Secret (Ayumi Hamasaki album)
Encyclopedia
Secret is the eighth studio album by Japanese pop
singer-songwriter Ayumi Hamasaki
, released by Avex Trax
on November 29, 2006 in Japan
. Hamasaki herself wrote all of the album's lyrics. The album was successful on many charts across Asia
and has gone triple platinum in Japan.
Secret received an "Album of the Year" award at the Japan Gold Disc Awards and its title track received the award for "Japanese Song of the Year" at the RTHK International awards at Hong Kong
. It became the 22nd best selling album of 2006 according to the Oricon.
Hamasaki stated that "Until that Day..." was originally intended to be an instrumental track composed by CMJK. She loved the sound of the guitar and the b-melody and thus asked him to compose it into a full-length track. From the beginning, she knew just what she had in mind to write about. She admitted to having difficulty matching her emotions with the complex melody of the song so she sat down at home and compiled a list of synonyms of key words and eventually finished the song. Although she tried to keep the song positive, it sparked feelings of heartbrokenness upon revealing it to her staff.
The third track, "Startin'
", was recorded in New York City
. According to Hamasaki, the sound in the studio made it easy for her to sing despite the challenge in vocals that she gave herself by choosing to sing in this particular style. Hamasaki stated that even though the song is generally perceived as a song for dancing on stage with dancers, it was originally intended to be a band-only song. She enjoyed her recording session, commenting that what really brought out the new vocal style was doing the recording in the New York studio with its great sound and atmosphere.
"Momentum", the eighth track on the album, took Hamasaki a total of four days to record. This is the longest amount of time she has ever taken to record a song in her whole career. Usually, she goes into the booth and records a song very quickly, but with "Momentum" she had been spending so much time in the recording booth that she felt like she might as well have slept there. Hamasaki stated that listening to the song now makes her remember the strenuous recording and brings her to tears.
The album's title track, "Secret", was the last song to be recorded for the album. Since she had so much strain with recording "Momentum", Ayumi vowed to complete the recording for "Secret" in one go. However, by doing this she put great pressure on herself and made herself quite nervous. She had considered forgetting the song and leaving the studio several times due to the stress from her pressure and the extreme time limit to have the song recorded, but she decided to simply give it her all and do her best.
By finishing this song, she had completed the recordings for the entire album. Hamasaki stated that she was almost in tears with the staff members because she actually managed to extend this album from a seven-track mini-album into a full length fourteen-track studio album in a matter of weeks.
On November 6, 2006, recording for the album was wrapped. On November 7, the tracklist and both the CD-only and CD+DVD covers were released. Secret is Hamasaki's first album to be produced and sold in Malaysia.
", "Popteen
", "Cawaii!
", "S Cawaii", and another edition of "Vivi". Hamasaki was also a guest on two major radio shows during the release of the album; All Night Nippon and DoCoMo Hits from the Heart. This album was highly promoted and sold many copies throughout Asia.
The PVs for Startin, Born to Be, Blue Bird, Beautiful Fighters and Momentum were all directed by Takahide Ishii.
The video for Startin' has a lighter and comical tone than the other PVs of the album which have a consistently deeper tone. It starts off with two young male friends in a video store. They are conversing when suddenly, Hamasaki drills a hole through the brick wall and comes in. She dances and rejects one of them who makes an advance on her, and points a finger at the other man which shocks him. In the next scene, she is riding a motorcycle in a sports suit, and initiates a little "race" with a Hummer like vehicle with three passengers. She points a finger at them, which shocks the three passengers as well. She then stands up while driving her motorcycle and suddenly jumps off while the motorcycle crashes into a building, causing an explosion. The motorcycle scene has been criticised for being similar to the music video of Britney Spears' Toxic, but looks similar and her look is more recognizable to the brief motorcycle scene in Kill Bill Vol. 1. Hamasaki lands safely and walks away. In the end, it goes back to the video store (in the state before Hamasaki came in) with the two friends conversing. One complains that it is hot in the building and takes off a mask, revealing it to be Hamasaki. Segments of dancing are also present throughout the PV, in between scenes. One is on a platform, while the other dancing scenes are in a dark, desert like setting, similar to "Work It", and the style of dancing is also similar to the dancing in the "Work It" video. This song was used as the opening song for the videogame "Onimusha: Dawn of Dreams" of Capcom for the PlayStation 2.
