"Senbonzakura" (千本桜, lit.'a thousand blossom cherry trees') is a 2011 song written by Japanese music producer Kurousa-P (黒うさP), utilizing the Vocaloid 2 voicebank Hatsune Miku. First posted onto video sharing site Niconico on 17 September 2011 (2011-09-17), the song quickly became viral and inspired multiple cover versions and other derivative works.
Release and reception
"Senbonzakura" was first posted onto Niconico on 17 September 2011 by Kurousa-P. Accompanied by a fast rock-inspired beat, the lyrics reference the Meiji Restoration and the Taishō era. The accompanying music video, illustrated by Ittomaru (一斗まる), similarly draws inspiration from the same time period, and features Hatsune Miku in a military-esque uniform.[1][2]
After its release on Niconico, the music video went viral and broke one million views in 42 days (29 October that year).[2] The song was also very popular among karaoke singers, and Joysound, a karaoke store chain, reported that "Senbonzakura" was the third most sung song in 2012 behind AKB48's "Heavy Rotation" and Golden Bomber's "Memeshikute".[3] The song was performed by Sachiko Kobayashi on the 66th NHK Kōhaku Uta Gassen.[4] Hatsune Miku also regularly performs "Senbonzakura" during her concerts.[5][6]
To celebrate the video's first anniversary, on 12 September 2012, an album titled All That Senbonzakura! was released by Dwango. The album only contained "Senbonzakura" covered by different instruments, including piano, yangqin, acoustic guitar, and string quartet.[10] Other solo artists have also released their own covers of the song.
The music video's illustrator, Ittomaru, went on to release several works adapted from the song. On 9 March 2013, Ittomaru released a light novel series based on the song published by ASCII Media Works. The novel is set in a dystopian world where the Taishō era continued for a hundred years and features Hatsune Miku as the main protagonist. The first volume topped Oricon's weekly novel sales chart and was also the thirteenth bestselling book for the month.[11] The same month, Niconico hosted a musical based on the novel's storyline and featured AKB48 members Haruka Ishida, Maho Tomita, and Miori Ichikawa as well as actor Kazuki Kato.[12]
