Top 40 Best Selling Japanese Acts

[Ranma Matsuri]

Originally Posted by jeffycue

Morning Musume is on that list! im so proud of them! woohoo!

Yay for Momosu! I didn't know L`arc~en~ciel were such big sellers, they're pretty high wow.

[Nackar_91]

Originally Posted by jbrat2219

Namie has been around longer but she takes her time with her releases. Somewhere in between the pace of Ayu and Utada. But to my knowledge she never achieved their kind of multi-million seller status, ne? The only million commercial success I can think of is BEST FICTION. I think everyone was (pleasantly) surprised by that one.

Her debut album Sweet 19 Blues sold 3.650.000 copies and was, albeit for a very brief time, the best selling album ever. Her single Can you Celebrate also sold over 2.300.000 copies. She's definitely had some huge hits in the beginning and then again recently ... there's just this period in between where she kinda slumped.

Her album Break the Rules failed to sell more than 400k (and we're talking 2000 here, so that wasn't as huge as it'd be now) and her 2003 Style "only" sold 220k. ("only" because it's still a good amount, just not when you consider what she used to sell.)

[jbrat2219]

^ Thanks for the info! I honestly didn't know most of that. I just knew Can you Celebrate was her biggest hit hahaha. I actually became a Namie fan around the time Style came out. I contributed to that 220k ;D

But regardless... Ayu prevails, remains sexy while doing so.

[Andrenekoi]

3 of Utada's albums are among the 10 best selling albums in Japan history... only those albums gave her +-15,5 million albums sold... Good enough to put her on the bottom of the list... She had 6 album crossing the million mark (7, if I count Exodus) and 4 of her singles are million sellers (5 counting Movin' on Without You 2 formats). Some people around here seen to have no clue about how big the girl is on Japan...

Namie has 5 albums and 4 singles crossing the million mark, being one of them the best selling single released by a female solo singer, so, her position is also understandable...

So... the top10 solo female singers of Japan are:
1. Ayumi Hamasaki - 12 years, 49million, 9 "million" selling albums, 16 albums
2. Matsutoiya Yumi - 32 years, 38 million, 10 "million" selling albums, 37 albums
3. Hikaru Utada - 12 years, 35 million, 6 "million" selling albums, 8 albums
4. Namie Amuro - 15 years, 29 million, 5 "million" selling albums, 13 albums
5. Seiko Matsuda - 30 years, 29 million, don't know if she has any million seller, 80 albums
6. Akina Nakamori - 28 years, 25 million, don't know if she has any million seller, 58 albums
7. Maki Ohguro - 21 years, 22 million, 5 "million" sellers, 15 albums
8. Miyuki Nakajima - 35 years, 21 million, don't know if she has any million seller, 45 albums
9. Misia - 12 years, 17 million, 5 "million" sellers, 13 albums
10. Momoe Yamaguchi - 7 years (retired), 16 million, don't know if she has any million seller, 22 albums

I only counted studio albums, extended plays and compilations... As you can see, those girls are monstruous sellers, and some of them (mainly Ayumi, Yumi, Hikaru, Namie, Seiko and Momoe) are living legends on Japan... Koda Kumi (at least right now) has no chance of beating them.... Maybe in 5 years....

[Dreamin Startin]

That's quite enough on Hikki. Her feats are great but she aint the Empress. She's not Japan's top female act.

Yumi has a 32 year career and has released 37 gosh darn albums and Ayu has 11 million more sales than her with 21 less albums and 20 less years in the music business.

Empress

[Andrenekoi]

^Ayumi had her peak at the peak of japanese music marketing... Everyone who peaked during 1998~2001 had huge sales...

[rusuke]

YAY! The Best selling female artist!!!

This is so great! This proves that Ayu is still the Jpop queen!

[Nackar_91]

Music sales peaked between 1990-2000, or something like that. Take Inou Yosui. His 1976 album was the first million seller album ever in Japan.

The real huge multi-millions were practically all racked in during the 90s. The "best-selling album ever" also jumped around REALLY quickly during that period. First Namie Amuro's Sweet 19 Blues, then globe's self-titled album, then Glay's Review, then B'z' The Best Pleasure, then First Love. It really was the best period to be a succesful artist XD

[jbrat2219]

Yeah but it still takes a lot to maintain that success and that's why Ayu (and others) is where she is today.

Dreamin Startin~! Yet another HOT gif.

[kagami]

The fact that Ayu is still a relevant figure is quite surprising really. I mean, she has been one of the most relavant female artists for over 10 years, while continuously releasing music. Can't really say that about most people.
All the women on this list should be proud of themselves ^_^

[tetsuo69]

congrats to ayu , while she may release often, it take something to be able to sell that well even after releasing so much each year since her debut.

[primavera♥]

Originally Posted by tetsuo69

congrats to ayu , while she may release often, it take something to be able to sell that well even after releasing so much each year since her debut.

I was thinkig the same about her releases. I feel like if she took more time with her releases like for her albums for example they would sell a lot more per album
But I guess would put her in more of a hikki situation.
Like...I'm proud of ayu for continuing to do well. It always amazes me how much she can still sell even with so many releases and not huge promotions like major dramas and animes and etc.
She's just there. Getting along. And she seems so content nowadays. I ike ayus career like this

[Kingdom]

high sales do not equal pop royalty. Have you forgotten that some of the most untalented people in the world have achieved great sales thanks to marketing and rabid fans?

Not saying Ayu isn't pop royalty, because she is undeniably, but it isn't because of her oricon record or sales history. She should be better known for her influence on music rather than how many records she sold IMO.

[Andrenekoi]

Originally Posted by ero-kakkoii

high sales do not equal pop royalty. Have you forgotten that some of the most untalented people in the world have achieved great sales thanks to marketing and rabid fans?

Not saying Ayu isn't pop royalty, because she is undeniably, but it isn't because of her oricon record or sales history. She should be better known for her influence on music rather than how many records she sold IMO.

Well... this is a dangerous comment... everyone has their own notion of "talent" and own list of who is and isn't talented... in the end of the day, every artist is amazingly talented or a piece of dog crap depending on who are u asking to...

[Dreamin Startin]

Originally Posted by ero-kakkoii

high sales do not equal pop royalty. Have you forgotten that some of the most untalented people in the world have achieved great sales thanks to marketing and rabid fans?

Not saying Ayu isn't pop royalty, because she is undeniably, but it isn't because of her oricon record or sales history. She should be better known for her influence on music rather than how many records she sold IMO.

I completely agree. I've really even never been that big of a "sales" person. I really could care a lot less. But here I just think that when you look at her numbers, her sales are an amazing accomplishment as well.

[Ranma Matsuri]

Yes, it is quite amazing that she still does well considering how fast and consistently she releases, she doesn't really give people time enough to miss her but they seem to anyway lol (or at least, we do XD ). Like Strawbari said, I think if she actually took a couple of years between releases (not necessarily the Hikki route or we'd all go bonkers), her sales could be a lot higher but Ayu is Ayu and she does seem ok with this pace so she'll do what she do.

Originally Posted by Dreamin Startin

Empress

Lord have mercy... *fans self*

Originally Posted by Andrenekoi

Well... this is a dangerous comment... everyone has their own notion of "talent" and own list of who is and isn't talented... in the end of the day, every artist is amazingly talented or a piece of dog crap depending on who are u asking to...

Agreed. Also, (and this is not directed at you ero) I really don't think it's anyone's place to question how a person is very successful or why their fans support them. There's always a good reason and people have their own different reasons for supporting an artist.