ARASHI

ABOUT ARASHI

Arashi (嵐; meaning Storm in Japanese) is a five-member Japanese boy band under Johnny & Associates. They made their debut conference in September 15, 1999 in Honolulu, Hawaii. The group was signed to the Pony Canyon record label from 1999 to 2001 before transitioning to Johnny's Associates-powered J Storm record label in 2002, producing their future singles and albums.

Musical career

Arashi covers a wide range of music, including R&B, hip hop and various forms of pop music. Aside from being a popular idol group in Japan, the group is widely known across Asia and to J-pop fans all over the world.

Johnny's & Associates (or Johnny's) announced the group's debut on September 15, 1999 through a press conference aboard a cruise ship off the coast of Honolulu, Hawai'i. Arashi, the Japanese word for storm, was chosen by Johnny's to represent the group's thrust of "creating a storm in the entertainment world." Arashi is currently the only debuted group in Johnny's that is written entirely in Kanji. Their debut single, "A・RA・SHI", became the theme song for the 8th World Cup of Volleyball hosted by Japan in 1999. They gained widespread exposure when they sang their debut single at the cup's opening on November 2, 1999. At the debut event a day later, an estimated 80,000 fans showed up at the Yoyogi National Hippodrome to see the group's live performance.[1] The single went on to become a major hit, selling almost a million copies. From March 25 to April 30, 2001, the group embarked on their first nationwide tour, the Arashi Spring Concert 2001. The tour took place in Sendai, Osaka, Nagoya, Hokkaido, Fukuoka, Hiroshima, Kanazawa, Toyama and Tokyo with an unprecedented 26 performances. March 2002 saw the group's return to Hawaiʻi, with a series of fan tours, as a part of Johnny's Stand Up Hawaii! Campaign.

By 2006, the group's singles and albums were being released outside Japan. Their album, Arashic, was released not only in Japan, but in Hong Kong, South Korea, Taiwan and Thailand as well. In Korea, the album proved so successful, the first 10,000 copies of the album were sold out on the first day, and it even topped the local sales charts on the third week of July. On July 31, 2006, the group embarked on their Jet Storm Tour, which aimed to promote the album. The one-day tour covered Taiwan, Thailand and South Korea, countries which later became part of their Asia tour (The Thailand concert, Thai-J Pop Concert, was cancelled due to a military coup).

The concert in Korea was decided due to the fact that about 1,500 Korean fans gathered at the Incheon International Airport during the group's Jet Storm press conference.[3] The concert, held on November 12, 2006, made Arashi the first group from Johnny's Entertainment to perform an individual concert in South Korea.[4][5] The group proved popular to Korean fans when their concert tickets were sold out in an hour, as some 150,000 people rushed to book tickets online.[6] Aside from their concert performances, the group represented Japan in the 2006 Asia Song Festival, also held in South Korea.

On February 21, 2007, the group released their first single of the year 2007, "Love so sweet", the theme song for the high-rating television drama Hana Yori Dango 2 which peaked at the number one spot on Oricon's daily and weekly charts. Their nineteenth single, "We Can Make It!", released on May 2, 2007, also charted number one on Oricon's daily and weekly charts, before falling out of the Top 10 in its second week, only to return back to the Top 10 on its third week. On April 2007, the group performed in one of their largest concerts to date. Arashi Around Asia in Dome was held in the Kyocera Dome in Osaka, and at the Tokyo Dome, with a combined total capacity of 100,000 people, and had an attendance of over 200,000.

Their ninth studio album, Time released in July, continued the group's string of number one releases, selling over 190,000 copies in its first week and even reaching the number two spot on the United World Rankings. Also in July, saw the premiere of the TBS drama production of the manga, Yamada Taro Monogatari starring members Kazunari Ninomiya and Sho Sakurai. The theme song of the series, "Happiness", was sung by the group and also debuted at the top spot of the Japanese single charts. The year proved successful for the group, with all of their singles at the Top 30 of the annual Oricon charts, with "Love so sweet" ranking 4th in single sales overall.

