Male Groups Are "Hot" in Japan

Nowadays, the market of J-POP music seemed to be occupied by male groups, such as Arashi.

The album, All the BEST! 1999-2009, is their latest work, which has been sold 1,307,760 pieces. It's really a marvelous number for nowadays J-POP market is declining gradually.

The other example, Tohoshinki (東方神起), which is also a famous male group in Asia. However, the group is formed by 5 young Korean men.

It is their latest album, The Secret Code, which has been sold 286,920 pieces. Although their selling number is not as well as Arashi's, their high popularity is overwhelming the whole Asia.

The reason why I talk about the two male groups is I'm confused of their high popularity. Arashi, actually, they have formed over than 10 years; however, they were not so famous untill recent years. These years, their albums and singles selling number really surprised many people. To take their album, All the BEST! 1999-2009, for example, 1,307,760 is undoutedly a big number for the record market in Japan is under the depression.

From this graph (from http://blog.yam.com/user/vilya0106.html), you can see the curve climbed up from 2006, but before the year, their album selling numbers was not so surprising.

Tohoshinki, they became famous within recent years, too. Although I had heard of them 4 or 5 years ago, they were not so popular at that time. Furthermore, they made their debut in Korea, so did BoA. However, they didn't make efforts in Korea record market but put their ambitious hearts in Japan. The deed really made them successful not only in Japan but also in Taiwan and China.

The DVD, 4th LIVE TOUR 2009～The Secret Code～Final in TOKYO DOME, has made a new record, 170,847 pieces. They are the first foreign singers whose DVD ranking become the first in Oricon and in the first week.

Actually, these two male groups are not the most famous ones in Japan nowadays, but I think their succeed is really unbelievable. Below, I show you the records' ranking top 10 in 2009 Jan-March (copy from PTT),

1. EXILE ( 54.816億円 )
2. 嵐 ( 44.329億円 )
3. Mr.Children ( 41.757億円 )
4. 濱崎あゆみ ( 30.906億円 )
5. B'z ( 28.738億円 )
6. KAT-TUN ( 28.541億円 )
7. DREAMS COME TRUE ( 26.059億円 )
8. 東方神起 ( 24.929億円 )
9. SMAP ( 22.760億円)
10. 倖田來未 (19.955億円)
 
and the DVD ranking Top 10 in 2009 Jan-Mar (copy from PTT).
 
1.　355,253　嵐「ARASHI AROUND ASIA 2008 in TOKYO」
2.　313,504　EXILE「EXILE LIVE TOUR 「EXILE PERFECT LIVE 2008」　
3.　269,021　SMAP「SMAP 2008 super.modern.artistic.performance tour」
4.　209,604　KAT-TUN「KAT-TUN LIVE TOUR 2008 QUEEN OF PIRATES」
5.　181,584　B'z「B』z LIVE－GYM Pleasure 2008 GLORY DAYS」
6.　179,020　B'z「B』z LIVE－GYM Hidden Pleasure～Typhoon No.20～」
7.　123,193　桑田佳佑「桑田佳佑 Act Against AIDS 2008「昭和八十三年度！ひとり紅白歌合戰」
8.　121,829　ヘキサゴンオールスターズ「ヘキサゴンファミリーコンサート 2008 WE LIVE■ヘキサゴン」
9.　  93,730　Hey!Say!JUMP「Hey！Say！Jump-ing Tour '08-'09」
10.   87,973　Perfume「Perfume『BUDOUKaaaaaaaaaaN!!!!!』」
 
Actually, the top 5 menbers in records' ranking top 10 in 2009 Jan-March are all groups, except Ayumi Hamasaki, and some of them have debuted for a long time, such as EXILE, SMAP, B'Z and Mr, Children. It's an interesting phenomenon because it proved that male groups in Japana can "hot" for years!

Here are some videos you can take a look: