"Big in Japan" is the debut single of the band Alphaville

Alphaville (band)

Alphaville is a German synthpop group which gained popularity in the 1980s. The founding members were Marian Gold , Bernhard Lloyd , and Frank Mertens Alphaville is a German synthpop group which gained popularity in the 1980s. The founding members were Marian Gold (real name Hartwig Schierbaum,...

. It is from their 1984 album Forever Young. The title comes from a phrase Big in Japan

Big in Japan (phrase)

Big in Japan was originally a scornful phrase applied to Western rock bands that failed to sell many records in the United States and/or the United Kingdom. During the 1960s and 1970s, Japanese pop culture was not yet considered very cool in the English-speaking world...

, which was used to describe Western bands who are popular with Japanese audiences while garnering little attention in their home country.

The single was a great success in many countries, including Switzerland

Switzerland

Switzerland name of one of the Swiss cantons. ; ; ; or ), in its full name the Swiss Confederation , is a federal republic consisting of 26 cantons, with Bern as the seat of the federal authorities. The country is situated in Western Europe,Or Central Europe depending on the definition....

, Germany

Germany

Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...

, and Sweden

Sweden

Sweden , officially the Kingdom of Sweden , is a Nordic country on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. Sweden borders with Norway and Finland and is connected to Denmark by a bridge-tunnel across the Öresund....

. The song also reached #1 on Hot Dance Club Play

Hot Dance Club Play

The Hot Dance Club Songs chart is a weekly national survey of the songs that are most popular in U.S. dance clubs...

 in December 1984.

The video was directed by Yello

Yello

Yello is a Swiss electronica band consisting of Dieter Meier and Boris Blank. They are probably best known for their singles "The Race" and "Oh Yeah", which feature a mix of electronic music and manipulated vocals, as does most of their music....

's Dieter Meier

Dieter Meier

Dieter Meier is a Swiss musician and conceptual artist who is best known for the electronic music group Yello he formed with music producer Boris Blank...

.

Track listings

7" single

1. "Big in Japan" (7" Version) — 3:52
2. "Seeds" — 3:15

12" maxi

1. "Big in Japan" (7" Version) — 3:52
2. "Seeds" — 3:15

12" maxi Germany & France WEA 249417-0

1. "Big in Japan" (Extended Remix) — 7:25
2. "Big in Japan" (Extended Instrumental) — 6:10

12" maxi US WEA 0-86947

1. "Big in Japan" (Extended Vocal) - 7:25
2. "Big in Japan" (Instrumental Version) - 6:10
3. "Big in Japan" (7" Version) - 3:58

• The "Extended Vocal" is the same as the "Extended Remix" and the "Extended Instrumental" is the same as the "Instrumental Version."
• The 7" version is a completely new studio recording from the album version

Peak positions

Chart (1984)	Peak position
Austrian Singles Chart	4
Dutch Top 40	2
Eurochart Hot 100 Singles	1
French SNEP Singles Chart	13
German Singles Chart	1
Irish Singles Chart	4
Italian Singles Chart	3
Norwegian Singles Chart	3
South African Singles Chart	5
Swedish Singles Chart	1
Swiss Singles Chart	1
UK Singles Chart	8
U.S. Billboard Hot 100	66
U.S. Billboard Hot Dance Club Play	1

Year-end charts

End of the year chart (1984)	Position
Swiss Singles Chart	2

Certifications

Country	Certification	Date	Sales certified
Germany	Gold	1993	250,000

Chart successions

1992 Re-release

Alphaville re-released the song, with new remixes, in 1992 to coincide with the release of their compilation album First Harvest 1984-92

First Harvest 1984-92

First Harvest 1984–92 is Alphaville's first "real" greatest-hits compilation ....

.

Track listings

EU CD single "Big in Japan 1992 A.D."

