Elvis popularity in Japan

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Elvis popularity in Japan

Post by brian »

Hi everyone

I have been wondering for a long time just how popular in Japan was Elvis?

I know several Japanese fan clubs would come to seem him when he was in Vegas and I know Do the Clam hit #1 there in 1965 but can't find much more about his popularity there

i know he was very popular in other countries like in the U.k where he was probably more popular there during the 70's than in the U.S. but don't know how popular he was in Japan and would like to know.

Is there anyone who can answer my question

How popular was Elvis in Japan?




TALLHAIR 2

Re: Elvis popularity in Japan

Post by TALLHAIR 2 »

going by the number of record titles, both vinyl
and cd, I reckon very populair! But I guess in sales
one shouldnt forget the US G.I.s, stationed there
since 45, were responsible for a serious piece
of the cake...
During most of the 1950s the Japanese population
( very much like the German situation after WW 2)
had little money to buy records, or a decent record
player for that matter.
Elvis' populairity peeked in the late 60s and
continued laregely into the 70s.




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Re: Elvis popularity in Japan

Post by stupot »

According to Joseph Murrels, "You Don't Have To Say You Love Me" sold a near million there.




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Re: Elvis popularity in Japan

Post by brian »

Thanks for the replies



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Re: Elvis popularity in Japan

Post by drjohncarpenter »

brian wrote:I have been wondering for a long time just how popular in Japan was Elvis?
VERY popular.


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Re: Elvis popularity in Japan

Post by brian »

drjohncarpenter wrote:
brian wrote:I have been wondering for a long time just how popular in Japan was Elvis?
VERY popular.
I mean how popular

Like was Elvis more popular in Japan than in the U.k.



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Re: Elvis popularity in Japan

Post by drjohncarpenter »

brian wrote:Like was Elvis more popular in Japan than in the U.k.
You'll have to define what you mean by "more popular."

The Japanese have embraced American culture in a big way for more than 50 years, and Elvis was, and remains, a potent symbol of America. So he must be an absolute deity in that country.

Check out this well-known site for how deep the interest lies -->

Elvis World - Japan
http://www.biwa.ne.jp/~presley/index1.htm


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Re: Elvis popularity in Japan

Post by brian »

drjohncarpenter wrote:
brian wrote:Like was Elvis more popular in Japan than in the U.k.
You'll have to define what you mean by "more popular."

The Japanese have embraced American culture in a big way for more than 50 years, and Elvis was, and remains, a potent symbol of America. So he must be an absolute deity in that country.

Check out this well-known site for how deep the interest lies -->

Elvis World - Japan
http://www.biwa.ne.jp/~presley/index1.htm
I use to be a regular visitor to Elvis Japan, love the site.

I mean in terms of chart statistics and fans

I've heard that the largest Elvis fan club was in Great Britan
I think it was run but Sid Shaw but i'm not sure
I'm wondering if Japan had a fan base close to that

Elvis was consistently doing better on the U.K. charts from the mid 60's until his death and I was wondering how he was doing in Japan at around the same time.

Many charts for several countries are available but I haven't been able to find much on Japan



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Mael
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Re: Elvis popularity in Japan

Post by Mael »

brian wrote:
drjohncarpenter wrote:
brian wrote:Like was Elvis more popular in Japan than in the U.k.
You'll have to define what you mean by "more popular."

The Japanese have embraced American culture in a big way for more than 50 years, and Elvis was, and remains, a potent symbol of America. So he must be an absolute deity in that country.

Check out this well-known site for how deep the interest lies -->

Elvis World - Japan
http://www.biwa.ne.jp/~presley/index1.htm
I use to be a regular visitor to Elvis Japan, love the site.

I mean in terms of chart statistics and fans

I've heard that the largest Elvis fan club was in Great Britan
I think it was run but Sid Shaw but i'm not sure
I'm wondering if Japan had a fan base close to that

Elvis was consistently doing better on the U.K. charts from the mid 60's until his death and I was wondering how he was doing in Japan at around the same time.

