Ado’s “Show” holds at No. 1 after returning to the top spot last week to log its 12th leader on the Billboard Japan Hot 100.
On the chart dated Dec. 27 tallying the week ending on Christmas Eve, “Show” passed the 11-week record held by Gen Hoshino’s “Koi” and is now eyeing the 13-week record held by Official HIGE DANdism’s “Subtitle” for most week at No. 1. (The all-time record for most weeks at No. 1 is 21 weeks, held by YOASOBI’s “Idol.”)
Streaming for “Show” decreased by approximately 6% from last week to 9,707,241 streams, but continues to rule the metric for the 14th consecutive week. The track also holds at No. 1 for video views (12th straight week), rises 3-2 for downloads with 10,210 units, and moves 7-9 for karaoke.
“Anti Confiture” by ≠ME (Not Equal Me) debuts at No. 4 on the Japan Hot 100. The eighth single by the girl group launched with 216,440 CDs to hit No. 1 for physical sales. Following at No. 2 for sales is HKT48’s “Bucket wo Kabure!” with 183,540 first-week copies. The girl group’s 17th single bows at No. 5 on the Japan Hot 100.
As mentioned earlier, this chart week ended on Christmas Eve and as always during the holiday season, Christmas- and winter-themed songs surged on the Japan Hot 100 powered mainly by radio airplay. 13 songs charted this year, surpassing 2022’s record of 11 songs. Here’s a list of this year’s winter-themed entries:
No. 2 “Kissin’ Christmas (Christmas dakara janai) 2023” Keisuke Kuwata & Yumi Matsutoya
No. 6 “Christmas Song” back number
No.10 “All I Want for Christmas Is You” Mariah Carey
No. 21 “Christmas Eve” Tatsuro Yamashita
No. 24 “Santa Tell Me” Ariana Grande
No. 25 “Shiroi Koibitotachi” Keisuke Kuwata
No. 41 “Merikuri” BoA
No. 42 “Heroine” back number
No. 44 “Last Christmas” Wham!
No. 57 “silent” SEKAI NO OWARI
No. 69 “WINTER WITHOUT YOU” XG
No. 90 “Itsuka no Merry Christmas” B’z
No. 99 “Koibito ga Santa Claus” Yumi Matsutoya
“Kissin’ Christmas (Christmas dakara janai) 2023” by Keisuke Kuwata & Yumi Matsutoya shoots to No. 2 after the CD dropped Dec. 20. This song was originally written for the Merry Christmas Show, a now-legendary music program Kuwata spearheaded in 1986. It was remade for this release and the Southern All Stars frontman and “Koibito ga Santa Claus” singer-songwriter newly recorded their duet. The song ruled radio, sold 25,639 copies in its first week to hit No. 4 for sales, and came in at No. 7 for downloads with 5,131 units, giving the two iconic hitmakers their highest-ranking song so far on the Japan Hot 100.
back number’s “Christmas Song” from 2015 rises 11-6 this week to break into the top 10 again for the third consecutive year during the same season. This year, the track entered the top 20 on the chart released Dec. 6 and gradually climbed the ranks. This week the evergreen pop-rock love song reaches No. 5 for streaming with 6,976,101 streams, which is an increase of about 3% from last year’s peak (6,715,894 streams). The track comes in at No. 32 for downloads with 1,789 units, No. 7 for radio, No. 8 for video, and tops karaoke for the first time this year.
Meanwhile, Mariah Carey’s “All I Want for Christmas Is You” also rises 35-10. The Queen of Christmas’s modern standard comes in at No. 3 for radio, behind Tatsuro Yamashita’s iconic seasonal favorite, “Christmas Eve.” Carey’s Yuletide hit comes in at No. 11 for streaming with 5,089,233 streams, No. 28 for downloads with 1,857 units, and No. 29 for video.
The Billboard Japan Hot 100 combines physical and digital sales, audio streams, radio airplay, video views and karaoke data.
See the full Billboard Japan Hot 100 chart, tallying the week from Dec. 18 to 24, here. For more on Japanese music and charts, visit Billboard Japan’s English Twitter account.