After the disbanding uproar in January, SMAP fans bound together and began a purchasing campaign for Sekai ni hitotsu dake no hana, SMAP’s best selling single. The goal was simple: reach 3 million on Oricon top charts. In order to get there though, over 400,000 new singles would have to be purchased.

To put that into perspective, in 2015, only the top 17 singles sold over 400,000 CDs. A majority of those belong to the AKB48-family and all of them had multiple versions. Multiple versions meaning fans are likely to purchase 2-5 different versions of the same CD for small bonuses.

CDs, let alone a single version of a CD, do not sell 400,000 copies in a year any more. New SMAP singles are lucky to even hit half that amount, even with multiple versions.

That’s why I personally thought it was an impossible goal. It didn’t stop me from purchasing SekaiHana CDs while in Japan back in May, even before the disbanding announcement. Fans knew something was wrong and we all wanted to show our support somehow. If we could get triple million for SMAP’s anniversary? That’s just a small way to show that we love them.

After Johnny’s Entertainment, in very poor taste, released SMAP’s disbanding announcement during Japanese holiday weekend and the 2016 Olympics, SMAP fan’s resolve on strengthened. We were going to hit 3 million on the Oricon top charts.

SekaiHana Miracles

The First Triple Million Announcement

While this article is about SMAP hitting triple million on the Oricon charts – there was another triple million Sekai ni hitotsu dake no hana hit first. That being the RIAJ’s official triple million certification for units shipped.

The announcement came out on 9/9/2016, SMAP’s 25th debut anniversary.

The RIAJ announced all the new certifications on 9/9/2016, and it just so happened that SMAP’s Sekai ni hitotsu dake no hana was among the new certifications.

A crazy coincidence, isn’t it?

SMAP’s ‘revenge’ against ‘SAY YES’

When SMAP debuted on August 9, 1991, they were the first Johnny’s group in history to not debut at #1. The #1 single at that time was Chage and Aska’s SAY YES. While SAY YES went on to be the #6 best selling single of all time, SMAP continued to not hit #1 on the top charts for sometime.

It would be impossible to imagine back in 1991, but on August 9, 2016, exactly 25 years after SMAP’s disappointing debut, SMAP would come to have the #6 best selling single of all time, taking the spot away from SAY YES.

Let me repeat that: on 9/9/2016, SMAP overtook the previous #6 best selling single of all time. The previous single being SAY YES by Chage and Aska. The very single that had prevent SMAP for debuting at #1 in 1991.

Another crazy coincidence? Or miracle?

Oricon’s newest Triple Million Seller

On 12/8/2016 (a SMAP member’s birthday), Sekai ni hitotsu dake no hana sold enough CDs to reach 3,000,000 sales on the Oricon top charts.

A 13 year old single managed to sell over 400,000 copies within a single year.
The same single has now become the #3 best selling single of all time in Japan.
Next week, it’s likely that SMAP will have take the #1 record for number of weeks on the Oricon top charts.

This is all without promotion from the group or from Johnny’s.

Yes. This is real life here, not a drama. Even living through it, it’s hard to believe each time a new record has been broken.

Sekai ni Hitotsu Dake no Hana the latest Triple Million Hit

It’s been an amazing journey to triple million.
I don’t know what is next for us fans, but I know we’re not done. 💙❤️💗💛💚

Published by msjumpingjax

Not-so-seriously studying Japanese. Not-so-slightly obsessed with SMAP. This blog is an outlet for my SMAP love and a way to practice my Japanese. I'm not fluent but hopefully I am successful with at least getting the gist of what goes on.

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