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KAT-TUN

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Template:Infobox musical artist 2

KAT-TUN (hepburn: katūn, sounding similar to "cartoon") is a J-pop group from Johnny & Associates, made up of six members:

The group's name is an acronym formed by the members' surname initials.

Similar to other Johnny's groups, KAT-TUN is considered a Japanese idol group and therefore, not only sings and dances, but the members also act and star in dramas, movies and commercials.

They are arguably one of the most popular boy bands in Japan at the moment. All five singles released since their debut in 2006 debuted at Number 1 on the Oricon music charts, a feat only accomplished twice before in Japanese music history. Their debut was marked by a tripartite release consisting of their debut single, "Real Face", a "Real Face Film" DVD and their debut album. All three shattered records in album sales.

History

2001 – 2006: Formation & Pre-Debut Activities

Before joining KAT-TUN, each member belonged to different Junior units. In 2001, KinKi Kids member Koichi Domoto personally picked six juniors to be his back dancers in the NHK music program, Pop Jam. He chose Kamenashi, Akanishi, Taguchi, Tanaka, Ueda and Nakamaru to be his back dancers and gave them the unit name KAT-TUN.

Initially, KAT-TUN was only meant to be a dancing unit to support Koichi Domoto. However, KAT-TUN gained a great deal of attention so the formation was kept and KAT-TUN remains a solid unit.

In 2002, KAT-TUN held their first concert, Okyakusama wa Kamisama - Concert 55man nin Ai no request ni Kotaete, making them the first Junior group to hold their own concerts before officially debuting. In the same year, they held eleven concerts in a day. This breaks the record for the most concerts held in a day for Japan.

In 2003-2004, their popularity rose to that of a debuted group, to the point that they performed on Music Station multiple times before they debuted.

In 2005, KAT-TUN released their first major DVD concert LIVE KAIZOKUBAN, which topped the Oricon yearly chart for the best-selling DVD. At the 21st Japan Gold Disc Awards, Live Kaizokuban placed on the Music Video Of The Year list.[1]

2006 – 2007: Debut & Following Singles

Their debut was announced on January 29 2006. This was a 5-year long-awaited event for both the members and their fans. They made their professional debut with their single Real Face, released in March 2006, accompanied by an album Best of KAT-TUN, and a DVD Real Face Film. These were released on their own label, J-One Records. Along with their debut, was a concert tour of Japan.

Within the first week, Best of KAT-TUN sold 556,548 copies, Real Face sold 754,234 copies, and Real Face Film sold 374,202 copies[a]. These releases topped all three weekly Oricon charts. They are the second artist to do so, right after Ayumi Hamasaki.

KAT-TUN holds the records for the highest weekly single debut sales, as well as the record for highest weekly DVD debut sales. Their single Real Face topped the Oricon charts for 3 weeks, making them the first artist in the millennium to do so in Japan. It sold over one million copies in nine weeks, making Real Face the highest selling single of the year. The lyrics to Real Face were written by Shikao Suga, and the music was written by Tak Matsumoto.

In March 2006, KAT-TUN became the first group to hold their own concert in the Tokyo Dome before their debut. They performed to 110,000 people over two days and about 630,000 people in total during their first national tour 'Real Face'.

KAT-TUN's first three singles all managed to exceed 400,000 in sales during the first week. They are the first artist in the history of Japan to have all three singles from debut to exceed 500,000 in sales

During 2007, KAT-TUN held the records for the two first highest week sales and put two singles in the top 10 for two years in a row. After eight years eleven months since the debut of KinKi Kids, KAT-TUN is the second artist to have all five of their singles from debut to be chart-toppers, and all of them exceeded 300,000 in sales during their first week[2].

KAT-TUN's second DVD in 2007, was released simultaneously with their 5th single, and is their fifth consecutive release to top the musical DVD chart. It also has set the opening week record of the year[3]. In addition, they take the yearly No.1 position in the music DVD charts for the third time in a row.

On April 4, 2007, KAT-TUN began to host their own variety show Cartoon KAT-TUN, which airs every Wednesday from 11:55 PM to 12:26 AM.

On October 1, 2007, Jin Akanishi took over hosting duties from Koki Tanaka for his and Taguchi Junnosuke's radio show "KAT-TUN Style", which airs daily from 11:22 PM to 11:52 PM.

KAT-TUN released their fourth single "Yorokobi no Uta" on June 6, 2007 as the theme song to Koki Tanaka's drama Tokkyu Tanaka 3 Go. It reached #1 on the Oricon music charts.

Their fifth single, "Keep the faith", released on November 21, 2007, as the theme song to Jin Akanishi's and Junnosuke Taguchi's drama Yukan Club. It peaked at #1 on the Oricon music charts. In addition, the single came in at number six on the United World Chart[4]. The only artist who placed higher than them was Mr. Children, whose single Namonaki-Uta debuted at number two. [5]

Their single Real Face won Single of the Year at the 21st Japan Gold Disc Awards [6]. In addition to this, Real Face, SIGNAL, and Bokura no Machi de were included in the list of The Best 10 Singles for 2007[6]. Furthermore, their debut album, Best of KAT-TUN, placed in the The Best 10 Albums of 2007[6], and their DVD, Real Face Film, was also included on the The Best Music Videos of 2007 list.

