AAA (band)

AAA トリプル・エー
File:Aaaの新しいロゴマーク.jpg Current AAA logo
Background information
Origin	Japan
Genres	Pop, electronic, dance, eurobeat, techno, club
Years active	2005–present
Labels	Avex Trax
Website	www.avex.jp/aaa
Members	Takahiro Nishijima Misako Uno Naoya Urata Mitsuhiro Hidaka Shinjiro Atae Shūta Sueyoshi Chiaki Ito
Past members	Yukari Gotō

AAA (トリプル・エー, Toripuru Ē, Triple A), a backronym for Attack All Around, is a 7-member Japanese pop group signed to the label Avex Trax which debuted in September 2005. The name has the meaning of challenging everything, and the group is marketed by their label as a "super performance unit".

The group was formed through Avex's auditions and originally consisted of five young men and three young women who had acted in commercials and had experience being back dancers for other Japanese stars, such as Ayumi Hamasaki and Ami Suzuki.

Members

The information listed is according to their profiles, in official order.

Name	Date of birth	Birthplace	Notes
Members
Takahiro Nishijima	September 30, 1986	Hokkaido	Also does solo work as Nissy, official debut in 2014
Misako Uno	July 16, 1986	Tokyo
Naoya Urata (浦田直也)	November 10, 1982	Tokyo	Leader; also a solo artist debuted 2009 as Urata Naoya
Mitsuhiro Hidaka	December 12, 1986	Chiba Prefecture	Also a solo artist debuted 2013 as Sky-Hi
Shinjiro Atae	November 26, 1988	Kyoto
Shūta Sueyoshi (末吉秀太)	December 11, 1986	Nagasaki
Chiaki Ito	January 10, 1987	Aichi Prefecture	153 cm	B
Former members
Yukari Gotō (後藤友香里)	January 14, 1988	Tokyo	Currently a voice actress

History

2005–2006: Early days and debut

AAA was originally planned to be a six-member group. Initially, it included the five male members Takahiro Nishijima, Naoya Urata, Shuta Sueyoshi, Shinjiro Atae, Mitsuhiro Hidaka, and Misako Uno as the only female member. Avex later decided to add two more female members, Yukari Goto then Chiaki Ito. All eight entered the agency through auditions and underwent training in the Avex Artist Academy, the record label's talent training facility. As the songs "Blood on Fire" and "Friday Party" were prepared before their debut for six members, the two girls are only heard in the refrain.

In April 2005, Avex officially announced the debut of the group with seven members (excluding Ito), and oldest member Urata as the leader. AAA officially started their activities as a group in May. On 15 June, Ito was added to the group. AAA debuted on 14 September that year with "Blood on Fire" and were received well due to the song being used as the theme song of the live action Initial-D movie.

In their debut year, they received the "Best Newcomer Award" at the 47th Japan Record Awards. From September to December they released a single each month plus a photobook and their very first album, "Attack", in January 2006. With all the releases and promotional activities, the group did not have time to perform their songs live. However, as each of the singles tackled different genres, they did relatively well on the charts.

In June 2006, AAA's official fan club "AAA Party" opened its doors. Uno, the female lead singer, starred alongside Sarah Michelle Gellar in the Hollywood version of The Grudge 2 which opened in theaters October 2006. After releasing mini album "All/2" on September 13, 2006, AAA released their second studio album "All" on January 1, 2007. With the exception of three new songs, the songs on "All" had been previously released as singles with music videos throughout 2006. The album's sales were a success although less than its predecessor "Attack".

2007–2009: Media mix and acting

In 2007, AAA had another theme song tie-up with Kamen Rider Den-O, "Climax Jump", which they released as a single under the temporary name "AAA Den-O Form". The single sold well and was certified Gold by the Recording Industry Association of Japan (RIAJ) for the shipment of 100,000 physical singles and 100,000 full-track ringtone music downloads each, making it their most successful single to date.

The group's members gradually started delving into acting jobs, giving them more mainstream exposure. Their 14th single "Kuchibiru Kara Romantica/That's Right" was tied-up with television drama serial Delicious Gakuin, which starred members Nishijima and Atae.

On 11 June 2007, it was announced that Goto would be leaving the group permanently, citing her health problems and deciding to focus on recovery. With her departure, AAA became a septet. Shortly after, the group made their first venture overseas with an appearance at Otakon 2007 in Baltimore, Maryland. Urata and Ito appeared in a movie for the first time, Heat Island which opened in theaters 20 October 2007.

