is a song by the

Japanese idol An is a type of entertainer marketed for image, attractiveness, and personality in Japanese popular culture, Japanese pop culture. Idols are primarily singers with training in other performance skills such as acting, dancing, and modeling. Idol ...

girl group

AKB48 AKB48 (pronounced ''A.K.B. Forty-Eight'') is a Japanese idol musical girl group named after the Akihabara area in Tokyo, where the group's theater is located. AKB48 has sold more records than any other female musical act in Japanese history. AK ...

, featured on the group's ninth single " Baby! Baby! Baby!" released in 2008, 12th single "

Namida Surprise! is the 12th major single by the Japanese idol group AKB48, released on June 24, 2009. The single peaked at number 2 in the Oricon weekly singles chart. It is a Birthday song Track listing The single was released in two versions: (CD+DVD, cata ...

" released in 2009, and second album ''

Kamikyokutachi is the second compilation album by the Japanese idol group AKB48. It was released in Japan on April 7, 2010, and contains 16 songs, 14 of which had been previously released as singles. The album topped the weekly Oricon Albums Chart The Oricon Al ...

'' released in 2010. The song has been covered by AKB48's international sister groups in their respective local languages, including the Indonesian version by

JKT48 JKT48 ( pronounced J- K- T- 4 8 ) is Indonesia’s premier girl group, established in 2011 as the first international sister group of Japan’s AKB48. Based in Jakarta, which is the capital and largest city of Indonesia, located on the northw ...

, featured on the group's first album ''

Heavy Rotation In broadcasting, rotation is the repeated airing of a limited playlist of songs on a radio station or satellite radio channel, or music videos on a TV network. They are usually in a different order each time. However, they are not completely sh ...

'' released in 2013, the Thai version by

BNK48 BNK48 (read ''B.N.K. Forty-eight'') is a Thai Teen idol, idol Musical ensemble, girl group and the third international sister group of Japan's AKB48, following Indonesia's JKT48 and China's SNH48 (''Former''). After holding its first audition i ...

, released as the group's third single in 2018, the Mandarin version by

AKB48 Team SH AKB48 Team SH (also known as 冲吧少女组合/Chong Ba Shaonu Zuhe) is a Chinese idol group based in Shanghai, China and an official sister group of the Japanese idol girl group AKB48. It was established in 2018 after the dissolution of AKB4 ...

in 2019.

History

BNK48 version

The Thai idol group

, a sister group of AKB48, covered the song, naming it "Wan Raek" (; ; "First Day").

Production and release

The release of the song "Wan Raek" as the group's third single was announced at the group's fan meeting, called ''BNK48 We Wish You'', held at

Siam Square One Thailand, officially the Kingdom of Thailand and historically known as Siam (the official name until 1939), is a country in Southeast Asia on the Indochinese Peninsula. With a population of almost 66 million, it spans . Thailand is border ...

in Bangkok on 24 December 2017. At the same event, the names of the sixteen members forming the '' senbatsu'' for the song was announced, including Cherprang, Jaa, Jan, Jane, Jennis, Kaew, Kaimook, Mobile, Music, Namneung, Noey, Orn, Pun, Pupe, Satchan, and Tarwaan, with Music and Noey as the centres. The single will be released on 7 May 2018 in two types with different track lists: Type A containing covers of AKB48's " Sakura no Hanabiratachi" and "

" as the B-side tracks, and Type B containing the Sakura no Hanabiratachi cover and a cover of AKB48's " Anata to Christmas Eve" as the B-side tracks. Like the two previous singles, the cover art of this single was produced by The Uni_form Design Studio. The front cover of each type contains the Japanese word ''shonichi'' written with 16 strokes representing the 16 ''senbatsu'' members, topped with the Thai word ''wan raek'' written by Music (for Type A) and Noey (for Type B). The lyrics of the song "Wan Raek" are the penwork of Prapop Chomthaworn (), a member of the band Superbaker. Lyricised by Trai Bhumiratna (), "Khamsanya Haeng Christmas Eve", the cover of "Anata to Christmas Eve", was recorded by Jan and Kaew as a duet. At the handshake event held at The Mall Ngam Wongwang in Bangkok on 13 and 14 January 2018, the members responsible for the song "Namida Surprise!" were announced, consisting of Can, Cherprang, Izurina, Jennis, Kate, Korn, Miori, Mobile, Music, Namsai, Nink, Noey, Piam, Pun, Orn, and Tarwaan, with Tarwaan serving as the centre. Following Jan's sudden graduation on 29 January 2018, Korn replaces her in performing the song "Wan Raek" and Tarwaan replaces her in performing the song "Khamsanya Haeng Christmas Eve".

Promotion

The ''senbatsu'' performed the song "Wan Raek" for the first time at the

National Stadium Many countries have a national sport stadium, which typically serves as the primary or exclusive home for one or more of a country's national representative sports teams. The term is most often used in reference to an association football ...

in Bangkok on 22 March 2018. The music video for "Khamsanya Haeng Christmas Eve" was released on 26 February 2018 and was directed by Hiro Inoue. Directed by Pairat Kumwan (), the music video for the title song, "Wan Raek", was released on 10 April 2018.

Track listing

* Boldness indicates centres.

Type A

Type B

References

{{BNK48 Songs with lyrics by Yasushi Akimoto AKB48 songs King Records (Japan) singles JKT48 songs BNK48 songs 2018 singles