is the twenty-fifth single by Japanese recording artist Misia

MISIA (Japanese singer)

, commonly stylized as MISIA, is a Japanese R&B singer originally from Fukuoka. She debuted in 1998 on BMG Japan, but has since moved to Sony Music Japan's Ariola Japan imprint...

. It was released on May 25, 2011 as the lead single from Misia's tenth studio album Soul Quest

Soul Quest

Soul Quest is the tenth studio album by Japanese R&B singer MISIA, released on July 27, 2011. It will be released in a standard CD-only edition and as a limited 2-CD edition featuring a 77-minute DJ mix of various fan favorite songs by MISIA as mixed by MURO. Soul Quest debuted on the Oricon's...

.

Background

The song was written by Misia and Gorō Matsui

Goro Matsui

is a Japanese lyricist born 11 December 1957 in Gifu Prefecture, Japan, though he considers Tokyo to be his hometown. Beginning with participation in the Yamaha Popular Song Contests, he made his debut writing the lyrics for the 1981 Chage and Aska album ....

, composed by Japan-based Korean producer BZ4U and produced by Shirō Sagisu

Shiro Sagisu

is a well-known Japanese music producer and composer. With a career spanning over 25 years , he is best known for his work as a record producer for acts including Misia, Satoshi Tomiie, and Ken Hirai...

. It was released nearly a year and a half since "Hoshi no Yō ni...

Hoshi no Yō ni...

is the twenty-fourth single by Japanese recording artist Misia. It was simultaneously released with her ninth studio album Just Ballade as its fifth and final single and is Misia's first and only re-cut single.- Background :...

" (2009) as the lead single from Misia's tenth studio album Soul Quest

Soul Quest

Soul Quest is the tenth studio album by Japanese R&B singer MISIA, released on July 27, 2011. It will be released in a standard CD-only edition and as a limited 2-CD edition featuring a 77-minute DJ mix of various fan favorite songs by MISIA as mixed by MURO. Soul Quest debuted on the Oricon's...

. "Kioku" served as theme song for the TV Asahi

TV Asahi

, also known as EX and , is a Japanese television network headquartered in Roppongi, Minato, Tokyo, Japan. The company writes its name in lower-case letters, tv asahi, in its logo and public-image materials. The company also owns All-Nippon News Network....

 drama . The single includes two B-sides: "Kono Mama de Tonight," a duet with Hawaiian singer-songwriter John Paul "JP" Lam, and "Can't Take My Eyes Off of You

Can't Take My Eyes off You

"Can't Take My Eyes Off You" is a 1967 single by Frankie Valli. The song was among Valli's biggest hits, reaching #2 on the Billboard Hot 100 and earning a gold record. It was Valli's biggest "solo" hit until he hit #1 in 1975 with "My Eyes Adored You"...

," a cover of the 1967 Frankie Valli

Frankie Valli

Frankie Valli is an American musician, most famous as frontman of The Four Seasons. He is well-known for his unusually powerful falsetto singing voice...

 song. The first press edition of the single includes a bonus remix of "Maware Maware

Maware Maware

"Maware Maware" is a song by Japanese recording artist Misia featuring M2J and French-Cameroonian singer Francis Jocky...

."

Composition

TV Asahi producer Yumiko Miwa chose "Kioku" as theme song for Iryu Sosa specifically because of the way it complemented the drama. In a press release, she commented:

I had always loved Misia's powerful and romantic voice. Because Iryu Sosa is a suspense drama, the episodes don't always have happy endings, so I wanted a song that would convey sympathy and hope. Misia took my thoughts into consideration and presented us with a beautiful song, I'm very grateful. "Kioku" is such a wonderful song that every time I listen to it I get goosebumps. Thank you so much.

Music video

The music video for "Kioku" was directed by the directing duo Electrotnik. It premiered on May 11, 2011 on Space Shower TV. The video features pictures of "fond memories," some submitted by fans through an online submission campaign set up by Misia's team. A baby picture of Misia surrounded by her older brother and sister can be seen near the end of the video. A doll made of newspaper also appears throughout the video.

Chart performance

The single debuted at number 14 on the Oricon

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. It started as , which was founded by Sōkō Koike in November 1967 and became known for its music charts. Oricon Inc...

 Daily Singles Chart on May 24, 2011. It peaked at number 21 on the Oricon Weekly Singles Chart with 5,540 copies sold. The single charted for four weeks and sold 7,954 copies in total.

Track listing

Charts

Chart (2011)	Peak position
Billboard Billboard (magazine) Billboard is a weekly American magazine devoted to the music industry, and is one of the oldest trade magazines in the world. It maintains several internationally recognized music charts that track the most popular songs and albums in various categories on a weekly basis... Japan Hot 100 Japan Hot 100 The Japan Hot 100 is a music singles chart in Japan. It is compiled by Billboard and Hanshin Contents Link ever since February 2008. The chart is updated every Wednesday at billboard-japan.com and every Thursday at billboard.com ....	22
Billboard Japan Hot Top Airplay	25
Billboard Japan Adult Contemporary Airplay	12
Billboard Japan Hot Singles Sales	24
Oricon 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. It started as , which was founded by Sōkō Koike in November 1967 and became known for its music charts. Oricon Inc...  Daily Singles	14
Oricon Weekly Singles	21

Release history

Region	Date	Format	Label
Japan	May 25, 2011	CD Compact Disc The Compact Disc is an optical disc used to store digital data. It was originally developed to store and playback sound recordings exclusively, but later expanded to encompass data storage , write-once audio and data storage , rewritable media , Video Compact Discs , Super Video Compact Discs ,... , digital download Music download A music download is the transferral of music from an Internet-facing computer or website to a user's local computer. This term encompasses both legal downloads and downloads of copyright material without permission or payment...	Ariola Japan Ariola Japan , is a Japanese record label precedently part of BMG Japan and now subsidiary of Sony Music Japan. It is home to both former BMG Japan artists and new artists, including Buck-Tick, The Cro-Magnons, Deen, GO!GO!7188, Kenichi Asai, AZU, Takako Matsu, Misia, Kazumasa Oda, Seamo, Shikao Suga, Sukima...
Taiwan	June 3, 2011	CD	Sony Music Entertainment Taiwan Sony Music Entertainment Sony Music Entertainment ' is the second-largest global recorded music company of the "big four" record companies and is controlled by Sony Corporation of America, the United States subsidiary of Japan's Sony Corporation....