The PV for Born To Be... had thematic ties to the 2006 Winter Olympics in Turin, Italy, which TV channel Nittele promoted using "Born To Be...". Hamasaki is standing and singing in front of bright orange/yellow lights in a dark room which change brightness. In effect, sometimes the viewer cannot see much due to the brightness and sometimes they cannot see much due to the darkness. There is a band playing in the water (in the same setting), and an aerobic dancer also performs in the water. Later, people of all ethnicities around the world, mostly children, are individually projected against a white wall stating what they would like to be when they grow up. Since their voices are not heard due to the song, they have visual aids. (For example, a girl is speaking in an ice skating uniform, holding a pair of ice skates). Hamasaki also appears on this backdrop, saying something although it cannot be heard.
The "Blue Bird" PV
(music video) officially aired on SpaceShower TV on June 9, 2006. In the first scene, she is singing on an empty beach. She is then seen on a boat with friends (many of whom are featured in her Fairyland
PV, while they are in fact her dance team members). Throughout the video, it switches between the first setting, the second setting, and a third setting in which she is feasting and having fun with the same friends. There is also a fourth setting where she sings on a cliff. The PV was filmed in Guam
.
The Beautiful Fighters PV officially aired on SpaceShower TV on June 12, 2006. In the first scene, fans anticipate entering what looks to be an arena, while three dancers stand outside the door. The fans rush in to watch Ayumi and a group of dancers atop a stage dancing and standing on multi-colored cars. The video switches between scenes of the five female dancers' stories of misfortune at different jobs. The dancers are shown as a delivery person, a waitress, a pool-cleaner, and a painter; Ayumi plays as a cashier at a mart. At the end, each person involved in the dancers' mess-up is shown dancing in the crowd and then each of the dancers, along with Ayumi, circles the stage in her own car.
The music video for "Jewel", directed by Wataru Takeishi
, is one of the most expensive music videos ever made, allegedly costing over 100 million yen
(nearly $1 million USD
) to produce. It is basically composed by scenes featuring Hamasaki adorned in diamonds at a winter-like set. It was leaked online November 24, 2006.
The PV
for "Momentum" first aired on MTV on November 28, 2006 in the morning and the music video shows ayumi as a ghost, but a ghost which people can see and in the music video she sings in the snow and cold, while people look at her through opened windows, In the end of the video, an man put flowers on her grave, ayumi then sees him and she melts away. There were also in-ter cut scenes of ayumi in a room full of candles.
The PV
for "1 Love" was first played on Headliner on November 27, 2006 and features an underground human bid, where rich people (covered with venetian masks) buy human beings who are slaves and supposedly have special abilities, like a monster, an eat-it-all man, a prostitute, an otaku, and Hamasaki herself, who appears singing and pole-dancing. She is also seen in a cage, and later on tries to escape, covering herself with one of the masks, just to be found by the owner of the bid, a circus-master like man.
Upon her explosive release of Secret throughout Asia, Hamasaki launched her first ever international tour. Entitled "Asia Tour 2007 ~Tour of Secret~", the tour reached various countries and territories throughout Asia such as Japan
, China
, Taiwan
, and Hong Kong
. As with most of Hamasaki's tours, most of the tickets were sold out within minutes. The tickets also sold surprisingly well in Asia. Tickets were sold out to the Taiwan concert in less than two hours. Similarly, tickets were sold out in less than three hours in Hong Kong and in within six hours in Shanghai To promote the album, Hamasaki performed many hit songs from "Secret". This also marked the beginning of her use of the English language
at her concerts and press conferences in which she used the language to communicate fluently with fans and media.
" was used as the opening theme song for Capcom
's video game Onimusha: Dawn of Dreams
. It is the standard theme song in the Japanese version of the game and can also be heard in the International version if the game language is set to Japanese in the settings menu. It was also used in a commercial advertisement for Japanese music downloading service Mu-Mo.
"Born to Be" was a special song used as the theme song for Japan's coverage of the 2006 Winter Olympics
in Turin
, Italy
. The song was written especially for the occasion and this can be apparent in the style of the song as well as its lyrics. It was also used in a Mu-mo advert.
Hamasaki's summer single "Blue Bird" was used in a promotional campaign for Zespri Golden Kiwis. The use of Hamasaki's song in advertisements boosted sales so much that Zespri launched a special press conference to thank her. The song was also used in advertisements for Japanese music downloading services Dwango and Mu-mo.
"Beautiful Fighters" was used in a commercial advertisement promoting Panasonic
's D-Snap portable audio player. Hamasaki appeared playing tennis
while using the product in its commercial to demonstrate the portability of the audio player.
