Insomnia is the debut album by Japanesesinger-songwriterChihiro Onitsuka, released in March 2001. The album features acoustic-oriented production arranged by Takefumi Haketa, who produced all her studio albums released under the Virgin Tokyo label distributed by Toshiba EMI. It comprises 11 tracks written by Onitsuka, including hit singles "Cage", "Edge", "Memai", and her most well-known and successful song "Gekkō." The lead-off track "Gekkō" was initially used as a theme song for Trick starring Yukie Nakama and Hiroshi Abe, a television drama series aired on Asahi TV in 2000. It was released as a single in August 2000 and became smash hit. At the end of the album, different rendition of the song was included. While "Gekkō" remained on the chart, "Cage" and "Memai" were released as the singles subsequently. The lyrics of the latter was acclaimed, winning the 43rd Japan Record Awards for "Best Lyrics" in December 2001. It became the first top-ten hit single for her, peaking at the number-six on the charts. Before Onitsuka gained popularity through "Gekkō," she had already released a single "Shine" arranged and produced by Nozomu Tsuchiya. A song was newly recorded for the Insomnia album. Album version arranged by Haketa features stiff sound of piano he plays. Likewise, a song originally released as a B-Side for her debut single called "Back Door" was also re-recorded. "Rasen" was featured on the 2002 motion picture Wasabi directed by Luc Besson and starred by Ryōko Hirosue. Music videos of 7 tracks included on the album were produced; "Gekkō", "Cage," "Memai," "Edge," "We Can Go," and studio live take of "Shine." All of them has been available on DVD entitled Me and My Devil issued in April 2001.
Commercial success
Insomnia has been the most successful album for Chihiro Onitsuka. The album debuted at the number-one on the Oricon chart, with the sales in excess of 440,000 copies. It made her then-second youngest female chart-topper on the Oricon who followed Hikaru Utada, who had already reached the number-one spot with her debut album First Love at the age of 16 in 1999. Onitsuka retained the record for over 3 years, until overtaken by Under My Skin album by Avril Lavigne in May 2004. It sold over a million copies in the first month and a further 345,000 in following 20 months. It has been certified was certified triple platinum by the Recording Industry Association of Japan, for shipments of over 1,200,000 units. In March 2002, Insomnia won the 16th Japan Gold Disc Awards for "Best-Selling Rock Albums of the Year".
Track listing
All songs composed by Chihiro Onitsuka, except "Edge" "Call" and "Memai" co-written by Takefumi Haketa
