Sports (Tokyo Incidents album)
Encyclopedia
is the fourth album by Japanese rock band Tokyo Incidents, released on February 24, 2010.
", and an original album, Sanmon Gossip
.
The second single, "Nōdōteki Sanpunkan," was released three months before the album, in December 2009. Both singles has commercial tie-ups. "Senkō Shōjo" was used in Subaru Stella
car commercials, and "Nōdōteki Sanpunkan" was used in an Ezaki Glico
Watering KissMint gum commercial, featuring Shiina as the spokesperson.
The track "Kachiikusa" was used for the second batch of Watering KissMint commercials. It was released to radio, as well as cellphone download, on the 16th of January. It reached #30 on the Billboard
Japan Hot 100
and #58 on the RIAJ Digital Track Chart
Top 100. The band later performed this song on Music Station
, a week before the album's release.
The track "Sweet Spot" was released as a digital download on iTunes on the 8th of February. It reached #13 on the Billboard Japan Hot 100 the week of the album's release.
Tokyo Incidents embarked on an all-country promotional concert tour, , in March 2010.
The album, much like many of Shiina's solo works and the band's previous albums (such as Shōso Strip, Adult
), features a symmetrical track list. Tracks are paired to another in title length, type of script
and placement of grammatical particles
. The official English titles given in the album's booklet also follow this theme (occasionally receiving non-direct translations to fit the theme).
"Ikiru" and "Kimaru" are both plain-form verbs with a single kanji (in fact, the standard reading of "極まる" is "kiwamaru"). Both songs end with a band arrangement and begin with a sparsely arranged section.
"Denpa Tsūshin" and "Senkō Shōjo" are both songs with four kanji in their titles. Both deal with electricity in some way.
"Season Sayonara" and "Sweet Spot" are both written in katakana
. Both titles feature two words that begin with s sounds.
"Kachiikusa" and "Noriki" are both set phrases associated with sports. Both are continuative verb/noun compounds, with two kanji and one hiragana character.
"F.O.U.L." and "F.A.I.R." are both English words in Latin script. Unlike some previous pairs, such as "Meisai" and "Ishiki" which name the paired song in the lyrics, neither song is named in "F.A.I.R." (but both are named in "F.O.U.L.").
"Utenkekkō" and "Zettai Zetsumei" are four kanji compounds that are set phrases associated with sports.
In the vein of Kalk Samen Kuri no Hana
and Sanmon Gossip
, the central song with no paired track was the leading promotional song ("Nōdōteki Sanpunkan").
Background
This is the first Tokyo Incidents album since 2007's Variety. In 2008, vocalist Ringo Shiina focused on a string of releases to celebrate her 10th anniversary since her solo debut, such as a B-side collection, a singles box set and a string of concerts. In 2009, she released a new single, "Ariamaru TomiAriamaru Tomi
was Japanese singer Shiina Ringo's first single as a solo artist in five years. It was released on May 27, 2009, the same day her debut single was released eleven years earlier.The distributor is EMI Music Japan / Virgin Music.- Outline :...
", and an original album, Sanmon Gossip
Sanmon Gossip
-Charts:Oricon Sales Chart...
.
Promotion
The first single released from the album was "Senkō Shōjo." It was released as a digital download in November 2007, two months after the release of their third album, Variety. It was written and recorded in the Variety sessions.The second single, "Nōdōteki Sanpunkan," was released three months before the album, in December 2009. Both singles has commercial tie-ups. "Senkō Shōjo" was used in Subaru Stella
Subaru Stella
The Subaru Stella is a Japanese automobile produced by Subaru starting June 2006. The Stella is based on the same architecture as the Subaru R2...
car commercials, and "Nōdōteki Sanpunkan" was used in an Ezaki Glico
Ezaki Glico
is a Japanese confectionery company headquartered in Nishiyodogawa-ku, Osaka.The company manufactures the traditional Glico caramel candy, as well as Pocky and many others. The company name, Glico, is derived from a shortening of the word glycogen. The first candy produced by the company was known...
Watering KissMint gum commercial, featuring Shiina as the spokesperson.