Akanishi Jin's Hiatus

Akanishi Jin went on hiatus from the group from October 12, 2006[7] to study English abroad in the U.S., leaving KAT-TUN as a 5 member group for 6 months. This caused a media frenzy in Japan considering the fact that Akanishi is one of KAT-TUN's two most popular members and is one of their two main vocalist together with Kazuya Kamenashi.

The remaining members released their third single Bokura No Machi De and the album Cartoon KAT-TUN II YOU during his hiatus. Despite the fact that one of their lead vocalist was missing, the releases still managed to top the charts.

Akanishi returned to Japan on April 19, 2007 and officially resumed work activities on April 20, 2007.[8] His return excited a nationwide media frenzy. Akanishi joined the rest of KAT-TUN during their Cartoon KAT-TUN II YOU 2007 tour, his appearance during the encore at their April 21, 2007 Sendai concert marking his official return to KAT-TUN.

2008 – present

KAT-TUN released their sixth single LIPS on February 6th as the theme song to Kazuya Kamenashi's drama One Pound Gospel. [9] The single peaked at #1 on the Oricon Charts.

Discography

CD Single

Single # Single Information Sales Cover
1st Real Face 1,040,249 File:Real Face.jpg
2nd Signal
  • Released: July 19, 2006
  • Oricon Top 200 Weekly Peak: #1
  • United World Chart; Singles: #18[11]
  • Song used in DoCoMo Foma 902is commercial
  • From Studio Album: cartoon KAT-TUN II You
 567,611 File:KTSignal.jpg
3rd Bokura no Machi de (僕らの街で) 558,491 File:Bokura no Machi de.jpg
4th Yorokobi no Uta (喜びの歌) 371,628 File:Yorokobi no Uta.jpg
5th Keep the faith 453,724
6th LIPS 351,294

CD Album

Album # Album Information Sales Cover
1st Best of KAT-TUN 750,209 File:Best of KAT-TUN.jpg
2nd cartoon KAT-TUN II You 352,724 File:Cartoon KAT-TUN II You.jpg

DVD/VHS

KAT-TUN has been featured in other DVD/VHS releases of Johnny's debuted groups' concerts and musicals (SHOCK Digest and DREAM BOY) in the past.

DVD/VHS # DVD/VHS Information Sales Cover
1st Okyakusama wa Kamisama - Concert 55man nin Ai no request ni Kotaete 172,926
2nd KAT-TUN Live Kaizokuban 400,758
3rd Real Face Film
  • Released: March 22, 2006
  • Oricon Weekly Peak: #1
  • Oricon Yearly Peak: #1
 475,507
4th DREAM BOYS 2006
  • Released: June 28, 2006
  • Oricon Weekly Peak: #1
  • Oricon Yearly Peak: #?
 179,722
5th Live of KAT-TUN "Real Face"
  • Released: April 11, 2007
  • Oricon Weekly Peak: #1
  • Oricon Yearly Peak: #1
 240,627
6th Tour 2007 cartoon KAT-TUN ⅡYou 215,696

Photobook

KAT-TUN's only official photobook, entitled KAT-TUN 1st in New York (photographer Harumi Yoshimura) was published in December 2003 by Wani Books.

Activities

TV Shows

In 2005, KAT-TUN became a regular participant in the variety show Utawara HOT Hit 10 formerly known as Minna no Terebi, with another Johnny's member, Jun Matsumoto from ARASHI. Other TV shows they have appeared on include Yoru mo Hippare and Hadaka no Shōnen. In 2006, Nakamaru Yuichi and Tanaka Koki pioneered the show YOU!tachi and continue to host the show every Sunday. Since April 4, 2007, KAT-TUN has been hosting their own talk show called Cartoon KAT-TUN which is gaining more popularity recently.

Radios

  • KAT-TUN Style

Monday - Friday 23:30 - 23:40
Host: Koki Tanaka and Junnosuke Taguchi
As Of 01.10.2007: Jin Akanishi and Junnosuke Taguchi

  • R-One KAT-TUN

Wednesday 24:00 - 24:30
Host: Tatsuya Ueda and Yuichi Nakamaru

File:Dreamboys2006kanjani8.jpg
DREAMBOYS 2006: KAT-TUN & Kanjani8

Musicals

KAT-TUN has appeared in numerous musicals. The first one is SHOCK (lead star Koichi Domoto). In 2004, they backed up Hideaki Takizawa in his first solo musical, DREAM BOY. The musical's lead was given to Kazuya Kamenashi in 2005, as Takizawa was busy shooting the Taiga drama Yoshitsune. SUMMARY is yet another musical in which KAT-TUN performed with NEWS & Ya-Ya-yah in 2004.

Kamenashi played the lead role in "Dream Boy 2006" which was co-starred by Kanjani8 (関ジャニ∞)., with major supporting roles by Subaru Shibutani, Ryo Nikishido and Jin Akanishi.

