^interesting point.
I'm just going to say that Namie is just more popular and well liked. Sales aren't great for any solo female artists right now, but Namie still grabs the casuals with her ~albums~ because of her popularity.
Those same casuals aren't likely to buy anyone else's stuff except for maybe Utada Hikaru, and she's MIA. That's just the market. It has to do with the culture.
I will also point out that Japan has multiple platforms, even more than other places, that let's people download or stream music, and even rent music. Being mobile is huge. All of those things impact physical sales.
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