Many charts for several countries are available but I haven't been able to find much on Japan
Here's some chart information, regarding Albums in Japan:

Oricon Sales since 1970 (updated 2004):

- "Elvis That's The Way It Is" #66, 5weeks, 5,000
- "Elvis In Person At International Hotel, Las Vegas" #20, 13weeks, 21,000
- "How Great Thou Art" #73, 1week, 1,000
- "On Stage February, 1970" #5, 57weeks, 103,000
- "That's The Way It Is" #1, 68weeks, 287,000
- "I Really Don't Want To Know" #35, 8weeks, 10,000
- "Elvis In Person At International Hotel, Las Vegas" #9, 30weeks, 55,000
- "Blue Hawaii" #51, 12weeks, 16,000
- "Love Letters From Elvis" #37, 9weeks, 11,000
- "ELVIS PRESLEY" #23, 25weeks, 33,000
- "Elvis As Recorded At Madison Square Garden" #4, 28weeks, 65,000
- "Burning Love" #28, 10weeks, 22,000
- "Elvis On Tour" #6, 16weeks, 57,000
- "Aloha From Hawaii Via Satellite" #1, 20weeks, 106,000
- "Elvis-Gold30" #62, 6weeks, 9,000
- "Elvis-A Legendary Performer,Vol.1" #81, 2weeks, 2,000
- "Elvis Recorded Live on Stage in Memphis" #47, 6weeks, 11,000
- "Promised Land" #71, 5weeks, 7,000
- "Elvis-Special24" #18, 11weeks, 28,000
- "Rock'n Roll" #28, 8weeks, 15,000
- "Moody Blue" #25, 6weeks, 14,000
- "Elvis in Concert" #68, 3weeks, 4,000
- "King Of Rock'n Roll, The Complete 50's Masters" #71, 2weeks, 6,840
- "Mega Elvis-Essential collection" #10, 8weeks, 145,000
- "Elvis Ballads" #70, 3weeks, 40,900
- "Junichiro Koizumi Presents My Favorites Elvis Songs" #8, 5weeks, 90,860
- "Elvis: 30 #1 Hits" #10, 16weeks, 146,180
- "2nd to None" #38, 6weeks, 14,420

A Total of 1.326m albums sold between 1970-2004 in Japan according to Oricon.

Cheers Martin :)
Last edited by Mael on Sun Mar 15, 2009 6:42 pm, edited 2 times in total.



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Re: Elvis popularity in Japan

Post by Christopher »

Mael wrote:- "Elvis On Tour" #6, 16weeks, 57,000
original album? - japan-only release or what?? must be quite rare, so i´d buy it, when i discover it somehow somewhere.
but i don´t buy this posting anyway. :smt005


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Re: Elvis popularity in Japan

Post by brian »

Mael wrote:
brian wrote:
drjohncarpenter wrote:
brian wrote:Like was Elvis more popular in Japan than in the U.k.
You'll have to define what you mean by "more popular."

The Japanese have embraced American culture in a big way for more than 50 years, and Elvis was, and remains, a potent symbol of America. So he must be an absolute deity in that country.

Check out this well-known site for how deep the interest lies -->

Elvis World - Japan
http://www.biwa.ne.jp/~presley/index1.htm
I use to be a regular visitor to Elvis Japan, love the site.

I mean in terms of chart statistics and fans

I've heard that the largest Elvis fan club was in Great Britan
I think it was run but Sid Shaw but i'm not sure
I'm wondering if Japan had a fan base close to that

Elvis was consistently doing better on the U.K. charts from the mid 60's until his death and I was wondering how he was doing in Japan at around the same time.

