Oshi-Katsu Chronicle 2003: "Sekai ni Hitotsu Dake no Hana," Winter Sonata, Tenimyu, and Fans Start Blogging
In 2003, SMAP’s “Sekai ni Hitotsu Dake no Hana” (“The Only Flower in the World”) became a huge hit, and the Hanshin Tigers won their league title for the first time in 18 years.
The Korean drama Winter Sonata aired in Japan for the first time, and the manga The Prince of Tennis was brought to the stage. Blog services, which let you post your own writing online, also multiplied.
“Sekai ni Hitotsu Dake no Hana” Passes 2 Million Copies
On March 5, SMAP released “Sekai ni Hitotsu Dake no Hana (Single Version).” On Oricon, Japan’s standard music sales chart, it passed 1 million copies in its second week and 2 million in the issue dated August 4, its 21st week. It also finished No. 1 on the annual singles ranking. ORICON NEWS (in Japanese)
It also ranked No. 1 on the annual karaoke chart, so people were not just buying and listening to the CD but singing it themselves. By 2019 it had spent a total of 184 weeks in the top 100 of Oricon’s weekly chart, the longest run of any single. ORICON NEWS (in Japanese)
- 1 million
- Copies passed in the second week
- 2 million
- Copies passed by the 21st week
- No. 1
- On the annual singles ranking
A single kept selling from March into summer.
Source: ORICON NEWS (in Japanese)
- March 5
Single released
Debuted at No. 1 on Oricon's weekly ranking.
- Week 2
Passes 1 million copies
Was a big hit right after release.
- August
Passes 2 million in the issue dated August 4
Sales continued from spring into summer.
The CD would later be tied to fan support again. After reports in 2016 that SMAP would disband, a movement among fans urging people to buy it spread, and by December that year it had passed 3 million copies in total. ORICON NEWS (in Japanese)
Discovering Korean Actors Through Winter Sonata
From April to September, the Korean drama Winter Sonata aired on NHK’s satellite channel BS2. It is a romance starring Bae Yong-joon and Choi Ji-woo. This was its first broadcast in Japan, and it was rebroadcast at the end of the year. Fujin Koron.jp (in Japanese)
In South Korea it had aired from January to March 2002. When Bae Yong-joon later made his first visit to Japan, about 5,000 fans gathered at Haneda Airport. Fujin Koron.jp (in Japanese)
But the 2003 broadcast was on satellite. The airing on terrestrial NHK General, which more households could watch, came the following year, 2004. The popularity of Winter Sonata did not spread nationwide with a single broadcast; it grew through repeated rebroadcasts.
Tenimyu Opens: Seeing Manga Characters in the Theater
On April 30, the first run of the musical The Prince of Tennis began, known by its nickname “Tenimyu.” The source was a manga about the tennis matches and growth of middle-school students. Tenimyu official blog (in Japanese)
On stage, actors play the manga’s characters and express the matches through song and dance too.
Tenimyu became an important series for understanding the culture of 2.5D, the name for stage shows based on manga and anime.
Summer Sonic Sells Out for the First Time: Hearing Japanese and Overseas Bands at One Venue
At Summer Sonic on August 2 and 3, tickets sold out for the first time. The main acts were the British bands Radiohead and Blur. Summer Sonic official site (in Japanese)
At Makuhari Messe, the “SONIC” stage for overseas bands and the “FACTORY” stage for Japanese bands were set facing each other, with the two alternating sets. ORANGE RANGE and ASIAN KUNG-FU GENERATION also appeared on FACTORY.
A feature of the festival was that you could see both overseas headliners and young Japanese bands.
SONIC stage
- Radiohead and Blur as main acts
- Sets alternate with the other stage
FACTORY stage
- ORANGE RANGE and ASIAN KUNG-FU GENERATION
- Young bands heard the same day
Tickets sold out for the first time on August 2 and 3.
ORANGE RANGE had just released “Shanghai Honey” on July 16. ORANGE RANGE official site (in Japanese)
In the visual kei scene, NIGHTMARE made their major debut in August with “-Believe-,” and Dir en grey released VULGAR in September. About NIGHTMARE (in Japanese) / Dir en grey’s releases (in Japanese)
Fullmetal Alchemist: Reading the Manga, Hearing the Voices and Music in the Anime
On October 4, the TV anime Fullmetal Alchemist began airing. It is the story of the brothers Edward and Alphonse, who travel to recover the bodies they lost. Official series chronology (in Japanese) / Production company Bones (in Japanese)
The original manga won the 49th Shogakukan Manga Award the following January. Official series chronology (in Japanese)
The first opening theme was Porno Graffitti’s “Melissa.” A DVD and a game were released at the end of the year as well. Official series chronology (in Japanese)
At Comic Market, the fair for fan-made manga and criticism, Comic Market 64 in summer drew a total of 460,000 attendees and Comic Market 65 in winter 420,000. Both were three-day events. Comic Market Preparation Committee (in Japanese)
Blogs Multiply, Making It Easier to Write Impressions on Your Own Page
From autumn into winter, Japanese blog services such as Doblog, livedoor Blog, Seesaa BLOG and Cocolog appeared one after another. A blog is a system in which each post you publish is lined up in date order and past posts stay available. INTERNET Watch (in Japanese)
Personal home pages and bulletin boards had existed before. With a blog, you could update just by entering text and images on a ready-made screen, cutting the trouble of rebuilding a page yourself. Introduction to Cocolog at the time (in Japanese)
Personal website
Each update meant rebuilding the page yourself.
