Ikimonogakari/Nao Matsushita -- Arigato (ありがとう)

I heard this song on today's edition of NHK's "Nodo Jiman"（のど自慢）and I finally decided to profile it. Not being a fan of pop band Ikimonogakari（いきものがかり）per se, I still enjoy the inspiring feeling of "Arigato" (Thank You) as this cheer-up song. I've heard the band's 18th single a number of times over the past few years including a recent Kohaku Utagassen.

http://www.dailymotion.com/video/xw3vjk_op-%E3%82%B2%E3%82%B2%E3%82%B2%E3%81%AE%E5%A5%B3%E6%88%BF-156_shortfilms

The theme song for the NHK morning serial "GeGeGe no Nyobo"（ゲゲゲの女房...GeGeGe's Wife）which was televised for most of 2010, the show starred actress Nao Matsushita（松下奈緒）as the wife of manga artist Shigeru Mizuki（水木しげる）as the story related how they had to endure the tough times before Mizuki finally found success with works such as "GeGeGe no Kitaro"（ゲゲゲの鬼太郎...Kitaro of the Graveyard）. As is the case with all of the asadora, there were episodes which ended with a cliffhanger or some sort of tragedy, but I've got a feeling that Ikimonogakari's theme song reassured viewers that things would inevitably turn out all right.

"Arigato" was written and composed by Yoshiki Mizuno（水野良樹）, one of the guitarists for Ikimonogakari, and released in May 2010. It has become one of the band's biggest hits, hitting No. 2 on Oricon and finishing the year as the 33rd-ranked single. It even hung on the following year as the 175th-ranked single. "Arigato" also went Platinum and won the band a Best Song Prize at the Japan Record Awards that year. Ikimonogakari has had a long run on the Kohaku Utagassen (if they are included in this year's edition in a few months' time, it will be their 9th consecutive appearance), and "Arigato" marked their 3rd appearance.

Last year's appearance by the band was to perform "Arigato" again in tribute to artist Mizuki since he had passed away in November at the age of 93.

In that 2010 appearance by Ikimonogakari, their performance was prefaced by Matsushita's own version of "Arigato" as an accomplished pianist. A recorded version is available on a BEST compilation from that same year, "Scene 25 ~ Best of Nao Matsushita".