AAA scored their first Oricon weekly number one single in 2008 with "Mirage", and the group released their first compilation album "Attack All Around". They did not release an original studio album as a group for the year, but the five male members recorded a special mini-album, "Choice is Yours", and released it under the AAA name on 18 June. In October, the drama serial Mirai Seiki Shakespeare which was a modern retelling of Shakespeare plays, started its broadcast. All members of AAA played main characters in the drama. Nishijima also manifested an interest in acting during the year as he acted in multiple stage plays.

Nishijima received his first starring role in film, playing the lead character in Love Exposure, which released in January 2009. His acting in the film was critically acclaimed, earning him the Sponichi Grand Prix New Face Award of the Year 2009 and was named Best New Male Actor at the 83rd Kinema Junpo Awards.

The group released their fourth album "DepArture" on 11 February 2009, and the album peaked at number four on the Oricon charts, the first time the group achieved a place within the top five for a studio album.

After a string of moderate hits throughout 2007-2008, AAA started a successful era in 2009 with their album "Heartful" and all of its preceding singles debuting in the top three. For the first time ever, they were able to guest on the popular music program Music Station, to perform "Hide Away". "Hide Away" also represented a new era of sorts for the group, as Ito started to sing more lines, joining Nishijima, Uno and Urata as lead singers.

2010-present: Larger success

In 2010, AAA's double A-side 24th single "Aitai Riyū/Dream After Dream ~Yume Kara Sameta Yume~" topped the Oricon weekly charts in May 2010, becoming their second number one single on the charts. The single was hyped as the comeback work of composer Tetsuya Komuro, which helped in promoting the single.

Due to the popularity of "Aitai Riyū", they were invited to make their debut appearance on Kōhaku Uta Gassen that year, greatly heightening the group's exposure. In December, member Urata released his own single Dream On featuring his good friend and label mate Ayumi Hamasaki. The single reached number one on the Oricon charts, raising his own profile and that of the group.

With the exception of "Call/I4U", Komuro continued to work with AAA through to 31st single "Sailing". All of the songs on their sixth album "Buzz Communication" were composed by Komuro. In 2011, they released their second compilation album "#AAABEST" and it went on to become their best selling album at the time, as well as becoming their first number one album on the Oricon weekly charts. Starting from "Call/I4U", the group also gradually shifted away from the "lead singer" position and more equal singing opportunities were given to all members.

Their 32nd single "Still Love You" marked a departure from Komuro as they began to work with other composers again. On 22 August 2012, AAA released the album "777 -Triple Seven-", so titled to represent the seven members, their seventh album, and the group's seventh anniversary since debut. In October, AAA's brand new variety show titled AAA no Kizuna Gasshuku started airing on TV Asahi and YouTube. At the end of the year, AAA was invited to perform at Kōhaku Uta Gassen for the third year running.

In 2013, the group kicked off a new nationwide tour titled "AAA Tour 2013 Eighth Wonder" on 20 April. It is the largest scale tour the group has attempted to date, taking place at 41 venues with an estimated 150,000 fans attending. In May, it was reported that AAA no Kizuna Gasshuku which had ended, recorded over 10 million plays on YouTube, and the second season began airing. Furthermore, in July, it was announced that there would be a third season of the show and AAA would be shooting the show abroad for the first time, in Singapore.

On 18 September, the group released their eighth album titled "Eighth Wonder". The album went on to become AAA's first original studio album to top the Oricon charts. The group's music video for "Koi Oto to Amazora" claimed top spot for most number of views in September on YouTube, for the Japanese music category. AAA closed out the year by performing the song at Kōhaku Uta Gassen.

On 14 January 2014, it was announced that AAA had been appointed the PR ambassadors for the fifteenth anniversary of anime One Piece, and provided a new song titled "Wake up!" for its opening theme. On 17 May, the group began their first all-arena nationwide tour, "AAA ARENA TOUR 2014 -Gold Symphony-", their biggest tour yet with an estimated attendance of 200,000 people. AAA released their ninth album, "Gold Symphony" on 1 October, which became the second original studio album to top the Oricon charts. During the last day of the concert tour on 18 October, it was announced that AAA will be preparing for their first Asia tour in 2015.

Official symbols

Member colors

The members of AAA have representative colors assigned to them. They are orange for Nishijima, purple for Uno, green for Urata, yellow for Hidaka, blue for Atae, pink for Sueyoshi and red for Ito. Before Goto's departure, her member color was pink and Sueyoshi's was black.

