Editing Strawberry Flower

[[File:Ai no Uta.jpeg|thumb|Strawberry Flower logo as seen on the cover art for "Ai no Uta".]]
'''Strawberry Flower''' was a Japanese music duo, mostly known for their work with [[Nintendo]] in creating songs for TV commercials for the [[Pikmin series|''Pikmin'' franchise]]. Formed in late 2001 specifically to create a song for TV advertisements for {{p1}}, Strawberry Flower made the song "[[Ai no Uta]]". It became a sleeper hit, getting to #2 in the Japanese charts and becoming one of the best-selling singles in Japan in 2002. They later followed with more ''Pikmin''-related single releases until 2004, totalling 1 million singles sold in their home country. Although they have been largely inactive ever since, they briefly reunited in 2015 for the song "arukuhayasade", released independently and with no ties to ''Pikmin''.

==History==
In 2001, [[Nintendo]] enlisted singer instrumentist Gan Matsumoto, credited as Takeshi Tomozuma in the project, to create music to be used in the then-upcoming {{p1}} game. Tomozuma composed the song "[[Ai no Uta]]", with Tomoe Watanabe recording the vocals, forming the Strawberry Flower duo. The song was released as a single in December of 2001, climbing to #2 in the Oricon charts in January 2002, becoming a massive hit and selling over 600,000 copies, outselling Japanese sales of ''Pikmin'' itself. The single version of "Ai no Uta" features a B-side song, "[[Namida Ga Afureta]]". In March 2002, a second single was released, "[[Pikmin Dance]]", featuring 3 dance versions of "Ai no Uta". The ''Pikmin'' soundtrack album, [[Pikmin World]], contains "Ai no Uta" and 2 additional versions of it.

In 2004, Nintendo commissioned Strawberry Flower for promotional ''Pikmin'' music again, for TV commercials for {{p2}}. The resulting single was "[[Tane no Uta]]". This was the last time Strawberry Flower made music for the ''Pikmin'' series, though they briefly reunited in 2015 for a new single, called "arukuhayasade".

==Sheet music==
In light of the popularity of Strawberry Flower's music, two different sheet music books were released containing music for ''Ai no Uta''. They were released in Japan by the publishing companies KMP on {{date|15|January|2002}} and Doremi in {{date|30|January|2002}}. The retail price for each was {{tt|¥500|≈$4.01 (at time of release)}}.

===KMP===
[[File:TanenoUta SheetMusic Cover.jpg|thumb|The cover of the ''Ai no Uta'' book published by KMP.]]
This book was published by KMP on {{date|15|January|2002}} and contains three different arrangements of the song: a solo piano arrangement, a guitar arrangement, and a 2-part chorus arrangement with piano accompaniment. All of the arrangements are in the song's original key (D major). Also included at the end of the book is a lyric sheet with the chords. All of the arrangements within are arranged by K. K. SMALLWOOD. The book consists of 11 pages, and its ISBN number is "ISBN 4-7732-1915-7".

The text on the cover translates to:

* CM song for the Nintendo GameCube software "Pikmin"
* Song of Love
* Strawberry Flower
* Piano Solo
* Guitar Arrangement
* 2-part Chorus with Piano Accompaniment
* '''Pikmin'''
* '''PIKMIN'''

{{clear}}

===Doremi===
[[File:AinoUta SheetMusic Cover.jpg|thumb|The cover of the ''Ai no Uta'' book published by Doremi.]]
This book was published by Doremi on {{date|30|January|2002}} and contains three different arrangements of the song: a solo piano arrangement (three staves, voice with piano accompaniment in the original key of D), another solo piano arrangement (simplified to the key C, this time with only two staves), and a solo guitar arrangement. Also included at the end of the book is a lyric sheet with the chords, similar to the other book. The piano arrangements are written by Shiori Aoyama and the guitar arrangement is written by Michio Tashima. The book consists of 11 pages, and its ISBN number is "ISBN 4-8108-1594-3".

The text on the cover translates to:

* Piano & Guitar Piece
* Piano playing &bull; Easy piano solo &bull; Guitar playing
* '''Pikmin'''
* '''PIKMIN'''
* Song of Love
* "Pikmin CM Song"
* Song / Lyrics & Composition: STRAWBERRY FLOWER

{{clear}}

==See also==
*{{w|Strawberry Flower|Wikipedia's article on Strawberry Flower}}

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