"Jewel" was used in a commercial for Panasonic's Lumix
FX07 digital camera. Hamasaki appeared in the commercial wearing a traditional Japanese wedding gown as well as various coloured cocktail dresses. It was also used in a Mu-mo advertisement.
"1 Love" was used as in a commercial for Panasonic's D-Snap portable audio player. Hamasaki appeared in the commercial using the products while riding on the subway. The commercial demonstrated the noise-cancelling abilities of the product. It was also used in another Panasonic commercial for the D-Dock. Upon the launch of the Lumix FX07 and the D-Snap and D-Dock audio players, Hamasaki appeared as Panasonic's spokesperson at a press conference in Tokyo
.
The album's title track "Secret" was used as the theme song for Hong Kong
film Confession of Pain
. Hamasaki attended the movie premiere in Hong Kong. That song can also be found on the single Glitter / Fated
and is Hamasaki's first song on its original form to be released on a single after it was featured in an album.
showed. This is because the "first week sales" of (Miss)understood were actually the sales of two weeks, as Oricon
blends the last week of a year with the first one of the following year, making an Oricon Year with 51 weeks only. The same rule applies for the first week sales of her I Am... album. On the Oricon
chart, Secret failed to surpass the one-million mark, making it her second album to not do so (the first being (Miss)understood). However, while (Miss)understood still managed to surpass the one-million mark in accordance to Avex, Secret failed to do so, selling only 900,000 copies.
The singles of this album together sold a total of 447,177 copies. The sales of the singles and the album itself combined come to a sales revenue of 1,314,551 CDs sold.
Secret is also believed to be Ayu's most successful album yet in worldwide sales. Not only did Secret top the Japanese charts, the album was an instant number-1 hit in countries as Taiwan, Singapore, Hong Kong http://www.hmv.com.hk/charts/japanese_ns.asp?w=LW, and China.
In Japan, Secret charted for 18 weeks.
Pop music
Pop music is usually understood to be commercially recorded music, often oriented toward a youth market, usually consisting of relatively short, simple songs utilizing technological innovations to produce new variations on existing themes.- Definitions :David Hatch and Stephen Millward define pop...
singer-songwriter Ayumi Hamasaki
Ayumi Hamasaki
is a Japanese singer-songwriter, record producer, model, lyricist, and actress. Also called "Ayu" by her fans, Hamasaki has been dubbed the "Empress of Pop" because of her popularity and widespread influence in Japan and throughout Asia. Born and raised in Fukuoka, she moved to Tokyo at fourteen to...
, released by Avex Trax
Avex Trax
, listed in the Tokyo Stock Exchange as 7860 and abbreviated as AGHD, is the holding company for a group of entertainment-related subsidiaries based in Japan...
on November 29, 2006 in Japan
Japan
Japan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...
. Hamasaki herself wrote all of the album's lyrics. The album was successful on many charts across Asia
Asia
Asia is the world's largest and most populous continent, located primarily in the eastern and northern hemispheres. It covers 8.7% of the Earth's total surface area and with approximately 3.879 billion people, it hosts 60% of the world's current human population...
and has gone triple platinum in Japan.
Secret received an "Album of the Year" award at the Japan Gold Disc Awards and its title track received the award for "Japanese Song of the Year" at the RTHK International awards at Hong Kong
Hong Kong
Hong Kong is one of two Special Administrative Regions of the People's Republic of China , the other being Macau. A city-state situated on China's south coast and enclosed by the Pearl River Delta and South China Sea, it is renowned for its expansive skyline and deep natural harbour...
. It became the 22nd best selling album of 2006 according to the Oricon.
Title
Hamasaki on an interview stated that the reason behind naming the album 'Secret' was that the album literally was a secret. She said it was named so that people might think "That's one of her secrets". She also said she wanted to feel when they hear a song, they should think they knew her secret. The album's lyrics reinforce the understanding others, rather than just yourself, as she states:But it's not a secret in the sense that "I'm about to disclose something you didn't know!" Instead, it could be about "me" in my daily life, or it could be about you… Everyone keeps secrets; there is not one person on this planet who does not have at least one secret, nor is there a person who can tell others everything about him or herself. Even when you try to understand others (or to have a mutual understanding with others), there is always a "you" that only you know about. I have aspects that only certain people know about and aspects that everyone knows about. That's what I call a secret. And in this sense, there are secrets incorporated into this album.