Mascot

The official mascot of AAA is called an "A~panda" and its image is of a panda with the letters "AAA" on its belly. It is colored in the official member colors. The mascot is frequently used in the group's tour goods, turned into soft toys, figures, straps and many other items for amusement. The A~panda life size mascot is often seen walking around at concert venues. In March 2013, a special pop-up concept store opened in Ura-Harajuku selling limited edition AAA goods, with the store styled to look like a room belonging to A~panda.

Logo

AAA has a logo mark, frequently used on tour goods as well as their CD and DVD releases. The first edition of the logo mark was used from April 2005 until 20 October 2011, with "#AAABEST" being the last work to use the design. The second edition of the logo mark was introduced 21 October 2011 and is currently still in use. The first work to use the design was "Charge & Go!/Lights".

Discography

Main articles: AAA discography and AAA videography

• Attack (2006)
• All (2007)
• Around (2007)
• Departure (2009)
• Heartful (2010)
• Buzz Communication (2011)
• 777: Triple Seven (2012)
• Eighth Wonder (2013)
• Gold Symphony (2014)
• AAA 10th Anniversary Best (2015)

Photobooks

Group photobooks

Title	Release date
AAA Artistbook / The First Attack	2005-09-01
AAA 5th anniversary Live Original Photo Book	2010-10-08
AAA Buzz Communication Original Photo Book	2011-07-15
AAA Buzz Communication Documentary Extra Book	2011-11-25
AAA Tour 2012 -777- Triple Seven Documentary Book	2012-09-07
AAA 7th Anniversary Book ABC~AAA Book Chronicle~	2012-12-14
AAA 2013 Tour Book Eighth Wonder	2014-02-27
AAA 2013 Tour Eighth Wonder Premium Box	2014-03-27
AAA Attack All Around 10th Anniversary Book	2015-01-07

Solo photobooks

Title	Release date
Takahiro Nishijima First Photobook: Nissy	2008-06-27
Misako Uno Photobook: UNO	2010-02-26
Takahiro Nishijima & Shinjiro Atae Photobook: N/S	2010-08-27
Takahiro Nishijima Second Photobook: 24	2010-09-24
Shinjiro Atae First Photobook: Shinking	2010-12-15
Gekkan Men Shinjiro	2011-06-24
Chiaki Ito Photobook: chercher	2011-12-15
Misako Uno Photobook: UNO-BON	2012-06-01
Chiaki Ito Style Book: Chiaki Type A to Z	2012-11-19
Shinjiro Atae Third Photobook: Atae Best	2013-03-29
Shinjiro Atae Travel & Style Book: Shinjiro's Photos	2014-04-04
Chiaki Ito Photobook: Destruction	2014-04-25
Misako Uno Photobook: You Know Unonu	2014-05-16
Shuta Sueyoshi Photobook: S	2015-03-16
Chiaki Ito Style Book: Made in C	2015-04-17

Achievements

Awards

• 2005
  • Best Hit Kayousai - Newcomer Award for "Blood on Fire"
  • 38th Japan Cable Awards (Nihon Yusen Taisho) - Yusen Music Award for "Blood on Fire"
  • 47th Japan Record Awards - Best New Artist Award for "Blood on Fire"
• 2006
  • Best Hit Kayousai - Gold Artist Award for "Hurricane Riri, Boston Mari"
• 2009
  • Best Hit Kayousai - Gold Artist Award for "Break Down"
• 2010
  • 52nd Japan Record Awards - Outstanding Work Award for "Aitai Riyu"
• 2011
  • 53rd Japan Record Awards - Outstanding Work Award for "Call"
• 2012
  • 54th Japan Record Awards - Outstanding Work Award for "777 〜We can sing a song!〜"
• 2013
  • 55th Japan Record Awards - Outstanding Work Award for "Koi Oto to Amazora"
• 2014
  • 56th Japan Record Awards - Outstanding Work for "Sayonara No Mae Ni"

RIAJ Gold-certified works

• Climax Jump (as AAA DEN-O Form)
• #AAABEST
• Gold Symphony

Appearances

Variety

• Channel A (TVK, 2005-2006)
• Channel A (TVK, 2008-2009)
• Nihikime no Dōjō (NTV, 2010)
• AAA no Kizuna Gasshuku (TV Asahi and YouTube, 2012-2013)
• AAA no Kizuna Gasshuku 2 (TV Asahi and YouTube, 2013)
• AAA no Kizuna Gasshuku 3 (TV Asahi and YouTube, 2013–2014)
• AAA no Onore Migaki (NTT Docomo Sugotoku Contents, 2014)

