Dance!!!''. * W.C.D.A. covered the song in their 2009 album ''Remix Collection 01 (J-pop Dance Remix)''. * Akari Hokajō covered the song in her 2010 album ''Boo-year!''. *

Naoya Urata is a Japanese singer and actor. He is a former member of the group AAA. Career Following Urata's arrest in April 2019, he announced he was leaving AAA on December 31, 2019. Controversy On April 19, 2019, Urata was arrested for allegedly assau ...

covered the song in his 2013 cover album ''Unchanged'. *

Ayumi Shibata (born February 22, 1984) is a Japanese female singer. She is a former member of Melon Kinenbi, an all-girl J-pop group which is part of the Hello! Project. She joined the group Tanpopo with Morning Musume members Asami Konno and Risa Niigaki i ...

covered the song in her 2014 album ''Kick Start''. * Ryūji Aoki covered the song in his 2015 album ''Voice 198X''. *

Nozomi Nishida is a Japanese voice actress and singer from Gifu Prefecture. She began her voice acting career in 2014 and played her first major role in 2016 as the character Makina Nakajima in the anime series ''Macross Delta''. She became part of the music g ...

Reina Kondō is a Japanese voice actress and singer from Chiba Prefecture who is affiliated with Hirata Office. She is known for her roles as Hana Ichinose in '' Slow Start'' and Suzuka Nagami in ''My Sister, My Writer''. She, together with her ''Slow Start ...

, Saki Minami, and

Honoka Inoue is a Japanese voice actress and singer from Kanagawa Prefecture who is affiliated with Office Anemone. She is the daughter of voice actress Kikuko Inoue. She debuted as a singer in 2015, and she began her voice acting career in 2016, appearing as ...

covered the song in the 2018 ''

Cinderella Nine is a free-to-play mobile video game for iOS and Android published by Akatsuki and Kadokawa. It was released in Japan on June 27, 2017. A four-panel comedy spin-off manga series by Bkub Okawa titled and a novelization titled are bein ...

'' image album ''Manatsu no Siren''.

References

External links

* * * {{Authority control 1987 singles 1989 singles 1987 songs Princess Princess (band) songs Japanese-language songs Oricon Weekly number-one singles Sony Music Entertainment Japan singles Songs written by Kaori Kishitani