Utada is 1st Japanese on U.S.'s Top 100 CDs Since 1986

Earlier this month, singer-songwriter Hikaru Utada became the first Japanese musician to have a top 100 album on America's Billboard 200 chart in over two decades. Utada's This is the One album debuted at #69 when it was released on physical CDs in the United States on May 12. With the album's digital release in March, Utada became the first Japanese musician have a top 20 album on Apple's online iTunes retail store in the United States.

The last Japanese representative on the chart was Loudness, which ranked #64 with Lightning Strikes back in 1986. The Japanese artists who previously earned this distinction were Kyu Sakamoto (1963), Isao Tomita (1974-1977), Tsutomu Yamashita (1976), Yellow Magic Orchestra (Haruomi Hosono, Yukihiro Takahashi, and Ryuichi Sakamoto during 1980-1984), and Yoko Ono (1980-1984).

Source: Oricon via Tokyograph