User:Petewarrior/Iki o Suru Kokoro

"Iki o Suru Kokoro" (息をする心) is the ninth single by Japanese idol group STU48. It was released on March 15, 2023 with Chiho Ishida as lead performer.

Production and release
On December 24, 2022, during their Christmas concert at the Hiroshima Bunka Gakuen Hall, STU48 announced that their ninth single would be released on March 1, 2023 with Chiho Ishida as center (lead performer). However, the release was later postponed for two weeks due to "production reasons". The music video for the title song, released on March 1, 2023, features multiple storylines about problems that make the characters feel like they "cannot breathe", befitting the song title. The chorus is performed on a stage on the rooftop of the Gojinsha Hiroshima Kamiyacho Building in downtown Hiroshima and features QR codes on the stage and on the hands of each performer, which provide access to group and individual members' bonus short videos. An alternate "dance QR" video was released on March 13, which depicts the complete choreography and displays the QR codes more prominently for easier scanning.

The music video for "Egao no Chance" (笑顔のチャンス) depicts a meeting in the "S7 summit", a reference to the 49th G7 summit which would be held in Hiroshima that year. It was performed by members of the Setouchi PR Club Season 2 subunit, who were elected by fans using ballots included in the previous single.

The single was released in five editions, which are the Special and regular editions of Types A and B and a Theater edition. All editions included Ishida's solo performance of "Hana wa Dare no Mono?" from the YouTube channel The First Take, which is the first performance by an AKB48 Group member on that channel.

Reception
"Iki o Suru Kokoro" sold ... copies in its release week according to Oricon and placed first in both the Oricon Singles and Billboard Japan Hot 100 charts.