K-pop superstar BTS/Courtesy of BigHit Entertainment

Boy band's single becomes million seller in Japan

K-pop megastar BTS, which dropped “Lights/Boy With Luv” on July 3, has shipped more than 1 million physical units in Japan in around 35 days, according to the Recording Industry Association of Japan.

The association recently said that the seven-piece boy band had become the first non-Japanese male artist certified as a million seller in the country.

Along with Germany, Japan is one of the few remaining markets where physical albums still sell in substantial quantities, but it is quite a feat for foreign artists to sell more than 1 million copies there.

In fact, the number of pre-orders for the BTS album surpassed 1 million copies. The single also topped the Oricon daily chart upon its release.

The 10th Japanese album of BTS was also the bestselling Japanese single by a non-Japanese artist in terms of first-day sales and first-week sales.

“We are thankful that the album we worked hard on received so much love. We will continue to try our best to show you better sides of us,” the Seoul-based group said.

Of note is that the septet chalked up the exploit at a time when Korea and Japan are mired in a series of diplomatic rows.

On July 4, just a day after BTS came up with the “Lights/Boy With Luv,” Japan announced strict restrictions on exports of key high-tech materials, which Korean firms use to make memory chips and flat-panel displays.

Filing a complaint with the World Trade Organization, Korea instantly vowed to strike back, and its people started boycotting Japanese products and services ranging from automobiles to movies and beers.

The export curbs, which came due to a growing dispute over the wartime forced labor issue, affects the two neighbors across the board. But BTS continues to fare well in Japan as shown by its sell-out concerts over the past month there.

 

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