Oricon Chart for Week of Jan 4 – Jan 11:

(Rank, Artist, Album Name, No. of Units, Last Week, Purchase Info.)

1. Ikimono Gakari, Hajimari no Uta, 161,168, 1 BUY: JAPAN / OVERSEAS

2. Exile, Ai Subeki Mirai e, 111,048, 5 BUY: JAPAN / OVERSEAS

3. Amuro Namie, Past/Future, 79,187, 3 [...]

Oricon Singles Chart for the Week of Jan 4 – Jan 11:

(Rank, Artist, Song Name, No. of Units, Last week, Purchase Info.)

1. Hamasaki Ayumi, You were…/Ballad, 103,351, NEW BUY

2. Fukuyama Masaharu, Hatsu Koi, 34,789, 4 BUY

3. GACKT, Stay the Ride Alive, 29,421, NEW [...]

Japanese Box Office: Jan 9 to Jan 15

(Rank, Movie Name, Weekend Box Office (US$), Cume (US$) (Note: US$1=93.02 yen))

1. Avatar, $6,897,825, $50,548,688

2. Nodame Cantabile: The Final Score – Part 1, $2,472,188, $31,043,916

3. Up, $2,139,043, $46,449,234

4. One Piece Film: Strong World, $1,753,517, $44,506,849

5. Tsuribaka Nisshi 20: Final, $785,242, $5,590,459

6. Michael [...]

Here are the top 10 non-news programs for the week of January 4 – January 10:

Week of Jan 4 to Jan 10

(Program, Channel, Time & Date, Rating)

1. Drama: Ryomaden, NHK, 20:00-20:45, Jan 10, 21.0

2. Variety: Mecha x2 Iketeru SP, Fuji, 19:00-20:54, Jan 9, 19.6

3. Drama: SP – Saigo no Yakusoku, Fuji, 21:00-23:10, Jan 9, 19.4

4. [...]

Here are the top 10 non-news programs for the week of December 28 – January 3:
(Note – This week’s ratings information was delayed due to the New Year’s holiday)

Week of Dec 28 to Jan 3

(Program, Channel, Time & Date, Rating)

1. Music: Kouhaku Part 2, NHK, 21:00-23:45, Dec 31, 40.8

2. Music: Kouhaku Part 1, NHK, [...]

Michael Cucek at his Shisaku blog had a great post a few days ago about how “Media Shifts Make Japan a Harder Read”. He cites some anecdotes from his own consumption of the media in recent times, and discusses some of the biases that exist in the various media organizations in Japan, and [...]

Fuji Television Network was the highest rated TV network for 2009 across the three major time periods of ‘Golden Time’ (7PM to 10PM), ‘Prime Time’ (7PM to 11PM) and All day (6AM to Midnight). The triple win was achieved for the 6th year in a row by the [...]

In late December last year, shipwreck hunters discovered the wreck of the AHS Centaur, an Australian Hospital Ship that was sunk by a Japanese submarine off the coast of Queensland in 1943. Not much is generally known by most Japanese people that I have come across about fighting between the [...]

Japanese Box Office: Jan 2 to Jan 8

(Rank, Movie Name, Weekend Box Office (US$), Cume (US$) (Note: US$1=91.16 yen))

1. Avatar, $7,351,042, $35,050,720

2. Nodame Cantabile: The Final Score – Part 1, $3,252,911, $23,979,527

3. Up, $2,928,793, $40,103,323

4. One Piece Film: Strong World, $2,611,102, $39,439,879

5. Tsuribaka Nisshi 20: Final, $1,105,212, $3,102,237

6. 2012, [...]

Here are the top 10 non-news programs for the week of December 21 – December 27:
(Note – This week’s ratings information was delayed due to the New Year’s holiday)

Week of Dec 21 to Dec 27

(Program, Channel, Time & Date, Rating)

1. Sport: Figure Skating – Women’s Free Routine, Fuji, 19:15-21:24, Dec 27, 28.9

2. Sport: Figure Skating [...]