The track "Kachiikusa" was used for the second batch of Watering KissMint commercials. It was released to radio, as well as cellphone download, on the 16th of January. It reached #30 on the 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 ....
and #58 on the RIAJ Digital Track Chart
RIAJ Digital Track Chart
The is chart ranks the best selling digital singles in Japan, provided by the Recording Industry Association of Japan since April 2009. The chart measures cellphone downloads ....
Top 100. The band later performed this song 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...
, a week before the album's release.
The track "Sweet Spot" was released as a digital download on iTunes on the 8th of February. It reached #13 on the Billboard Japan Hot 100 the week of the album's release.
Tokyo Incidents embarked on an all-country promotional concert tour, , in March 2010.
Content and structure
| Track list symmetry | |
|---|---|
| 01. Vivre |
13. Adieu |
| 02. Put Your Antenna Up |
12. Put Your Camera Down |
| 03. Season SAYONARA |
11. SWEET Spot |
| 04. Win Every Fight |
10. Ride Every Wave |
| 05. FOUL |
09. FAIR |
| 06. Life Will Be Held Even If It Rains |
08. Life May Be Monotonous But The Sun Shines |
| 07. 能動的三分間 3 min. |
|
The album, much like many of Shiina's solo works and the band's previous albums (such as Shōso Strip, Adult
Adult (album)
Adult is the English title of Tokyo Jihen's second album, released on January 25, 2006.Adult marked the debut for guitarist Ukigumo and keyboardist Izawa Ichiyo, who joined Tokyo Jihen after the departure of previous members Mikio Hirama and HZM...
), features a symmetrical track list. Tracks are paired to another in title length, type of script
Japanese writing system
The modern Japanese writing system uses three main scripts:*Kanji, adopted Chinese characters*Kana, a pair of syllabaries , consisting of:...
and placement of grammatical particles
Japanese particles
Japanese particles, or , are suffixes or short words in Japanese grammar that immediately follow the modified noun, verb, adjective, or sentence. Their grammatical range can indicate various meanings and functions, such as speaker affect and assertiveness....
. The official English titles given in the album's booklet also follow this theme (occasionally receiving non-direct translations to fit the theme).
"Ikiru" and "Kimaru" are both plain-form verbs with a single kanji (in fact, the standard reading of "極まる" is "kiwamaru"). Both songs end with a band arrangement and begin with a sparsely arranged section.
"Denpa Tsūshin" and "Senkō Shōjo" are both songs with four kanji in their titles. Both deal with electricity in some way.
"Season Sayonara" and "Sweet Spot" are both written in katakana
Katakana
is a Japanese syllabary, one component of the Japanese writing system along with hiragana, kanji, and in some cases the Latin alphabet . The word katakana means "fragmentary kana", as the katakana scripts are derived from components of more complex kanji. Each kana represents one mora...
. Both titles feature two words that begin with s sounds.
"Kachiikusa" and "Noriki" are both set phrases associated with sports. Both are continuative verb/noun compounds, with two kanji and one hiragana character.
"F.O.U.L." and "F.A.I.R." are both English words in Latin script. Unlike some previous pairs, such as "Meisai" and "Ishiki" which name the paired song in the lyrics, neither song is named in "F.A.I.R." (but both are named in "F.O.U.L.").
"Utenkekkō" and "Zettai Zetsumei" are four kanji compounds that are set phrases associated with sports.
In the vein of Kalk Samen Kuri no Hana
Kalk Samen Kuri No Hana
is the 3rd album for Japanese singer Shiina Ringo, released on February 23, 2003.The bonus track is collected only in the vinyl record version. The short film in which the world view of this album was made an image preceded had been put on the market earlier before release.- Outline :This is the...
and Sanmon Gossip
Sanmon Gossip
-Charts:Oricon Sales Chart...
, the central song with no paired track was the leading promotional song ("Nōdōteki Sanpunkan").
Track listing
Japan Sales Rankings
| Release | Chart | Peak Position | First Week Sales | Sales Total | Chart Run |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Oricon Daily Albums Chart | 1 | 31,092 | |||
| Oricon Weekly Albums Chart | 1 | 106,831 | 176,780 | 19 weeks | |
| Oricon Yearly Albums Chart | 40 |