Blog
You only had to enter text and images on a ready-made screen. Posts lined up by date, and older ones stayed available.
Article on the service launch at the time (in Japanese) / Expansion of eligibility (in Japanese)
Key Events of the Year
- Mar. 5SMAP releases "Sekai ni Hitotsu dake no Hana" (2 million copies as of Aug. 4)Music
- Mar. 13"Final Fantasy X-2" (PS2) is releasedGames
- Mar.The Iraq War begins, and the SARS outbreak becomes a public concernSociety
- Apr.–Sept."Winter Sonata" airs on NHK BS2Media
- Apr. 30The musical "The Prince of Tennis" opensStage
- July 16ORANGE RANGE releases "Shanghai Honey"Music
- Aug. 2–3Summer Sonic 2003 sells out its tickets for the first timeMusic
- Aug. 15–17Comic Market 64 (460,000 total visits over 3 days)Fan works
- Aug. 21NIGHTMARE makes its major debut with "-Believe-"Music
- Sept. 10Dir en grey releases the album "VULGAR"Music
- Sept.The Hanshin Tigers win the Central League pennant for the first time in 18 yearsSports
- Oct. 4TV anime "Fullmetal Alchemist" begins airing (MBS/TBS "Saturday 6" slot)Anime
- Nov.–Dec.Blog services such as livedoor Blog and Cocolog appear one after anotherMedia
- Dec.At the 20th Buzzwords of the Year awards, "Kachitai n ya!" makes the top tenSociety
- Dec. 28–30Comic Market 65 (420,000 total visits over 3 days)Fan works
- Dec. 31At the 45th Japan Record Awards, Ayumi Hamasaki's "No way to say" wins the grand prizeMusic
- SMAP single releasedIt would pass 2 million copies
- Winter Sonata on BS2Broadcast through September
- First Tenimyu runManga characters on stage
- Summer Sonic sells outRadiohead and Blur headline
- Fullmetal Alchemist animeManga lines gain voices
- Cocolog startsBlog services multiply
Fans found new ways to share and revisit what they loved.
The Year’s Buzzword Awards
- Grand PrizeDoku manju ("poisoned bun," a sweet bribe with a catch)
- Hiromu Nonaka (former member of the House of Representatives)
- Grand PrizeNande darou~ ("I wonder why~")
- Tetsu and Tomo (entertainers)
- Grand PrizeManifesto
- Masayasu Kitagawa (professor, Waseda University)
- Top 10Kachitai n ya! ("We wanna win!" in Kansai dialect)
- Sen'ichi Hoshino (former Hanshin Tigers manager)
- Top 10Kome dorobo ("rice thieves")
- No recipient
- Top 10SARS
- No recipient
- Top 10Nenshu 300-man-en (an annual income of 3 million yen)
- Takuro Morinaga (UFJ Institute)
- Top 10Baka no kabe ("The Wall of Stupidity," a bestselling book)
- Takeshi Yoro (professor emeritus, University of Tokyo)
- Top 10Before After (from the TV program Daikaizo!! Gekiteki Before After)
- Midori Kato (TV program narrator)
- Top 10Hee~ (the "wow, I didn't know" response on the TV show Trivia no Izumi)
- Katsumi Takahashi, Tomohito Yashima (program host and actor)
The grand prizes went to “Doku Manju” (“poisoned bun”), “Nande darou~” and “Manifesto.” “Nande darou~” was a phrase known from the routine of the comedy duo Tetsu and Tomo. Jiyu Kokuminsha (in Japanese)
The top ten also included “Kachitai n ya!” (“We want to win!”) from Hanshin manager Senichi Hoshino. Hanshin went 87-51-2 and won the Central League pennant for the first time in 18 years. Nippon Professional Baseball (in Japanese)
In 2004, social networks such as mixi began. It is a year in which systems for showing your connections online, with friends and with others who cheer for the same oshi, started to spread alongside reading what others write.
FAQ
When did "Sekai ni Hitotsu Dake no Hana" pass 2 million copies?
On Oricon it reached 2 million in the issue dated August 4, 2003, in its 21st week on the chart. It had passed 1 million in its second week, and it was also No. 1 on the 2003 annual singles ranking.
When did Winter Sonata air in Japan?
It aired from April to September 2003 on NHK's satellite channel BS2. The broadcast on terrestrial NHK General came the following year, 2004.
What is Tenimyu?
It is the nickname of the musical based on the manga The Prince of Tennis. The first run opened on April 30, 2003, with actors playing the characters and expressing matches and story through song and dance.
What blog services appeared in 2003?
From autumn into winter, Doblog, livedoor Blog, Seesaa BLOG, Cocolog and others launched. Cocolog started on December 2 for connection-service members, and its availability widened on December 17.
When was "Kachitai n ya!" a buzzword?
It was one of the top-ten phrases at the 2003 buzzword awards. The words came from Hanshin Tigers manager Senichi Hoshino, and that year the Tigers won the Central League pennant for the first time in 18 years.
