Kobukuro

Kobukuro (コブクロ), a Japanese band, formed in 1998 and made its major label debut in 2001. The name is a portmanteau of the two family names, Kentarō Kobuchi and Shunsuke Kuroda.[1]

Kobukuro
コブクロ
OriginOsaka, Japan
GenresFolk rock, pop, ambient rock
Years active1998 (1998)–present
LabelsMinosuke Records
(1999—2000)
Warner Music Japan
(2001—current)
Associated actsAyaka
Websitewww.kobukuro.com
MembersKentarō Kobuchi
Shunsuke Kuroda

Members
  • Kentarō Kobuchi (小渕健太郎, Kobuchi Kentarō, b. March 13, 1977); guitar, vocals, various other instruments)
  • Shunsuke Kuroda (黒田俊介, Kuroda Shunsuke, b. March 18, 1977); main vocals)

The band's visual appearance is unusual; there are only two people, and Kuroda stands over 193 cm (6'4") tall.

History

In May 1998, Kobuchi and Kuroda met each other in Sakai near Osaka. Kobuchi was a salesman who held street concerts every Saturday for relaxation and Kuroda was a physical education teacher and a street musician. In September the same year, Kobuchi offered Kuroda a song and seeing that Kuroda was not a skilled guitar player, Kobuchi became the guitar player of the group. Thus, Kobukuro was formed.

Kobukuro received moderately successful ratings for their first three indie albums—Saturday 8:PM (July 1999), ANSWER (December 2000) and Root of My Mind (March 2001). Kobukuro signed with Warner Music Japan in 2001, and made their debut with the hit single, "Yell" which reached number 4 on the Oricon Charts.

Kobukuro released the studio album Nameless World on December 21, 2005. Nameless World became their first number-one album on the Oricon weekly charts. On September 27, 2006, they released their greatest hits album All Singles Best, which topped the Oricon weekly charts for four consecutive weeks.

On March 21, 2007, Kobukuro released the single "Tsubomi." When the song "Tsubomi" was released, Marty Friedman pointed out that the song's arrangement was very simple and did away with the influence of the music of the Western culture.[2] The song "Tsubomi" became their first number-one single on the Oricon weekly charts. "Tsubomi" won the coveted "Grand Prix" awards in December 2007 at the 49th Japan Record Awards. The song was included in their 2007 studio album 5296, which also topped the Oricon weekly charts.

On their 2009 album Calling, Kobuchi wrote "Sayonara Hero" as a memorial song for Kiyoshiro Imawano, who had died earlier that year. On March 3, 2010, they released their cover version of "Layla" (used in a Pepsi Nex commercial they starred in) as a digital single of iTunes Store without the release of the CD single.[3]

When the Oricon weekly charts dated May 17, 2010 was released, the sales of All Singles Best passed 3,000,000 copies on the Oricon charts, becoming the first album to do so in 7 years 10 months since the 2002 achievement of Southern All Stars' Umi no Yeah!!, released on June 25, 1998.[4]

Discography

Singles
Title Release date Peak chart positions Sales[5]
Oricon[6] Japan Hot 100[7]
YELL~yell~/Bell (YELL〜エール〜/Bell) March 21, 2001 4× 245,390
Rut (轍-わだち-) June 20, 2001 15× 53,430
YOU/miss you Nov 11, 1998 30× 22,360
Wind (風) February 13, 2002 25× 120,000
Poetry of a Wish/Sun (願いの詩/太陽) July 10, 2002 14× 37,620
Town Without Snow (雪の降らない街) November 13, 2002 16× 27,988
Treasure Island (宝島) April 9, 2003 11× 24,482
blue blue August 27, 2003 20× 16,134
DOOR May 12, 2004 15× 20,083
Together Forever/Million Films (永遠にともに/Million Films) October 14, 2004 6× 146,265
A Flower That Only Blooms Here (ここにしか咲かない花) May 11, 2005 2× 407,200
Cherry Blossom (桜) November 2, 2005 3× 434,389
Name of Your Wings (君という名の翼) July 26, 2006 5× 106,957
Tsubomi (蕾 (つぼみ)) March 21, 2007 1× 506,093
Bluer, Gentler (蒼く 優しく) November 7, 2007 2× 213,961
Footsteps of Time (時の足音) October 29, 2008 22 255,485
Rainbow (虹) April 15, 2009 21 102,577
STAY July 15, 2009 31 86,290
Meteor (流星) November 17, 2010 32 113,503
Blue Bird February 16, 2011 32 78,224
My Hope, The Sun Will Continue to Light up the World (あの太陽が、この世界を照らし続けるように。) April 27, 2011 32 48,093
Paper Plane (紙飛行機) November 28, 2012 22 /
One Song From Two Hearts/Diamond (One Song From Two Hearts/ダイヤモンド) July 24, 2013 37 /
Now, The Flowers Bloom in Full Glory (今、咲き誇る花たちよ) February 19, 2014 74 19,277
Sunny Road (陽だまりの道) June 4, 2014 65 40,028
Sotsugyō (卒業) March 18, 2020 3— 23,257[8]
"—" denotes releases that did not chart or were not released in that region.

"×" denotes periods where charts did not exist or were not archived.

Albums
ReleasedTitlePeakSales
July 21, 1999Saturday 8PM#294-
March 4, 2000Root of My Mind#197-
December 19, 2000Answer--
August 29, 2001Roadmade#6105,000
August 28, 2002Grapefruits#4100,000
November 6, 2003Straight#1046,000
November 3, 2004Music Man Ship#3250,000
December 21, 2005Nameless World#1898,000
September 27, 2006All Singles Best#13,038,000
December 19, 20075296#11,429,000
August 5, 2009Calling#1477,000
August 25, 2010All Covers Best#1387,000
September 5, 2012All Singles Best 2#1731,217

Award
Year Ceremony Award Word
2002 Japan Gold Disc Award New Artist of the Year
2005 Japan Record Awards Gold Award Sakura
2006 Japan Record Awards Gold Award Kimi to Iu Na no Tsubasa
Japan Gold Disc Award Rock & Pop Album of the Year NAMELESS WORLD
2007 Japan Record Awards Grand Prix Tsubomi
Gold Award
Japan Gold Disc Award Album of the Year All Singles Best

References
  1. "Oricon Japan" (in Japanese). Retrieved 2010-03-19.
  2. 言われてみれば……コブクロとゆずみたいなデュオがアメリカにいない理由は？ (in Japanese). Nikkei Business Publications. 2007-04-16. Retrieved 2010-03-23.
  3. "コブクロ「Layla」、iTunesでウイークリー1位を爆走中" [Kobukuro's "Layla" is running at #1 on iTunes weekly chart]. Barks.jp (in Japanese). 2010-03-10. Retrieved 2010-03-22.
  4. "コブクロベスト盤が300万枚突破、サザン『海のYeah!!』以来7年10ヶ月ぶり～ボーカルグループ史上初～" (in Japanese). Oricon. 2010-05-15. Retrieved 2010-05-15.
  5. "オリコンランキング情報サービス「you大樹」" [Oricon Ranking Information Service 'You Big Tree']. Oricon. Retrieved August 10, 2012. (subscription only)
  6. "オリコンランキング情報サービス「you大樹」". Oricon. Retrieved January 31, 2014. (subscription only)
  7. "Japan Hot 100". Billboard. Retrieved January 31, 2014.
  8. "週間 CDシングルランキング 2020年03月30日付" [Weekly CD Single Ranking for March 30, 2020] (in Japanese). Oricon. Retrieved March 25, 2020.
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