Axia (album)

Axia (アクシア, Akushia, usually stylized AXIA) is the debut studio album from Yuki Saito, released on June 21, 1985 by Canyon Records. It reached #6 on the Oricon charts, and has been repackaged and rereleased twice. It contains six original songs and four which had previously been released as singles.

AXIA
Studio album by
Yuki Saito
ReleasedJune 21, 1985 (1985-06-21)
GenreJ-pop
Length43:03
LabelCanyon Records
ProducerKazuhiro Nagaoka
Yuki Saito chronology
AXIA
(1985)		 The Special Series: Saito Yuki
(1985)
Singles from Axia
  1. "Sotsugyō"
    Released: February 12, 1985
  2. "Shiroi Honō"
    Released: May 21, 1985

History

Axia was released on LP and cassette on June 21, 1985 by Canyon Records. The album was released two weeks later on CD on July 5, 1985. The album collects four songs released previously as singles as well as six additional songs. It reached #3 on the Oricon charts and sold 287,000 copies.[1]

"Sotsugyō" (卒業, lit. "Graduation"), released as a single with "Seishun" (青春, lit. "Youth"), reached #6 on the Oricon charts,[2] and #6 on The Best Ten chart. "Sotsugyō" was composed by Kyōhei Tsutsumi, arranged by Satoshi Takebe, with lyrics by Takashi Matsumoto.

The B-side, Seishun (青春, lit. Youth), was composed by Tsutsumi, arranged by Masataka Matsutoya, with lyrics by Matsumoto.[notes 1] "Seishun" was used in commercials for the home video release of the Fuji TV 1985 drama series Yakyū-kyō no Uta (野球狂の詩) in which Saito starred.[1][3]

"Shiroi Honō" (白い炎, lit. "White Blaze") was released as a single with "Shabon-iro no Natsu" (石鹸＜シャボン＞色の夏, lit. "Soap Bubble-colored Summer"), reaching #5 on the Oricon charts[1] and #10 on The Best Ten chart. "Shiroi Honō" had lyrics by Yukinojō Mori, with the music composed by Kōji Tamaki and arranged by Takebe. "Shabon-iro no Natsu" also has lyrics by Mori, and was composed by Toshio Kamei and arranged by Takebe.[notes 1] It was used as the theme song for the first Sukeban Deka television drama series, in which Saito also starred as the main character, Saki.[4]

"Axia: Kanashii Kotori" (AXIA 〜かなしいことり〜, Akushia: Kanashii Kotori, lit. "Axia: Sorrowful Little Bird") was used in commercials for the Axia brand of cassette tapes from Fujifilm in Japan.[1] Natsuo Giniro composed the song and wrote the lyrics, and Takebe arranged the music.[notes 1]

Axia has been rereleased twice since the original release in 1985. It was released as a "Gold CD" on March 21, 1989 (catalog #D35A-0476),[1] and in a special paper jacket packaging and remastered high quality (or "HQ") CD on August 5, 2009 (catalog #PCCA-50132).[5]

Chart history
Chart (1985) Release Peak
position
Oricon "Axia" 3

Track listing

LP (catalog #C28A0416, released June 21, 1985)
Cassette (catalog #28P6438, released June 21, 1985)