Many charts for several countries are available but I haven't been able to find much on Japan
Here's some chart information, regarding Albums in Japan:

Oricon Sales since 1970 (updated 2004):

- "Elvis That's The Way It Is" #66, 5weeks, 5,000
- "Elvis In Person At International Hotel, Las Vegas" #20, 13weeks, 21,000
- "How Great Thou Art" #73, 1week, 1,000
- "On Stage February, 1970" #5, 57weeks, 103,000
- "That's The Way It Is" #1, 68weeks, 287,000
- "I Really Don't Want To Know" #35, 8weeks, 10,000
- "Elvis In Person At International Hotel, Las Vegas" #9, 30weeks, 55,000
- "Blue Hawaii" #51, 12weeks, 16,000
- "Love Letters From Elvis" #37, 9weeks, 11,000
- "ELVIS PRESLEY" #23, 25weeks, 33,000
- "Elvis As Recorded At Madison Square Garden" #4, 28weeks, 65,000
- "Burning Love" #28, 10weeks, 22,000
- "Elvis On Tour" #6, 16weeks, 57,000
- "Aloha From Hawaii Via Satellite" #1, 20weeks, 106,000
- "Elvis-Gold30" #62, 6weeks, 9,000
- "Elvis-A Legendary Performer,Vol.1" #81, 2weeks, 2,000
- "Elvis Recorded Live on Stage in Memphis" #47, 6weeks, 11,000
- "Promised Land" #71, 5weeks, 7,000
- "Elvis-Special24" #18, 11weeks, 28,000
- "Rock'n Roll" #28, 8weeks, 15,000
- "Moody Blue" #25, 6weeks, 14,000
- "Elvis in Concert" #68, 3weeks, 4,000
- "King Of Rock'n Roll, The Complete 50's Masters" #71, 2weeks, 6,840
- "Mega Elvis-Essential collection" #10, 8weeks, 145,000
- "Elvis Ballads" #70, 3weeks, 40,900
- "Junichiro Koizumi Presents My Favorites Elvis Songs" #8, 5weeks, 90,860
- "Elvis: 30 #1 Hits" #10, 16weeks, 146,180
- "2nd to None" #38, 6weeks, 14,420

A Total of 1.326m albums sold between 1970-2004 in Japan according to Oricon.

Cheers Martin :)

I appreciate the help

If anyone finds any singles information please let me know



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Re: Elvis popularity in Japan

Post by Mael »

brian wrote: I appreciate the help

If anyone finds any singles information please let me know
Chart information, regarding Singles in Japan:

Oricon Sales since 1968 (updated 2004):

"All Shook Up"........................................#69, 1week, 3,000
"In The Ghetto".......................................#70, 10weeks, 23,000
"Suspicious Minds"....................................#88, 2weeks, 4,000
"You Don't Have To Say You Love Me"............#5, 38weeks, 308,000
"I Really Don't Want To Know".........................#63, 8weeks, 18,000
"Where Did They Go, Lord"..............................#98, 1week, 2,000
"Polk Salad Annie".....................................#50, 11weeks, 34,000
"An American Trilogy"..................................#95, 1weeks, 2,000
"Burning Love".........................................#42, 25weeks, 74,000
"Raised On Rock".......................................#95, 1week, 2,000
"Jailhouse Rock".......................................#97, 1week, 2,000
"A Little Less Conversation"...........................#30, 7weeks, 32,060

A Total of 504,060 sold Singles between 1968-2004. (as you probably know, the majority of Elvis' greater hits was recorded & released between mid 50s - mid 60s, and therefore not counted in this total, same with the albums)



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Re: Elvis popularity in Japan

Post by Mael »

Christopher wrote:
Mael wrote:- "Elvis On Tour" #6, 16weeks, 57,000
original album? - japan-only release or what?? must be quite rare, so i´d buy it, when i discover it somehow somewhere.
but i don´t buy this posting anyway. :smt005
1. The list is for albums released in Japan, from 1970 up to 2004.