The group's success in 2007 sparked renewed interest, with two major announcements in February 2008. First was from the Japanese television network TBS, announcing that the group will host a variety show dealing with social and cultural topics on its primetime line-up as a part of its programming strategy after concerns about falling ratings. The show, which will air 10:00 JST, will begin broadcast in April, and will be produced by Saori Hirata. It will the be the first variety show hosted by the group to be aired in primetime. And second, was the announcement that the group will be doing a concert tour of the five major domes in Tokyo, Nagoya, Osaka, Fukuoka, and Sapporo. The tour, titled ARASHI Marks 2008 Dream-A-live, consists of 10 performances, from May 16 in Osaka to July 6 in Sapporo. The only other Johnny's artists who have done a five dome tour are SMAP and KinKi Kids.

To date, Arashi has released nine albums and twenty-one singles. The group's latest single is "Step and Go", which despite the lack of direct tie-ins, debuted at number one on the Japanese charts and sold over 300,000 on its first week. This is Arashi's 10th straight number one release and its 17th number one overall.

Group members

Arashi is composed of:

•Satoshi Ohno (大野智)

•Sho Sakurai (櫻井翔)

•Masaki Aiba (相葉雅紀)

•Kazunari Ninomiya (二宮和也)

•Jun Matsumoto (松本潤)

Satoshi Ohno, the oldest member of Arashi, is the reluctant "leader" of the group after winning against Sho Sakurai in a round of rock-paper-scissors with the other members on a Japanese variety show. The exact same pattern of him unwillingly 'winning' against Sho has been seen repeating many times ever since. He is the oldest person in the group and Ohno sings the lead vocals. Although he has stated that he wanted to avoid becoming the leader the most, Arashi members have once stated in an interview that Ohno is a new-age idol, who leads his group by not leading at all. Aside from leading the vocal work, he is known to be the best dancer and has the greatest control when it comes to singing in Arashi. Back when Arashi first debuted and before he was elected leader, Ohno was told by Johnny's to be the "Dance Leader". He choreographs several of their dance moves, which the other members sometimes find quite hard to follow. Other artistes from the same company openly expressed their admiration for Ohno's dancing; among them are Imai Tsubasa of the duo Tackey & Tsubasa, Kokubun Taichi of TOKIO, Yuuri Chinen of the newly-debuted group Hey! Say! JUMP, and other juniors. He is also one half of the Arashi skit duo Ohmiya SK, partnering Kazunari Ninomiya. Out of all the members, he has appeared in the fewest dramas, preferring to do stage plays or focus on his art. He performed his first solo concert on January 29, 2006. He is the first artiste in Johnny's who held an art exhibit entitled 'Freestyle'. The exhibit featured his works accumulated in a span of 10 years, displaying all of his artworks and drawings, including his 100 clay figures. Freestyle was held at Omotesandou Hills from February 21 - 29, 2008.

Sho Sakurai sings most of the rap parts (known to fans as "Sakurap"), the lyrics of which he also writes. Sakurai was the first in the group to perform in a solo concert, The Show, on January 14, 2006. He is currently a Monday co-host of NTV's News Zero, on which he became the first idol to host an election special.[1][10] Sakurai is arguably the best-educated member of the group, having graduated from Keio University, the Japanese equivalent of an Ivy League school. During the early years after Arashi's debut, Sho was appointed by the Johnny's to be the "Study Leader". Although he lost in a round of rock-paper-scissors, hence excusing him from being the group's leader, the other four of Arashi have made many remarks that Sakurai is the one who possesses leadership qualities.

Masaki Aiba is the tallest member of the group, with a distinctive breathy voice. He was once hospitalized after fainting due to the collapse of one of his lungs and was forced to stop playing the saxophone due to the operation he had to undergo. Aiba interacts with various wild animals as a co-host of the TV show, Tensai! Shimura Doubutsuen. He also excels in sports, especially basketball. He has been known to have considerably short attention span and often jumps between topics during talks and interviews, thus earning himself his reputation as the endearing, flaky member of Arashi. Sometimes Aiba makes some mistakes with Japanese, particularly in reading kanji. He can be seen making various reading mistakes in talk shows and live performances. During the earlier years following Arashi's debut, Aiba was appointed the "Image Leader" of Arashi.

