TSUTAYA's project to support local artists sees the first Tohoku artist, "Nihonjin," achieve the highest opening-day rental numbers in Japan in the past five years!

2014.06.25 Press Releases
Culture Convenience Club Co., Ltd. Tohoku Company

Culture Convenience Club Tohoku Company, which operates TSUTAYA stores in the Tohoku region and elsewhere, is running a "Special Sampler" project from June 20th to support local artists, commemorating the release of a new maxi single by Sendai-based artist "Nihonjin," where customers can receive a free rental CD directly from the artist himself. Over the past five years, GReeeeN held the highest record at TSUTAYA stores nationwide (※1), but on the first day of the event, they achieved 2.8 times the rental number of this record. This is an exceptionally impressive record, considering that it was just an amateur student band.

(※1) Number of rentals of the same product per day at one store.

The lead title of the new maxi single "Nihonjin (Red)" is "Governor," a new song from the "Occupational Song Project" that was produced after a direct interview with Miyagi Prefecture Governor Yoshihiro Murai. In order to revitalize music in Tohoku, these local artists, who continue to sing about ``real'' feelings through interviews with people from various professions, are hoping to spread their efforts nationwide and create a movement, so they have been selected as the first artists to carry out a ``Special Sampler'' project, which will be carried out at 20 stores in Sendai City, starting at the Sendai Ekimae store on June 20th.
TSUTAYA, which is working to discover new artists by connecting with artists and its music section, plans to continue holding various events to support local artists in each region. 　

[Japanese]
A trio based in Sendai formed by M-Cise's Sakuma (Vo), Rucksack's Imai (Gt), and Pension Sasaki (Ba) while they were students at Tohoku University. He has launched the "Occupation Song Project," which sings about the feelings of people in various professions, and has released a number of songs, including those about governors, comedians, teachers, newspaper reporters, taxi drivers, and hairdressers. The CDs were sold by hand only within Sendai city, and the total number of copies sold exceeded 8,000. Their July hall performance has already sold out, making them an immensely popular band in Sendai. While still a student, he has been involved in a variety of activities, including providing songs to Arashi and Sexy Zone, and uploading a video titled "Today's Japanese" to YouTube every day.

Affiliation: Edward Entertainment Group Co., Ltd.

■TSUTAYA Limited Special Sampler Free Rental Event Schedule
The sale will be carried out at TSUTAYA stores in Sendai City from July onwards.

[TSUTAYA Limited Special Sampler Edition] (top right)
Free CD rental items
CD total of 4 songs + special chat　
1. Melody Box
2. Summer Prologue
3. Comedians
4. Governor
5. Chit-chat (※2)

(※2) This is not a song, but a casual conversation between the three of them.

■New Maxi Single
"Nihonjin (Red)" Released June 20th　
[Limited edition sold by hand] (bottom right)
500 yen (tax included) Product number: UHR-29　
CD total of 3 songs?? ?
1. Governor
2. DIVE!
3. A man should fall in love

*After the event, some stores will sell the products in-store.

Both the TSUTAYA limited special sampler edition and the hand-sold limited edition　
Publisher: Edward Entertainment Group Co., Ltd.

Materials related to this matter

TSUTAYA's project to support local artists sees the first Tohoku artist, "Nihonjin," achieve the highest opening-day rental numbers in Japan in the past five years!

Inquiries regarding this matter
Culture Convenience Club Co., Ltd. Tohoku Company　
PR Representative: Morita TEL: 019-656-5722