Production
Originally, Secret was announced to be a seven-track mini-album. After announcing that Secret was to become a full album on her official website, a message from Hamasaki on her TeamAyu fanclub website stated that she was doing overtime in the studio in order to complete the album on time.Hamasaki stated that "Until that Day..." was originally intended to be an instrumental track composed by CMJK. She loved the sound of the guitar and the b-melody and thus asked him to compose it into a full-length track. From the beginning, she knew just what she had in mind to write about. She admitted to having difficulty matching her emotions with the complex melody of the song so she sat down at home and compiled a list of synonyms of key words and eventually finished the song. Although she tried to keep the song positive, it sparked feelings of heartbrokenness upon revealing it to her staff.
The third track, "Startin'
Startin' / Born To Be...
"Startin'/Born to Be..." is the 39th single released by Ayumi Hamasaki. It was released on March 8, 2006. "Startin'" is used as the opening theme of video game Shin Onimusha: Dawn of Dreams...
", was recorded in New York City
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
. According to Hamasaki, the sound in the studio made it easy for her to sing despite the challenge in vocals that she gave herself by choosing to sing in this particular style. Hamasaki stated that even though the song is generally perceived as a song for dancing on stage with dancers, it was originally intended to be a band-only song. She enjoyed her recording session, commenting that what really brought out the new vocal style was doing the recording in the New York studio with its great sound and atmosphere.
"Momentum", the eighth track on the album, took Hamasaki a total of four days to record. This is the longest amount of time she has ever taken to record a song in her whole career. Usually, she goes into the booth and records a song very quickly, but with "Momentum" she had been spending so much time in the recording booth that she felt like she might as well have slept there. Hamasaki stated that listening to the song now makes her remember the strenuous recording and brings her to tears.
The album's title track, "Secret", was the last song to be recorded for the album. Since she had so much strain with recording "Momentum", Ayumi vowed to complete the recording for "Secret" in one go. However, by doing this she put great pressure on herself and made herself quite nervous. She had considered forgetting the song and leaving the studio several times due to the stress from her pressure and the extreme time limit to have the song recorded, but she decided to simply give it her all and do her best.
By finishing this song, she had completed the recordings for the entire album. Hamasaki stated that she was almost in tears with the staff members because she actually managed to extend this album from a seven-track mini-album into a full length fourteen-track studio album in a matter of weeks.
On November 6, 2006, recording for the album was wrapped. On November 7, the tracklist and both the CD-only and CD+DVD covers were released. Secret is Hamasaki's first album to be produced and sold in Malaysia.
Promotion
During November and December 2006, Hamasaki performed live on Japanese TV shows eleven times. The main promotional track of the album was 'Jewel', which was performed live on Japanese TV eleven times, three times in which a special orchestra version of the song was performed. Jewel was also released as a ringtone, where it went on to be certified triple platinum, meaning it was downloaded over 750,000 times. "1 Love" was also performed once. Hamasaki was featured on the cover of seven Japanese magazines during the promotion of Secret. These magazines were "Sweet", "Bea's Up", "ViviVivi (magazine)
is a Japanese fashion magazine published by K L. ViVi is one of Asia's top fashion magazines, and is published in Japan, China, Taiwan, Hong Kong, and Thailand...
", "Popteen
Popteen
is a monthly teenage fashion magazine published by the Kadokawa Haruki Corporation in Japan. The first issue was published on October 1, 1980 by Kadokawa Shoten. Later issues were published by Asuka Shinsha who bought the magazine for 200 million yen...
", "Cawaii!
Cawaii!
Cawaii! is a fashion magazine published in Taiwan, People's Republic of China, Thailand, and previously in Japan.Launched as a monthly gal fashion magazine targeted at women in their teens in Japan in March 1996, Cawaii! grew to be one of Japan's major gal magazines, and spawned its two sister...
", "S Cawaii", and another edition of "Vivi". Hamasaki was also a guest on two major radio shows during the release of the album; All Night Nippon and DoCoMo Hits from the Heart. This album was highly promoted and sold many copies throughout Asia.
TV performances
- March 3, 2006–Music Fighter–"Startin'"
- March 10, 2006–Music StationMusic Stationis 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...
–"Born to Be..." - March 10, 2006–Music Fighter–"Born to Be..."