1. "Big in Japan 1992 A.D. Freedom Mix (Single Edit)" - 3:14
2. "Big in Japan The Mix (Single Edit)" - 4:14
3. "Big in Japan 1992 A.D. Freedom Mix (Extended Version)" - 4:51
4. "Big in Japan The Mix (Extended Version)" - 6:05

• "The Mix (Extended Version)" is the same as the "Culture Mix" from First Harvest 1984-92.

EU CD single "Big in Japan Swemix Remix"

1. "Big in Japan (Swemix Remix 7")" - 3:57
2. "Big in Japan (Swemix Remix 12")" - 8:27
3. "Big in Japan (Swemix DUB)" - 6:44

EU 12" vinyl single "Big in Japan 1992 A.D."

1. "Big in Japan 1992 A.D. Freedom Mix (Extended Version)" - 4:51
2. "Big in Japan 1992 A.D. Freedom Dub" - 4:56
3. "Big in Japan The Mix (Extended Version)" - 6:05

• The 12" single was printed on white vinyl and contains the unique "Dub" version of the Freedom remix

Charts

"Big in Japan 1992 AD" hit as high as #2 in Finland and #15 in Sweden, but failed to chart anywhere else.

Other Alphaville versions and releases

• The original 7" version was also made available on Alphaville's First Harvest 1984-92 best-of release
• Two newly-remixed versions were made available in 1988's Alphaville: The Singles Collection
  Alphaville: The Singles Collection
  Alphaville: The Singles Collection is Alphaville's first "best of" compilation, consisting of remixes of singles from their first two albums, Forever Young and Afternoons in Utopia. It was released in 1988.-Reviews:...
  
  
• In 1999 Alphaville released Dreamscapes
  Dreamscapes
  Dreamscapes is a limited edition eight-CD set of rare Alphaville recordings, released in 1999. It features 124 tracks with a total playing time of around 9.5 hours...
  
  , which included an early demo version of this song as well as the "FFF Time Warp" mix
• 2001's Forever Pop
  Forever Pop
  Forever Pop is a collection of new remixes of older Alphaville songs and singles. The people responsible for some of the remixes include notables such as Paul Van Dyk, Mark Plati, and De-Phazz.-Reviews:...
  
  contained 2 more newly remixed versions (the "Roland Spremberg" and "Eiffel 65
  Eiffel 65
  Eiffel 65 is an Italian three-piece group formed in the late 1990s and best known for pioneering in pitch-correction and autotune, and for their international hit "Blue ". Their other hit singles include "Move Your Body" and "Too Much of Heaven", all of which appeared on their album Europop,...
  
  " mixes)

B-side

"Seeds," the b-side to this single, appears both on Dreamscapes and History

History (Alphaville album)

History is the rarest of Alphaville albums.Released in 1993 only on cassette, and only to members of the official fan club, History is a collection of early Alphaville demo tracks, b-sides, and a few out-takes.-Track listing:...

as "Leben Ohne Ende" (sung in its original German) in demo form. A new remix of "Seeds" also appears on Dreamscapes.

Cover versions

• "Big in Japan" was released by German singer Sandra in 1984 as a single. She sang the song in German, as "Japan ist weit". The song was produced by her future husband Michael Cretu
  Michael Cretu
  Michael Cretu is a Romanian musician. He is known also as Curly, MC or Curly M.C. because of his fair curled hair . His peak musical activity was with the Enigma project, which was mainly based in Germany....
  
   and was Sandra's first try as a solo artist after she separated from the trio Arabesque
  Arabesque (group)
  Arabesque started as an all-girl trio at the height of the european disco era in 1977 in Frankfurt, Germany.After the first album, the band lineup was changed by keeping only the original member Michaela Rose and replacing the two other girls with new members Jasmin Vetter and Sandra Lauer...
  
