Gakuen Tengoku

"Gakuen Tengoku"
Single by Finger 5
from the album Second Album
B-side"Finger 5 Theme"
ReleasedMarch 5, 1974
Genre
Length5:04 (Side A & B)
LabelPhilips
Finger 5 singles chronology
"Koi no Dial 6700"
(1973) 		"Gakuen Tengoku"
(1974) 		"Koi no American Football"
(1974)

Gakuen Tengoku (学園天国, School Heaven) is the fifth single by Japanese pop group Finger 5, released in March 1974. The single sold over 1.05 million copies.[1]

Overview

"Gakuen Tengoku" is the lead single from their studio album Second Album. It peaked at number two on the Oricon Weekly Singles Chart.[2] The theme of the song is school life. The song is about students wanting to sit next to the prettiest girl in class during seating arrangement. In the beginning of the song, the shout "Are You Ready?!" was spoken by Akira Tamamoto, the fourth son of the Tamamoto siblings. The second shout "Hey Hey Hey..." was based on the Gary U.S. Bonds song New Orleans.

In baseball, Konan High School[3] & Akashi Commercial High School[4] used the melody of the song as one of their cheering songs.

The first cover of this song was in 1988, Kyoko Koizumi covered the song in her studio album "Natsumero" and was made into a single in 1989. The single would reach at number three on the Oricon Weekly Singles Chart. It was used as the ending theme for the 1989 Japanese drama series Aishiatteru Kai!. In 2006, a cover by Wonder☆5 was used as the ending theme for the anime Twin Princess of Wonder Planet Gyu!. A musical ensemble of the song was featured in the anime Sound! Euphonium.[5] In 2022, a cover by Rie Takahashi was used as the ending theme for episode six of Teasing Master Takagi-san season three.[6] Around 27 seconds in the credits, the caption "ヤングの祭典" (Young Festival) can be seen on the blackboard which is a direct reference to the caption for the 3rd Tokyo Music Festival (Silver Canary Award category) held on May 16, 1974, at Hibiya Public Hall in which the group also performed and competed live. In 2024, a cover by Sumire Uesaka was used as the ending theme for episode one of Alya Sometimes Hides Her Feelings in Russian anime series.[7]

Track listing

Side 1
No.TitleLyricsMusicArrangementLength
1."Gakuen Tengoku [学園天国]"Yū AkuTadao InoueTadao Inoue2:34
Side 2
No.TitleLyricsMusicArrangementLength
1."Finger 5 Theme [フィンガー5のテーマ]"Mitsuo TamamotoKazuo TamamotoShin Saegusa2:30

Chart positions

Weekly charts

Year Country Chart Position Sales
1974 Japan Oricon Weekly Singles Chart 2 540,000[2]

Year-end charts

Year Country Chart Position Sales
1974 Japan Oricon Yearly Singles Chart (top 50) 10 540,000[8]

Release history

Date Single B-side Country Label Format Catalog number
March 5, 1974 Gakuen Tengoku Finger 5 Theme Japan Philips 7" Single FS-1785
2003 N/A Glico (Time Slip Glico) CD AR-G008

References

  1. ^ "フィンガー５"三男、東京で沖縄料理店を経営" (in Japanese). zakzak. April 13, 2012. Retrieved April 28, 2022.
  2. ^ a b "往年のヒット曲レビュー(31)／フィンガー５「学園天国」". zoizoi. zozoi's blog. July 2, 2009. Retrieved April 28, 2022.
  3. ^ "野球部応援歌【歌詞】". Retrieved April 29, 2022.
  4. ^ "野球部応援の資料". Retrieved April 29, 2022.
  5. ^ "「響け！ユーフォニアム2」6話。大事なものを喪失したら". たまごまご. Excite Japan Co., Ltd. November 16, 2016. Retrieved April 29, 2022.
  6. ^ "第6話EDテーマ「学園天国」／高木さん(CV:高橋李依)、フルサイズ配信開始！ノンクレジットEDも公開！". February 12, 2022. Retrieved April 29, 2022.
  7. ^ Mateo, Alex (July 3, 2024). "Alya Sometimes Hides Her Feelings in Russian Anime's Creditless Theme Song Videos Reveal 1st Ending". Anime News Network. Retrieved July 3, 2024.
  8. ^ "年間シングルヒットチャート 1974年" (in Japanese). Private Life エンタメデータ＆ランキング. Archived from the original on May 31, 2014. Retrieved April 28, 2022.