AAA (read as “Triple A”: It is often speculated that this stands for "Attack All Around") was born in 2005 as a manufactured six-piece band, comprised of band-leader Naoya Urata, Takahiro Nishijima, Mitsuhiro Hidaka, Shinjiro Atae, Shuta Sueyoshi and sole female member Misako Uno. Two more women, Yukari Goto and Chiaki Ito, would join soon after, just in time to participate in the group's first release.
Each of the eight members is incredibly talented and experienced, not only in the musical field, but also in several other professions. A few of the members are even studying at prestigious universities in Japan. Aside from her singing career, Misako also has a career in acting, including a role in the movie "The Grudge II", Chiaki has modeled, and Yukari represented Japan in an international competition for Rhythmic gymnastics in her teens.
Some of their many accomplishments include: Naoya, the leader and oldest of the bunch, has toured as a backup dancer for Ayumi Hamasaki, and appeared in videos by Ami Suzuki and HALCALI; Mitsuhiro, Shinjiro, Sueyoshi and Takahiro have all performed with Ami Suzuki as back up dancers; and Mitsuhiro was almost signed to the talent agency Johnny’s Jr. The list of accomplishments by the members goes on and on.
AAA debuted in 2005 with the single Blood on Fire, the theme song to the live-action film "Initial D The Movie", an adaptation of the popular Japanese manga of the same name. Their first year proved to be extremely successful. By the end of the year - after releasing four singles and the debut album Attack - they were the recipients of the Best New Artist of the Year Award at the 47th Japan Record Awards, the annual Japanese music industry’s pop-music awards, despite failing to place in the upper reaches of the charts.
Various well-known composers and lyric writers contributed to their first album Attack, among them writers and producers who had previously worked with SMAP and Da Pump. Rapper Motsu of m.o.v.e (also signed to the Avex label) contributed to the album by writing lyrics for a song.
A remix album, Remix Attack, followed in the summer of 2006 before a busy period at the end of the year. Early 2007 saw the release of AAA''s second album, All, and a performance at the 14,000-capacity Budokan venue in Tokyo, as well as the release of another album, the 10-track Challenge Cover Collection, which saw the likes of TRF and Godiego get the covers treatment. The group also contributed the opening song to the anime "Kamen Rider Den-O," and for this occasion they changed their name to AAA DEN-O form.
In June 2007 one of the female members, Yukari Goto, left the band due to health concerns. In the previous year she had already been reported ill and took a short break from the band, but it seems her illness took a turn for the worse, and her increasing need for rest led to her departure of the band.
Soon after, AAA performed overseas for the first time, at the anime convention Otakon in the United States, spreading their fame even further. Almost immediately after returning to Japan, the group joined various other popular artists at Avex’s a-nation event tour. September brought the simultaneous release of their third album AROUND, which compiled their previous singles and brought in a number of new tracks, and their sixteenth single Red Soul. In December, the five male members of AAA released a special, download-only single that was only available for a limited time. Also the mini-album Choice is yours features only the male members of the band, and occasionally the five members do live events as well.
Their stream of releases continued to flow freely in 2008, as three singles, two live DVDs, a mini-album and the best-of album ATTACK ALL AROUND were put on the market.
The beginning of 2009 brought the single Tabidachi no uta; already their 20th single in their fourth year of existence. Soon, their fourth album depArture was released and was promoted by the group with a number of release events and a concert which got a DVD release as well.
For the future, AAA has several releases already scheduled and we can be sure that this incredibly hard-working group will grow even more popular!
Produced by one of Japanese pop's foremost producers, Masato "Max" Matsuura, dance-vocal act AAA are a rare commodity in J-pop in that they are a mixed-sex group, aimed at both female teenagers and male music fans. With Matsuura, the co-founder and president of the Avex Trax record label, calling the shots, AAA have been able to secure the song writing services of famous producers.
The music of the group cannot be put into one certain category: it is much too diverse. Their releases are known to sport a completely new style with each release, whether it's a heavy rock song with distorted guitars, a sappy, cheesy pop love song, a hip hop song with rough rapping, a fast eurobeat tune or sleek R'n'B sounds. Influences such as funk, disco, ska and latin can be found in AAA's music as well.
