In 2007, Japan had 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 Guinness World Records certified that Masato Shimon's "Oyoge! Taiyaki-kun" is the best-selling single in Japan.

There were several singles which achieved worldwide success. 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.Sports Hochi , March 31, 2008. 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. "音頭大百科", Small Light However, a sonosheet was not a regular 7-inch single.

Yujiro Ishihara & Shunko Makimura's "Ginza No Koi No Monogatari" (1961) sold estimate 3.35 million copies in Japan. Hiroshi Wada & His Mahina Stars's "Ozashiki Kouta" (1964) sold estimate 3 million copies in Japan.Daily Sports (October 2, 2006) (in Japanese) Yūzō Kayama's "Kimi to Itsumademo" (1965) sold estimate 3 million copies in Japan.amazon.co.jp (in Japanese) 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.

SingleArtistReleasedChartSales1"Oyoge! Taiyaki-kun"14,577,0002"Onna no Michi"13,256,0003"Sekai ni Hitotsu Dake no Hana"SMAP13,128,0004"Tsunami"Southern All Stars12,936,0005"Dango 3 Kyodai"Kentarou Hayami, Ayumi Shigemori,Himawari Kids and Dango Gasshoudan12,918,0006"Kimi ga Iru Dake de"Kome Kome Club12,895,0007"Say Yes"Chage and Aska12,822,0008"Tomorrow Never Knows"Mr. Children12,766,0009"Oh! Yeah!"12,588,00010"Love Love Love"Dreams Come True12,489,00011"Yah Yah Yah"Chage and Aska12,419,00012"Namonaki Uta"Mr. Children12,309,00013"Sakura Zaka"12,299,00014"Can You Celebrate?"12,296,00015"Departures"Globe12,288,00016"Kuroneko no Tango"Osamu Minagawa12,235,00017"WOW WAR TONIGHT 〜Toki ni wa Okose yo Movement"(WOW WAR TONIGHT 〜時には起こせよムーヴメント)H Jungle With t12,135,00018"Koi no Kisetsu"Pinky & Killers12,077,00019"Automatic" 22,063,00020"True Love"12,023,000

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

The following list covers the top-selling singles released by such acts in Japan, based on physical sales only.

+Physical singlesSingleArtistReleasedChartSales"Beautiful Sunday"Daniel Boone12,050,000"To Love You More"11,500,000"All I Want for Christmas Is You"21,100,000"I Will Always Love You"1810,060"The Sound of Silence"Simon & Garfunkel1810,000"As the Years Go By"Mashmakhan1970—790,000"Yes Sir, I Can Boogie"Baccara—750,000"The Lovers of the World"(Otoko no Sekai)1734,000"I'm In the Mood for Dancing"The Nolans1700,000"Flashdance... What a Feeling"1697,000"Last Christmas"Wham!15683,000""(Japanese title: "Naomi no Yume")Hedva and David1666,000"Candle in the Wind 1997"1632,000"Yesterday Once More"The Carpenters5592,000"Sky High"Jigsaw2568,000"Let It Be"The Beatles6558,000"Venus"Shocking Blue2555,000"I Need to Be in Love"The Carpenters5542,000"Welcome to the Edge"3518,000"Massachusetts"Bee Gees1517,000"Never Marry a Railroad Man"Shocking Blue2505,000"Y.M.C.A."Village People—500,000

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".

Digital and multi-format sales

SingleArtistReleasedChartSales "Dragostea din tei" O-Zone 2003 — 4,350,000"Girlfriend"Avril Lavigne271,850,000"All I Want for Christmas Is You"21,000,000"Call Me Maybe"Carly Rae Jepsen31,000,000"We Are Never Ever Getting Back Together"Taylor Swift21,000,000"Miles Away"Madonna7750,000"Poker Face"Lady Gaga750,000"Happy"Pharrell Williams5500,000"Let It Go"Idina Menzel4500,000

Best-selling multi-format singles in Japan With over 9.2 million combined sales, Thelma Aoyama's "Soba ni Iru ne" is the best-selling multi-format single in Japan.

Over 5 million copies Year Song Artist Detailed Sales Total Sales Physical Single Track Chaku-uta 2008 "Soba ni Iru ne" Thelma Aoyama featuring SoulJa 550,000 8,700,000 9,250,000 2007 "Flavor of Life" Hikaru Utada 651,000 (subscription only) 8,000,000 8,651,000 2008 "Kiseki" Greeeen 558,000 7,600,000 8,158,000 2007 "Lovers Again" Exile 260,000 7,000,000 7,260,000 2009 "Shunkashūtō" Hilcrhyme 139,000 7,000,000 7,139,000 2006 "Junrenka" Shōnan no Kaze 523,000 6,500,000 7,023,000 2009 "Butterfly" Kaela Kimura — 7,000,000 7,000,000 2007 "Ai Uta" Greeeen 300,000 5,900,000 6,200,000 2011 "Maru Maru Mori Mori!"Mana Ashida and Fuku Suzukias Kaoru to Tomoki, Tamani Mook 541,000 5,000,000 5,541,000 2007 "Tsubomi" Kobukuro 506,000 2,000,000 3,000,000 5,506,000 2005 "Story" Ai 276,000 2,000,000 3,000,000 5,276,000 2009 "Haruka" Greeeen 145,000 5,000,000 5,145,000 2010 "Aitakute Aitakute" Kana Nishino 97,000 5,000,000 5,097,000