Kazunari Ninomiya is the first member of the group to crossover to American films as he starred in Clint Eastwood's critically acclaimed Japanese language film, Letters from Iwo Jima. Along with bandmate Jun Matsumoto, he is one of Japan's leading young actors and have been said to be able to "act with his eyes". Ninomiya stated that he is left-handed but has been forced to write with his right hand by his parents when he was a child. He plays the guitar, piano, composes songs and writes lyrics. However, he is usually seen with a game console in hand instead and had publicly admitted that he was an otaku when he was an elementary school student. During Arashi's early years, Johnny's appointed Ninomiya as the "Performance Leader".

Jun Matsumoto is the youngest member of Arashi. Matsumoto is known for his starring roles in dramas such as Bambino, Hana Yori Dango, Hana Yori Dango 2, Kimi wa Petto, and Gokusen. He is the first Japanese male to grace the cover of Marie Claire Japan. Ohno has labeled him the "concert master" because of his take-charge attitude and attention to detail during their live performances. During the years after their debut, he was appointed by the Johnny's as the "Comedy Leader". By now he has more or less lost the comedic image and has even gained the nickname Doh-S from the other members (S standing for 'Sadist' and Doh means 'extreme' in Japanese Kanji). Jun is one of the three idols who are considered elites in the Johnny's because he was called to join the company by Johnny Kitagawa himself, without having to go through auditions.

Aside from their music careers, Arashi members have also appeared in movies, special variety programs, commercials, stage plays, and various television dramas. Currently, they are also the hosts of the variety programs, Golden Rush Arashi (hosted by Aiba), Arashi no Shukudai-kun, Himitsu no Arashi-chan, and VS Arashi.

Discography
Studio albums

#Information Singles
1st Arashi No.1 Ichigou -Arashi wa Arashi o Yobu!-
嵐 No.1 (Ichigou) -嵐は嵐を呼ぶ-
•Label: Pony Canyon
PCCJ-00004
•Released: January 24, 2001
•Format: CD
•Length: 63:11
•Peak Chart Position (Oricon Japan): #1
•A・RA・SHI
•Kansha Kangeki Ame Arashi
•Typhoon Generation
2ndHere We Go!
•Label: J Storm
JACA-5002 (Limited Edition)
JACA-5003(Regular Edition)
•Released: July 17, 2002
•Format: CD
•Length: -
•Peak Chart Position (Oricon Japan): #1
•A Day in Our Life
•Nice na Kokoroiki

3rdHow's It Going?
•Label: J Storm
JACA-5007(Limited Edition)
JACA-5008(Regular Edition)
•Released: July 9, 2003
•Format: CD
•Length: 64:09
•Peak Chart Position (Oricon Japan): #2
•Tomadoi Nagara
•PIKA☆NCHI
4thIza, Now!
いざッ、Now!
•Label: J Storm
JACA-5014 (Limited Edition)
JACA-5015(Regular Edition)
•Released: July 21, 2004
•Format: CD
•Length: 60:38
•Peak Chart Position (Oricon Japan): #1
•Peak Chart Position (United World): #12
•Hadashi No Mirai/Kotoba yori Taisetsu na Mono
•PIKA★★NCHI DOUBLE

5thOne
•Label: J Storm
JACA-5024 (Limited Edition)
JACA-5025(Regular Edition)
•Released: August 3, 2005
•Format: CD
•Length: 52:04
•Peak Chart Position (Oricon Japan): #1
•Peak Chart Position (United World): #10
•Sakura Sake

6thArashic
•Label: J Storm
JACA-5041 (Limited Edition)
JACA-5042(Regular Edition)
•Released: July 5, 2006
•Format: CD
•Length: 58:39
•Peak Chart Position (Oricon Japan): #1
•Peak Chart Position (United World): #8
•Wish
•Kitto Daijoubu

