"Pureness" is the first solo single by Japanese recording artist Aya Ueto

Aya Ueto

is a Japanese actress, singer, model, tarento, and occasional radio personality. Born in Nerima, Tokyo, Ueto was discovered when she participated in the 7th Japan Bishōjo Contest, where she won the special jury prize...

. It was released on August 28, 2002 as the first single from Ueto's debut studio album Ayaueto

Ayaueto

-Charts and sales:...

.

Background

After the disbandment of Z-1

Z-1 (band)

Z-1 was a Japanese idol quartet signed under Toshiba EMI from 1999 to 2002. The name Z-1 signifies the last super stars of the 20th century and the first of the 21st....

, Ueto was signed under the Pony Canyon

Pony Canyon

is a Japanese company, established on October 1, 1966 , which publishes music, DVD and VHS videos, movies and video games. It is a subsidiary of Japanese Media Group, Fujisankei Communications Group.-History:...

 sublabel, Flight Master. Ueto initially declined the offer but was eventually persuaded by her talent agency. Her debut single was scheduled for a May release, however, with Seiko Matsuda

Seiko Matsuda

is a Japanese pop singer-songwriter. Due to her popularity in the 1980s and her long career, she has been dubbed the "Eternal idol" by the Japanese media.- Biography :...

's daughter, Sayaka Kanda, also debuting around the same time, her management team decided to push back Ueto's single and "Pureness" was subsequently postponed to August. Out of the 600 songs they received, three were chosen for the single by Ueto and her team. "Pureness" was written and produced by T2ya

T2ya

T2ya, born on May 14, is a Japanese songwriter and keyboardist from Gunma Prefecture. In 1990s, he supported the agency Rising Production, which later renamed to Vision Factory. He wrote both the music and the lyrics of Olivia Lufkin's "I.L.Y...

. The look for the cover artwork and music video was based on Nao Tsurumoto, Ueto's breakthrough role on the TBS

Tokyo Broadcasting System

, TBS Holdings, Inc. or TBSHD, is a stockholding company in Tokyo, Japan. It is a parent company of a television network named and radio network named ....

 drama 3-nen B-gumi Kinpachi-sensei

Kinpachi-sensei

is a Japanese television drama.Kinpachi-sensei is the story of a 3rd year junior high school class in Japan; its teacher is Kinpachi Sakamoto , played by Tetsuya Takeda...

.

"Pureness" was released in two formats: the limited edition, which includes a DVD featuring the music video for "Pureness" and a special video message from Ueto, and standard CD-only edition. The cover art for the limited edition represents doubt

Doubt

Doubt, a status between belief and disbelief, involves uncertainty or distrust or lack of sureness of an alleged fact, an action, a motive, or a decision. Doubt brings into question some notion of a perceived "reality", and may involve delaying or rejecting relevant action out of concerns for...

, while the cover for the standard edition represents hope

Hope

Hope is the emotional state which promotes the belief in a positive outcome related to events and circumstances in one's life. It is the "feeling that what is wanted can be had or that events will turn out for the best" or the act of "look[ing] forward to with desire and reasonable confidence" or...

.

Live performances

On August 28, 2002, Ueto held a special event to commemorate the release. The promotional event, held at Zepp Tokyo

Zepp

The Zepp music halls are a group of Japanese music halls covering every area of the country. The Zepp halls play host to many international tours and are a popular stop among Japanese musicians. Each venue takes the Zepp name, along with the city in which it is located...

, attracted over 2,000 fans. Due to overwhelming fan demand, a second event took place at Zepp Osaka on September 15, 2002. Ueto performed "Pureness" for the first time on NHK

NHK

NHK is Japan's national public broadcasting organization. NHK, which has always identified itself to its audiences by the English pronunciation of its initials, is a publicly owned corporation funded by viewers' payments of a television license fee....

's Pop Jam Summer Special. She also appeared on Utaban

Utaban

was a long running Japanese music variety show, broadcast weekly from October 15, 1996 until March 23, 2010 on TBS. The name of the show is an abbreviation of , meaning "music program"...

and Hey! Hey! Hey! Music Champ. She performed the song for the first time on live television on Music Station

Music Station

is a Japanese music television program. It began broadcasting on October 24, 1986 and continues to be broadcast weekly in High-definition from 8PM-9PM on tv asahi...

and was invited to perform at their televised year-end concert Music Station Super Live 2002.

Chart performance

"Pureness" debuted 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 at number 5 on August 27, 2002 and climbed to number 1 on August 31, 2002. It peaked at number 4 on the Oricon Weekly Singles chart, with 46,140 copies sold in its first week. "Pureness" became the first debut single with no commercial tie-in

Tie-in

A tie-in is an authorized product based on a media property a company is releasing, such as a movie or video/DVD, computer game, video game, television program/television series, board game, web site, role-playing game or literary property...

 by a female artist to enter the top five in three years, since Kyoko Fukada

Kyoko Fukada

is an actress and singer. In Japan, her name is sometimes contracted to the nickname Fukakyon. She won the award for Best Actress at the Yokohama Film Festival for Kamikaze Girls.- Career :...

's "Saigo no Kajitsu" (1999), which was coincidentally released under the same record label and also debuted at number 4. The single charted for eight weeks and has sold a total of 96,350 copies.

Track listing

Charts

Chart (2002)	Peak position
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	1
Oricon Weekly Singles	4
Oricon Monthly Singles	10
SoundScan Nielsen SoundScan Nielsen SoundScan is an information and sales tracking system created by Mike Fine and Mike Shalett. Soundscan is the official method of tracking sales of music and music video products throughout the United States and Canada...  Japan Weekly Singles (limited edition)	7
SoundScan Nielsen SoundScan Nielsen SoundScan is an information and sales tracking system created by Mike Fine and Mike Shalett. Soundscan is the official method of tracking sales of music and music video products throughout the United States and Canada...  Japan Weekly Singles (standard edition)	15

Release history

Region	Date	Format	Label
Japan	August 28, 2002	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 ,... , CD+DVD	Pony Canyon Pony Canyon is a Japanese company, established on October 1, 1966 , which publishes music, DVD and VHS videos, movies and video games. It is a subsidiary of Japanese Media Group, Fujisankei Communications Group.-History:...
Taiwan	January 17, 2003	CD