BTS’s 'Arirang' Surpasses 1 Million Oricon Points in Japan Ahead of Liberation Day — Local Influence Reconfirmed

Group BTS has once again made waves in the Japanese market with their fifth studio album Arirang (ARIRANG), released ahead of Korea’s Liberation Day (August 15).

On the 12th, Oricon reported that Arirang exceeded 1 million points on its Combined Albums Ranking. Oricon’s combined ranking converts CD sales, digital downloads and streaming plays into points and aggregates them on a single chart.

With Arirang passing the 1 million-point mark, BTS now has three albums that have reached this milestone in Japan. The group’s Japan best-of release BTS, THE BEST and their Japanese studio album MAP OF THE SOUL : 7 ~ THE JOURNEY ~ had previously surpassed 1 million combined points.

Oricon noted that this achievement comes after Japanese acts Snow Man and Mrs. GREEN APPLE, making it the third album in Oricon history to reach the 1 million combined-points threshold; BTS is the only overseas artist among those to have done so. Previously, BTS, THE BEST became the first foreign release to break the 1 million combined-point barrier in 2021.

Arirang also stood out on Oricon’s midyear charts. In Oricon’s “Half-Year Ranking 2026,” the album took first place on both the Album Ranking and the Combined Albums Ranking, completing a two-chart sweep. On the half-year combined ranking, Arirang logged 922,000 points, making BTS the first foreign artist to top that list and the first foreign artist to exceed 800,000 points.

Sales figures were notable as well: Arirang sold approximately 728,000 copies in the half-year album ranking. A foreign male artist’s album surpassing 700,000 on that chart hadn’t happened since Queen’s 2004 compilation Jewels—22 years earlier.

Streaming milestones followed: BTS’s hit “Dynamite” has exceeded 1 billion cumulative streams in Japan, a first for an overseas artist. Billboard JAPAN compiles streaming totals by aggregating plays across major Japanese streaming services and YouTube Music.

“Dynamite,” BTS’s first English single released in August 2020, made history by debuting at No. 1 on the U.S. Billboard Hot 100 for the chart dated September 5, 2020—the first time a K-pop group topped the main Billboard singles chart. In Japan, the song ranked No. 2 on Billboard JAPAN’s Year-End HOT 100 chart for 2021.