7thTime
•Label: J Storm
JACA-5064-5065 (Limited Edition)
JACA-5066(Regular Edition)
•Released: July 11, 2007
•Format: CD
•Length: 62:37
•Peak Chart Position (Oricon Japan): #1
•Peak Chart Position (United World): #2
•Love so sweet
•We Can Make It!
•Aozora Pedal

8thDream "A" Live
•Label: J Storm
JACA-5089-5090 (Limited Edition)
JACA-5091(Regular Edition)
•Release date: April 23, 2008
•Format: CD
•Length: TBD
•Peak Chart Position (Oricon Japan): TBD
•Peak Chart Position (BIllboard Japan): TBD
•Peak Chart Position (United World): TBD•Happiness
•Step and Go

Compilation albums
#InformationSingles
(Previously unreleased in an album)
1stArashi Single Collection 1999-2001
•Label: Pony Canyon
PCCJ-00004
•Released: May 16, 2002
•Format: CD
•Length: -
•Peak Chart Position (Oricon Japan): #4
•Kimi no Tame ni Boku ga Iru
•Jidai
2ndArashi 5x5: The Best Selection of 2002-2004
•Label: J Storm
JACA-5002 (Limited Edition)
JACA-5003(Regular Edition)
•Released: November 10, 2004
•Format: CD
•Length: 70:06
•Peak Chart Position (Oricon Japan): #1
•Peak Chart Position (United World): #15
•Hitomi no Naka no Galaxy/Hero

Singles
Release dateTitlePeak Chart Position (Japan)Label/numberNotes
1999-11-03
"A・RA・SHI"
#1Pony Canyon
DJ-00001Theme song for V no Arashi
2000-04-01
"Sunrise Nippon"
(Sunrise日本?)
#1CJ-00001Quoted in the drama Ikebukuro West Gate Park

2000-07-12
"Typhoon Generation"
(台風ジェネレション?)
#2CJ-00002
2000-11-08
"Kansha Kangeki Ame Arashi"
(感謝カンゲキ雨嵐?)
#1CJ-00003Theme song for the drama Namida o Fuite

2001-04-18
"Kimi no Tame ni Boku ga Iru"
(君のために僕がいる?)
#1CJ-00005
2001-08-01
"Jidai"
(時代?)
#1CJ-00006•Last single released under the Pony Canyon label
•Theme song for the drama Kindaichi Shonen no Jikenbo 3
2002-02-06
"A Day in Our Life"#1J Storm
JADA-5001Theme song for Sho Sakurai's drama Kisarazu Cat's Eye
2002-04-17
"Nice na Kokoroiki"
(ナイスな心意気?)
#1JADA-5002
JADA-5003
2002-10-17
"PIKA☆NCHI"
#1JADA-5004
JADA-5005Theme song for the movie Pika☆nchi: Life is Hard Dakedo Happy
2003-02-13
"Tomadoi Nagara"
(とまどいながら?)
#2JADA-5005
JADA-5006One of the theme songs for Sho Sakurai's drama Yoiko no Mikata
2003-09-03
"Hadashi No Mirai/Kotoba yori Taisetsu na Mono"
(ハダシの未来/言葉より大切なもの?)
#2JADA-5009
JADA-5010•"Hadashi No Mirai" was used as an image song for Coca-Cola
•"Kotoba Yori Taisetsu na Mono" is the theme song for Ninomiya Kazunari's drama Stand Up!!

