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06.30.08 Mr.Children's new PV for GIFT will be making its TV debut on June 30, 2008 on the program Saki Dori! on MUSIC ON! TV between 24:00-24:20. Additional airings include July 1, 2008 from 06:30-06:50 and from 17:00-17:20. The PV will also be making its SPACE SHOWER TV debut on July 1, 2008 from 17:00-19:00, with re-airings at 22:00-24:00 and July 2, 2008 at 17:00-17:20. Source: MUSIC ON! TV | SPACE SHOWER TV 06.28.08 A bigger cover of LuckyRaccoon has been revealed in addition for the issue now being available for order. Oversea fans may purchase the issue through Tower.jp or HMV.co.jp.  Source: LuckyRaccoon 06.28.08 On the June 27, 2008 special edition of Natsu Uta on Music Station, Mr.Children had two songs rank in the top 111. At number 31 was Mirai and at number 11 Seesaw game. Source: Music Station 06.26.08 In the latest blog written by ap bank fes staff, they explained the process on what happens after they decide on an artist to attend the festival. When a participating artist is decided on, the staff listens to all of the artists albums and singles that have been released. Then if necessary they also attend a live show of said artist to hear a demonstration of the song(s) in questions. They based their decision of who goes when on male/women ratio (keeping it balanced throughout the 3 days) and compositions. Balancing slow songs with fast songs, etc.. When a song(s) is picked, it will be rehearsed carefully at the rehearsal studio, where they will confirm the direction of an arrangement. Sometimes the arrangement will be very distant from the original piece of music. Source: ap bank fes official blog 06.25.08 ap bank fes has updated their guest list for this years festival and has added Otsuka Ai to the line-up. In addition tickets for the general public to attend the fes goes on sale June 29, 2008. Source: ap bank fes official website 06.24.08 Mr.Children will be in the September 2008 edition of Gekkan The Television under the gravure part of the magazine. The issue will go on sale July 24th. Source: Television.co.jp 06.22.08 For Mr.Children's appearance on the July 26th epsiode of NHK's Natsu Uta, the group will be performing Shounen. No confirmation yet on any other songs to be performed. Source: Battery Official Website (credit to Mr_Children @ JPM) 06.21.08 For the first half of the year Bank Band's 'Soushi Souai 2' albums ranked in at number 17, selling 296,618 copies, with ap bank fes '07 landing in the number 47 position on the DVD charts with 63,751 copies. Source: Oricon 06.21.08 Mr.Children's new song 'GIFT' will be shown on Japan Countdown on June 22, 1008 under the 'new songs introduction' category. No information available if a PV will be shown or not. ap bank's eco-reso launched it's own youtube subscription to teach consumers and fans alike more about the environment. The first video to be launched on the youtube page talks about carbon offsets and how it works. Source: Japan Countdown | eco-reso.jp | eco-reso youtube 06.20.08 Sompo Japan has released yet another CM featuring Mr.Children's 'Itsudemo hohoemi wo' with a new concept of 'the shadow'. The CM began airing on June 7, 2008. 
Source: Sompo Japan 06.18.08 Sakurai will be on the cover of the August 2008 issue of SWITCH magazine. He will be discussing the new single 'GIFT' and the process behind making music.  Source: SWITCH 06.17.08 On July 4, 2008 LuckyRaccoon Radio will be broadcasting LuckyRaccoon Night 2 over the radio. Sakurai, along with Japanese artist KAN, appeared at the live on May 26th 2008 and May 28th 2008. Source: Source: LuckyRaccoon 06.16.08 On June 20, 2008 'Bokura no ongaku' will be airing an unreleased interview episode which will feature interviews that were cut from respective interviews. The episode will include an unreleased interview with Bank Band done in January 2008. Source: Bokura no ongaku's Official Website 06.15.08 Mr.Children was on the June 15, 2008 edition of Sunday Sport where they spoke about their favorite olympic competitions to watch and the connection with the upcoming single 'GIFT'  Mr.Children will be appearing on the following shows to promote new single GIFT: July 23 on 'SONGS', July 24 on 'MUSIC JAPAN', and July 26 on 'Natsu Uta' Source: Mr.Children's Official Website 06.14.08 The latest issue of LuckyRaccoon will feature Sakurai's joint appearance with KAN at LuckyRaccoon Night 2 in May 2008. The issue goes on sale in July for 800 yen.  Source: LuckyRaccoon 06.13.08 The cover and tracklist for the HOME -in the field- DVD has been finalized. In addition to the finalization, Mr.Children will also be in the July 14, 2008 issue of CD DATA (August 2008 edition).  
