Kobukuro

Kobukuro コブクロ

Origin	Osaka, Japan
Genres	Folk rock, pop, ambient rock
Years active	1998–present
Labels	Minosuke Records (1999—2000) Warner Music Japan (2001—current)
Associated acts	Ayaka
Website	www.kobukuro.com
Members	Kentarō Kobuchi Shunsuke Kuroda

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]

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

Original Japanese Title	Romanized Name	Translation of Title	Release Date	Sales
Yell ~エール~ / Bell	-	Yell / Bell	22 March 2001	245,390
轍	Wadachi	Rut	20 June 2001	53,430
You / Miss You	-	-	21 November 2001	22,360
風	Kaze	Wind	14 February 2002	120,000
願いの詩 / 太陽	Negai no Uta / Taiyō	Song of Wish / The Sun	10 July 2002	37,620
雪の降らない街	Yuki no Furanai Machi	The Town Without Snow	13 November 2002	27,988
宝島	Takarajima	Treasure Island	9 April 2003	24,482
Blue Blue	-	-	27 August 2003	16,134
Door	-	-	12 May 2004	20,083
永遠にともに / Million Films / ここから	Towa ni Tomo ni / Million Films / Koko kara	Forever with You / Million Films / From Here	14 October 2004	146,265
ここにしか咲かない花	Koko ni Shika Sakanai Hana	A flower that only blooms here	11 May 2005	407,200
桜	Sakura	Cherry Blossoms	2 November 2005	434,389
君という名の翼	Kimi to Iu Na no Tsubasa	Wings That Are Named You	26 July 2006	106,957
蕾	Tsubomi	Flower Bud	21 March 2007	506,093
蒼く 優しく	Aoku Yasashiku	Bluer, Gentler	7 November 2007	213,961
時の足音	Toki no Ashioto	Footsteps of Time	29 October 2008	255,485
虹	Niji	Rainbow	15 April 2009	102,577
Stay	-	-	15 July 2009	86,290
流星	Ryūsei	Meteor	17 November 2010	113,503
Blue Bird	-	-	16 February 2011	78,224
あの太陽が、この世界を照らし続けるように。	Ano Taiyō ga, Kono Sekai o Terashi Tuzukeru Yōni.	I Wish That Sun Continued Lighting up This World	27 April 2011	48,093
紙飛行機	Kamihikōki	Paper Plane	28 November 2012

Albums

Released	Title	Peak	Sales
July 21, 1999	Saturday 8PM	#294	-
March 4, 2000	Root of My Mind	#197	-
December 19, 2000	Answer	-	-
August 29, 2001	Roadmade	#6	105,000
August 28, 2002	Grapefruits	#4	100,000
November 6, 2003	Straight	#10	46,000
November 3, 2004	Music Man Ship	#3	250,000
December 21, 2005	Nameless World	#1	898,000
September 27, 2006	All Singles Best	#1	3,038,000
December 19, 2007	5296	#1	1,429,000
August 5, 2009	Calling	#1	477,000
August 25, 2010	All Covers Best	#1	387,000
September 5, 2012	All Singles Best 2	#1	731,217