2. The information comes from Oricon, which can be compared to the US 'Soundscan'



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Re: Elvis popularity in Japan

Post by Christopher »

Mael wrote:
Christopher wrote:
Mael wrote:- "Elvis On Tour" #6, 16weeks, 57,000
original album? - japan-only release or what?? must be quite rare, so i´d buy it, when i discover it somehow somewhere.
but i don´t buy this posting anyway. :smt005
1. The list is for albums released in Japan, from 1970 up to 2004.

2. The information comes from Oricon, which can be compared to the US 'Soundscan'
thank you, mael. i never knew that there ever was a japanese "on tour"-album (never heard of it) and i doubt it, until someone delivers further information or/and a cover scan to prove me wrong.


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Re: Elvis popularity in Japan

Post by brian »

Mael wrote:
Christopher wrote:
Mael wrote:- "Elvis On Tour" #6, 16weeks, 57,000
original album? - japan-only release or what?? must be quite rare, so i´d buy it, when i discover it somehow somewhere.
but i don´t buy this posting anyway. :smt005
1. The list is for albums released in Japan, from 1970 up to 2004.

2. The information comes from Oricon, which can be compared to the US 'Soundscan'
Elvis must've been more popular than than the list indicates

Like I said earlier I've found out that Do the Clam hit #1 in Japan in 1965 so there must be more chart info that goes back further than 1970



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Mael
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Re: Elvis popularity in Japan

Post by Mael »

brian wrote:
Mael wrote:
Christopher wrote:
Mael wrote:- "Elvis On Tour" #6, 16weeks, 57,000
original album? - japan-only release or what?? must be quite rare, so i´d buy it, when i discover it somehow somewhere.
but i don´t buy this posting anyway. :smt005
1. The list is for albums released in Japan, from 1970 up to 2004.

2. The information comes from Oricon, which can be compared to the US 'Soundscan'
Elvis must've been more popular than than the list indicates

Like I said earlier I've found out that Do the Clam hit #1 in Japan in 1965 so there must be more chart info that goes back further than 1970
Yes, Elvis was most likely more popular than my list indicates, but because of the fact that my list only covers Singles & Albums released since 1968/1970, all tracks released pre -68 are excluded!

So, why is it only since 1968 then? Because Oricon (which can be compared to the US 'Soundscan') wasn't established until late 1967. And I wanted to show you some sales figures...

I'm not sure about the Japanese charts pre-68, but I'll take a look at it... :)




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Re: Elvis popularity in Japan

Post by brian »

Mael wrote:
brian wrote:
Mael wrote:
Christopher wrote:
Mael wrote:- "Elvis On Tour" #6, 16weeks, 57,000
original album? - japan-only release or what?? must be quite rare, so i´d buy it, when i discover it somehow somewhere.
but i don´t buy this posting anyway. :smt005
1. The list is for albums released in Japan, from 1970 up to 2004.

2. The information comes from Oricon, which can be compared to the US 'Soundscan'
Elvis must've been more popular than than the list indicates

Like I said earlier I've found out that Do the Clam hit #1 in Japan in 1965 so there must be more chart info that goes back further than 1970
Yes, Elvis was most likely more popular than my list indicates, but because of the fact that my list only covers Singles & Albums released since 1968/1970, all tracks released pre -68 are excluded!

So, why is it only since 1968 then? Because Oricon (which can be compared to the US 'Soundscan') wasn't established until late 1967. And I wanted to show you some sales figures...

I'm not sure about the Japanese charts pre-68, but I'll take a look at it... :)
What i find interesting about the soundscan singles chart is that Suspicious minds and In the Ghetto both did very poorly in Japan. I thought they would've done better than that



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Re: Elvis popularity in Japan

Post by George Smith »

Am I right in thinking that Japan was one of the primary target audiences for Aloha?

I recall reading that the broadcast was timed to fit into a one-hour slot, prime time TV at the end of a week-long Elvis festival.

This would suggest that our man was indeed very popular.



