There are a variety of chart data sources in Japan. Oricon has been the major official provider since the late 1960s, with the RIAJ providing shipping certifications since 1989 (and digital market certifications, backdating to the beginning of the digital market). Alternative charts come from SoundScan (pure sales, since 1995) and Billboard Japan ( Japan Hot 100, sales+airplay). The RIAJ formerly listed the top monthly ringtones from 2006–early 2009, and currently lists the top weekly digital songs.
Oricon (est. 1967) has been the major provider of Japanese charting data since the late 1960s, tracking physical album sales in most CD sales outlets (and occasionally from special events, such as signings). Their online sites will list positions since the late 1980s (i.e. the messy period when Oricon charted both LPs and cassettes and lately also in CDs). Rankings up until December 2002 will list the position within the top 100, and after this date will list positions in the top 300. Album sales in any given week where the album does not chart are not added to the album's sales total.
Oricon charts album positions in four main charts: daily, weekly, monthly and yearly. Only weekly and yearly are archived, though archives can be created through Webcitation. Oricon also has two genre charts: Non-Japanese albums and Independent albums, but similarly they are not archived.
For http://ranking.oricon.co.jp
For http://www.oricon.co.jp (as of July 2010, layout changes frequently)
Oricon keeps an archive of the top 30 back until 1997 on its main page, with sales listed. Occasionally the figures will be absent, as the putting up of figures on the main page is a work in progress. To access these:
SoundScan has also been ranking weekly album sales separately from Oricon since 1995. PhileWeb has a top 20 archive of top 20 releases dating back to March 2001, and Billboard has a top 100 archive dating back to August 2009. The PhileWeb archive ranks each separate version differently (e.g. CD+DVD pressing, CD Only pressing) and also lists sales figures, whereas the Billboard archive does not.
As Billboard's albums chart is exactly the same as SoundScan's, they should not be listed. However, Billboard does list several genre charts that date from August 2009 onwards: Classical, Jazz, and Independent. (The independent chart lists physical single sales and album sales together.)
Oricon's singles chart archives are accessible in the same way as the albums chart. Several things of note:
Billboard Japan began ranking singles in Japan in March 2008, though created back-archived for late January/February 2008.
The RIAJ has been publishing charts for the digital market in several ways since 2006. No artist profiles are created, however, so each peak much be searched for through raw data.
From 2006 to early 2009, the RIAJ charted ringtones (着うた(R) chaku uta) in a monthly top 100 chart. To access these:
From March 2009, the RIAJ has been charting so-called full-length ringtones (着うたフル(R) chaku uta furu), or paid downloads of songs to cellphones, in a weekly top 100 chart. To access these.
RIAJ hosts both physical certifications and digital certifications on its website. Certifications are broken down into ゴールド (gold, 100,000+ copies), プラチナ (250,000+ copies) ダブル・プラチナ (double platinum), トリプル・プラチナ (triple platinum) and million (ミリオン, 1,000,000+ copies). After this point, the release is certified by how many subsequent million physical copies it sells, marked as 2ミリオン, 3ミリオン, etc.
RIAJ certified three digital mediums: ringtones (着うた(R) chaku uta), full-length cellphone downloads (着うたフル(R) chaku uta furu) and PC downloads (PC配信(シングル) pasokon henshin (shinguru)). In September 2006 the first certifications were released, certifying downloads from five sources (Dwango, Mora, Mu-Mo, music.jp and Recochoku). The first month featured all previous data from these companies, from when downloads began. As of July 2010, data from 17 companies adds to these certifications, though when new companies are added, retrospective sales previous to this date are not added to certification totals.
There are a variety of chart data sources in Japan. Oricon has been the major official provider since the late 1960s, with the RIAJ providing shipping certifications since 1989 (and digital market certifications, backdating to the beginning of the digital market). Alternative charts come from SoundScan (pure sales, since 1995) and Billboard Japan ( Japan Hot 100, sales+airplay). The RIAJ formerly listed the top monthly ringtones from 2006–early 2009, and currently lists the top weekly digital songs.
Oricon (est. 1967) has been the major provider of Japanese charting data since the late 1960s, tracking physical album sales in most CD sales outlets (and occasionally from special events, such as signings). Their online sites will list positions since the late 1980s (i.e. the messy period when Oricon charted both LPs and cassettes and lately also in CDs). Rankings up until December 2002 will list the position within the top 100, and after this date will list positions in the top 300. Album sales in any given week where the album does not chart are not added to the album's sales total.
Oricon charts album positions in four main charts: daily, weekly, monthly and yearly. Only weekly and yearly are archived, though archives can be created through Webcitation. Oricon also has two genre charts: Non-Japanese albums and Independent albums, but similarly they are not archived.
For http://ranking.oricon.co.jp
For http://www.oricon.co.jp (as of July 2010, layout changes frequently)
Oricon keeps an archive of the top 30 back until 1997 on its main page, with sales listed. Occasionally the figures will be absent, as the putting up of figures on the main page is a work in progress. To access these:
SoundScan has also been ranking weekly album sales separately from Oricon since 1995. PhileWeb has a top 20 archive of top 20 releases dating back to March 2001, and Billboard has a top 100 archive dating back to August 2009. The PhileWeb archive ranks each separate version differently (e.g. CD+DVD pressing, CD Only pressing) and also lists sales figures, whereas the Billboard archive does not.
As Billboard's albums chart is exactly the same as SoundScan's, they should not be listed. However, Billboard does list several genre charts that date from August 2009 onwards: Classical, Jazz, and Independent. (The independent chart lists physical single sales and album sales together.)
Oricon's singles chart archives are accessible in the same way as the albums chart. Several things of note:
Billboard Japan began ranking singles in Japan in March 2008, though created back-archived for late January/February 2008.
The RIAJ has been publishing charts for the digital market in several ways since 2006. No artist profiles are created, however, so each peak much be searched for through raw data.
From 2006 to early 2009, the RIAJ charted ringtones (着うた(R) chaku uta) in a monthly top 100 chart. To access these:
From March 2009, the RIAJ has been charting so-called full-length ringtones (着うたフル(R) chaku uta furu), or paid downloads of songs to cellphones, in a weekly top 100 chart. To access these.
RIAJ hosts both physical certifications and digital certifications on its website. Certifications are broken down into ゴールド (gold, 100,000+ copies), プラチナ (250,000+ copies) ダブル・プラチナ (double platinum), トリプル・プラチナ (triple platinum) and million (ミリオン, 1,000,000+ copies). After this point, the release is certified by how many subsequent million physical copies it sells, marked as 2ミリオン, 3ミリオン, etc.
RIAJ certified three digital mediums: ringtones (着うた(R) chaku uta), full-length cellphone downloads (着うたフル(R) chaku uta furu) and PC downloads (PC配信(シングル) pasokon henshin (shinguru)). In September 2006 the first certifications were released, certifying downloads from five sources (Dwango, Mora, Mu-Mo, music.jp and Recochoku). The first month featured all previous data from these companies, from when downloads began. As of July 2010, data from 17 companies adds to these certifications, though when new companies are added, retrospective sales previous to this date are not added to certification totals.