''Voice'' is the sixth studio album (ninth overall) by Japanese singer

Mika Nakashima is a Japanese singer and actress. Five of her studio albums, one of her mini-albums and one of her compilation albums have reached number one in Japan's Oricon album chart. She also embarked on an acting career, most notably as Nana Osaki in the ...

, released via

Sony Music Japan , 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 November 26, 2008. It contains all of her singles from "Life" up to " Orion". The album was distributed in two formats: a CD-only version and CD+DVD limited edition. Following its release, ''Voice'' became Nakashima's first number one album on the

Oricon Albums Chart The Oricon Albums Chart is the Japanese music industry standard albums popularity chart issued daily, weekly, monthly and yearly by Oricon. Oricon originally published LP, CT, Cartridge and CD charts prior to the establishment of the Oricon Albu ...

since ''

Best Best or The Best may refer to: People * Best (surname), people with the surname Best * Best (footballer, born 1968), retired Portuguese footballer Companies and organizations * Best & Co., an 1879–1971 clothing chain * Best Lock Corporation ...

'' (2005). It has been 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 ...

for physical shipments of over 250,000 copies in Japan, and has since amassed sales of over 340,000 copies.

Singles

"Life" was released as the album's first single on August 22, 2007. The song is an adult contemporary pop/rock number and was used as the theme song for the drama of the same name, starring Kii Kitano and

Saki Fukuda is a Japanese actress and singer. She appeared in the 2009 live action film ''Yatterman is a Japanese anime television series broadcast from January 1, 1977 to January 27, 1979, comprising 108 episodes. It is the second and longest show ...

. The B-side "It's Too Late" was used for an Kanebo Cosmetics CM, which starred Nakashima herself. "Eien no Uta" is a reggae-inflected ballad with Stephen McGregor serving as the producer. It was used as the theme song of the movie '' Southbound'' (2007). The B-side is a cover of

Cole Porter Cole Albert Porter (June 9, 1891 – October 15, 1964) was an American composer and songwriter. Many of his songs became standards noted for their witty, urbane lyrics, and many of his scores found success on Broadway and in film. Born to ...

's "

You'd Be So Nice To Come Home To "You'd Be So Nice to Come Home To" is a popular song written by Cole Porter for the 1943 film '' Something to Shout About'', where it was introduced by Janet Blair and Don Ameche. The song was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Original Son ...

," and was made with jazz band

Katteni-Shiyagare is a swing/jazz band with punk influences, formed in 1997, with its major label debut on Epic Records Japan in 2004. They are perhaps best known in the US for the opening theme to the Japanese series Kemonozume, "Auvers Blue" as well as the fir ...

and previously included on her Katteni-Shiyagare tribute album, ''Let's Get Lost''. "Sakura Hanagasumi" is an adult contemporary ballad with a more poignant mood than "

Sakurairo Mau Koro is Mika Nakashima is a Japanese singer and actress. Five of her studio albums, one of her mini-albums and one of her compilation albums have reached number one in Japan's Oricon album chart. She also embarked on an acting career, most notab ...

" (2005). The Daishi dance version of the song appears on the ''Voice'' album instead of the original version, which is featured in its promotional video. The next release, "I Don't Know", was Mika's first English-language single. It is a collaboration with

owarai is a broad word used to describe Japanese comedy as seen on television. The word ''owarai'' is the honorific form of the word ''warai'' (by adding o- prefix), meaning "a laugh" or "a smile". ''Owarai'' is most common on Japanese variety shows ...

group Morisanchuu and was her first single to be released in a CD+DVD format in addition to the regular CD-only format. It includes the B-side track "Shut Up". "Orion" is an lite rock-influenced ballad and was released on November 12, 2008. It was the insert song for the Japanese TBS drama, ''

Ryūsei no Kizuna is a detective novel by Keigo Higashino. It was serialized in Weekly Gendai from 16 September 2006 to 15 September 2007 and was published into one ''tankōbon'' volume by Kodansha on 5 March 2008. The novel was published in paperback format b ...

'', in which co-starred Mika. The B-side song "Focus" was used for the television commercial of the Canon IXY Digital 920 IS camera.

Singles

Track listing

Charts and sales

Daily and weekly charts

Year-end charts

Sales and certifications

References