Boku wa Kuma

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“Boku wa Kuma”
“Boku wa Kuma” cover
Single by Utada Hikaru
from the album Heart Station
Released November 22, 2006
Format CD, CD+DVD, CD+Picture Book
Recorded 2006
Genre J-Pop
Length 2:21
Label EMI Music Japan
Writer(s) Utada Hikaru
Utada Hikaru singles chronology
"This Is Love"
(2006)		 "Boku wa Kuma"
(2006)		 "Flavor Of Life"
(2007)

"Boku wa Kuma" (ぼくはくま? lit. I'm a Bear) is Utada Hikaru's 17th Japanese single (24th single overall). The single was released on November 22nd of 2006, just a matter of months after Hikaru's last studio effort, Ultra Blue, and only two months after the end of her tour, Utada United 2006. [1]

Contents

[edit] Overview

"Boku wa Kuma" was her first try at writing a children's song. On October 1, 2006, it aired on the children's music program Minna no Uta on radio , and on TV the day after. Due to strong demand, the song has been planned for continuous rebroadcasting from October 2006 to January 2007 on Minna no Uta. [2]

"Boku wa Kuma" was Utada's first single release to have three different pressings: a limited edition that included a picture book, a standard single and cover, and a CD+DVD combo pack, which included the music video.

The song is about a bear, what he can and cannot do, and what he is not (such as a car, chocolate, etc.). His rival is a fried shrimp.

Utada owns a stuffed bear named Kuma-chan; "kuma" is "bear" in Japanese, and "-chan" is an affectionate suffix added to names. She often posts photos of him on her U3 blog. After discovering the "made in China" tag on Kuma-chan's bottom, he was given the full name of "Kuma Chang" (which is technically pronounced identically to "Kuma-chan" in Japanese anyway). A staff pass was issued to him for the "Utada United 2006." tour. [3]

In June 2006, Utada confessed on her blog that she has "pillow dependence".[4] She calls her pillow "makura-san" (Mr. Pillow). She enjoys the comfort of feeling the pillow against her face, and would even hold the pillow all day long when she's stressed out. She was later surprised to find out there are many "pillow-addicts" out there, and joked about setting up a "pillow club". 'Makura-san' and Kuma are apparently good friends. [5]

[edit] Track listing

  1. Boku wa Kuma
  2. Boku wa Kuma (Original Karaoke)

[edit] Charts

[edit] Oricon sales chart (Japan)

Release Chart Peak Position Sales Total Chart Run
November 22, 2006 Oricon Daily Singles Chart #4
November 22, 2006 Oricon Weekly Singles Chart #4 147,041 copies 22 weeks
November 22, 2006 Oricon Monthly Singles Chart #9
November 22, 2006 Oricon Yearly Singles Chart #127 (2006) 76,785
November 22, 2006 Oricon Yearly Singles Chart #72 (2007) 70,256

[edit] References

  1. ^ Yahoo! Taiwan news article
  2. ^ http://www.nhk.or.jp/minna/ Minna no Uta official site
  3. ^ (Japanese) U3MUSIC INC
  4. ^ (Japanese) U3MUSIC INC
  5. ^ (Japanese) U3MUSIC INC
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Hikaru Utada
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