Perfume was formed in 2001 and originally consisted of Ayaka "A-chan" Nishiwaki, Yuka "Kashiyuka" Kashino, and Yuuka Kawashima. Shortly after the band's formation, Kawashima left the group to concentrate on her studies and was replaced by Ayano "Nocchi" Ōmoto. The group's name came from the kanji 香, meaning "fragrance", in the three original members' given names. On early singles, the name Perfume was written in hiragana as "ぱふゅーむ". It was around this time they met choreographer MIKIKO, who has worked with the group ever since.
In 2002, Perfume released two limited edition singles, "Omajinai Perori" and "Kareshi Boshūchū", sold only in Hiroshima on Momiji Label. The band moved to Tokyo in 2003 to be produced by capsule's Yasutaka Nakata, and by 2004 had released three more singles: "Sweet Donuts", "Monochrome Effect", and "Vitamin Drop", all of which were released on Bee-Hive Records. The group's first three live performances were given around this time, gaining fans with their energetic performances.
Perfume transitioned to a major label in 2005, releasing "Linear Motor Girl" through Tokuma Japan Communications on September 21st of that year. Two further singles, "Computer City" and "Electro World", saw the group christening themselves as a "near future technopop unit". Their debut album, Perfume ~Complete Best~, compiled their six most recent singles and charted as high as #33 on the Oricon charts when it was first released. The album re-entered the charts after the release of their second album, reaching #25.
Perfume's first major commercial success came from their single "Polyrhythm", which was used by NHK for their Kankyō Recycle Campaign. On the day of its release, "Polyrhythm" debuted at number #4 on the Oricon charts, settling at #7 for the weekly ranking; the single sold over 60,000 copies. Shortly after, Perfume released their sixth single, "Baby Cruising Love/Macaroni", which achieved greater success than "Polyrhythm" by achieving #3 on the daily and weekly charts. Their second album, Game, became the second technopop album in history to debut at #1, behind Yellow Magic Orchestra's Naughty Boys in 1983. Game was certified double-platinum by RIAJ for shipment of 500,000 copies.[6] Perfume engaged on their first major tour of Japan from April 27 to June 1st of 2008. The tour, Perfume First Tour "GAME", was released on DVD on October 15, 2008.
On July 9, 2008, Perfume's seventh major label single, "Love the World", debuted on the Oricon sales chart at #1, becoming the first technopop song ever to do so, breaking Yellow Magic Orchestra's record of "Kimi ni, Mune Kyun." debuting at #2 in 1983.[7][8] Two follow-up singles, "Dream Fighter" and "One Room Disco", would perform just as well (the latter also reaching #1 on Oricon.)
During this time, Perfume began limited engagement live shows at famous venues. The first concert, Budoukaaaaaaaaaan!!!!!, took place at the famous Nippon Budokan on November 6th and 7th, 2008 and was filmed for broadcast on NHK and was released on DVD on April 22, 2009. The second, Disco!Disco!Disco!, took place at the Yoyogi National Gymnasium on May 9th and 10th, 2009. Perfume began broadcast of a comedy sketch program titled Perfume's Chandelier House in April of 2009, shortly after the release of "One Room Disco".
Perfume released their third album, Triangle (⊿ ) on July 8th, 2009, with a second tour of Japan which began in August. Triangle was certified platinum by RIAJ for selling over 250,000 copies.