  . The song was not successful, as only 125 copies were sold.
• A dance cover of the song was recorded by band Kim Ono in 1995.The voice belongs to singer Lianne Morgan who was a member of the Spice Girls at the beginning.
• Swedish
  Sweden
  Sweden , officially the Kingdom of Sweden , is a Nordic country on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. Sweden borders with Norway and Finland and is connected to Denmark by a bridge-tunnel across the Öresund....
  
   melodic black metal Band Embraced
  Embraced
  Embraced is a Swedish black metal band, formed in Malmö, Sweden in 1993. They released their first demo in 1997, and signed with Regain Records; they then toured Sweden, Finland, and Germany. After adding another keyboardist and guitarist, they released their full-length Amorous Anathema in 1998....
  
   did a cover of "Big in Japan" on their 1998 album Amorous Anathema
  Amorous Anathema
  -Track listing:# "A Dying Flame" - 6:35# "The End... and Here We All Die" - 8:36# "Nightfall" - 5:29# "Princess of Twilight" - 4:59# "Into the Unknown" - 4:15# "Memento of Emotions" - 7:06# "The Beautiful Flow of an Autumn Passion" - 3:14...
  
  .
• The song was covered by the group Demimonde on their album Equalterms.
• In 2000, Guano Apes
  Guano Apes
  Guano Apes are an alternative rock band formed in 1994 in Göttingen, Germany. The group members are Sandra Nasić , Henning Rümenapp , Stefan Ude and Dennis Poschwatta ....
  
   also covered the song in their second full-length album, Don't Give Me Names
  Don't Give Me Names
  Don't Give Me Names is the second album by the German band Guano Apes, released in 2000. It includes the singles "Big in Japan" , "No Speech", "Living in a Lie" and "Dödel Up"....
  
  (#9 GER, #19 AT, #24 CH, #82 NL, #5 IT).
• Spanish
  Spain
  Spain , officially the Kingdom of Spain languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Spain's official name is as follows:;;;;;;), is a country and member state of the European Union located in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula...
  
   singer Jose Galisteo
  José Galisteo
  José Antonio Galisteo García was a contestant in the fifth season of the Spanish reality television series Operación Triunfo, where he placed sixth in a field of 18...
  
  , a contestant in the fifth season of the Spanish reality television series Operación Triunfo
  Operación Triunfo Fifth Series
  Telecinco announced in May 2006 that the fifth series of the program was to be released in October 2006.On July 25, 2006 Telecinco released a TV show called Operación Triunfo 2006: Otra Vez en Marcha...
  
  , covered the song for his 2007 debut album Remember.
• In 2008, Norwegian
  Norway
  Norway , officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic unitary constitutional monarchy whose territory comprises the western portion of the Scandinavian Peninsula, Jan Mayen, and the Arctic archipelago of Svalbard and Bouvet Island. Norway has a total area of and a population of about 4.9 million...
  
   singer Ane Brun
  Ane Brun
  Ane Brun is a songwriter, guitarist and vocalist. Since 2003 she has recorded eight albums, four of which are studio albums, a live DVD and a collection of duets...
  
   has done her very own version of the song "Big in Japan". The song was recorded to be part of the soundtrack for the Swedish TV-documentary "Stor i Japan" on TV6, and released on her label, Balloon Ranger Recordings. In 2001 this single was released on Decca International.
• In 2009, German
  Germany
  Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
  
   synth-pop band And One
  And One
  AND ONE is a German New Wave, synthpop and EBM band founded by Steve Naghavi and Chris Ruiz.-History:The band formed after Steve Naghavi and Chris Ruiz met in 1989 at a Berlin club. Being fans of early EBM music, Naghavi and Ruiz decided to follow in the footsteps of New Wave/synthpop band Depeche...
  
   included live cover version of "Big in Japan" to their album Bodypop 1½.
• In 2010 László Szarka, a contestant on Hungarian talent show Megasztár became an internet sensation by singing the song with mispronounced English lyrics. See also: Bikicsunáj
  Bikicsunáj
  Bikicsunáj is an Internet meme that appeared in Hungary in May 2010.László Szarka, a 40-year-old security guard from Ököritófülpös, Hungary sang the Alphaville song "Big in Japan" with very poor English pronunciation on the first episode of the fifth season of Megasztár, a talent show on TV2...