- March 11, 2006–CDTV–"Startin'"
- June 11, 2006–Domoto Kyodai–"Blue Bird"
- June 16, 2006–Music Station–"Blue Bird"
- June 23, 2006–Music Fighter–"Blue Bird"
- June 23, 2006–Music Station–"Blue Bird"
- June 24, 2006–CDTV–"Blue Bird"
- June 25, 2006–Avex Shareholders Meeting–"Blue Bird"
- October 13, 2006–Music Station Fall Special–"Jewel"
- November 13, 2006–Hey! Hey! Hey!–"Jewel"
- November 24, 2006–Music Station–"Jewel"
- November 24, 2006–Music Fighter–"Jewel"
- November 29, 2006–3,000,000 Choose Best Artist 2006–"Jewel (Orchestra Version)"
- December 1, 2006–Music Station–"Jewel (Orchestra Version)"
- December 6, 2006–FNSFNS Music Festivalis an annual music show on the produced by Fuji Network System and Fuji Television.- Grand Prix Winners :- International guests :*a-ha*Sting*Jackie Chan*Destiny's Child*Kenny Loggins*Daniel Powter-References :...
–"Jewel (Orchestra Version)" - December 8, 2006–PopJam–"Jewel"
- December 22, 2006–Music Station Super Live–"Jewel"
- December 24, 2006–Happy X-Mas Show 2006–"Jewel"
- December 31, 2006–57th Kouhaku–"Jewel"
- December 31, 2006–CDTV Special Live 2006-2007–"1 Love"
Music videos
There are a total of 7 music videos (or PVs) on the album. In order of release, they are "Startin'", "Born to Be...", "Blue Bird", "Beautiful Fighters", "Jewel", "Momentum", and "1 Love".The PVs for Startin, Born to Be, Blue Bird, Beautiful Fighters and Momentum were all directed by Takahide Ishii.
The video for Startin' has a lighter and comical tone than the other PVs of the album which have a consistently deeper tone. It starts off with two young male friends in a video store. They are conversing when suddenly, Hamasaki drills a hole through the brick wall and comes in. She dances and rejects one of them who makes an advance on her, and points a finger at the other man which shocks him. In the next scene, she is riding a motorcycle in a sports suit, and initiates a little "race" with a Hummer like vehicle with three passengers. She points a finger at them, which shocks the three passengers as well. She then stands up while driving her motorcycle and suddenly jumps off while the motorcycle crashes into a building, causing an explosion. The motorcycle scene has been criticised for being similar to the music video of Britney Spears' Toxic, but looks similar and her look is more recognizable to the brief motorcycle scene in Kill Bill Vol. 1. Hamasaki lands safely and walks away. In the end, it goes back to the video store (in the state before Hamasaki came in) with the two friends conversing. One complains that it is hot in the building and takes off a mask, revealing it to be Hamasaki. Segments of dancing are also present throughout the PV, in between scenes. One is on a platform, while the other dancing scenes are in a dark, desert like setting, similar to "Work It", and the style of dancing is also similar to the dancing in the "Work It" video. This song was used as the opening song for the videogame "Onimusha: Dawn of Dreams" of Capcom for the PlayStation 2.
The PV for Born To Be... had thematic ties to the 2006 Winter Olympics in Turin, Italy, which TV channel Nittele promoted using "Born To Be...". Hamasaki is standing and singing in front of bright orange/yellow lights in a dark room which change brightness. In effect, sometimes the viewer cannot see much due to the brightness and sometimes they cannot see much due to the darkness. There is a band playing in the water (in the same setting), and an aerobic dancer also performs in the water. Later, people of all ethnicities around the world, mostly children, are individually projected against a white wall stating what they would like to be when they grow up. Since their voices are not heard due to the song, they have visual aids. (For example, a girl is speaking in an ice skating uniform, holding a pair of ice skates). Hamasaki also appears on this backdrop, saying something although it cannot be heard.
The "Blue Bird" PV
Music video
A music video or song video is a short film integrating a song and imagery, produced for promotional or artistic purposes. Modern music videos are primarily made and used as a marketing device intended to promote the sale of music recordings...
(music video) officially aired on SpaceShower TV on June 9, 2006. In the first scene, she is singing on an empty beach. She is then seen on a boat with friends (many of whom are featured in her Fairyland
Fairyland (song)
"Fairyland" is the 36th single released by Ayumi Hamasaki. It was released on August 3, 2005. It instantly shot to #1 on the Oricon charts where it stayed for the entire week. After one week of sales, "Fairyland" sold over 172,000 copies, the most any of Hamasaki's singles sold in one week in 2005...
PV, while they are in fact her dance team members). Throughout the video, it switches between the first setting, the second setting, and a third setting in which she is feasting and having fun with the same friends. There is also a fourth setting where she sings on a cliff. The PV was filmed in Guam
Guam
Guam is an organized, unincorporated territory of the United States located in the western Pacific Ocean. It is one of five U.S. territories with an established civilian government. Guam is listed as one of 16 Non-Self-Governing Territories by the Special Committee on Decolonization of the United...
