B-side "Dear My Teacher" Genre J-Pop, Pop Label AKS, Avex Distribution | Format CD Single Length 5:24 | |
Released February 1, 2006 (2006-02-01) | ||
"Sakura no Hanabiratachi" (桜の花びらたち, Cherry Blossom Petals) is Japanese idol group AKB48's debut single, released independently through AKS on February 1, 2006. The single was the highest debuting girl group single since Morning Musume's "Morning Coffee", released in 1998. The song was composed by Hiroshi Uesugi and written by Yasushi Akimoto. The song was re-recorded and released again in 2008 as the group's final single with major label DefStar Records. The song was sung by the original 21 members of AKB48 that later formed Team A. Center of 2006 version was Minami Takahashi. while 2008 version was Minami Takahashi and Maeda Atsuko.
Contents
Promotion
The launching of "Sakura no Hanabiratachi" was held on February 1, 2006, at the AKB48 theater. During this event, a video presentation of the events that occurred during the formation of Team A was shown. 20 Members of AKB48 Team A then performed "Sakura no Hanabiratachi" and "Dear My Teacher," and later introduced themselves one by one to the public. Notable during this event was the absence of Tomomi Ōe due to school activities.
The song was used as the theme song of the TBS drama Desu yo Nee., along with being used in videophone commercials for NTT docomo. The B-side "Dear My Teacher" was used as the ending theme song for the variety show Mitake Uranai.
The re-released version had several tie-ups. The lead track was used as an ending theme song for the variety show Arabiki-dan, while the B-side "Saigo no Seifuku" was used as an image song for the 26th Yokohama International Women's Ekiden.
2008 version
Inviting Team K and Team B members to join this song, a new, 2008 version, "Sakura no Habiratachi 2008" (桜の花びらたち2008), was created. A poster was given for a purchase of any version of this single at the AKB48 Theater Café. Having only one member from AKB48 on each poster, there were a total of 44 different types of posters. These posters were handed out randomly to any purchaser. Anyone who has collected all 44 types were invited to a Spring Festival by AKB48. However, DefSTAR Records later announced that this offer would be cancelled due to the fact that this scandal, attracting purchasers by offering a special reward that would cost lots of money to achieve.
A special B-side is featured on the type B limited edition, where the song is rearranged into a school choir pieces.
2010 version
"Sakura no Hanabiratachi HaruUta 2010 Special" (桜の花びらたち 春うた2010スペシャル), with special lyrics written by Yasushi Akimoto applied at the very last part of the song, was sung by the members appeared on "HaruUta 2010" (春うた2010, Spring Songs 2010), live broadcast on March 27, 2010 by NHK.
2015 version
For the group's 10th anniversary, a new version of the song (along with Skirt, Hirari) was recorded for the opening track of upcoming album 0 to 1 no Aida, featuring current members.
Reception
The single debuted at #10 in its first week, with 22,000 copies sold. It charted for a further three weeks in the top 50, before finally leaving the top 200 eight weeks after its initial chart entry (in that time selling double the first week).
The 2008 version was less commercially successful. While it also debuted at #10 with 22,000 copies sold in its first week, it only spent a single week in the top 50, leaving the charts five weeks after its initial week and selling a total of 25,000 copies.
This single was AKB48's most sold single from their independent period and time under major label DefStar Records. This was broken by their first single with King Records in 2008, "Ōgoe Diamond," which sold over 80,000 copies.