This is a new weekly feature that we’ll be starting this week. Think of it as a means to reminisce about the Japanese music of the past and also maybe learn something about that past. There are many gems in the history of Japanese music that are sometimes forgotten and this will serve as a means to spotlight some of them. Music tends to be cyclical so looking at the past can sometimes tell us about the current day and the future. We will be doing a flashback to see what was #1 as far as albums and singles go 5, 10, 15, and 20 years ago. The weeks aren’t going to line up perfectly but we will try our best. This week on Oricon is dated 2/9/15 so here we go…

2/6/95

Album:

Toshinobu Kubota – BUMPIN’ VOYAGE (first week sales: about 150,000)

Single:

Keisuke Kuwata & Mr. Children – Kiseki no Hoshi (first week sales: about 605,000)

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2/7/00

Album:

Namie Amuro – GENIUS 2000 (first week sales: 536,940)

Single:

Southern All Stars – TSUNAMI (first week sales: 654,210)

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2/7/05

Album:

CHEMISTRY – Hot Chemistry (first week sales: 104,856)

Single:

Toraji Haiji – Fantastipo (first week sales: 202,200)

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2/8/10

Album:

HY – Whistle (first week sales: 82,165)

Single:

Tohoshinki – BREAK OUT! (first week sales: 255,917)