Official HIGE DANdism’s “Subtitle” logs its eighth week at No. 1 on the Billboard Japan Hot 100, dated Dec. 28, and isn’t showing signs of slowing down.
The song serves as the theme for the acclaimed drama series Silent, and during the week its final episode aired, “Subtitle” ruled downloads again with 19,013 weekly units (up from 15,910, seven weeks at No. 1) and streaming with 17,913,433 streams (up from 17,468,383, ten consecutive weeks at No. 1). In particular, the track sailed past 200 million streams on its eleventh week on the chart, faster than the previous record holder, BTS’ “Butter,” which recorded the milestone at 14 weeks. In other metrics, the track climbed 10-4 for radio airplay, 5-3 for karaoke, and stayed at No. 2 for video views for the third week in a row, resulting in an eight percent increase in overall points from the previous week.
This chart week tallied the week ending on Christmas Day, Dec. 25. Various holiday favorites racked up points again, especially in radio, and eleven songs entered the Japan Hot 100 with two breaking into the top 10. The results are: back number’s “Christmas Song” (2015) at No. 5, Mariah Carey’s “All I Want for Christmas is You” (1994) at No. 9, Yuuri’s “Christmas Eve” (2022) at No. 18, Tatsuro Yamashita’s “Christmas Eve” (1983) at No. 23, Keisuke Kuwata’s “Shiroi Koibitotachi” (2001) at No. 29, Ariana Grande’s “Santa Tell Me” (2014) at No. 37, Wham!’s “Last Christmas” (1986) at No. 44, BoA’s “Merikuri” (2005) at No. 49, Yumi Matsutoya’s “Koibito ga Santa Claus” (1980) at No. 84, B’z’s “Itsuka no Merry Christmas” (1992) at No. 88, and Suzuki Suzuki’s “White Kiss” (2021) at No. 100.
Among these, back number’s “Christmas Song” ruled karaoke for the first time — it finished at No. 2 last year — and ranked highly across the board in other metrics as well, coming in at No. 5 for radio, No. 7 for video, No. 8 for streaming, and No. 44 for downloads. Mariah Carey’s “All I Want for Christmas Is You,” currently enjoying another streak at No. 1 on Billboard’s Hot 100 chart in the U.S., came in at No. 2 for radio, No. 11 for streaming, No. 26 for video, No. 55 for downloads, and No. 62 for karaoke on the Japan charts. Incidentally, the No. 1 song for radio airplay was Tatsuro Yamashita’s J-pop Yuletide classic, “Christmas Eve,” from 1983.
The Billboard Japan Hot 100 combines physical and digital sales, audio streams, radio airplay, YouTube and GYAO! video views and karaoke data.
See the full Billboard Japan Hot 100 chart, tallying the week from Dec. 19 to 25, here. For more on Japanese music and charts, visit Billboard Japan’s English Twitter account.
