Group BTS set back-to-back firsts for a foreign artist on Japan's Oricon and Billboard Japan.
On the 12th, according to Japan's Oricon, BTS's fifth studio album "Arirang (ARIRANG)" posted a cumulative 1,004,362 points on the latest Combined Album Ranking. The Combined Album Ranking tallies physical album sales plus digital album downloads and streaming.
This is the third time BTS has surpassed a cumulative 1 million points on Oricon's Combined Album Ranking. Previously, the Japanese best-of album "BTS, THE BEST" and the Japanese fourth studio album "MAP OF THE SOUL : 7 ~ THE JOURNEY ~" achieved the same mark.
There are three acts with three or more albums over 1 million cumulative points: Japan's Snow Man (six), Mrs. Green Apple (three), and BTS (three). Among foreign artists, only BTS has done so.
"Arirang"'s cumulative points comprise 760,868 from physical albums, 221,400 from streaming, and 22,094 from downloads. It added 4,792 points this week to rank No. 12 on the weekly Combined Album Ranking.
BTS also added a first for a foreign artist on Billboard Japan. The digital single released in 2020, "Dynamite," surpassed 1 billion cumulative streams in Japan. The figure combines plays on major Japanese music platforms and views on YouTube Music.
Among foreign songs, "Dynamite" is the first to reach 1 billion cumulative streams in Japan. Among BTS's individual tracks, it also has the most cumulative plays in Japan.
"Arirang" earlier also topped Oricon's "First Half Ranking 2026" for both the album ranking and the Combined Album Ranking. First-half sales were 728,000 copies, marking the first time in 22 years that a foreign male artist sold more than 700,000 copies in the first half, since British rock band Queen's "Jewels" in 2004.
In the first-half Combined Album Ranking, it also posted 922,331 points, becoming the first foreign artist to surpass 800,000 points.