The Oricon Albums Chart is the Japanese music industry standard albums popularity chart issued daily, weekly, monthly and yearly by Oricon. Oricon originally published LP, CT, Cartridge and CD charts prior to the establishment of the Oricon Albums Chart on October 5, 1987. The Oricon Albums Chart's rankings are based on physical albums' sales.
A Digital Albums Chart based on download sales was established on November 19, 2016.[1] On December 24, 2018, Oricon introduced a Combined Albums Chart based on album-equivalent units. It counts physical sales, digital sales and streaming.[2]
Charts are published every Tuesday in Oricon Style and on Oricon's official website. Every Monday, Oricon receives data from outlets, but data on merchandise sold through certain channels does not make it into the charts. For example, the debut single of NEWS, a pop group, was released only through 7-Eleven stores, which are not covered by Oricon, and its sales were not reflected in the Oricon charts. Oricon's rankings of record sales are therefore not completely accurate.
| Rank | Year | Title | Artist | Sales |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 1999 | First Love | Hikaru Utada | 7,650,215[3] |
| 2 | 1998 | B'z The Best "Pleasure" | B'z | 5,135,922 |
| 3 | 1997 | Review | Glay | 4,875,980 |
| 4 | 2001 | Distance | Hikaru Utada | 4,469,135 |
| 5 | 1998 | B'z The Best "Treasure" | B'z | 4,438,742 |
| 6 | 2001 | A Best | Ayumi Hamasaki | 4,301,353 |
| 7 | 1996 | Globe | Globe | 4,136,460 |
| 8 | 2002 | Deep River | Hikaru Utada | 3,604,588 |
| 9 | 2000 | Delicious Way | Mai Kuraki | 3,530,000 |
| 10 | 1998 | Time to Destination | Every Little Thing | 3,520,330 |
