AKB48 sells half a million
Last week, AKB48 released their 16th major label single, "Ponytail to Chouchou." They proved their popularity once again, taking #1 with 513,000 copies sold. This is the first single by a female group to break half a million in opening week sales since Morning Musume's "Renai Revolution 21" in 2000 (515,000 copies), and the first by a female artist since Hikaru Utada's "Can You Keep A Secret?" in 2001 (784,000 copies).
TVXQ's Junsu, under the name XIAH junsu, took #2 with his solo single, selling 195,000 copies. This sets the current record for a solo artist so far this year.
Lia and Aoi Tada's collaborative single ranked #3 for the week, while S/mileage made it to #5. Sata Andagi (#7), ASIAN KUNG-FU GENERATION (#8), and Etsuko Yakushimaru (#10) also made the top ten.
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