2004-02-18
"PIKA★★NCHI Double"
#1JADA-5012
JADA-5013Theme song for the movie Pika☆☆nchi: Life Is Hard Dakara Happy
2004-08-18
"Hitomi no Naka no Galaxy/Hero"
(瞳の中のGalaxy/Hero?)
#1JACA-5016
JACA-5017
JACA-5018•Hero was used as the theme song for NTV's Olympic Coverage.
•Hitomi no Naka no Galaxy was the theme song for Kazunari Ninomiya's drama Minami Kun no Koibito
2005-03-23
"Sakura Sake"
(サクラ咲け?)
#1JADA-5021
JADA-5022Sakura Sake was used as an image song for Johnan Yobiko, a prep school, featuring Sakurai Sho

2005-11-16
"Wish"
#1JADA-5026
JADA-5027Opening song for Jun Matsumoto's drama Hana Yori Dango

2006-05-17
"Kitto Daijoubu"
(きっと大丈夫?)
#1JADA-5039
JADA-5040Popular Japanese singer, Ken Hirai, talked about his obsession with this song during Ken's Bar, a segment in one of his on-stage performances
2006-08-02
"Aozora Pedal"
(アオゾラペダル?)
#1JACB-0001
JACB-0002
JACB-0003One of the theme songs for Sho Sakurai's movie Honey & Clover

2007-02-21
"Love so sweet"
#1JADA-5052
JADA-5053Opening song for Jun Matsumoto's drama Hana Yori Dango 2 Returns!

2007-05-17
"We Can Make It!"
#1JADA-5059
JADA-5060Theme song for Jun Matsumoto's drama Bambino!

2007-09-05
"Happiness"
#1JADA-5070
JADA-5071Theme song for Kazunari Ninomiya and Sakurai Sho's drama Yamada Taro Monogatari

2008-02-20
"Step and Go"
#1JACA-5086
JACA-5088The first single with no direct tie-ins since the 2002 single, "Nice na Kokoroiki".

Other Releases
Video
Release dateTitleLabel/number
2000-06-28
"Suppin' Arashi"Pony Canyon
PCVP-52921 (VHS)
2002-06-12
"All or Nothing"J Storm
JABA-5001 (DVD)
JAVA-5001 (VHS)
2003-06-25
"Pika☆nchi Life is Hard Dakedo Happy"
(ピカ☆ンチ Life is Hard だけど Happy)Johnny's
PIBD-7340 (DVD)
PIBD-7341 (Limited Ed. VHS)
2003-12-17
"How's It Going?"J Storm
JABA-5002 (DVD)
JAVA-5002 (VHS)
2003-12-17
"2004 Arashi! Iza, Now Tour!!"JABA-5005 (DVD)
JABA-5006 (LE DVD)
JAVA-5004 (VHS)
2004-02-18
"Making of Pika☆nchi Life is Hard Dakara Happy"
(メイキング・オブ・ピカ☆ンチ Life is Hard だから Happy)Johnny's
GNBD-7008 (DVD)
2004-10-20
"Pika☆nchi Life is Hard Dakara Happy"
(ピカ☆ンチ Life is Hard だから Happy)GNBD-7066 (LE DVD)
GNBD-7067 (DVD)
2006-11-01
"C x D x G no Arashi Vol. 1"VPBF-12667 (DVD)
2006-11-01
"C x D x G no Arashi Vol. 2"VPBF-12668 (DVD)
2007-05-23
"Arashi Around Asia; Thailand-Taiwan-Korea"J Storm
JABA-5020-5022 (LE DVD)
JABA-5023-5024 (DVD)
2007-10-03
"Kiiroi Namida" (Yellow Tears)
(黄色い涙)Johnny's
GNBD-7429 (LE DVD)
GNBD-7430 (DVD)
2007-10-17
"Arashi Around Asia+ in Dome"J Storm
JABA-5025-5026 (LE DVD)
JABA-5027-5028 (DVD)
2008-04-16
"Summer Tour 2007 Final: Time - The Power of Words"
(Summer Tour 2007 Final: Time - コトバノチカラ)J Storm
JABA-5038 (DVD)
Photobooks
Release dateTitlePublisherISBN
2002-06-15
"In A Rush"Magazine House4-838783-60-4
2002-10-04
"Arashi 04150515"M. Co.4-048535-59-5
2004-03-01
"Pikanchi A to Z Arashi no Pikanchi Daburu na Hibi"
(ピカ☆ンチ AtoZ 嵐のピカ☆ンチダブルな日々)M. Co.4-048941-53-4
2005-07-26
"Arashigoto Marugoto Arashi no 5-Nen-Han"
(アラシゴト まるごと嵐の5年半)Shuueisha4-087804-16-X
2007-01-11
"Arashi Around Asia"M. Co.4-048942-01-8
2007-04-04
"Kiiroi Namida 1963's Arashi"
(黄色い涙 西暦一九六三年の嵐)M. Co.4-048942-03-4

