is a song by Japanese

folk rock Folk rock is a hybrid music genre that combines the elements of folk and rock music, which arose in the United States, Canada, and the United Kingdom in the mid-1960s. In the U.S., folk rock emerged from the folk music revival. Performers suc ...

band

Kobukuro , a Japanese band, formed in 1998 and made its major label debut in 2001. The name is a portmanteau of the two family names, Kentarō Kobuchi and Shunsuke Kuroda. Members * * The band's visual appearance is unusual; there are only two people, ...

. It is their 15th single and is included on its ninth studio album ''

5296 ''5296'' is Kobukuro , a Japanese band, formed in 1998 and made its major label debut in 2001. The name is a portmanteau of the two family names, Kentarō Kobuchi and Shunsuke Kuroda. Members * * The band's visual appearance is unusual; t ...

''. The song was written and composed by Kentarō Kobuchi. The single was released on March 21, 2007, in two editions: a CD-only edition and a limited edition. It debuted at number two on 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 ...

before topping the chart the following week, and it was

certified Certification is the provision by an independent body of written assurance (a certificate) that the product, service or system in question meets specific requirements. It is the formal attestation or confirmation of certain characteristics of a ...

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), denoting shipment of 500,000 units. "Tsubomi" earned the Grand Prix award at the

49th Japan Record Awards The 49th Annual Japan Record Awards took place at the New National Theatre in Shibuya, Tokyo, on December 30, 2007, starting at 6:30PM JST. The primary ceremonies were televised in Japan on TBS. Awards winners *Japan Record Award: Tsubomi ** ...

Release and promotion

"Tsubomi" was released on March 21, 2007, in two editions: a CD-only edition; and a limited edition which includes a

DVD The DVD (common abbreviation for Digital Video Disc or Digital Versatile Disc) is a digital optical disc data storage format. It was invented and developed in 1995 and first released on November 1, 1996, in Japan. The medium can store any kin ...

with the short film ''February 2007 Rehearsal & Live''.

Marty Friedman Marty Friedman (born December 8, 1962) is an American guitarist, best known for his tenure as the lead guitarist for thrash metal band Megadeth from 1990 to 2000. He is also known for playing alongside Jason Becker in Cacophony from 1986 until ...

pointed out that the song's arrangement was very simple and did away with the influence of the music of the

Western culture Leonardo da Vinci's ''Vitruvian Man''. Based on the correlations of ideal Body proportions">human proportions with geometry described by the ancient Roman architect Vitruvius in Book III of his treatise ''De architectura''. image:Plato Pio-Cle ...

. "Tsubomi" was used as the theme song for the television drama ''Tokyo Tower: Okan to Boku to, Tokidoki, Oton'' (2007). It was also used as the entrance song for the 80th

National High School Baseball Championship The of Japan, commonly known as , is an annual nationwide high school baseball tournament. It is the largest scale amateur sport event in Japan. The tournament, organized by the Japan High School Baseball Federation and ''Asahi Shimbun'', t ...

the following year.

Chart performance and accolades

"Tsubomi" debuted at number two on the weekly

, selling 182,737 copies in its first week. The single sold 69,737 copies and rose to number one the following week, and was certified 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 ...

shipment of 250,000 units. For the month of April, "Tsubomi" topped the monthly RIAJ Reco-kyō Chart for ringtones. The single was certified double platinum in June. "Tsubomi" became the third best-selling single on the 2007 Oricon yearly singles chart, selling 441,799 copies in Japan. The single charted for 71 weeks and went on to sell 506,093 copies by the end of its chart run. At the end of the year, "Tsubomi" earned Kobukuro the Grand Prix award on

Tokyo Broadcasting System formerly is a Japanese media and licensed broadcasting holding company. It is the parent company of the television network and radio network . It has a 28-affiliate television network called JNN (Japan News Network), as well as a 34-affili ...

. On February 20, 2008, the song was certified by the RIAJ for selling three million digital ringtone downloads.

Cover versions

Ayumi Nakamura recorded a

cover version In popular music, a cover version, cover song, remake, revival, or simply cover, is a new performance or recording by a musician other than the original performer or composer of the song. Originally, it referred to a version of a song release ...

of "Tsubomi", which was included on her 2008 cover album ''Voice''. The song was also covered on Kyōko Abe's ''Yasashī Uta'' and

Shinichi Mori known professionally as is a Japanese male enka singer and composer, who also sings folk and pop music. He has sold more than 90 million records, making him one of the best selling Japanese musicians. Mori has been married and divorced twi ...

's ''Love Music''.

Track listing

All songs written and composed by Kentarō Kobuchi.

Chart history

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Tsubomi (Song) 2007 singles 2007 songs Japanese-language songs Japanese television drama theme songs Kobukuro songs Oricon Weekly number-one singles Warner Music Japan singles