List of best-selling singles in Japan
has the second largest music market in the world. In 1962, Tokushin music reports was founded and became the leading provider of music sales in Japan. However their reports and charts are only available to industry insiders and are not available to the general public. In 1968 Original Confidence was established and began providing music charts to the general public with data collected from various retailers throughout Japan.
This is the list of the best-selling singles, based on the data by Oricon. It does not include singles that were released before 1968, and is only from data collected from Oricon's retail partners and not the record companies.
Best-selling physical singles in Japan
certified that Masato Shimon's "Oyoge! Taiyaki-kun" is the best-selling single in Japan.There were several singles which achieved worldwide success. Shoukichi Kina's "Subete No Hito No Kokoro Ni Hana Wo" sold estimate 30 million copies over worldwide. Kyu Sakamoto's "Sukiyaki" sold estimate 13 million copies over worldwide. However, those were worldwide sales.
There were many non full-track digital download singles in Japan. Hikaru Utada's "Flavor of Life" sold over 7.7 million combined sales. GReeeeN's "Ai Uta" sold 5 million digital download singles. However, those included the sales of non full-track digital download singles. Guinness World Records certified that Thelma Aoyama's "Soba ni Iru ne" is the best-selling full-track digital download single in Japan with over 8 million copies.
Machiko Soga's "Oba-Q Ondo" sold estimate 2 million single and 4 million sonosheet in Japan. However, a sonosheet was not a regular 7" single.
Yujiro Ishihara & Shunko Makimura's "Ginza No Koi No Monogatari" sold estimate 3.35 million copies in Japan. Hiroshi Wada & His Mahina Stars's "Ozashiki Kouta" sold estimate 3 million copies in Japan. Yūzō Kayama's "Kimi to Itsumademo" sold estimate 3 million copies in Japan. However, those were released before 1968 in Japan.
List of best-selling singles based on physical sales
The following list covers the highest-selling singles in the country based on physical sales compiled by Oricon since its foundation in November 1967.| Single | Artist | Released | Chart | Sales | |
| 1 | "Oyoge! Taiyaki-kun" | 1 | 4,577,000 | ||
| 2 | "Onna no Michi" | 1 | 3,256,000 | ||
| 3 | "Sekai ni Hitotsu Dake no Hana" | SMAP | 1 | 3,128,000 | |
| 4 | "Tsunami" | Southern All Stars | 1 | 2,936,000 | |
| 5 | "Dango 3 Kyodai" | Kentarou Hayami, Ayumi Shigemori, Himawari Kids and Dango Gasshoudan | 1 | 2,918,000 | |
| 6 | "Kimi ga Iru Dake de" | Kome Kome Club | 1 | 2,895,000 | |
| 7 | "Say Yes" | Chage and Aska | 1 | 2,822,000 | |
| 8 | "Tomorrow Never Knows" | Mr. Children | 1 | 2,766,000 | |
| 9 | "Oh! Yeah!" | 1 | 2,588,000 | ||
| 10 | "Love Love Love" | Dreams Come True | 1 | 2,489,000 | |
| 11 | "Yah Yah Yah" | Chage and Aska | 1 | 2,419,000 | |
| 12 | "Namonaki Uta" | Mr. Children | 1 | 2,309,000 | |
| 13 | "Sakura Zaka" | 1 | 2,299,000 | ||
| 14 | "Can You Celebrate?" | 1 | 2,296,000 | ||
| 15 | "Departures" | Globe | 1 | 2,288,000 | |
| 16 | "Kuroneko no Tango" | Osamu Minagawa | 1 | 2,235,000 | |
| 17 | "WOW WAR TONIGHT 〜Toki ni wa Okose yo Movement" | H Jungle With t | 1 | 2,135,000 | |
| 18 | "Koi no Kisetsu" | Pinky & Killers | 1 | 2,077,000 | |
| 19 | "Automatic" | 2 | 2,063,000 | ||
| 20 | "True Love" | 1 | 2,023,000 |
Notes:
- Released along with popular B-side "Love Story wa Totsuzen ni".
- Released as a double A-side single along with "Yume no Bannin".
- Released as a double A-side single along with "Time Will Tell".