Other activities
Movies and dramas
(Consisting of more than one member)
•Pika☆nchi Life is Hard Dakedo Happy 「ピカ☆ンチ　Ｌｉｆｅ　ｉｓ　Ｈａｒｄ　だけど　Ｈａｐｐｙ」 (2002) - starring all five members
•Pika☆☆nchi Life is Hard Dakara Happy 「ピカ☆☆ンチ　Ｌｉｆｅ　ｉｓ　Ｈａｒｄ　だから　Ｈａｐｐｙ」(2004) - starring all five members
•Yellow Tears - Kiiroi Namida 「黄色い涙」 (2007) - starring all five members
•V no Arashi 「V の 嵐」(2000)- starring all five members
•Yoiko no Mikata 「よい子の味方」(drama) (2003) - starring Sho Sakurai and featuring Jun Matsumoto, Satoshi Ohno, Masaki Aiba
•Yamada Tarou Monogatari「山田太郎ものがたり」(drama) (2007) - starring Kazunari Ninomiya, Sho Sakurai, and featuring Satoshi Ohno
• Saigo no Yakusoku (2010)- starring all five members

Variety Shows
•VSArashi (schedule to air on 2008-04-12 on FujiTV)
•Himitsu no Arashi-chan (schedule to air on 2008-04-10)
•Golden Rush Arashi (2007-10-20 + still airing)
•Arashi no Shukudai-kun (2006-10-02 - 2010-03-22, 178 episodes)
•Mago Mago Arashi (2005-2007, 125 episodes)
•Odoroki no Arashi SP 3 (2007-10-11)
•Odoroki no Arashi SP 2 (2007-03-23)
•Odoroki no Arashi SP 1 (2006-09-26)
• Odoroki no Arashi 3Hrs. SP 6 (2009-11-01)
•G no Arashi (2005-10-05 to 2006-09-27, 51 episodes)
•D no Arashi (2003-07-02 to 2005-09-28, 116 episodes)
•C no Arashi (2002-07-03 to 2003-06-25, 50 episodes)
•Arashi no Waza-ari (2004-2005, 50 episodes)
•Mayonaka no Arashi (2001-2002, 38 episodes)
•Nama Arashi (2002-2004)
• Arashi ni shiyagare (2010-04-24 + still airing)
Events
•2004-08-23 - NTV 24Hour Television "Love saves the Earth" (Charity program, as anchors)[16]
•2006-07-31 - Jet Storm Tour Asia (Promotion event in Thailand, Taiwan and South Korea)
Dates and details to be updated

Concerts

2000
•Arashi First Concert
•Arashi Summer Concert
2001
•Arashi Spring Concert
•Arashi All Arena Tour Join the Storm Nagoya, Osaka, Yokohama
2002
•Arashi Summer Tour - Here We Go
•Arashi Storm Concert - Atarashi Arashi
2003
•How's it Going?
•Winter Concert 2003-2004
2004
•D no Arashi Concert Special
•Iza Now Tour
2005
•ONE Summer Concert Tour
2006
•ARACHIC ARASHIC ARASICK Cool and Soul Summer Concert
•Arashi First Concert in Taipei
•You Are My Seoul, Soul (First Concert in Korea)
2007
•Arashi Around Asia (Homecoming Concert)
•Arashi Around Asia + in Dome
•TIME - Kotoba no Chikara (The Power of Words) Summer Tour
2008
•Arashi Marks 2008 Dream-A-Live (Dome Tour, May 2008 - July 2008)