Kazuya Kamenashi also played the lead role in "DREAM BOYS 2007" along with Koki Tanaka and Tomoyuki Yara & is scheduled to star in "DREAM BOYS 2008".

Concerts

Since their first concert in 2002, granted after overwhelming amounts of fan requests to JE, KAT-TUN regularly holds concerts during almost every season of the year in Japan. This has helped them gain more popularity with their fans. It was considered remarkable for a Johnny's group which had not yet officially debuted to be able to hold its own concerts.

  • August 10, 2002 - August 28, 2002: Okyakusama wa Kamisama - Concert 55 Man Nin Ai no Request ni Kotaete!! (お客様は神サマーConcert 55万人愛のリクエストに応えて!!)(two cities, 26 performances)
  • August 8, 2003 - August 28, 2003: Ko Nen Mo Ah Tai Hen Thank U Natsu (Ko年モ Ah Taiヘン Thank U Natsu) (three cities, ten performances)
  • August 12, 2003 - August 20, 2003: KAT - TUN no dai Bouken de SHOW (KAT-TUNの大冒険 de SHOW) (At Le Meridien Grand Pacific Tokyo, 20 performances)
  • December 28, 2004 - January 10, 2005: KAT-TUN Live KAIZOKUBAN (KAT-TUN Live海賊帆) (Three cities, 14 performances)
  • March 25, 2005 - March 27, 2005: Spring 05 Looking KAT-TUN (Yokohama Arena, four performances)
  • May 29, 2005 - June 26, 2005: Looking 05 KAT-TUN (Five cities, fourteen performances)
  • August 26, 2005 - August 28, 2005: Looking KAT-TUN 2005ing (Yokohama Arena, six performances)
  • March 17, 2006: KAT-TUN Special TOKYODOME CONCERT Debut "Real Face" One performance)
  • March 28, 2006 - May 7, 2006: Spring Tour '06 Live of KAT-TUN "Real Face" (eight cities, 40 performances))
  • May 13, 2006 - May 14, 2006: Spring Tour'06 in TOKYO DOME Live of KAT-TUN "Real Face" (Tokyo Dome, two performances)
  • April 3, 2007 - June 17, 2007: TOUR 2007 cartoon KAT-TUN II You (seven cities, 28 performances)

Commercials

KAT-TUN regularly stars in TV commercials of two brands, Crunky (chocolate) and +X (chewing gum) by Lotte.

Kamenashi and Akanishi also starred in the Nintendo commercial for "Dance Dance Revolution: Mario Mix," a game based loosely on the hit arcade series, created for the Nintendo GameCube game console, as well as an Oronamin C commercial with Ueto Aya and various DoCoMo cellphone ads.

Akanishi and Tanaka also starred in a series of commercials for OXY facial cleanser.

KAT-TUN has also appeared in commercials for a line of lipgloss and contact solutions by Rohto.

Notes

  • a.^ All sales numbers taken from the Oricon Charts.

References

  1. ^ Template:Ja icon Recording Industry Association of Japan: THE 20th JAPAN GOLD DISC AWARD 2006 2006. Retrieved February 11, 2008.
  2. ^ Template:En icon Tokyograph: KAT-TUN sets 2007 record, L'Arc returns to top November 6, 2007. Retrieved December 23, 2007.
  3. ^ Template:Ja icon Oricon Style: KAT-TUN、新曲で今年の初動最高記録達成 November 27, 2007. Retrieved December 23, 2007.
  4. ^ a b Template:En icon United World Chart: Week 49 of 2007 December 8, 2007. Retrieved December 18, 2007.
  5. ^ Template:En icon United World Charts: Week 8 of 1996 February, 1996. Retrieved February 12, 2007.
  6. ^ a b c Template:Ja icon Recording Industry Association of Japan: THE 21th JAPAN GOLD DISC AWARD 2007 2007. Retrieved February 11, 2008.
  7. ^ Template:En icon Tokyograph: KAT-TUN's Akanishi Takes A Break October 12, 2006. Retrieved December 18, 2007.
  8. ^ Template:En icon Tokyograph: Akanishi Back In Japan April 19, 2007. Retrieved December 18, 2007.
  9. ^ Template:Ja icon Johnny's Net: KAT-TUN Discography December 21, 2007. Retrieved December 23, 2007.
  10. ^ Template:En icon United World Chart: Week 14 of 2006 April 8, 2006. Retrieved February 11, 2008.
  11. ^ Template:En icon United World Chart: Week 31 of 2006 August 5, 2006. Retrieved February 11, 2008.
  12. ^ Template:En icon United World Chart: Week 51 of 2006 December 23, 2006. Retrieved February 11, 2008.
  13. ^ Template:En icon United World Chart: Week 25 of 2007 June 23, 2007. Retrieved February 11, 2008.
  14. ^ Template:En icon United World Chart: Week 08 of 2008 February, 2007. Retrieved February 16, 2008.
  15. ^ Template:En icon United World Chart: Week 14 of 2006 April 8, 2006. Retrieved February 11, 2008.
  16. ^ Template:En icon United World Chart: Week 18 of 2007 May 5, 2007. Retrieved February 11, 2008.


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