.
The Beautiful Fighters PV officially aired on SpaceShower TV on June 12, 2006. In the first scene, fans anticipate entering what looks to be an arena, while three dancers stand outside the door. The fans rush in to watch Ayumi and a group of dancers atop a stage dancing and standing on multi-colored cars. The video switches between scenes of the five female dancers' stories of misfortune at different jobs. The dancers are shown as a delivery person, a waitress, a pool-cleaner, and a painter; Ayumi plays as a cashier at a mart. At the end, each person involved in the dancers' mess-up is shown dancing in the crowd and then each of the dancers, along with Ayumi, circles the stage in her own car.
The music video for "Jewel", directed by Wataru Takeishi
Wataru Takeishi
is a prolific Japanese music video director. Takeishi has created videos for Japanese superstars such as Ayumi Hamasaki and Every Little Thing.Little is known of Takeishi, as he himself is not one of the superstars he directs the videos for....
, is one of the most expensive music videos ever made, allegedly costing over 100 million yen
Japanese yen
The is the official currency of Japan. It is the third most traded currency in the foreign exchange market after the United States dollar and the euro. It is also widely used as a reserve currency after the U.S. dollar, the euro and the pound sterling...
(nearly $1 million USD
United States dollar
The United States dollar , also referred to as the American dollar, is the official currency of the United States of America. It is divided into 100 smaller units called cents or pennies....
) to produce. It is basically composed by scenes featuring Hamasaki adorned in diamonds at a winter-like set. It was leaked online November 24, 2006.
The PV
Music video
A music video or song video is a short film integrating a song and imagery, produced for promotional or artistic purposes. Modern music videos are primarily made and used as a marketing device intended to promote the sale of music recordings...
for "Momentum" first aired on MTV on November 28, 2006 in the morning and the music video shows ayumi as a ghost, but a ghost which people can see and in the music video she sings in the snow and cold, while people look at her through opened windows, In the end of the video, an man put flowers on her grave, ayumi then sees him and she melts away. There were also in-ter cut scenes of ayumi in a room full of candles.
The PV
Music video
A music video or song video is a short film integrating a song and imagery, produced for promotional or artistic purposes. Modern music videos are primarily made and used as a marketing device intended to promote the sale of music recordings...
for "1 Love" was first played on Headliner on November 27, 2006 and features an underground human bid, where rich people (covered with venetian masks) buy human beings who are slaves and supposedly have special abilities, like a monster, an eat-it-all man, a prostitute, an otaku, and Hamasaki herself, who appears singing and pole-dancing. She is also seen in a cage, and later on tries to escape, covering herself with one of the masks, just to be found by the owner of the bid, a circus-master like man.
Tour
Upon her explosive release of Secret throughout Asia, Hamasaki launched her first ever international tour. Entitled "Asia Tour 2007 ~Tour of Secret~", the tour reached various countries and territories throughout Asia such as Japan
Japan
Japan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...
, China
China
Chinese civilization may refer to:* China for more general discussion of the country.* Chinese culture* Greater China, the transnational community of ethnic Chinese.* History of China* Sinosphere, the area historically affected by Chinese culture...
, Taiwan
Taiwan
Taiwan , also known, especially in the past, as Formosa , is the largest island of the same-named island group of East Asia in the western Pacific Ocean and located off the southeastern coast of mainland China. The island forms over 99% of the current territory of the Republic of China following...
, and Hong Kong
Hong Kong
Hong Kong is one of two Special Administrative Regions of the People's Republic of China , the other being Macau. A city-state situated on China's south coast and enclosed by the Pearl River Delta and South China Sea, it is renowned for its expansive skyline and deep natural harbour...
. As with most of Hamasaki's tours, most of the tickets were sold out within minutes. The tickets also sold surprisingly well in Asia. Tickets were sold out to the Taiwan concert in less than two hours. Similarly, tickets were sold out in less than three hours in Hong Kong and in within six hours in Shanghai To promote the album, Hamasaki performed many hit songs from "Secret". This also marked the beginning of her use of the English language
English language
English is a West Germanic language that arose in the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms of England and spread into what was to become south-east Scotland under the influence of the Anglian medieval kingdom of Northumbria...
at her concerts and press conferences in which she used the language to communicate fluently with fans and media.
Tie-ups and theme songs
The album's first single "Startin' / Born to Be...Startin' / Born To Be...
