KAT-TUN
KAT-TUN is a Johnny's Entertainment boy band composed of 6 members.
Contents
From Wiki.theppn
Members
Information
The group name came from the first letter of each of the members names and the boys often seat themselves accordingly during interviews. The pronunciation is supposedly close to the English word "cartoon" (or kah-toon). The youngest member of KAT-TUN, Kamenashi Kazuya is considered the group's unofficial "leader".
The group was formed in 2001 by Kinki Kids member Domoto Koichi and they worked as his backup dancers before moving on to singing and performing on their own. For five years they performed during concerts and on TV, gaining many fans, yet strangely did not have an official debut. However, in February 2006 it was announced that the group would debut on March 22nd with their single Real Face and album Best of KAT-TUN. Real Face sold 754,234 copies in its first week, surpassing the record held by ARASHI for most copies of a debut single sold in the first week and giving it the #1 position in the yearly charts. As of May 22nd, 2006, it has sold over a million copies.
Later in August of 2006, KAT-TUN hosted the 24 Jikan Terebi (24 Hour TV) charity event. This program was the second most watched 24 Jikan Terebi program in the charity's history, with a peak viewer ship of 32.8% and an average of 17.7% in the Kantou Region of Japan. The program raised ¥300 million for charity ($2.6 Million USD). The shirts worn by all participants in the program were designed by Nakamaru, himself.
In early October 2006 rumors spread that Akanishi Jin was going to go on hiatus from the band to study English in the US. On Friday 13th of that month there was a press conference confirming that the rumors were in-fact true. It was revealed that member Akanishi Jin would be taking a hiatus in order to study abroad for a minimum of six months, therefore he would not be included in the next single's release as he did not record on the single and would not be on the cover.
In November of 2006, the group would have released their third single PURE ONE including the theme songs of the drama Tatta Hitotsu no Koi as well as the theme song of Sapuri "your smile", which had previously only been named "Opening Theme". They did release a "music box" collection album with their popular songs redone in a relaxing music box style. However the single's date was pushed back to December and the track listing changed. KAT-TUN officially announced that they will continue as a five person group for the time being. KAT-TUN's 3rd Single Bokura no Machi de was released December 7, 2006.
On April 18th of 2007, KAT-TUN released their second album. The First Press Limited Edition includes a CD containing 7 of their pre-debut songs and the Normal Edition includes the unreleased theme song used for the J-drama Sapuri, now titled "YOU". The album artwork did not feature Jin but he is featured on some of the audio of the album.
On April 19th it was announced that Jin would be returning to KAT-TUN and this was further described in a press conference on the 20th. Jin soon joined the KAT-TUN concert series and began working as an active member again. KAT-TUN's 4th single, Yorokobi no Uta was released on June 6th and is the theme to the J-drama Tokkyu Tanaka 3 go, which stars Tanaka Koki.
KAT-TUN's 5th single Keep the faith was released on November 21, 2007. The song is used as the theme for the J-drama Yukan Club, which stars Akanishi Jin and Taguchi Junnosuke, as well as Kanjani8 member Yokoyama Yu.
Their sixth single LIPS is due to be released on February 6, 2008. This song will be used for Kamenashi Kazuya's new J-drama opening theme song 1 Pound no Fukuin, also starring Hey! Say! JUMP member Yamada Ryosuke.
Discography
Singles
| # | Title | Release date | Peak Position | Debut | Overall |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 2006.03.22 | #1 | 754,234 | 1,038,430 | |
| 2 | 2006.07.19 | #1 | 450,752 | 566,233 | |
| 3 |
Bokura no Machi de (僕らの街で) |
2006.12.07 | #1 | 410,103 | 558,491 |
| 4 |
Yorokobi no Uta (喜びの歌) |
2007.06.06 | #1 | 300,396 | 371,628 |
| 5 | 2007.11.21 | #1 | 350,863 | 455,194 | |
| 6 | 2008.02.06 | #1 | 324,119 |
Albums
| # | Title | Release date | First week sales | Total sales |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 2006.03.22 | 556,548 | 743,359 | |
| 2 | 2007.04.18 | 270,976 | 354,973 |
DVD
- [2003.02.26] 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！！)
- [2004.08.11] DREAM BOY
- [2005.04.20] SUMMARY of Johnny's World
- [2005.05.03] KAT-TUN Live Kaizokuban (海賊帆)
- [2006.03.22] Real Face Film
- [2006.06.28] DREAM BOYS
- [2007.04.11] Live of KAT-TUN "Real Face"
- [2007.11.21] TOUR 2007 cartoon KAT-TUN II You
Other Works
Plays & Musicals
- 2004 DREAM BOY
- 2004 SUMMARY of Johnnys World with NEWS
- 2005 Hey!Say! Dream boy! with Kanjani8
- 2006 DREAM BOYS with Kanjani8
- 2007 DREAM BOYS 2007 (Kamenashi, Tanaka)
CMs
- [2002] Lotte Crunky
- [2003] Lotte Crunky
- [2003] Lotte +X Green Apple and Red Berry
- [2004] Lotte Crunky
- [2004] Lotte +X Blue Citrus
- [2005] Lotte +X Pink Berry
- [2005] Lotte Crunky
- [2005] Rohto Lip Gloss
- [2005] World Grand Champions Cup 2005
- [2005] Rohto C³
- [2005] Lotte +X
- [2005] Lotte +X Gold Pineapple
- [2006] SKY PerfecTV!
- [2006] Mario DDR (Kamenashi Kazuya & Akanishi Jin)
- [2007] 903iTV DoCoMo (Kamenashi Kazuya)
- [2007] Lotte Crunky (Kamenashi Kazuya)
- [2007] Lotte +X Magic Kiwi
Television Shows
- Cartoon KAT-TUN (April 4th, 2007 ~ Present)
