TWS's 'SODA SODA' Tops Billboard Japan Hot 100 in a Packed Debut Week
TWS's 'SODA SODA' hit No. 1 on the Billboard Japan Hot 100 chart released Aug. 12, covering the tracking week from Aug. 3 to 9. The title track of the six-member K-pop boy band's second Japanese single, released Aug. 4, launched with 307,037 copies sold and placed No. 2 for both sales and radio airplay. It marks the group's second Japan Hot 100 chart-topper, following their Japanese debut single 'Hajimemashite.' Billboard
The Billboard Japan Hot 100 combines physical and digital sales, audio streams, radio airplay, video views and karaoke data into a single ranking — a broader methodology than most national singles charts, which tend to weight sales and streams separately.
Behind TWS, the top five was crowded with new entries. ME:I's 'Flower Road' entered at No. 2, selling 146,201 copies and placing No. 3 for sales, No. 4 for radio and No. 7 for downloads. 'Summer Twin Tail' by ≒JOY (Nearly Equal Joy) debuted at No. 3 with 371,043 copies sold — a new personal-best first-week figure for the group — and topped the sales chart outright. Mrs. GREEN APPLE's 'Brand New' held at No. 4, retaining No. 1 on streaming and No. 2 on video views. A collaborative single from M!LK members Hayato Sano and Jinto Yoshida, 'Tsumi to Batsu to Ame to Kiss,' rounded out the top five at No. 5, landing at No. 3 on downloads and No. 1 on video.
Further down, ATEEZ's 'BAD' slipped from No. 3 to No. 6 with 49,555 CD sales. Billboard
Two re-entries added a thread of chart history to the week. Aimyon's 'Ai Wo Tsutaetaidatoka' returned to the Japan Hot 100 at No. 55 — its first chart appearance in nearly four years, since September 2022 — after the singer performed it alongside 'Super Girl' on the Aug. 7 broadcast of Music Station. Fujifabric's 'Wakamono No Subete', first released in 2008, re-entered at No. 89 for its first chart appearance in roughly 11 months. Billboard
Aimyon is no stranger to slow-burn chart success. Her 2018 single 'Marigold' took 43 weeks to reach No. 1 on the Japan Hot 100, a reminder that the chart rewards sustained listener engagement across its combined metrics rather than a single format alone. Billboard
What makes this week's chart notable is the spread: three of the top five were new entries, a catalog track from 2008 found its way back, and a four-year-old Aimyon song resurfaced on the strength of a single TV performance. The Japan Hot 100's blended methodology means a CD-first group like TWS, a streaming heavyweight like Mrs. GREEN APPLE, and a legacy re-entry can all share the same page in the same week.
