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Ayaka Nishiwaki (A-chan), Ayano Omoto (Nocchi) & Yuka Kashino (Kashiyuka)
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Perfume
(パフューム)
is an all-girl electro-pop trio from Hiroshima. In their beginning
years, they had a hard time reaching out to the audience, so they
tried various styles. They started with idol pop and ended with
techno-pop. Despite having troubles at the start, they are now a top
seller in the J-Pop industry. Similar artists are capsule and Aira
Mitsuki (アイラ
ミツキ ).
The group
was formed in 2000 by Ayaka Nishiwaki (A-chan), Yuka Kashino
(Kashiyuka) and Yuuka Kawashima (Kawayuka). They knew each other
because all of them attended the same school. Since all members had
the Japanese character for fragrance in their names (香),
they decided to name the group “Perfume”. Before the group could
even make their local debut, Yuuka Kawashima dropped out because she
wanted to focus on her studies.
The
remaining members wanted to continue as a duo, but Ayaka's mother
said that their two-member group lacked power. Ayaka was then
determined to find a replacement. Soon after Ayano Omoto (Nocchi)
joined as the third member. All of the Perfume members attended the
Actors School in Hiroshima. After Ayaka had introduced Ayano to Yuka
they became a tight group.
On March 21,
2002, Perfume debuted in Hiroshima with their single
“OMAJINAI★Perori”. On November 1 their second single “Kareshi
Boshuuchuu” followed. Both of the singles were only sold in
Hiroshima under “Momiji Label”. It was also around this time that
they met Mikiko, a choreographer who is in charge of coordinating
Perfume's dances from this point forward.
In 2003 the
girls graduated from the Actors School and moved to Tokyo. They
became part of a project called “Bee-Hive” and signed with the
management office “Amuse Inc”. During their stay at the dormitory
the girls experienced what it was like to be away from home. They
made friends but also learned valuable lessons.
During their
stay in Tokyo, the girls met Nakata Yasutaka from the electronic duo
“capsule”. He would become Perfume's main producer. Between 2003
& 2004 they released singles “Sweet Donuts”, “Monochrome
Effect”, and “Vitamin Drop” under the indie record label
“Bee-Hive Records”. Around this time Perfume also held their
first three live performances. Their energy on stage was appreciated
by the audience. However, none of their releases were hits. Only a
few people showed up for a live so they struggled to build a fanbase.
The members felt the pressure of their lack of success but they chose
to continue. Even though they were in danger of being dropped, the
management decided to let Perfume make a major debut.
In August
2005, the group experimented with the Akihabara music style. They
released the special single “Akihabalove” featuring “DJ Momo-i”
on August 29. Along with the CD came a DVD with the promotional
video, but the single was not a part of their official releases. The
group also held a couple of surprise live street performances in
Akihabara.
September
21, 2005, was the date of Perfume's major debut under label “Tokuma
Japan Communications”. With the debut came the release of single
“Linear Motor Girl”. The debut single peaked at #99 on the Oricon
charts.
In 2006 two
more singles followed. People started to discover Perfume through
internet rumors and YouTube videos. Thanks to Nakata Yasutaka,
Perfume was labeled as “Technopop of the future”. They got the
label because of the science fiction-like themes and their potential.
On August 2,
2006, a best of album was released. “Perfume ~Complete Best~”
also featured a new track called “Perfect Star, Perfect Style”.
To promote the album, the girls went to small events in stores and
handed out flyers on the streets to passersby. Originally the album
peaked a #33 on the charts, but when album “Game” was released it
climbed up to #25. The best of album also worried the fans. Usually
when a group releases a compilation before having a major hit, they
will disband soon after. Later that year, on December 20, Perfume
released a digital single called “Twinkle Snow Powdery Snow”. A
day later the group held a concert at “Harajuku Astro Hall”.
“Amuse
Inc” started to drop a lot of “Bee-Hive” members, but they gave
Perfume the opportunity to release another single. On February 14,
2007, “Fan Service [sweet]” was released. With this release the
tables were turning. The sales for the single weren't that great, but
the track “Chocolate Disco” caught the attention of Kaela Kimura.
She regularly played Perfume's music on her radio show. Commercial
director Akira Tomotsugi noticed the girls while listening to Kaela's
radio show. He decided to use Perfume for an upcoming TV ad.
