KAT-TUN (hepburn: katūn, sounding similar to "cartoon") is a J-pop group from Johnny & Associates, made up of six members:
Kamenashi Kazuya, 亀梨和也, (born February 23, 1986)
Akanishi Jin, 赤西仁, (born July 4, 1984)
Taguchi Junnosuke, 田口淳之介, (born November 29, 1985)
Tanaka Koki, 田中圣, (born November 5, 1985)
Ueda Tatsuya, 上田竜也, (born October 4, 1983)
Nakamaru Yuichi, 中丸雄一, (born September 4, 1983)
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 7 singles released since their debut in 2006 debuted at Number 1 on the Oricon music charts. 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 sales
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]
[edit] 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 since debut to exceed 300,000 in sales during their first week[2]. This does not include their later singles, which would then account to all seven of their singles exceending 300,000 in sales during their first week.
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 Japanese 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. Additionally, Bokura no Machi de and Keep the Faith won two of the Best 10 Singles for the 22nd Japan Gold Disc Awards[7]. Their concert DVD, Live of KAT-TUN "Real Face", had also won one of the three Best Music Videos awards. [8]
[edit] Akanishi Jin's Hiatus
Akanishi Jin went on hiatus from the group from October 12, 2006[9] 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.[10] 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.
[edit] 2008 – present
KAT-TUN released their sixth single LIPS on February 6 as the theme song to Kazuya Kamenashi's drama One Pound Gospel. [11] The single peaked at #1 on the Oricon Charts.
On March 30, it was announced that KAT-TUN will hold their third nationwide tour.
On April 22, it was announced that KAT-TUN will release their third album, KAT-TUN III Queen of Pirates on June 4, 2008. As per usual, the release includes a regular and limited edition. Though the limited edition features four extra songs and is released with a DVD including an extended version of the "Don't U Ever Stop" PV, lasting an eight-minute duration, the regular edition includes a 24-page picture booklet.
KAT-TUN recently released their seventh single, "Don't U Ever Stop," on May 14, which topped the weekly Oricon chart in its first week with a total of 381,672 copies sold. It sold more than the top 49 artists after them combined. Along with LIPS, KAT-TUN holds the records for the two highest first-week sales in 2008. The single's sales included three limited editions, each with two solo songs from two members. First limited edition contain solos from Kamenashi and Taguchi, the second with Akanishi and Tanaka, and the last with Ueda and Nakamaru. The regular edition also contains each of the members' solo songs.
Their official first performance of this song was on April 25 on Music Station Live, with their solo performances on May 15 on Music Station as well. During the MC segment of the same broadcasting, Kamenashi announced that two more days were added to their Tokyo Dome concerts for their 2008 tour, resulting in a total of four consecutive days in the Dome, Japan's most popular stadium. This marks a historic event in the Dome's history, which has been established since 1988, as KAT-TUN is the first artist to hold four consecutive days at the stadium. Other artists, such as SMAP, X-Japan and the Empress of J-Pop; Ayumi Hamasaki, have had three consecutive days at the Dome, and Rolling Stones and Michael Jackson have had multiple days at the Dome as well, but they were not consecutive.
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