Oricon - Weekly International Album Chart (27/6)

Weekly International Album Chart (Japan) - 27 June 201

1. Lady Gaga / Born This Way
2. Il Divo / Love Songs - Inspired By The Film Andalucia
3. Arctic Monkeys / Suck It and See
4. V.A. / Songs For Japan
5. Owl City / Bright & Beautiful
6. Jennifer Lopez / Love?
7. Aaron / The Next Me
8. Avril Lavigne / Goodbye Lullaby
9. Kim HyunJoong / Break Down
10. Jessie J / Who Are You

Source: http://www.oricon.co.jp/rank/wa/w/

Lady Gaga in Japan right now!She came to play for MTV charity live (thanks Gaga!).

Would you say this Japan trip purely coincided the album release or had been planned for promo first and MTV made the offer after the earthquake? I totally appreciate that she bravely came to Japan for the earthquake relief, whereas most of the international acts hesitate to do because of the disastrous nuclear accident. However, from the label point of view, the timing of her Japan trip was the best to promote her album. It just came out last month and has been at #1 until now. It's rare that any of such a big artist come just before/after album release.

Oricon will publish the latest chart this evening. See what will happen with Gaga.

Oricon - Weekly International Album Chart (20/6)

Weekly International Album Chart (Japan) - 20 June 201

1. Lady Gaga / Born This Way
2. Il Divo / Love Songs - Inspired By The Film Andalucia
3. Arctic Monkeys / Suck It and See
4. V.A. / Songs For Japan
5. Jennifer Lopez / Love?
6. Avril Lavigne / Goodbye Lullaby
7. Night Ranger / Somewhere In California
8. Jessie J / Who Are You
9. Amaranthe / Amaranthe
10. All Time Low / Dirty Work

Source: http://www.oricon.co.jp/rank/wa/w/

Lineup of this week's Top 30 is really interesting. There are pop stars such as Briteny Spears to Justin Berber. There are also legends like Journey and Ozzy. There are even indie bands Death Cab For Cutie and Atari Teenage Riot. Genres of music within Top 30 vary really much. That represents what kind of music the Japanese people listen to - it's varied, I mean.

But here is Top 10. Although Lady Gaga is now away from the top position in the US/UK album chart, her new album "Born This Way" still shows a strong sales here in Japan. Let's see what happens next.

Oricon - Weekly International Album Chart (6/13)

Weekly International Album Chart (Japan) - 13 June 2011

1. Lady Gaga / Born This Way
2. Arctic Monkeys / Suck It and See
3. V.A. / Songs For Japan
4. Jennifer Lopez / Love?
5. Journey / Eclipse
6. Avril Lavigne / Goodbye Lullaby
7. Ozzy Osbourne / Diary of a Madman (Legacy Edition)
8. FTIsland / Return
9. Lady Gaga / The Monster
10. Ozzy Osbourne / Blizzard of Ozz (Legacy Edition)

Source: http://www.oricon.co.jp/rank/wa/w/

It's been a while since I posted the last blog entry. I have been deadly busy for the last few months. So busy like bees. Sorry for the people who are interested in the Japanese music and constantly checking this blog to see what's hot record here. I'm back and getting the weekly chart update back on the track.

Above is the latest weekly international album chart. Lady Gaga stays at #1 spot for 2 consecutive weeks, while an English rock hero Arctic Monkeys reached #2 for its first chart week. As far as I heard, "Born This Way" seems to fall down from US and UK #1 spot next week. However, the situation for the American #1 album is totally different here in Japan. Physical sales still dominates the whole recorded music sales. It's hard to think her album's physical sales in Japan suddenly fall down. In fact, the album sold sixfold more than "Suck It and See" for this chart week, whereas in the US she sees 84% sales drop after Amazon MP3 store's massive discount campaign.

In Japan, I guess "Born This Way"will comfortably remain at the top spot for a while. Watch out this space and let's see if my guess is going to become a reality.