Later in
2007, on July 1, Perfume's new song “Polyrhythm” was featured in
NHK's commercial for national recycling. Thanks to the commercial
they gained a lot of new fans. Their next live show was sold out,
“Perfume ~Complete Best~” was the #1 on the Amazon CD charts and
Perfume was the first idol group to perform at the “Summer Sonic”
festival. On September 12 single “Polyrhythm” was finally
released. The single peaked at #4 on the Oricon daily single charts
and claimed the #7 spot on the weekly charts. This is noted as the
beginning of Perfume's national fame.
On January 16, 2008, single “Baby Cruising Love
/ Macaroni” was released. It was even more successful than “
Polyrhythm” since it peaked at #3 on the weekly Oricon charts. A
total of 50 000 copies were sold. April 16 was the release date of
Perfume's first original album “GAME”. Short after it's release
it claimed the #1 spot on the charts. They were the first technopop
group to achieve this since “YELLOW MAGIC ORCHESTRA” in 1983.
Over 450 000 copies of “GAME” were sold so the album was
certified double platinum.
With
the success of “GAME” it was announced that the group would go on
tour. They took “Perfume First Tour "GAME"” to 10
cities and sold out tickets for every show. On the final tour day the
girls announced that they would hold a two day show at the “Nippon
Budokan” in November 2008. They also said that new single “love
the world” would be released on July 9. In October the DVD of
Perfume's first tour was released. The sales beat those of more
famous artists like Koda Kumi and Namie Amuro. On November 6 & 7
Perfume held their two day show, “Budoukaaaaaaaaaan!!!!!” at
“Nippon Budokan”. During the second show the girls announced that
they would also perform at the famous “Yoyogi National Gymnasium”.
The title for that show was “Disco!Disco!Disco!”. The year 2008
finished with the release of single “Dream Fighter” on November
19. “Dream Fighter” peaked at #2 on the Oricon charts. Perfume
was also chosen to sing at NHK's 59th “Kouhaku Uta Gassen”, the
prestigious end of the year live TV show.
The
year 2009 had a good start. On March 24 the PV for “Dream Fighter”
won the title of “Best choreography video” at Space Shower
TV「MUSIC
VIDEO AWARDS 09」.
A day later Perfume released the single “One Room Disco”, which
topped the charts. In April the broadcasting of the group's variety
show, “Perfume's Chandelier House”, aired. Three months later, on
July 8, the girls released their third album “⊿ (Triangle)”.
This album was also a success since it was a #1 hit which had sold
over 300 000 copies. To further promote the album, Perfume went on
their second nationwide tour. Perfume's year ended with a performance
at NHK 60th
“Kouhaku Uta Gassen”.
Single
“Fushizen na Girl / Natural ni Koishite” was released on April
14, 2010. Yet another succes for Perfume. The single peaked at #2. It
was also announced that the group would hold a fanclub-exclusive tour
called “P.T.A. Spring 2010 Tour”. After the “P.T.A.” tour
Ayaka stated that she was interested in performing at the “Tokyo
Dome”. Not too long after, there was announcement that Perfume
would perform at the prestigious venue. The show was called “Kessei
10 Shunen, Major Debut 5 Shunen Kinen! Perfume LIVE at Tokyo Dome 「1
2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11」”.
During
the summer Perfume and other artists were featured in a commercial
for “Pepsi NEX”. In the commercial they covered a small part of
“Lovefool” by “The Cardigans”. To celebrate their 10 year
anniversary, Perfume released their single “VOICE” on August 11.
This release peaked at #2 and sold over 120 000 copies. The titular
song was also used for a “Nissan” advert. On November 10 single
“Nee” followed. This single reached #2 on the Oricon charts and
debuted with sales of 85,000 copies.
The
“Tokyo Dome” live, to celebrate the 10 year anniversary, finally
happened on November 3, 2010. Perfume was the first female group to
have a concert at the dome since “SPEED” in 1998 and the second
female group overall. Tickets for the show were sold out on the
release date. The demand for the tickets was so high that extra,
unplanned seats were added. On November 28 Perfume attended the
Korean awards show “Mnet! Asian Music Awards” in Macau. They
received the “Best Asia Pop Artist Award”. It was the group's
first overseas performance and the first time that a Japanese artist
had attended the awards in person. To round up 2010, Perfume attended
plenty of end of the year shows. Once again they were invited for
“Kouhaku Uta Gassen”.
2011
kicked off with the release of DVD “Kessei 10 Shunen, Major Debut 5
Shunen Kinen! Perfume LIVE at Tokyo Dome 「1
2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11」”
on February 9.
