Nanji, Hoshi no Gotoku Reaches No. 1 on Billboard Japan Book Hot 100 in Its 51st Week
Yuu Nagira's book Nanji, Hoshi no Gotoku has reached No. 1 on the Billboard Japan Book Hot 100 for the first time, in the chart released Nov. 5, 2026. Billboard Japan's chart coverage confirms that the title took the top spot in its 51st week on the chart. That is a long climb for a book that has been selling for more than a year.
The Book Hot 100 ranks Japanese books each week across several measures, including bookshop sales, online retail, subscription reading services and social media activity. In the week tracked from Oct. 26 to Nov. 1, the title ranked No. 1 in subscriptions, No. 2 in bricks-and-mortar bookshops, No. 2 on social media and No. 12 in e-commerce. It had also spent the three weeks before its No. 1 in the top 10.
A live-action film version, starring Ryusei Yokohama and Suzu Hirose, opened on Oct. 9. The timing matches the chart's rise. A spinoff, Hoshi wo Amu, ranked No. 6 in the same week.
The chart's top ten was crowded that week. Akiko Abe's Cafune entered the top three for the first time, at No. 2. Its paperback edition came out on Oct. 15. The book follows an encounter between a woman and her younger brother's former lover, who grow closer through eating together, according to a Yahoo Japan news report.
Other titles held strong positions too. Volume 8 of the manga adaptation of Isekai no Sata wa Shachiku Shidai ranked No. 3 overall and No. 1 among e-books. Gosho Aoyama's Meitantei Conan Volume 109 slipped to No. 5, having reached No. 1 two weeks earlier. Mizuho Kusanagi's Akatsuki no Yona Volume 48 held the No. 1 spot on the chart released Oct. 29, and dropped to No. 7 in the latest week.
On the earlier chart released Oct. 29, Nanji, Hoshi no Gotoku stood at No. 5. Its move to the top came a week later, after the title spent several weeks in the top 10.
For readers who follow the book trade, the detail that stands out is the mix of channels. A title can top subscriptions, sit near the top in physical shops, and still be found online by readers who never walk into a bookshop. Each of those sales is a copy someone chose, and each chart week is a stretch of work for the bookshop staff, warehouse teams and delivery drivers who keep those copies moving.
Billboard Japan publishes the Book Hot 100 weekly, and the next chart will show whether the title holds its place.