"Startin'/Born to Be..." is the 39th single released by Ayumi Hamasaki. It was released on March 8, 2006. "Startin'" is used as the opening theme of video game Shin Onimusha: Dawn of Dreams...
" was used as the opening theme song for Capcom
Capcom
is a Japanese developer and publisher of video games, known for creating multi-million-selling franchises such as Devil May Cry, Chaos Legion, Street Fighter, Mega Man and Resident Evil. Capcom developed and published Bionic Commando, Lost Planet and Dark Void too, but they are less known. Its...
's video game Onimusha: Dawn of Dreams
Onimusha: Dawn of Dreams
Onimusha: Dawn Of Dreams, released in Japan as , is the fourth canonical installment of Capcom's Onimusha series, released in March 2006. Dawn of Dreams focuses on a new protagonist, Soki Onimusha: Dawn Of Dreams, released in Japan as , is the fourth canonical installment of Capcom's Onimusha...
. It is the standard theme song in the Japanese version of the game and can also be heard in the International version if the game language is set to Japanese in the settings menu. It was also used in a commercial advertisement for Japanese music downloading service Mu-Mo.
"Born to Be" was a special song used as the theme song for Japan's coverage of the 2006 Winter Olympics
2006 Winter Olympics
The 2006 Winter Olympics, officially known as the XX Olympic Winter Games, was a winter multi-sport event which was celebrated in Turin, Italy from February 10, 2006, through February 26, 2006. This marked the second time Italy hosted the Olympic Winter Games, the first being the VII Olympic Winter...
in Turin
Turin
Turin is a city and major business and cultural centre in northern Italy, capital of the Piedmont region, located mainly on the left bank of the Po River and surrounded by the Alpine arch. The population of the city proper is 909,193 while the population of the urban area is estimated by Eurostat...
, Italy
Italy
Italy , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...
. The song was written especially for the occasion and this can be apparent in the style of the song as well as its lyrics. It was also used in a Mu-mo advert.
Hamasaki's summer single "Blue Bird" was used in a promotional campaign for Zespri Golden Kiwis. The use of Hamasaki's song in advertisements boosted sales so much that Zespri launched a special press conference to thank her. The song was also used in advertisements for Japanese music downloading services Dwango and Mu-mo.
"Beautiful Fighters" was used in a commercial advertisement promoting Panasonic
Panasonic
Panasonic is an international brand name for Japanese electric products manufacturer Panasonic Corporation, which was formerly known as Matsushita Electric Industrial Co., Ltd...
's D-Snap portable audio player. Hamasaki appeared playing tennis
Tennis
Tennis is a sport usually played between two players or between two teams of two players each . Each player uses a racket that is strung to strike a hollow rubber ball covered with felt over a net into the opponent's court. Tennis is an Olympic sport and is played at all levels of society at all...
while using the product in its commercial to demonstrate the portability of the audio player.
"Jewel" was used in a commercial for Panasonic's Lumix
Lumix
Lumix is Panasonic's brand of digital cameras, ranging from pocket point-and-shoot models to digital SLRs.Compact digital camera DMC-LC5 and DMC-F7 were the first products of the Lumix series released in 2001. They are equipped with Leica lenses....
FX07 digital camera. Hamasaki appeared in the commercial wearing a traditional Japanese wedding gown as well as various coloured cocktail dresses. It was also used in a Mu-mo advertisement.
"1 Love" was used as in a commercial for Panasonic's D-Snap portable audio player. Hamasaki appeared in the commercial using the products while riding on the subway. The commercial demonstrated the noise-cancelling abilities of the product. It was also used in another Panasonic commercial for the D-Dock. Upon the launch of the Lumix FX07 and the D-Snap and D-Dock audio players, Hamasaki appeared as Panasonic's spokesperson at a press conference in Tokyo
Tokyo
, ; officially , is one of the 47 prefectures of Japan. Tokyo is the capital of Japan, the center of the Greater Tokyo Area, and the largest metropolitan area of Japan. It is the seat of the Japanese government and the Imperial Palace, and the home of the Japanese Imperial Family...
.
The album's title track "Secret" was used as the theme song for Hong Kong
Hong Kong
Hong Kong is one of two Special Administrative Regions of the People's Republic of China , the other being Macau. A city-state situated on China's south coast and enclosed by the Pearl River Delta and South China Sea, it is renowned for its expansive skyline and deep natural harbour...
film Confession of Pain
Confession of Pain
Confession of Pain is a 2006 Hong Kong crime/drama film directed by Andrew Lau and Alan Mak, and starring Tony Leung Chiu-Wai, Takeshi Kaneshiro, Shu Qi and Xu Jinglei.-Plot summary:...
