Memorial Address

Memorial Address
Ayumi Hamasaki up close looking into the camera, with her left hand on her cheek. The image is in tints of a sepia. On the left side is "ayumi hamasaki" in white.
EP by Ayumi Hamasaki
Released	December 17, 2003 (2003-12-17) (see Release history)
Genre	Pop
Length	38:45
Label	Avex Trax
Producer	Max Matsuura
Ayumi Hamasaki chronology
A Ballads (2003)A Ballads2003 Memorial Address (2003) My Story (2004)My Story2004
Singles from Memorial Address
"& (Ourselves / Greatful Days / Hanabi Episode)" Released: July 9, 2003 "Forgiveness" Released: August 20, 2003 "No Way to Say" Released: November 6, 2003

Memorial Address is the first EP (labeled a mini-album in Japan) and sixth studio album by Japanese singer Ayumi Hamasaki, released December 17, 2003 by Avex Trax. The album's lyrics were written exclusively by Hamasaki, who also composed two songs with Dai Nagao. The other songs on the album were composed by Bounceback and Tetsuya Yukumi.

Memorial Address was Hamasaki's first album to be released as a CD+DVD package, a marketing strategy her label would often employ throughout her career. Three singles were released from Memorial Address. Lead single "&" was released July 9, 2003. A triple A-side single including "Ourselves", "Greatful Days", and "Hanabi Episode II", it became her fifteenth number-one single in Japan, though it would become her last single to date to sell over 500,000 copies. Second single "Forgiveness" was released that August and also reached number one, but only sold 220,000 copies, disappointing by her standards at the time. The third and final single, "No Way to Say", also reached number one and sold over 371,000 copies. Though more successful than "Forgiveness", it marked the beginning of a commercial decline for Hamasaki.

Memorial Address experienced immense commercial success, becoming her seventh consecutive number-one record in Japan, with first-week sales of 524,000 copies. It is the best-selling mini-album by a Japanese female, with sales of over 1 million copies in its initial 53-week chart run. All of the songs featured on the CD tracklist (with the exception of "Memorial Address", the title track) had a corresponding music video. By 2008, Memorial Address was the 250th best selling album in Japan. Counting singles, the EP has sold over two million copies worldwide.

Tracklist

All lyrics written by Ayumi Hamasaki. 

CD
No.	Title	Music	Arranger(s)	Length
1.	"Angel's Song"	Tetsuya Yukumi	HΛL	4:56
2.	"Greatful Days"	Bounceback	HΛL	4:37
3.	"Because of You"	Bounceback	HΛL	5:20
4.	"Ourselves"	Bounceback	CMJK	4:31
5.	"Hanabi: Episode II" (lit. Fireworks: Episode II)	Crea+D.A.I	tasuku	4:53
6.	"No Way to Say"	Bounceback	HΛL	4:43
7.	"Forgiveness"	Crea+D.A.I	CMJK	5:49
8.	"Memorial Address" (take 2 version)	Tetsuya Yukumi	tasuku	3:56

DVD
No.	Title	Length
1.	"Angel's Song" (Video Clip)
2.	"Greatful Days" (Video Clip)
3.	"Because of You" (Video Clip)
4.	"Ourselves" (Video Clip)
5.	"Hanabi: Episode II" (Video Clip)
6.	"No Way to Say" (Video Clip)
7.	"Forgiveness" (Video Clip)
8.	"Special Digest from A Museum: 30th Collection Live"

Release history

Region	Date	format	Catalogue Number
Japan	December 17, 2003 (2003-12-17)	CD+DVD COPY CONTROL CD	AVCD-17410
		CD COPY CONTROL CD	AVCD-17411
Taiwan	December 19, 2003 (2003-12-19)
Hong Kong	December 23, 2003 (2003-12-23)
China	February 4, 2004 (2004-02-04)	CD+DVD COPY CONTROL CD	AVTCD-95730C SCD-736
		Cassette
	December 25, 2005 (2005-12-25)	CD	AVTCD-95730C/B SCD-786

Charts

Oricon Sales Chart (Japan)

Release	Chart	Peak position	First Week Sales	Sales total	Chart run
17 December, 2003	Oricon Daily Albums Chart	1
	Oricon Weekly Albums Chart	1	524,028	1,062,297	53 weeks
	Oricon Monthly Albums Chart	1
	Oricon Yearly Albums Chart	4

• Total Sales: 1,062,297 (Japan)
• Total Sales: 1,220,000 (Avex)
• Highest selling mini-album by a female artist.
• Only mini-album by a female artist to sell over one million units.

Singles

Date	Title	Peak position	Weeks	Sales
July 9, 2003	"&"	1	16 weeks	591,481
August 20, 2003	"forgiveness"	1	12 weeks	222,000
September 29, 2003	"No Way to Say"	1	12 weeks	371,171

Total Single Sales: 1,184,652 Total Album and Single Sales: 2,246,949