| Touch Me! | |
| Type: | Studio |
| Artist: | Mai Kuraki |
| Cover: | Touchme_reg.jpg |
| Alt: | A young woman, who has her hands up and smiling. The words "touch Me!" is written pasted her body in pink. |
| Recorded: | 2008 |
| Genre: | Pop, R&B |
| Length: | 47:26 |
| Label: | Northern Music |
| Producer: | Mai Kuraki, Daiko Nagato |
| Prev Title: | One Life |
| Prev Year: | 2008 |
| Next Title: | All My Best |
| Next Year: | 2009 |
Touch Me! is the Japanese singer-songwriter Mai Kuraki's eighth studio album, which was released on January 21, 2009, in Japan by her record label Northern Music. The album was released in two formats; the regular single CD version and a limited CD+DVD version, whose content contained a behind the scenes look at the making of the album, as well as an interview and clips from her 2008 tour. The album follows the same pattern as "One Life", in which Kuraki collaborated with new composers.
Three singles were released from the album; the first, "Yume ga Saku Haru/You and Music and Dream," which debuted at number five on the Oricon single weekly chart. The second single and third single were, "Ichibyōgoto ni Love for You" and "24 Xmas Time". Both singles charted at number seven on the Oricon charts.
Selling 50,250 units in its first week, the album debuted at the number-one on the Oricon album weekly chart, becoming Kuraki's first album in five years to appear at the top spot.
Released on January 21, 2009, in both Japan and Taiwan, the album proved to be successful in both countries. In Japan, Touch Me! debuted at number-one on the Oricon album daily chart.[1] [2] By the end of the charting week, the album took the number-one spot on the Oricon album weekly at number-one with 50,250 units sold in its first week.[3] [4] This made Touch Me! Kuraki's first number-one album in five years, with this last occurring with her first best of album, Wish You the Best (2004).
In Taiwan, the album debuted at number-one on the J-Pop music chart, with 8.75% of the sales on the chart.[5] The album stayed atop of the chart in its second and third week, with 6.55% and 4.38% of the sales, respectively.[6] [7] In its fourth week on the chart, Touch Me! was pushed down to number three, with 2.28% of the sales. The first and second place was occupied by Korean pop boy band TVXQ's twenty-fifth Japanese-language single, "Bolero/Kiss the Baby Sky/Wasurenaide" and the Ponyo soundtrack.[8] However, on the Combo chart, the album debuted at number twelve, with 0.66% of sales.[9] By the second week, the album dropped to number twenty, selling 0.44%.[10]
The first single from the album was the double A-side, "Yume ga Saku Haru/You and Music and Dream" which was released on March 19, 2008. The single debuted at number five on the Oricon weekly chart, selling 20,390 units in the first week.[11] The second single, "Ichibyōgoto ni Love for You", was released on July 9, 2008. The single debuted at number seven on charts and sold 21,061 units in its first week.[12] The third and final single from the album was "24 Xmas Time", which was released on November 26, 2008. Like the previous single, "24 Xmas Time" also charted at number seven selling it sold 21,002 units in its first week, 59 units less than "Ichibyōgoto ni Love for You".[13]
| Chart (2009) | Peak position | Certification (threshold) |
|---|---|---|
| Japan Oricon album Daily Chart | 1 | Gold[14] |
| Japan Oricon album Weekly Chart | 1 |
| Country | Date | Label | Format | Catalog |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Japan | Northern Music | CD+DVD | VNCM-9004[15] | |
| CD | VNCM-9005[16] | |||
| Taiwan | SK-Being | CD | SBCA-9001[17] | |
| Korea[18] | CJ E&M | CMAC-8387 | ||