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Furusato (ふるさと; Hometown) is Morning Musume's sixth single. It was released on July 14, 1999 as an 8cm CD. It sold over 170,670 copies and reached number five on the Oricon weekly charts.

In 2004, it was re-released as part of the Morning Musume Early Single Box, a limited edition box set containing their first eight singles reissued on 12cm CDs. In 2005, the singles were released individually, and first press editions came with a photo card.

Tracklist[]

Original Edition[]

  1. Furusato
  2. Wasurerannai (忘れらんない; Unforgettable)
  3. Furusato (Instrumental)

Re-release Edition[]

  1. Furusato
  2. Wasurerannai
  3. Furusato (Instrumental)
  4. Furusato (Early Vocal Version)

Featured Members[]

Furusato2

Morning Musume promoting single

Single Information[]

Lyrics and Composition: Tsunku

Furusato
Wasurerannai

Performances[]

TV Performances[]

Concert Performances[]

Furusato
Wasurerannai

Event Performances[]

Furusato

Oricon Chart Positions[]

Mon Tue Wed Thu Fri Sat Sun Week Rank Sales
- - - - - - - 5 102,750
- - - - - - - 16 27,380
- - - - - - - 27 16,160
- - - - - - - 36 10,650
- - - - - - - 37 9,130
- - - - - - - 56 4,600

Total Reported Sales: 170,670

Notable Covers[]

Trivia[]

  • Abe Natsumi is the only member to receive solo lines for Furusato, and other members only sing in harmony with her during non-solo lines.
  • This was the first music video to have images and clips of the member's childhood.
  • When released, the single competed against famous artists like V6, Yamashita Tatsuro, Dir en grey, Hamasaki Ayumi, for the #1 spot on the Oricon charts.[1]
  • This is also last single before the addition of 3rd generation member Goto Maki.
  • This was Morning Musume's lowest selling single until "Morning Musume no Hyokkori Hyoutanjima".
  • This is the first release that Tsunku uses the stylized credit Tsunku♂.
  • Track #4 in the re-release was recorded on June 6, 1999. Compared to the single version, Abe’s vocals are somewhat more cheerful. At this stage, there was no chorus part, except for the harmonies by members. The single version was recorded later on June 8. As for the single version, the song ends by fading out. However, this version has a clear ending.
  • Abe Natsumi commented on the single in a YouTube video series counting up to Morning Musume's 50th single.[2]
  • The Center for this single is Abe Natsumi.

Comment[]

Comment
Tsunku commented on the single:

I was actually thinking about releasing "Furusato" on July 7. On July 7 with 7 members, and on September 9 with 9 members.

Morning Musume was just like my band, Sharan Q. At the age of 23, we’ve moved to Tokyo from Osaka. We were all around the same age, from the same hometown, with the common hopes and dreams… It took a while for us to be noticed and become popular, and we were struggling everyday in order to make our common dreams come true. By then, we were the grown-ups, but we still felt loneliness as well as sadness. I remember we felt homesick too.

There are a lot more members in Morning Musume than Sharan Q, but the girls are from different hometowns in Japan, different ages, and different background experience in the industry…And that’s how Morning Musume is formed. They seldom complain in front of me, but I’m sure some of them feel homesick, and some might feel lonely and depressed. I really think they’ve done well. After concerts, some immediate families come and visit the girls in green room, and I’ve seen some girls burst into tears. And I felt how tough it must have been for those young girls.

I came up with the idea of the song based on I just mentioned above. I think this is the best suited song for Morning Musume. And because it is Morning Musume’s song, I have faith in their performance. Maybe this song can only be sung by Morning Musume. And because I am a producer of Morning Musume, I was able to create such a wonderful song like this. I feel blessed to have met such wonderful and talented girls.

Videos[]

Morning Musume - Furusato (MV)

References[]

External Links[]

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