Michael in Japan
Michael in Japan
Sales charts in Japan are compiled by Oricon. The Top 100 singles chart was launched in January 1968, and a 'Bubbling under the Top 100' (positions 101-200) chart was published from December 1980 to April 1986. The chart was officially increased to a Top 200 in December 2002.
The albums chart began in January 1970 and was a Top 100 LP (vinyl only) chart. There have been some important changes since then:
December 1974 - Top 50 Cassette chart started.
May 1978 - Cassette chart increased to a Top 100.
February 1984 - unofficial Top 30 CD chart started.
December 1985 - CD chart (now official) increased to a Top 100.
October 1987 - LP, Cassette & CD charts combined into a Top 100 Albums chart (the LP chart ceased in November 1989, the Cassette chart ceased in November 1995, and the CD chart ceased in April 1997).
December 2002 - Albums chart increased to a Top 300.
December 2003 - imports included in Albums chart.
Many thanks to Mario for providing info on the history of the Oricon charts, and some of the chart action detailed for Japan.
As well as the Oricon sales-based chart, there are numerous radio airplay charts in Japan. The most important of these, and the chart usually referred to by western record companies when talking about chart positions in Japan, is the Tokyo 100.
KEY:
Date = date of chart entry.
HP = peak position reached on the chart.
Wks = weeks spent on the chart.
ri = reissue.
If applicable, weeks spent at no.1 is given in brackets.
Singles
| Date | HP | Wks | Title |
| Nov 72 | 52 | 8 | Ben |
| Sep 79 | 82 | 7 | Don't Stop 'Til You Get Enough |
| Jan 80 | 97 | 1 | Rock With You |
| Mar 80 | 70 | 5 | Off The Wall |
| Nov 82 | 37 | 13 | The Girl Is Mine (& Paul McCartney) |
| Feb 83 | 49 | 11 | Billie Jean |
| Apr 83 | 35 | 17 | Beat It |
| Jul 83 | 69 | 5 | Wanna Be Startin' Somethin' |
| Nov 83 | 16 | 22 | Say Say Say (& Paul McCartney) |
| Feb 84 | 30 | 17 | Thriller |
| Mar 84 | 55 | 8 | Thriller (12") |
| Apr 84 | 54 | 7 | Somebody's Watching Me (with Rockwell) |
| Apr 85 | 10 | 23 | We Are The World (with USA For Africa) |
| Apr 85 | 2 | 20 | We Are The World (12") (with USA For Africa) |
| Jul 87 | 32 | 8 | I Just Can't Stop Loving You (& Siedah Garrett) |
| Sep 87 | 41 | 10 | Bad |
| Dec 87 | 92 | 4 | The Way You Make Me Feel |
| Feb 88 | 93 | 1 | Man In The Mirror |
| Nov 91 | 70 | 9 | Black Or White |
| Jun 95 | 87 | 1 | Scream (& Janet Jackson) |
| Oct 01 | 38 | 2 | You Rock My World |
| May 05 | 48 | 2 | Ben (ri) |
Singles - Tokyo 100
| Date | HP | Wks | Title |
| ??? | |||
| Oct 88 | 9 | 20 | Smooth Criminal |
| Nov 91 | 1(6) | 20 | Black Or White |
| Dec 91 | 17 | 12 | Heal The World |
| Jan 92 | 44 | 8 | Gone Too Soon |
| Feb 92 | 2 | 22 | Remember The Time (2 mixes charted for 9 weeks) |
| May 92 | 36 | 2 | In The Closet |
| Jul 92 | 48 | 5 | Jam |
| Sep 92 | 90 | 2 | Who Is It |
| Nov 92 | 92 | 1 | Heal The World (re) |
| Jun 93 | 44 | 5 | Who Is It (re) |
| Jul 93 | 73 | 4 | Will You Be There |
| May 95 | 1(5) | 14 | Scream ( & Janet Jackson) |
| Jun 95 | 50 | 6 | Childhood |
| Aug 95 | 13 | 23 | You Are Not Alone |
| Jun 96 | 53 | 4 | They Don't Care About Us |
| ??? | |||
| Jan 08 | 1(1) | 12 | The Girl Is Mine 2008 (& will.i.am) |
| Feb 08 | 52 | 5 | Wanna Be Startin' Somethin' 2008 (& Akon) |
| Mar 08 | 60 | 2 | Beat It 2008 (& Fergie) |
Albums
| Date | HP | Wks | Title (chart - combined albums chart from Bad onwards) |
| Oct 79 | 26 | 46 | Off The Wall (LP) |
| Nov 79 | 28 | 36 | Off The Wall (cassette) |
| Dec 82 | 1(4) | 100 | Thriller (LP) |
| Dec 82 | 1(7) | 113 | Thriller (cassette) |
| Aug 83 | 57 | 4 | Thriller (picture disc) (LP) |
| Jan 84 | 1(11) | 48 | Thriller (CD) |
| Jul 84 | 58 | 5 | Farewell My Summer Love (LP?) |
| Aug 87 | 1(3) | 32 | Bad |
| Nov 91 | 4 | 35 | Dangerous |
| Nov 92 | 87 | 1 | Special CD Box |
| Sep 93 | 33 | 3 | Dangerous - The Remix Collection |
| Jun 95 | 4 | 17 | History Past, Present And Future Book 1 |
| May 97 | 12 | 6 | Blood On The Dance Floor |
| Oct 01 | 5 | 7 | Invincible |
| Nov 01 | 70 | 2 | Greatest Hits History Volume 1 |
| Nov 03 | 6 | 14 | Number Ones |
| Dec 04 | 47 | 4 | The Ultimate Collection |
| Aug 05 | 51 | 7 | The Essential |
| Feb 08 | 7 | 18 | Thriller 25 |
| Apr 08 | 183 | 1 | Thriller 25 Singles Collection |
| Oct 08 | 10 | 2+ | King Of Pop |