| Dopa-mint! | |
| Cover: | TJ-TengokuDompamint.jpg |
| Alt: | A paper crane drawn in white, featuring a brain design instead of wings. It is baced with a turquoise and pink background. |
| Caption: | "Tengoku e Yōkoso/Dopa-Mint!" digital EP cover. |
| Type: | single |
| Artist: | Tokyo Jihen |
| Album: | Dai Hakken |
| Recorded: | 2010 |
| Genre: | Pop-rock, alternative rock |
| Label: | EMI Music Japan |
| Prev Title: | Tengoku e Yōkoso |
| Prev Year: | 2010 |
| Next Title: | Sora ga Natteiru |
| Next Year: | 2011 |
[1] is a single by Japanese rock band Tokyo Jihen, led by musician Ringo Sheena. It was released on October 23, 2010, and was used in commercials for Ezaki Glico's Watering Kissmint gum.
In 2009, Tokyo Jihen released the single "Nōdōteki Sanpunkan", which was their first song to feature in commercials for Ezaki Glico's Watering Kissmint brand of gum.[2] The single was commercially successful, peaking at number one on Oricon's singles chart, and being certified gold twice for digital downloads.[3] [4] [5] Tokyo Jihen's song "Kachi Ikusa" from the album Sports served at the second commercial song for the campaign in January 2010.[6]
A week before the single's digital release, Tokyo Jihen had released "Tengoku e Yōkoso", the theme song for the Japanese drama Atami no Sōsakan. Both songs were compiled together on a digital EP.
Two editions of the song exist, the original and the version that appears on Dai Hakken, labelled "Dopa-mint! BPM103", as opposed to the original version's BPM of 199. The original version was eventually released to CD in 2013, on Tokyo Jihen's Hard Disk box set.
The song was recorded in June 2010, after the band had finished their Ultra C tour.[7] Unlike "Tengoku e Yōkoso" which was tailored specifically for the drama Atami no Sōsakan, the band members brought many demos to the recording sessions for everyone to decide which the best one was. Eventually, a song Izawa had written especially was chosen, and the band worked on it through the night right up until the deadline that Ezaki Glico had set.[8] The song was rearranged for Dai Hakken, as it was an album where the band considered the album's arrangement more carefully.[7]
The song served as the third song used in Ezaki Glico's Watering Kissmint advertisement campaign featuring Ringo Sheena as a spokesperson. The commercials began airing on July 27, 2010.[2] Tokyo Jihen were featured in issues of Rockin' On Japan and Switch to promote the release, as well as the NHK program The Star airing an interview with Sheena.[9] The song was first performed at the EMI Rocks festival on November 6, 2010. The band performed the song once during a Tokyo Jihen tour, the 2011 Discovery tour, in which they played the BPM103 version.[10]
In reviewing the BPM103 version, CDJournal reviewers felt the song's development was "unrestrainted", feeling that each member of Tokyo Jihen's abilities could be seen in parts of the song.[11]
| Charts (2010) | Peak position | |
|---|---|---|
| Japan Billboard Adult Contemporary Airplay[12] | 41 | |
| Japan Billboard Japan Hot 100[13] | 36 | |
| Japan RIAJ Digital Track Chart[14] | 38 |
| Region | Date | Format | Distributing Label |
|---|---|---|---|
| Japan | [15] | Digital download | EMI Music Japan |
| Ringtone |