Confusion in ORICON News Update
 

"また、自身が持つソロ歴代No.1記録の「連続初登場首位獲得記録」を「23作連続」（2位：松 田聖子 12作連続）に更新"

Source: http://www.oricon.co.jp/news/rankmusic/78299/full/

From my reading of Japanese, it says that Ayu has renewed the record as a solo artist for first place in terms of having the highest number of consecutive singles which is 23 gaining the number one spot. Matsuda Seiko is in second place with 12 singles.

I agree it's common knowledge on this forum that Matsuda Seiko should be at first place for that record with 24 singles as of now so I am a little confused with this ORICON update. Does it mean only the first day sales and not the weekly? But in that case, it's contradicting as well because I remember HEAVEN only taking the number three spot on its first day of release. Hopefully a native Japanese speaker may be able to provide a more definite explanation?

P.S. I posted this in the MOON/blossom ranking thread but no one seemed to care or a native Japanese speaker did not see it, so hopefully what I believe is an important update can receive some attention here.

How in the hell could HEAVEN have gotten #3 on its first day? That seems proposterous.

From my vague memory, I think it was a situation when stock was damaged when it arrived at the store level so therefore there was lack of product for consumers. Thank god it was still able to reach the first spot for weekly sales though.

So no one on this forum is able to provide any possible ideas as to why ORICON made that statement? Isn't it a great thing if Ayu isn't even releasing her singles under pressure to break another record? I understand how some may think my translation is preposterous as I thought so myself too when I first read it, but isn't the point for many at the moment to keep track of Ayu's sales records for the purpose of beating records?

No, HEAVEN got number one spot for sure, without worries. She also got number one weekly, but only number 3 monthly.

It counts if it gets #1 even just daily.

連続初登場首位獲得記録 means Consecutive Number Ones for a new entry on the Oricon Chart Record, meaning daily new entry.

There's nothing wrong with the article. Since Free & Easy, she has gotten #1 consecutively. If Daybreak hadn't been released, it would have been much much more.

I understand that HEAVEN did get the number one spot weekly, but Ayu forum users around its release should remember that it did not get the number one daily on its first day of release.

"On the day of its release it reached the number-two position on the Oricon chart; the second day it was at number three. It reached stayed at the top position for the rest of the week, however. At the end of the week, the physical sales of "Heaven" was over 169,000 units, topping the weekly Oricon chart."

The above quote is from Wikipedia which I understand is an unreliable source, but it has been updated and kept track for releases pertaining to Ayu. I definitely remember how disappointed and worried everyone was on forums when it didn't get number 1 on its first day of release.

Thank you for your direct translation, but now it just makes me wonder how truly reliable ORICON is as a source for sales updates, even though it is the most widely recognized outlet in Japan.

P.S. I also noticed my mistake of confusing two and three in my first post. Sorry about that.

I guess the only way to find out is to wait and see if she manages to top the charts with her 49th and 50th singles and the result of that.

I suppose that is the only way, although I really hope ORICON makes reference to both records on the next update to give final confirmation.

Then I would suggest that Oricon counts the fact that it DID achieve number 1, just not on the first day.

Also, I don't think many people in Japan actually care about Oricon charts anymore, because there's been scandal after scandal of rumours that companies use different tactics to skew the oricon charts, or that the Oricon doesn't chart some sales from small stores, etc...

So the total sales sold cannot be reflected accurately by the Oricon charts.

Most people don't really care about charts...
And if charts reflected the actual popularity of singles, Ayu's streak would have ended 4, 5 years ago...

Then wouldn't the same have to apply to Matsuda Seiko as well, since there's no way she can achieve number 1 weekly for 24 singles without having any of them taking the number in daily sales?

I definitely agree that probably many people in Japan don't care about the ORICON charts anymore, but I definitely thought it was interesting to point out this contradiction. I would say that the popularity of charts and records are definitely still active on international Ayu forums though, and of course it's great for Ayu to achieve another record but it just feels kind of pointless sometimes.