Side A
No.TitleLyricsMusicLength
1."Sotsugyō (卒業)"Takashi MatsumotoKyōhei Tsutsumi (composer)
Satoshi Takebe (arranger)		4:46
2."Shabon-iro no Natsu (石鹸＜シャボン＞色の夏)"Yukinojō MoriToshio Kamei (composer)
Satoshi Takebe (arranger)		4:15
3."Seishun (青春)"Takashi MatsumotoKyōhei Tsutsumi (composer)
Masataka Matsutoya (arranger)		3:51
4."Finale no Kaze (フィナーレの風)"Fuyuko MoroboshiShigeru Amano (composer)
Satoshi Takebe (arranger)		3:51
5."Axia: Kanashii Kotori (AXIA 〜かなしいことり〜)"Natsuo GiniroNatsuo Giniro (composer)
Satoshi Takebe (arranger)		4:35
Side B
No.TitleLyricsMusicLength
1."Shiroi Honō (白い炎)"Yukinojō MoriKōji Tamaki (composer)
Satoshi Takebe (arranger)		4:12
2."Jōkyũsei (上級生)"Shun TaguchiRyō Matsuda (composer)
Satoshi Takebe (arranger)		4:38
3."Te no Hira no Kikyūfune (手のひらの気球船)"Shun TaguchiToshio Kamei (composer)
Satoshi Takebe (arranger)		4:38
4."Kanshō Romance (感傷ロマンス)"Fuyuko MoroboshiShigeru Amano (composer)
Satoshi Takebe (arranger)		4:11
5."Ame no Roadshow (雨のロードショー)"Etsuko KisugiTakao Kisugi (composer)
Satoshi Takebe (arranger)		4:06
Total length:43:03

CD (catalog #D32A-0096, released July 5, 1985)
Gold CD (catalog #D35A-0476, released March 21, 1989)
HQ CD (catalog #PCCA-50132, released August 5, 2009)[5]

No.TitleLyricsMusicLength
1."Sotsugyō (卒業)"Takashi MatsumotoKyōhei Tsutsumi (composer)
Satoshi Takebe (arranger)		4:46
2."Kessen-iro no Natsu (石鹸色の夏)"Yukinojō MoriToshio Kamei (composer)
Satoshi Takebe (arranger)		4:15
3."Seishun (青春)"Takashi MatsumotoKyōhei Tsutsumi (composer)
Masataka Matsutoya (arranger)		3:51
4."Finale no Kaze (フィナーレの風)"Fuyuko MoroboshiShigeru Amano (composer)
Satoshi Takebe (arranger)		3:51
5."Axia: Kanashii Kotori (AXIA 〜かなしいことり〜)"Natsuo GiniroNatsuo Giniro (composer)
Satoshi Takebe (arranger)		4:35
6."Shiroi Honō (白い炎)"Yukinojō MoriKōji Tamaki (composer)
Satoshi Takebe (arranger)		4:12
7."Jōkyũsei (上級生)"Shun TaguchiRyō Matsuda (composer)
Satoshi Takebe (arranger)		4:38
8."Te no Hira no Kikyūfune (手のひらの気球船)"Shun TaguchiToshio Kamei (composer)
Satoshi Takebe (arranger)		4:38
9."Kanshō Romance (感傷ロマンス)"Fuyuko MoroboshiShigeru Amano (composer)
Satoshi Takebe (arranger)		4:11
10."Ame no Roadshow (雨のロードショー)"Etsuko KisugiTakao Kisugi (composer)
Satoshi Takebe (arranger)		4:06
Total length:43:03

Notes
  1. These individuals are all listed on the album cover as well as the label on the vinyl EP itself.

References
  1. シングル - 斉藤由貴　非公式ホームページ [Singles - Yuki Saito Unofficial Homepage] (in Japanese). 内藤佑輔. Archived from the original on November 17, 2012. Retrieved January 15, 2013.
  2. ""卒業"ソング、売上No.1シングルは？" ["Graduation" song, selling as a No. 1 single?]. Oricon Style. Retrieved January 14, 2013.
  3. "TV 野球狂の詩" [TV - Yakyūkyō no Uta] (in Japanese). AllCinema. Retrieved January 15, 2013.
  4. "Yuki Saito". LDS Films. Retrieved July 25, 2006.
  5. "斉藤由貴 AXIA(紙ジャケ+HQCD)" [Yuki Saito - Axia (paper jacket + HQCD)] (in Japanese). Pony Canyon. January 11, 2013. Archived from the original on 2016-03-04. Retrieved January 15, 2013.
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