Over 4 million copies Year Song Artist Detailed Sales Total Sales Physical Single Track Chaku-uta 2008 "366 Nichi" HY — 4,800,000 4,800,000 2009 "Ashita ga Kurunara" Juju featuring Jay'ed 150,000 4,500,000 4,650,000 2009 "Mata Kimi ni Koishiteru" Fuyumi Sakamoto 400,000 4,000,000 4,400,000 2007 "Winding Road" Ayaka and Kobukuro 359,000 4,000,000 4,359,000 2003 "Dragostea din tei" O-Zone — 350,000 4,000,000 4,350,000 2006 "Mata Aimashō" Seamo 205,000 4,000,000 4,205,000

Over 3 million copies Year Song Artist Detailed Sales Total Sales Physical Single Track Chaku-uta 2005 "Dreamland" Bennie K 500,000 3,400,000 3,900,000 2004 "Hana" Orange Range 1,000,000 750,000 2,000,000 3,750,000 2005 "Sakura" Kobukuro 500,000 1,250,000 2,000,000 3,750,000 2011 "Love Story" Namie Amuro 162,000 3,500,000 3,662,000 2018 "Lemon" Kenshi Yonezu 584,030 3,000,000 3,584,030 2008 "Life" Kimaguren 66,000 3,500,000 3,566,000 2009 "Futatsu no Kuchibiru" Exile 289,000 1,250,000 2,000,000 3,539,000 1992 "Kimi ga Iru Dake de" Kome Kome Club 2,895,000 500,000 — 3,395,000 2007 "Gake no Ue no Ponyo" Fujioka Fujimaki and Nozomi Ōhashi 382,000 3,000,000 3,382,000 2005 "Konayuki" Remioromen 859,000 500,000 2,000,000 3,359,000 2008 "Ti Amo" Exile 320,000 2,000,000 1,000,000 3,320,000 2006 "Age Age Every Knight" DJ OZMA 250,000 1,000,000 2,000,000 3,250,000 2005 "Sōsei no Aquarion" Akino 250,000 3,000,000 3,250,000 2006 "Mikazuki" Ayaka 243,000 2,000,000 1,000,000 3,243,000 2000 "Tsunami" Southern All Stars 2,936,000 250,000 — 3,186,000 2010 "Heavy Rotation" AKB48 882,000 1,500,000 750,000 3,132,000 2007 "Suirenka" Shōnan no Kaze 100,000 3,000,000 3,100,000 2008 "Kimi no Subete ni" Spontania featuring Juju 100,000 3,000,000 3,100,000 2010 "Ring a Ding Dong" Kaela Kimura 100,000 3,000,000 3,100,000 1997 "Can You Celebrate?" Namie Amuro 2,750,000 250,000 — 3,000,000 2011 "Happiness" Ai 27,713 3,000,000 3,027,713 2018 "Teacher Teacher" AKB48 — 3,000,000 3,000,000

Note:

Over 2 million copies Year Song Artist Detailed Sales Total Sales Physical Single Track Chaku-uta 1997 "Zankoku na Tenshi no These" Yoko Takahashi 720,000 1,100,000 1,100,000 2,920,000 1991 "Love Story wa Totsuzen ni" Kazumasa Oda 2,542,000 250,000 — 2,792,000 2008 "Kimi ni Utatta Love Song" Lil'B — 2,700,000 2,700,000 2011 "Flying Get" AKB48 1,626,000 1,000,000 — 2,626,000 2011 "Everyday, Katyusha" AKB48 1,608,000 1,000,000 — 2,608,000 2007 "Lovin' Life" Funky Monkey Babys 100,000 2,500,000 2,600,000 1995 "Love Love Love" Dreams Come True 2,489,000 100,000 — 2,589,000 2013 "Koi Suru Fortune Cookie" AKB48 1,549,000 1,000,000 — 2,549,000 2000 "Sakura Zaka" Masaharu Fukuyama 2,299,000 250,000 — 2,549,000 2006 "Koi no Tsubomi" Kumi Koda 273,000 250,000 2,000,000 2,523,000 2000 "Everything" Misia 2,007,000 500,000 — 2,507,000 2004 "Hitomi o Tojite" Ken Hirai 1,000,000 500,000 1,000,000 2,500,000 2008 "Shuchishin" Shuchishin 500,000 1,000,000 1,000,000 2,500,000 2011 "Yasashiku Naritai" Kazuyoshi Saito 2,500,000