List of best-selling singles by Western acts
| Single | Artist | Released | Chart | Sales | |
| 1 | "Beautiful Sunday" | Daniel Boone | 1 | 1,924,000 | |
| 2 | "To Love You More" | 1 | 1,500,000 | ||
| 3 | "All I Want for Christmas Is You" | 2 | 1,300,000 | ||
| 4 | "I Will Always Love You" | 5 | 810,000 | ||
| 5 | "The Sound of Silence" | Simon & Garfunkel | 1 | 810,000 | |
| 6 | "The Lovers Of The World" | 1 | 734,000 | ||
| 7 | "Flashdance... What a Feeling" | 1 | 697,000 | ||
| 8 | "Last Christmas" | Wham! | 15 | 683,000 | |
| 9 | "I'm In the Mood for Dancing" | The Nolans | 1 | 674,000 | |
| 10 | "I Dream Of Naomi" | Hedva and David | 1 | 666,000 | |
| 11 | "Candle in the Wind 1997" | 1 | 632,000 | ||
| 12 | "Yesterday Once More" | The Carpenters | 5 | 592,000 | |
| 13 | "Sky High" | Jigsaw | 2 | 568,000 | |
| 14 | "Let It Be" | The Beatles | 6 | 558,000 | |
| 15 | "Venus" | Shocking Blue | 2 | 555,000 | |
| 16 | "I Need to Be in Love" | The Carpenters | 5 | 542,000 | |
| 17 | "Welcome to the Edge" | 3 | 518,000 | ||
| 18 | "Massachusetts" | Bee Gees | 1 | 517,000 | |
| 19 | "Never Marry a Railroad Man" | Shocking Blue | 2 | 505,000 | |
| 20 | "We Are the World" | USA for Africa | — | 489,000 |
Notes:
- According to Sony Music Entertainment Japan, "To Love You More" sold 1.5 million copies in the country.
- Originally released in 1984, reissued in 1993.
- Released as a double A-side single along with "Top of the World".
Best-selling multi-format singles in Japan
Over 5 million copies
Over 4 million copies
Over 3 million copies
Note:Over 2 million copies
Note:Best-selling singles by year
The following is a table of the yearly best-selling singles in Japan by physical sales.| Year | Title | Artist | Sales | Chart Peak | References |
| 1989 | "Diamonds" | Princess Princess | 1 | ||
| 1990 | "Odoru Pompokolin" | B.B.Queens | 1 | ||
| 1991 | "Oh Yeah!"/"Love Story wa Totsuzen ni" | Kazumasa Oda | 1 | ||
| 1992 | "Kimi ga Iru Dake de" | Kome Kome Club | 1 | ||
| 1993 | "Yah Yah Yah / Yume no Bannin" | Chage and Aska | 1 | ||
| 1994 | "Innocent World" | Mr. Children | 1 | ||
| 1995 | "Love Love Love"/"Arashi ga Kuru" | Dreams Come True | 1 | ||
| 1996 | "Namonaki Uta" | Mr. Children | 1 | ||
| 1997 | "Can You Celebrate?" | Namie Amuro | 1 | ||
| 1998 | "Yuuwaku" | GLAY | 1 | ||
| 1999 | "Dango 3 Kyodai" | Kentarō Hayami, Ayumi Shigemori, Himawari Kids and Dango Gasshōdan | 1 | ||
| 2000 | "Tsunami" | Southern All Stars | 1 | ||
| 2001 | "Can You Keep a Secret?" | Utada Hikaru | 1 | ||
| 2002 | "H" | Ayumi Hamasaki | 1 | ||
| 2003 | "Sekai ni Hitotsu Dake no Hana" | SMAP | 1 | ||
| 2004 | "Hitomi o Tojite" | Ken Hirai | 2 | ||
| 2005 | "Seishun Amigo" | Shūji to Akira | 1 | ||
| 2006 | "Real Face" | KAT-TUN | 1 | ||
| 2007 | "Sen no Kaze ni Natte" | Masafumi Akikawa | 1 | ||
| 2008 | "Truth/Kaze no Mukō e" | Arashi | 1 | ||
| 2009 | "Believe/Kumorinochi, Kaisei" | Arashi, Kenta Yano starring Satoshi Ohno | 1 | ||
| 2010 | "Beginner" | AKB48 | 1 | ||
| 2011 | "Flying Get" | AKB48 | 1 | ||
| 2012 | "Manatsu no Sounds Good!" | AKB48 | 1 | ||
| 2013 | "Sayonara Crawl" | AKB48 | 1 | ||
| 2014 | "Labrador Retriever" | AKB48 | 1 | ||
| 2015 | "Bokutachi wa Tatakawanai" | AKB48 | 1 | ||
| 2016 | "Tsubasa wa Iranai" | AKB48 | 1 | ||
| 2017 | "Negaigoto no Mochigusare" | AKB48 | 1 | ||
| 2018 | "Teacher Teacher" | AKB48 | 1,819,237 | 1 | |
| 2019 | "Sustainable" | AKB48 | 1 |