List of best-selling music artists in Japan

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The best-selling music artists in Japan include Japanese artists with claims of 15 million or more record sales. Japan is the second largest music market in the world behind the United States, and the biggest in Asia, according to International Federation of the Phonographic Industry.[1]

Sources that provide the sales an artist or record company claim via press release, rather than certified or reported by reliable third parties such as Oricon, are denoted by a "†".

Oricon Charts

Oricon provides accumulated physical sales of all entries on its singles and albums charts (started in 1968 and 1970, respectively).[2] Note that Oricon does not count sales of the records that did not enter or fell off of the charts, unlike Nielsen SoundScan. Therefore, it generally shows fewer numbers than reported sales via record labels, and may not reflect the real sales obtained by these artists. In addition, it excludes recording artists like Michiya Mihashi,[3] Yujiro Ishihara, Hibari Misora, and Hachiro Kasuga who had garnered most of commercial success before Oricon was established in the late 1960s.

The best-selling artists by number of singles sold are AKB48 (36.1 million) in first place, B'z (35.8 million) in second place,[4] Mr. Children (28.45 million) in third place,[5] and Southern All Stars (25.179 million) in fourth place.[6] Ayumi Hamasaki holds the record for being the best selling solo artist and being the only solo artist to sell more than 50 million in total.[7]

The list excludes sales of albums or singles recorded by artists in collaboration with others as part of a singular artist or group's total.

Artists by sales

50 million or more records

Artist Sales Genres Years active
B'z 86 million[8]

80 million[9]

 Hard rock / Pop rock / Blues rock 1988–present
Mr. Children 59.12 million[10] Pop rock / Power pop / Progressive rock 1989–1997, 1998-present
Ayumi Hamasaki 50 million[11] Pop / Dance / Electronica / Rock 1998–present

30 million to 50 million records

Artist Sales Genres Years active
Southern All Stars 48.94 million Pop rock / Soft rock / Folk rock / Blues rock 1975–present
Dreams Come True 43.33 million Pop / new wave / R&B 1988–present
AKB48 41.45 million[12] Pop / Electropop / Dance-pop / Bubblegum 2005–present
L'Arc-en-Ciel 40 million†[13] Alternative rock / Pop rock / Post-punk 1991–present
Tomoyasu Hotei 40 million†[14] Rock 1988–present
GLAY 38 million [15] Pop rock / Power pop / Progressive rock 1988–present
Zard 37.45 million Pop rock 1991–2007
Hikaru Utada 36 million†[16] Pop / R&B / Rock / Dance 1996–2011 (on hiatus)
SMAP 35.18 million Bubblegum / R&B / Dance-pop / Electropop 1991–present
Namie Amuro 33.91 million R&B / Hip hop / Pop 1992–present
Chage and Aska 31.40 million Folk rock / Pop rock 1979–2009, 2013–present
Yumi Matsutoya[note 1] 30.8 million[17] Pop / Rock / Jazz / Folk / Kayōkyoku 1968–present
Arashi 30 million[18] Pop 1999–present

20 million to 30 million records

Artist Sales Genres Years active
Seiko Matsuda 29.64 million Pop / Kayōkyoku 1980–present
Globe 28.93 million Synthpop / Eurobeat / Trance 1995–present
KinKi Kids 26.06 million Pop 1993–present
Akina Nakamori 25.37 million Pop / Kayōkyoku 1982–present
Tube 24.55 million Pop rock / Power pop / Surf rock / Blues rock 1985–present
Exile 23.49 million Pop / Dance / R&B / House 2001–present
Every Little Thing 22.76 million Pop rock / Power pop / Soft rock 1996–present
Maki Ohguro 22.67 million Pop / new wave 1989–present
Morning Musume 22.47 million Dance-pop / Electropop / Teen pop / Bubblegum 1998–present
Masaharu Fukuyama 22.23 million Rock / Pop 1990–present
Miyuki Nakajima 21.96 million Folk / Rock / Kayōkyoku / Enka 1975–present
TRF 21.71 million Dance-pop / Eurobeat / R&B 1993–present
Tsuyoshi Nagabuchi 21.37 million Rock / Folk 1977–present
Noriyuki Makihara 20.83 million Pop 1990–present
Spitz 20.68 million Alternative rock / Power pop 1987–present
X Japan 20 million† Heavy metal 1982-1997
2007-present

15 million to 20 million records

Artist Sales Genres Years active
Speed 19.55 million Pop / Dance / R&B / Hip hop 1996–2003, 2008-present
Kome Kome Club 18.66 million Pop / Soul / Funk 1982–1997, 2006–present
Misia 17.99 million Pop / Soul / R&B / Dance 1998–present
Toshinobu Kubota 16.33 million R&B / Pop / Soul / Neo soul 1981–present
Kyosuke Himuro 16.25 million Rock / Pop 1988–present
Momoe Yamaguchi 16.22 million Pop 1973–1980
Yōsui Inoue 15.809 million Rock / Folk 1969–present
Hiromi Gō 15.805 million Pop / Kayōkyoku / R&B 1972–present
Kenji Sawada 15.71 million Pop / Rock 1969–present
Mai Kuraki 15.5 million Pop / R&B 1999–present
The Checkers 15.38 million Rock 'n' roll / Pop rock / Rockabilly / Doo-wop 1981–1992
Miki Imai 15.31 million Pop 1986–present
Dragon Ash 15 million Alternative Rock / Rap rock / Punk Rock / Samba 1996–Present
Judy and Mary 15 million Pop rock / Punk rock / Art punk / Alternative rock 1992-2001
Kudo Shizuka 15 million Pop / Kayōkyoku 1987–Present

Best-selling artist sales by year

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Year Artist Album Sales Single Sales Total Sales
1999 Hikaru Utada 7,365,830 5,383,770 12,749,600
2000 Ayumi Hamasaki 5,267,350 3,914,920 9,182,270
2001 Ayumi Hamasaki 5,311,950 5,067,910 10,379,860
2002 Hikaru Utada 3,526,780 2,410,990 5,667,770
2003 Ayumi Hamasaki 2,774,474 1,056,148 3,830,622
2004 Hikaru Utada 3,537,845 365,206 3,903,051
2005 Orange Range 3,479,539 2,242,257 5,721,796
2006 Koda Kumi 2,411,470 1,281,022 3,692,492
2007 Koda Kumi 1,318,072 534,035 1,852,107
2008 EXILE 4,363,967 678,458 5,042,425

Notes

  1. ↑ Includes releases under her maiden name, Yumi Arai.

See also

References

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  7. ↑ http://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/music/features/why-has-japans-cd-market-suddenly-gone-into-decline-9213133.html
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Further reading

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External links

  • Yamachan Land (Japanese) — Japanese chart archives of selected best-selling artists (last updated December 2007)
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