Potpourri - Blowfish - record industry's sales stats - Brief Article

Japan, Inc., Sept, 2002

The most recent sales stats from Japan's record industry show the continued dearth of million-seller single hits for the 12th straight year. Between December 2001 and May 2002, the best-selling recent singles included Hikaru Utada's Traveling, with 856,000 CDs sold, followed by Life Goes On, by Dragon Ash.

Compared with the year before, overall sales of CD singles declined by 25.2 percent and albums by 29.1 percent. The Tokyo metropolitan government has designated just six places that can be rented out to "heaven artists." That's the local term for street performers, who, unlike TV or film crews, seldom bother to ask for anybody's permission when going about their business. Available locations will include Yoyogi Park, inside three subway stations, at the Edo Tokyo Museum in Ryogoku and the plaza in front of the Tokyo city hall in Shinjuku.