Hōkai Amplifier

Untitled

Hōkai Amplifier (崩壊アンプリファー, Hōkai anpurifā) is the major-label debut EP by Japanese rock band ASIAN KUNG-FU GENERATION, released on November 25, 2002 on Under Flower Records.

Background

After six years since its inception and three independent releases, Asian Kung-Fu Generation contributed to the Under Flower compilation album, Whatch You Gonna Do?, before dropping their first major-label EP. The critically acclaimed mini-album topped the High Line Records weekly chart for two weeks straight and peaked at number thirty-five on the Oricon indies sales chart. Due to its success, Hōkai Amplifier was re-released by Ki/oon Records on April 23, 2003. Although the mini-album didn't release any singles, the intro track "Haruka Kanata" enjoyed immense domestic and international popularity after it came to be used as the second opening theme for the anime series Naruto.

Track listing

All songs written by Masafumi Gotō except:

• "Rashinban" written by Masafumi Gotō and Takahiro Yamada

1. "Haruka Kanata" (遥か彼方, "Far Away Distance") – 4:02
2. "Rashinban" (羅針盤, "Compass") – 2:32
3. "Konayuki" (粉雪, "Powder Snow") – 3:46
4. "Ao no Uta" (青の歌, "Blue Song") – 3:52
5. "Sunday" (サンデイ, Sandei) – 4:03
6. "12" – 4:36

Personnel

• Masafumi Gotō – lead vocals, guitar, lyrics
• Kensuke Kita – lead guitar, background vocals
• Takahiro Yamada – bass, background vocals
• Kiyoshi Ijichi – drums
• Kumiko Ishikawa – additional vocals
• Asian Kung-Fu Generation/Katsuhisa Ogawa – producer

• Jun-ya Iwata – engineering, mixing
• Masato Wantanabe – mixing
• Kazuhiro Yamagata – mastering
• Kenichi Nakamura – recording
• Kanetsugu "Kan" Tanaka – directing
• Yusuke Nakamura/KAN – art direction

Chart positions

Year	Chart	Peak positions
2002	High Line Records	1
	Oricon Indie	35