PV What do you think of Japan's biggest hits of 2019?

[abra]

I thought I'd put together a short list of what can be considered the top* Japanese hits of 2019, for those who want to get a feel of what's popular over there this year.

First off, back number's HAPPY BIRTHDAY:


Japan loves their rock bands, and among them back number is arguably the most successful in recent years.
HAPPY BIRTHDAY is certified double platinum for over 500k downloads, making it the most downloaded song of the year so far.

Yonezu Kenshi's Uma to Shika:


Kenshi has completely dominated Japanese music in the last couple of years, so it is no surprise to see him among the top hits this year too.
Ume to Shika was released digitally a month ago, but is already the third most-downloaded song with 400k downloads. It has been selling like hotcakes physically too, with more than 400k copies sold in a week.

Masaki Suda's Machigai Sagashi:


Masaki Suda proves yet again that there is demand for him not only as an actor, but also as a singer. Machigai Sagashi is approaching 500k downloads (it's currently the second most downloaded song of the year) and has proven popular on streaming services as well.

Official HIGE DANdism's Pretender:


Higedan is a rising group that has found a lot of success lately. They, alongside Aimyon, have dominated streaming services, with Pretender being the most streamed song of the year so far and two further songs currently sitting next to it on the weekly download chart. It's also selling well, with almost 300k downloads.

Honorable mentions:
King Gnu's Hakujitsu
Radwimps' Ai ni Dekiru Koto wa Mada Aru Kai



*It can be difficult to tell which songs are most popular in Japan, as there are so many singles lists to choose from.
The default is often the Oricon physical singles list, but most sales there are grossly inflated.
It is made even more difficult by some songs not being available for streaming, and a few (most notably Arashi) not being available on download services either.
The choices I made are therefore mostly based on download and streaming numbers.
** Only songs released in 2019 are counted, which means that Yonezu Kenshi's Lemon and Aimyon's Marigold, for instance, weren't selected despite still being incredibly popular this year

 

[davidguy]

Hige Dan and King Gnu have been by far the biggest breakout bands of late and they've both been great imo

"Happy Birthday" may have the most downloads, but I would've argued "Pretender" and "Hakujitsu" being more popular considering they have more than double the view count on Youtube compared to "Happy Birthday" and have been charting since their release. But "Happy Birthday" isn't available for streaming as far as I can tell, so it's difficult to say how much of an impact it would've had on there.

But yeah, it's difficult to compare when the songs aren't released in the same way.

 

[abra]

Hige Dan and King Gnu have been by far the biggest breakout bands of late and they've both been great imo

"Happy Birthday" may have the most downloads, but I would've argued "Pretender" and "Hakujitsu" being more popular considering they have more than double the view count on Youtube compared to "Happy Birthday" and have been charting since their release. But "Happy Birthday" isn't available for streaming as far as I can tell, so it's difficult to say how much of an impact it would've had on there.

But yeah, it's difficult to compare when the songs aren't released in the same way.

Yeah. I was very close to choosing Hakujitsu. I couldn't really compare Youtube views though, since Happy Birthday's "MV" is only a minute long.
Picking 5 songs would've probably been a better option. I was also considering adding Arashi's new single based on how fast it's been selling so far, but it's Arashi and it's a new song so idk how to evaluate that at all.

 

[davidguy]

Yeah. I was very close to choosing Hakujitsu. I couldn't really compare Youtube views though, since Happy Birthday's "MV" is only a minute long.

Oh, right. I didn't check the MV length on that

 

[Yuki]

hmm maybe pretender

 

[kevinpr9]

I'm gonna say Pretender is the biggest song of 2019.

Yeah. I was very close to choosing Hakujitsu. I couldn't really compare Youtube views though, since Happy Birthday's "MV" is only a minute long.
Picking 5 songs would've probably been a better option. I was also considering adding Arashi's new single based on how fast it's been selling so far, but it's Arashi and it's a new song so idk how to evaluate that at all.

Errr.... Top Japanese hits mean that the singles are big among public and score huge sales. I don't think the new Arashi's song could be the biggest hit of 2019. Just because it's selling huge physicals in the first week doesn't mean it's big among public. The single needs some longevity in the charts and more recognition in public and should not just rely on how fast it's been selling so that it won't be considered frontloaded.

 

[abra]

I'm gonna say Pretender is the biggest song of 2019.


Errr.... Top Japanese hits mean that the singles are big among public and score huge sales. I don't think the new Arashi's song could be the biggest hit of 2019. Just because it's selling huge physicals in the first week doesn't mean it's big among public. The single needs some longevity in the charts and more recognition in public and should not just rely on how fast it's been selling so that it won't be considered frontloaded.

Yeah I know. But since they're going on hiatus this song might get more attention than their usual singles, but it's obviously way too early to say.

 

[Hongbin]

Uma to Shika
Machigai Sagashi
Ghost of the Sea
2 of 3 are sung by kenshi and the one ha isn't is kenshi penned

 

[Art Angels]

Uma to Shika

 

[Misa]

HAPPY BIRTHDAY and Uma to Shika