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Re: Elvis popularity in Japan

Post by TALLHAIR 2 »

The reason no sales figures on pre 68 Elvis
releases are known will have everything to do
with no Japanese charts did excist before that
time. In many European countries, including
Holland, a top 40 charts didnt appear till 1964/
65. Before that time it was the popular music
mags that made up a monthly top 10 of best
selling 45s. "Made up", simply because the
guys in charge often were involved working
for record companies at the same time, and
by doing so, placed their releases high in
the fake charts. As Ive said at the beginning
of this thread, American G.I.s stationed in
Japan most probably were responsible for
most of Elvis' sales. It took a long time for
the people in Japan to recover from their
defeat in 1945. Record players, records
or American music was likely only available/
heard on American G.I. radio and on sale
in G.I. shops. Hence the often extreme
rareness of just about all vinyl pressed in
Japan before the 70s...



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Mael
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Re: Elvis popularity in Japan

Post by Mael »

George Smith wrote:Am I right in thinking that Japan was one of the primary target audiences for Aloha?

I recall reading that the broadcast was timed to fit into a one-hour slot, prime time TV at the end of a week-long Elvis festival.

This would suggest that our man was indeed very popular.
Asia was said to be one of the primary target, yes (which includes Japan).

From the book 'Elvis' written by Albert Goldman (released in 1981 I believe): "The interest for Elvis in Japan was so huge that the telecast was expanded into a “Elvis Presley-week”, which reached its peak at the 12th of January 1973, 6.30am (Saturday night), when not less then 98% of the Japanese audience was watching Elvis."

NOTE; I got the Swedish edition (translated by Sam J Ludvall), so my translation back to English may not be the 100% correct one… But the facts still remains :)

* ‘Aloha From Hawaii Via Satellite’, also reached #1 in Japan.

* When we're talking about Elvis popularity in Japan, it's probably worth mentioning that 'That's The Way It Is' which was released in 1970, spend a total of 66 weeks on the chart, and 16 of them at #1 (I think it was the biggest selling album of 1970, in Japan).



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Mael
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Re: Elvis popularity in Japan

Post by Mael »

TALLHAIR 2 wrote:The reason no sales figures on pre 68 Elvis
releases are known will have everything to do
with no Japanese charts did excist before that
time. In many European countries, including
Holland, a top 40 charts didnt appear till 1964/
65. Before that time it was the popular music
mags that made up a monthly top 10 of best
selling 45s. "Made up", simply because the
guys in charge often were involved working
for record companies at the same time, and
by doing so, placed their releases high in
the fake charts. As Ive said at the beginning
of this thread, American G.I.s stationed in
Japan most probably were responsible for
most of Elvis' sales. It took a long time for
the people in Japan to recover from their
defeat in 1945. Record players, records
or American music was likely only available/
heard on American G.I. radio and on sale
in G.I. shops. Hence the often extreme
rareness of just about all vinyl pressed in
Japan before the 70s...
As for the Japanese Music market in the 60s, you should not underestimate the sales; actually Japan was in the top 3. In 1965 there was 72,700,000 sold units in Japan (1LP = 1 Unit, 1 Single = 1 Unit), which was more than in France & Germany, and not far behind the UK. But yes, the Japanese market was growing rapidly, and in 1970, the Japanese market was ahead of the UK with 153,900,000 sold units (UK: 114m, Germany: 87m & France: 62,3m). One of the main reasons for the increase of sales was probably the growing interest for the “international artists”. Worth mentioning is probably that in the 60s, the Singles was the main selling product, while LPs didn’t sell much at all, this changed in the 70s though.

But I agree, in the 50s-60s, the majority of the records sold was probably recorded by Japanese artists...



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Re: Elvis popularity in Japan

Post by Cryogenic »

I wonder why Elvis was, and is, quite so popular in Japan?

DJC made a very good point about Japan's embrace of American culture, which must be tied to the massive socio-economic changes in Japan since WWII.

But still ...

Elvis seems insanely popular over there.