J-pop idol groups, Arashi and AKB48, have help set a new record in singles sales according to Oricon.

For the 9/6 weekly rankings, this year’s total (dating from 2009.12.28-2010.8/29) has exceeded 34,087,000,000 yen. It’s been a whole five years since the fiscal year numbers have been surpassed. This surge was due in large part to Arashi’s “Troublemaker” (ranked no.1 during the week of 9/6 and sold 696,000 yen worth) and AKB48’s “Ponytail and chou-chou” (ranked no.3 and sold 630,000 yen).

When looking at the top 10 ranking artists, these two groups’ sales take up more than half of the total. Arashi took three spots: 1st with “Troublemaker”, 2nd with ”Monster” (692,000 yen), and 5th with “To be free” (507,000 yen). AKB48 also took three spots: “Ponytail and chou-chou” in 3rd, 4th with “Heavy Rotation” (592,000 yen), and 7th with “Sakura no Shiori” (385,000 yen).

Over the course of the past couple of years, music DVD sales have had a firm holding as well, with a 139.9% markup that is expected to continue for some time. Arashi’s “ARASHI Anniversary Tour 5×10” was #1 and sold 740,000 yen, while TOHOSHINKI’s “TOHOSHINKI VIDEO CLIP COLLECTION –THE ONE-“ ranked 2nd and sold 172,000 yen. Eight out of the ten spots were taken by male artists.


source :tokyohive