I have a passion for Japanese culture
Few Japanese music stars are known outside Japan or Asia, but Japan is the second largest music market in the world, so the best-selling music artists from Japan managed to sell an impressive number of records…
Consulting the Oricon chart of best-selling singles in Japan over the last 4 decades (more exactly 1968-2006), I was surprised to discover that the stars I was expecting to see are missing from the top 10 list. Yes, on the Top 10 Best-selling Singles in Japan you cannot find Ayumi Hamasaki, Koda Kumi, Utada Hikaru, Namie Amuro, Gackt or X Japan…
Here is a countdown of the songs and artists that managed to enter the top 10:
10. Dreams Come True - Love Love Love
From 1995, 2.48 million sales
In 2006, an Oricon survey declared Love Love Love the second most popular Valentine’s Day song in Japan, after the Sayuri Kokusho’s Valentine Kiss.
9. SMAP - Sekai ni Hitotsu dake no Hana
From 2003 2.57 million sales
Sekai ni Hitotsu dake no Hana (A Flower Unlike Any Other in the World), together with Utada Hikaru’s Colors were the only singles to sell over 1 million copies in 2003 - the year when the CD sales started to decline due to the Japanese economic downturn.
8. Kazumasa Oda - Oh! Yeah! / Love Story wa Totsuzen ni
From 1991, 2.58 million sales
Oh! Yeah! / Love Story wa Totsuzen ni was used during a TV commercial for the insurance company Dai-ichi Mutual Life Insurance.
7. Mr.Children - Tomorrow never knows
From 1994, 2.76 million sales
Tomorrow Never Knows was used as theme song for the Japanese TV drama Wakamono no Subete.
6. Chage & Aska - Say Yes
From 1991, 2.82 million sales
Say Yes was considered a “wedding song” and was used as a theme for the Japanese TV drama 101 kaime no Propose.
5. Kome Kome Club - Kimi ga Iru Dake de
From 1992, 2.89 million sales
Kimi ga Iru Dake de was the theme song of the Japanese TV drama Sugao no Mama de.
4. Kentarou Hayami, Ayumi Shigemori - Dango 3 Kyodai
From 1999, 2.91 million sales
Dango 3 Kyodai was composed for a TV program for children, a song about 3 dangobrothers.
The song was so successful that it became a social phenomenon in Japan.
3. Southern All Stars - Tsunami
From 2000, 2.93 million sales
The American band Allister made a cover version of this song in 2006.
2. Shiro Miya - Onna no Michi
From 1972, 3.25 million sales
Onna no Michi (The Way of a Woman) was the debut single of Shiro Miya and tells the story of a woman abandoned by her husband.
1. Masato Shimon - Oyoge! Taiyaki-kun
From 1975, 4.54 million sales
Oyoge! Taiyaki-kun, launched as a children’s song on a TV program, managed to surpassOnna no Michi and became the best-selling single in Japan (record certified by Guinness World Records).
