Hey! Say! JUMP’s new single “Sing-along” debuts at No. 1 on this week’s Billboard Japan Hot 100, dated Nov. 22 to 28. The 31st single by the veteran Johnny’s boy band was mainly powered by the physical metrics of the chart’s measurement, selling 200,355 copies in its first week to rule physical sales and look-ups, while coming in at No. 21 for Twitter mentions and No. 26 for radio airplay. First-week sales dropped by about 30,000 copies compared to the eight-member group’s previous single, called “Gunjo Runaway” (234,313 copies).
Hikaru Utada’s “Kimi ni Muchu” (“Crazy for you”) soared 84-2 this week, fueled by radio and downloads. The theme of the ongoing TBS drama Saiai had been accumulating radio points for the past two weeks, rising from No. 20 to No. 2 to No. 1 this week. The song was released digitally during the chart week and ruled downloads with 44,045 units. The track is currently at No. 69 for Twitter and No. 31 streaming (3,613,280 weekly streams), and still has enough energy left to stay at the top of the charts as the drama gains momentum.
Singer-songwriter Aimyon’s “Heart” climbed 20-7 this week, boosted by additional points from the two physical metrics (No. 10 for sales, No. 6 for the look-ups) stemming from the release of the CD single. Downloads and streaming also rose from the previous week, with streaming points marking about a 16 percent increase to 4,928,807 streams and rising to No. 14.
Closing in on breakout singer-songwriter Yuuri’s “Betelgeuse,” the No. 1 song for streaming for three consecutive weeks, is four-man band Macaroni Empitsu’s “Nothing” (Japanese title: “Nandemonaiyo,”). The former racked up 8,422,782 weekly streams (rising 5-4 on the Japan Hot 100) while the latter logged 7,901,987 (breaking into the top 10 at No. 10), and the gap is narrowing. “Nothing” could become another long-running hit like “Koibito Gokko” for the band consisting of conservatory-trained members, who are set to release its highly anticipated new studio album in January.
This week marks the end of the 2021 chart year, and the new chart year begins next week. The year-end chart for 2021 will be released on Dec. 10.
The Billboard Japan Hot 100 combines physical and digital sales, audio streams, radio airplay, Twitter mentions, YouTube and GYAO! video views, Gracenote look-ups and karaoke data.
See the full Billboard Japan Hot 100 chart, dated Nov. 22 to 28, here.