. Hamasaki attended the movie premiere in Hong Kong. That song can also be found on the single Glitter / Fated
Glitter / Fated
"Glitter"/"Fated" is the forty-first single by Japanese pop singer Ayumi Hamasaki, released on July 18, 2007. "Glitter"/"Fated" was Hamasaki's first single of 2007 and first single in over a year, since the release of "Blue Bird" in June 2006.-History:...
and is Hamasaki's first song on its original form to be released on a single after it was featured in an album.
Track listing
Release history
| Region | Date | Format | Catalogue Number |
|---|---|---|---|
| Japan | CD+DVD | AVCD-23178/B | |
| CD | |||
| Hong Kong | |||
| Taiwan | |||
| China |
|
CD+DVD | |
| CD | |||
| Singapore | |||
| South Korea |
Album
| Release | Chart | Peak Position | First Week Sales | Sales Total | Chart Run |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| November 29, 2006 | Oricon Daily Albums Chart | 1 | 386,280 | 494,399 (2006) 180,898 (2007) 675,400 (Total) |
18 weeks |
| Oricon Weekly Albums Chart | 1 | ||||
| Oricon Monthly Albums Chart | 1 | ||||
| Oricon Yearly Albums Chart | 22 (2006) 73 (2007) |
- Total Sales: 675,400 (Japan)
- Total Sales: 900,000 (Avex)
Charting information
Secret debuted at the top spot of the Oricon weekly chart with first week sales of 386,280 copies, outselling the number two album for a large 160,129 copies. However, its first week sales are about 263,000 lower than her last studio album (Miss)understood(miss)understood
understood is Ayumi Hamasaki's seventh full-length studio album produced by Max Matsuura. Its official release date was January 1, 2006, but started appearing in stores on December 28, 2005, the last Wednesday of the year...
showed. This is because the "first week sales" of (Miss)understood were actually the sales of two weeks, as 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...
blends the last week of a year with the first one of the following year, making an Oricon Year with 51 weeks only. The same rule applies for the first week sales of her I Am... album. 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...
chart, Secret failed to surpass the one-million mark, making it her second album to not do so (the first being (Miss)understood). However, while (Miss)understood still managed to surpass the one-million mark in accordance to Avex, Secret failed to do so, selling only 900,000 copies.
The singles of this album together sold a total of 447,177 copies. The sales of the singles and the album itself combined come to a sales revenue of 1,314,551 CDs sold.
Secret is also believed to be Ayu's most successful album yet in worldwide sales. Not only did Secret top the Japanese charts, the album was an instant number-1 hit in countries as Taiwan, Singapore, Hong Kong http://www.hmv.com.hk/charts/japanese_ns.asp?w=LW, and China.
In Japan, Secret charted for 18 weeks.
Physical sales charts
| Chart | Peak position |
|---|---|
| Oricon Daily Albums Chart | 1 |
| Oricon Weekly Albums Chart | 1 |
| Oricon Monthly Albums Chart | 1 |
| Oricon Yearly Albums Chart | 22 (2006) |
| 28 (2007) | |
| Soundscan Albums Chart | 1 (CD+DVD) |
| 5 (CD-Only) |
Singles
| Date | Title | Peak position | Weeks | Sales |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| March 8, 2006 | "Startin' / Born to Be... Startin' / Born To Be... "Startin'/Born to Be..." is the 39th single released by Ayumi Hamasaki. It was released on March 8, 2006. "Startin'" is used as the opening theme of video game Shin Onimusha: Dawn of Dreams... " |
1 | 15 weeks | 188,551 |
| June 21, 2006 | "Blue Bird" | 1 | 13 weeks | 258,566 |
- Total Single Sales: 447,117
- Total Album and Single Sales: 1,122,414
See also
- Tour of SecretTour of SecretAyumi Hamasaki Asia Tour 2007 A: Tour of Secret is the first Asia-wide and ninth overall concert tour held by Japanese singer Ayumi Hamasaki, in support of her album Secret...
- Glitter / FatedGlitter / Fated"Glitter"/"Fated" is the forty-first single by Japanese pop singer Ayumi Hamasaki, released on July 18, 2007. "Glitter"/"Fated" was Hamasaki's first single of 2007 and first single in over a year, since the release of "Blue Bird" in June 2006.-History:...
(which contains title track "Secret", the B-side of the single) - Kiss or Kill, the movie which the track "Kiss o' Kill" was named after.
- List of most expensive music videos (For the music video of Jewel)