Ulfuls -- Banzai ~ Suki de Yokatta （バンザイ 〜好きでよかった〜）

Getting married in Japan? I got the song for ya! Probably one of the most memorable hits by good-time Osakan band Ulfuls（ウルフルズ）, "Banzai ~ Suki de Yokatta" (So Lucky to Love You) is just one big exhortation of matrimonial joy right from that first "YEAAAAAAAAH!" I wouldn't be surprised if this is the song that's been played at every wedding reception since its release in February 1996 as the band's 10th single.

Written and composed by leader Tortoise Matsumoto（トータス松本）, it wasn't long after the release of "Banzai" that the man himself got hitched so the fans thought that he had created the song as a present for his blushing bride, but according to J-Wiki, Matsumoto put down those rumours by stating that those lyrics came after the proposal. However, its reputation as one of the Japanese wedding party songs to be sung was pretty much sealed.

(karaoke version)

And why not? Have some of the guys drink down some of the bubbly with one of them on guitar (there is always one guy in the group who played guitar back in high school) and sing away. It's a best-of-times song for the best of times.

"Banzai" didn't break the Top 10, getting as high as No. 13 but it did go Double Platinum and sold more than half a million copies...that's still a hit in the Japanese language. It was also used as the theme song for a Fuji-TV drama "Shouri no Megami"（勝利の女神...Goddess of Victory）starring Masahiro Nakai from SMAP. Eventually it became the 46th-ranked song for 1996. And interestingly enough, it was produced by Matsumoto and veteran singer-songwriter Ginji Ito（伊藤銀次）.

So lucky to love tonkotsu ramen!