Drama

• Karera no Umi VIII Sentimental Journey (Fuji TV, 2006) - Sueyoshi, Ito, Atae, Uno
• Psychic Detective Yakumo (TV Tokyo, 2006) - Atae
• Delicious Gakuin (TV Tokyo, 2007) - Nishijima, Atae
• Honey and Clover (CTS, 2008) - Ito
• Hitomi (NHK, 2008) - Uno
• Otome (TV Asahi, 2008) - Uno, Sueyoshi, Ito
• Mirai Seiki Shakespeare (KTV, 2008-2009) - All members
• Tokumei Kakarichō Tadano Hitoshi (TV Asahi, 2009) - Uno
• Ghost Friends (NHK, 2009) - Nishijima
• Love Game (NTV, 2009) - Atae
• Teioh (TBS, 2009) - Atae
• Massugu na Otoko (Fuji TV, 2010) - Uno
• Tumbling (TBS, 2010) - Nishijima
• Gakeppuchi no Erii ~Kono Yo de Ichiban Daiji na "Kane" no Hanashi~ (TV Asahi, 2010) - Nishijima
• Diplomat Kosaku Kuroda (Fuji TV, 2011) - Nishijima
• Dare Yori mo Kimi wo Aisu! (Fuji TV, 2011) - Nishijima
• Shōnan☆Natsu Koi Monogatari (BeeTV, 2011) - Nishijima
• Blizzard (BeeTV, 2011) - Atae
• Taira no Kiyomori (NHK, 2012) - Nishijima
• Umechan Sensei (NHK, 2012) - Uno
• Another Face ~Criminal Affairs Division, Ōtomo Tetsu~ (TV Asahi, 2012) - All members (Cameo)
• GTO 2012 - New Year Special (Fuji TV, 2013) - Uno
• Tokyo Toy Box (TV Tokyo, 2013) - Uno
• Taiyō no Wana (NHK, 2013) - Nishijima
• Dai Tokyo Toy Box (TV Tokyo, 2014) - Uno

Anime

• One Piece: Episode of Nami ~Tears of a Navigator and the Bonds of Friends~ (Fuji TV, 2012) - Nishijima

Movies

• Akihabara@Deep (2006) - All members
• The Grudge 2 (2007) - Uno
• Heat Island (2007) - Urata, Ito
• Love Exposure (2009) - Nishijima
• Shugo Tenshi (2009) - Atae
• Sayonara Itsuka (2010) - Nishijima, Hidaka
• Ramune (2010) - Atae
• Soup Opera (2010) - Nishijima
• Rendezvous! (2010) - Uno
• Kyoufu Shimbun (2011) - Atae
• Switch wo Osu Toki (2011) - Atae
• Himizu (2012) - Nishijima
• Signal ~Getsuyōbi no Luka~ (2012) - Nishijima

Stage plays

• Theater of AAA ~Bokura no Te~ (2006) - All members
• Super Battle Live Delicious Gakuin Bangaihen ~Delicious 5 Shijō Saidai no Teki~ (2007) - All members
• Love Letters (2007) - Nishijima, Uno
• Kenshūi Damashī (2007) - Atae
• Harold and Maude (2008) - Nishijima
• Kokoro no Kakera (2008) - Nishijima
• Linda Linda Rubber Sole (2008) - Nishijima
• Engeki Battle Royale!! Ganmage (2008) - Atae
• Glory Days (2009) - Nishijima
• Love Musical (2009) - Sueyoshi
• Samurai 7 (2010) - Nishijima
• Genji Monogatari x Ōguro Maki Songs: Boku wa Jyūnihitoe ni Koi o Suru (2010) - Uno
• Legend of the Galactic Heroes (2011) - Uno
• Shitaya Mannenchō Monogatari (2012) - Nishijima
• Satomi Hakkenden (2012) - Nishijima
• Shida no Mure (2013) - Sueyoshi

Radio

• AAA no A~Ohanashi (NBS, 2005-2007) - All members
• Ikinari! Mokuyoubi: AAA no Radio'n Fire (TBC, 2006-2008) - All members
• Radio Sessions: AAA Talking Attack (JFN, 2007-2009) - All members
• AAA Urata Naoya no Ike! Urata Naoya (TBC, 2008–present) - Urata
• Tre-sen Variety: Act A Fool! (FM Yokohama, 2010–present) - Hidaka
• AAA Uno Misako no Radio Unoccoli (FM Niigata, 2011–2014) - Uno

External links

• AAA Official Website(Japanese)
• AAA Official Facebook Page(Japanese)
• AAA Official Channel - YouTube
• AAA at Music Japan +

Preceded by Ai Otsuka

Japan Record Award for Best New Artist 2005

Succeeded by Ayaka