Sakurazaka46’s “Ai MUST BE” is at No. 1 on the Billboard Japan Hot 100 chart released Oct. 21.
The track is the title song of the group’s single released Oct. 14. The single sold 736,759 copies in its first week to top sales and had already surpassed half a million copies in its early-release-day tally, marking the group’s fourth consecutive release to do so. The song also posted strong showings across other metrics, with No. 16 on radio airplay, No. 10 on downloads (2,776 units) and No. 12 on streaming.
EBiDAN’s “Yes! Tokyo” climbs 3-2, leading video views and coming in at No. 2 for streaming (8,099,664 streams). Mrs. GREEN APPLE’s “Kyohan” lands at No. 3, holding at No. 1 for radio for a second consecutive week. Ayumu Imazu’s “Musubi” rises 5-4, topping streaming (9,303,925 streams) and reaching No. 5 for radio.
New songs enter at No. 5, No. 6 and No. 8. At No. 5 is “Hatsukoi ONDO,” the debut song from iiONDO, an eight-member group launched from EBiDAN. The track fronts the group’s first single, released Oct. 14, which sold 202,345 copies to come in at No. 2 for sales. MATSURI’s “Koi no Chuo-sen,” released the same day, starts at No. 6 with 91,833 copies sold (No. 3 for sales). The song weaves in the names of stations along the Chuo Line, and a tie-in campaign with JR East is also underway. Travis Japan’s “EGO,” the theme song for the TV Asahi drama Hadakanbou-tachi starring member Genta Matsuda, arrives at No. 8, leading downloads (15,753 units) and reaching No. 3 on radio.
Vaundy’s “Shiwaawase” rises 10-7. The theme song for the film Mama ga Mou Kono Sekai ni Inakutemo: Watashi no Inochi no Nikki (All Our Tomorrows) comes in at No. 3 for streaming (7,909,405 streams). M!LK’s “Sukisugite Metsu!” follows at No. 9, with Mrs. GREEN APPLE’s “Brand New” rounding out the top 10.
In other chart moves, YOASOBI’s “Sakihokore,” the theme song for the NHK morning drama series Blossom, debuts at No. 12 after landing at No. 2 on downloads (12,041 units). BE:FIRST’s “It’s not a bad life” enters at No. 18 (No. 3 for downloads), while Yorushika’s “Kumo wo Nuke Kazashimo e Watashi Dake,” the opener for Season 3 of the anime series The Apothecary Diaries, debuts at No. 20, coming in at No. 4 for downloads.
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 Oct. 12 to 18, here (https://www.billboard.com/charts/japan-hot-100/). For more on Japanese music and charts, visit Billboard Japan’s English X account (https://x.com/BillboardJP_ENG).