The DVD debuted at #1 on the Oricon Weekly DVD charts and Perfume
became the first female group to have four consecutive #1 debuts on
the DVD chart. On May 18 single “Laser Beam / Kasuka na Kaori”
went on sale. Yet another single that peaked at #2 on the charts and
sold over 90 000 copies in its first week. “Laser Beam” was also
featured in a “Kirin” juice ad.
Song
“Polyrhythm” was chosen as an inserted song for Pixar's movie,
“Cars 2”. The song was also included in the film's soundtrack.
Perfume was invited, to the world premiere of “Cars 2” in Los
Angeles on June 18, 2011. In July Perfume's song “Glitter” was
used for another Kirin ad. On October 15, Perfume and Japanese band
AAA represented Japan at the “2011 Asia Song Festival”, which was
held in Daegu, South Korea. They performed alongside Korean acts
Super Junior, Girls' Generation, Beast and Lee Seung-gi, Chinese
singers Zhou Bichang and Leo Ku, Taiwanese singer Peter Ho and Thai
singer Tata Young. On November 2 single “Spice” went on sale. The
title track was used as the theme song for the drama series
“Sengyoshufu Tantei”. Fourth album “JPN” followed on November
30. The album claimed the #1 spot on the Oricon charts, making
Perfume the first girl group to have 3 consecutive #1 albums releases
since “SPEED”. To end 2011, they once again attended “Kouhaku
Uta Gassen”.
Near
the end of February 2012, Perfume announced that they had changed
record labels. They had switched from “Tokuma Japan Communications”
to “Universal Music Japan”. With this change they hoped to enter
the global market. Album “JPN” got released in 50 countries
through the iTunes store, an official global website was launched and
an official YouTube channel was created. Single “Spring of Life”
was released on April 11 and once again used for a Kirin ad. The
commercial was shot in Los Angeles, and this would be the first time
Perfume would shoot a video overseas.
In
March they also released a tie-in from Kirin with a new song called
“POINT”. The song was also used in May to promote Kirin. On May
18 Perfume gave their first English interview to “Japan Times
Online”. During the interview they discussed K-pop, their move from
“Tokuma Japan” to “Universal Music”, going to America for the
first time and their desire to perform internationally. The girls
also hosted the “MTV Video Music Awards Japan 2012” on June 23.
On
June 6th another CM was released, featuring the song “Hurly Burly”.
A few months later, on August 15, single “Spending all my time”
went on sale. Perfume's first global album, “Perfume Global
Compilation "LOVE THE WORLD"” was released on September
12. They also went on their very first Asian tour and visited Taiwan,
Singapore, Hong Kong and South Korea. The tour finished near the end
of November. Perfume also represented Japan at the first “ABU TV
Song Festival 2012” which was scheduled at the “KBS Concert
Hall”, in Seoul, South Korea on October 14. The song they performed
was “Spring of Life”.
February
27, 2013, was the release date of “Mirai no Museum”. The title
song was used for the “Doraemon” movie “Nobita no Himitsu Dougu
Hakubutsukan (Museum)”. It was another single that claimed the #2
spot on the charts. In March there was an announcement that Perfume
would hold a tour called “Zutto Sukidattanjake~ Sasurai no Men Kata
Perfume FES!!”. The tour had a “Battle of Bands” concept so
three other acts (Saito Kazuyoshi, Okuda Tamio, and MAXIMUM THE
HORMONE) were invited. There would be 6 shows spread across Tokyo,
Nagoya and Osaka.
The
single “Magic of Love” and DVD “Perfume WORLD TOUR 1st” were
both released on May 22. In April, the group announced that they
would hold a second world tour in July. They visited Europe for a
total of three concerts in Germany, England and France. The London
show was sold out almost immediately after going on sale. The venue
was upgraded to a larger one, but once again, it was sold out very
quickly. The London show was live streamed to theaters in 10
countries including Japan, Thailand, Indonesia, China, Taiwan,
Singapore, Korea, Brazil, Mexico, and the USA. On June 20, Perfume
was invited to “Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity”
to perform and present the “Perfume Global Site Project”, which
received a Silver Lion Award in Cyber Lions category.
On the
final date of their “Zutto Sukidattanjake~ Sasurai no Men Kata
Perfume FES!!” tour, Perfume announced the release of their fourth
album called “LEVEL3”. It will be released in the fall of this
year. In December they will play four Dome Concerts. They also
announced all 6 of their previous live DVD releases would be
re-released on Blu-Ray.
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