Source: Mr.Children's Official Website 06.12.08 On July 10, 2008 AP BANG! will release their first book titled 'Tokyo kankyou kaigi kankyou to yokubou'. The book, based on the AP BANG! Tokyo environment meeting vol.1 in March in 2007, will contain interviews with artist and creators about environmental issues that are currently plaguing Japan. Source: ap bank official website 06.10.08 On June 15, 2008 'Sunday Sports' on NHK will be airing an interview done with Mr.Children. No word yet what the topic of discussion will be, but most likely it will involve their upcoming tie-in with the Olympics on NHK. Source: Sunday Sports 06.09.08 On June 9, 2008 Mr.Children held a special performance for NHK 'SONGS' at NHK Hall where the song GIFT, and its coupling tracks, were played for the first time for the media. The theme of the song GIFT is of not only the victorious but also of the person who was not victorious. 
- additional images - Source: Musicnet | NHK official website | Nikkan Sports | Mainichi | Yahoo! Japan 06.09.08 Mr.Children have announced 3 months of releases starting in July. The first single GIFT, will be released on July 30, 2008, followed by the highly fan anticipated HOME -in the field- Tour DVD on August 6, 2008, and finally the second single HANABI on September 9, 2008. GIFT Tracklist: 01. GIFT 02. Oudanhodou wo wataru hitotachi 03. Kaze to hoshi to moebius no wa (single version) HANABI Tracklist: 01. HANABI 02. Tada dakiatte 03. Natsu ga owaru ~natsu no hi no homage~ HOME TOUR -in the field- DVD Notes: 2 DVD set, about 164 minutes, 164 page photograph collection Tracklist: 01. Innocent World 02. Irodori 03. Wake me up! 04. Any 05. Owarinaki tabi 06. Kuchibue 07. CROSSROAD 08. Sign 09. Seesaw game 10. Shirushi 11. CENTER OF UNIVERSE 12. Tabidachi no uta 13. DANCE DANCE DANCE 14. Tomorrow Never Knows 15. Namonaki uta 16. HERO 17. Hibiki 18. FAKE 19. Poketto kasutanetto 20. Hoshi ninaretara 21. My life 22. Motto 23. World's End *The official website has noted that the official tracklist for the DVD has not yet been finalized. 
Source: Mr.Children's Official Website 06.03.08 Mr.Children have announced a new song titled 'HANABI' to be used in the Japanese drama CODE BLUE on Fuji TV which begins airing in July. On their official website Sakurai left a message that spoke about the song and the drama. "There isn't a person who doesn't have trouble on his hands", and so in that respect there is a linkage between the song and the drama. Source: Mr.Children's Official Website 06.02.08 J-pop artist NAOTO has announced on his blog that he will be joining Mr.Children as a back up singer for all of the groups live shows this summer (Higher Ground, SETSTOCK, etc..) and also ap bank fes '08. Source: NAOTO's official blog 06.02.08 In yet another poll done by Oricon, the company polled people from high school all the way into their 40s, to ask what song has helped them when they run against a wall in life. The number one answer was Mr.Children's 'Owari naki tabi'. The reason given by those polled was that they could sympathize with the lyrics and that they are also encouraged by them. It is considered to be a "campaign song of life." Mr.Children's other song 'Namonaki uta' tied for 5th place in the poll.  Source: Oricon 06.02.08 For the 2008 MTV Video Music Awards in Japan, U2's Bono presented the duo with the 'Rock The World' award for their work with ap bank. When introducing Sakurai and Kobayashi, Bono said "I am honored for my message to be passed on here. It is a prize suitable for the party who keeps reciting a wonderful message that all can resonate through rock named the 'Rock The World Award' that I introduce." The award was handed to Sakurai who said "I think this award could be won thanks to the endorsement of ap bank by all artists. Thank you very much really." 
 Source: MTV Japan (credit to glacial @ JPM) 06.01.08 LuckyRaccoon has come and gone, and with it Sakurai sang some songs. As a solo act he sung 'My Way' by Frank Sinatra and '50 nengo mo' by KAN. KAN himself performed Mr.Children's 'Dakishimetai' and 'Itsudemo hohoemi wo' with Sakurai doing the chorus. For their final song, Sakurai did cover of 'Eien' by KAN. Their set started with KAN doing a piano introduction and Sakurai playing a little of 'Shirushi'. According to those who attended the show, Sakurai was dressed in a matador's costume, with a hat, and even red socks. KAN made a joke about people expecting them to come dressed as a pilot and flight attendant. Source: LuckyRaccoon Night 2 attenders <-- Go Back - OLD NEWS - |