Mr. Children

Mr. Children (Japanese: ミスターチルドレン, Hepburn: Misutā Chirudoren), commonly referred to by their contracted nickname "Misu-Chiru" (ミスチル), are a Japanese pop rock band formed in 1989. Consisting of Kazutoshi Sakurai, Kenichi Tahara, Keisuke Nakagawa, and Hideya Suzuki, they made their major label debut in 1992. They are one of the best selling artists in Japan and one of the most successful Japanese rock artists, having sold over 50 million records and creating the "Mis-chil Phenomenon" (ミスチル現象) in the mid-1990s in Japan. They held the record for the highest first week sales of a single in Japan for 15 years, with 1.2 million copies of their 10th single "Namonaki Uta" (名もなき詩), have 30 consecutive No. 1 singles, replaced Glay as the all-male band (with 3 or more members) to have the most No. 1 albums on the Oricon charts, and won the Japan Record Award in 1994 for "Innocent World" and in 2004 for "Sign". As of 2026, Mr. Children has published twenty original studio albums and 38 physical singles, along with seven compilations, a live album, and nineteen home video releases. The band's music is mainly composed and written by lead singer Sakurai, with the exception of the Suzuki-penned songs "Asia" and "#2601" from the albums Atomic Heart and Discovery, and occasional collaborative song writing with producer Takeshi Kobayashi.[a] In 2012, they celebrated their 20th debut anniversary by releasing dual best albums titled Mr. Children 2001–2005 ＜micro＞ and Mr. Children 2005–2010 ＜macro＞. Both albums dominated the best-selling album category on the 2012 Oricon year-end chart, selling over 2.5 million copies combined. Mr. Children became the third artist to achieve the top two spots on the year-end album ranking, and being the first time in 14 years for any artist to achieve this. Moreover, [(An Imitation) Blood Orange], released in November 2012,...