Oricon

, established in 1999, is the holding company at the head of a Japanese corporate group that supplies statistics and information on music and the music industry in Japan. It started as , which was founded by Sōkō Koike in November 1967 and became known for its music charts. Oricon Inc. was originally set up as a subsidiary of Original Confidence and took over the latter’s Oricon record charts in April 2002.
They are compiled using data drawn from some 39,700 retail outlets (as of April 2011) and provide sales rankings of music CDs, DVDs, electronic games, and other entertainment products based on weekly tabulations. Results are announced every Tuesday and published in Oricon Style by subsidiary Oricon Entertainment Inc. The group also lists panel survey-based popularity ratings for television commercials on its official website.
==History==
Original Confidence Inc., the original Oricon company, was founded by the former Snow Brand Milk Productspromoter Sōkō Koike in 1967. That November, the company began publishing a singles chart on an experimental basis. 
Entitled (it means "surveys of total entertainment markets"), this went official on January 4, 1968.
Like the preceding Japanese music charts provided by Tokushin Music Report which was started in 1962, early Original Confidence was an exclusive information magazine only for the people who worked in the music industry. However, in the 1970s, Koike willingly advertised his company's charts to make its existence prevail among Japanese public. Thanks to his intensive promotional efforts on the multiple media including television programs, the hit parade became known by its abbreviation "Oricon" by the late 1970s.
The company shortened its name to Oricon in 1992 and was split into a holding company and several subsidiaries in 1999. Since Sōkō Koike's death, Oricon has been managed by the founder's relatives. In 2004, Hirakawachi 1-chome made Oricon history by reaching the 7th spot, making their debut, Enpitsu de tsukuru uta, the youngest j-pop male artists' album charted in the top 10.
==Policy==
Oricon monitors and reports on sales of CDs, DVDs, video games, and entertainment content in several other formats; manga and book sales were also formerly covered. Charts are published every Tuesday in Oricon Style and on Oricon’s official website. Every Monday, Oricon receives data from outlets, but data on merchandise sold through certain channels does not make it into the charts. For example, the debut single of NEWS, a pop group, was released only through 7-Eleven stores, which are not covered by Oricon, and its sales were not reflected in the Oricon charts. Oricon’s rankings of record sales are therefore not completely accurate. Before data was collected electronically, the charts were compiled on the basis of faxes that were sent from record shops.
== Controversy ==
In 2006, Oricon sued journalist Hiro Ugaya when he was quoted in a Cyzo magazine article suggesting that Oricon was fiddling its statistics to benefit certain management companies and labels, specifically Johnny and Associates.Libel suit attacks free speech: defendant The Japan Times Online
Oricon does not include download sales. In Japan, Single sales decreased sharply in 2000s while download sales hit 3 or 4 times of Single sales.Statistics will be given below: RIAJ.or.jp
==Shareholders==
(as of October 31, 2010)
* LitruPond LLC - 28.78%
* Ko Koike - 10.57%
* Hikari Tsushin, Inc. - 5%
* DHC Corp. - 1.61%
* Yahoo! Japan - 1.53%
* NTT Resonant Inc. - 1.53%
== Charts ==
=== Current charts ===
* Singles Chart (1968-01-04–)
* Albums Chart (1987-10-05–)
* Karaoke Chart (1987-12-26–)
* Tracks Chart (2004-06-06–)
* DVD Chart (1999-04-05–)
* Long Hit Album Catalogue Chart (2001-04-02–)
=== Past charts ===
* LP Chart (1970-01-05–1989-11-27)
* CT Chart (1974-12-02–1989-11-27)
* MD Chart (Unknown)
* LD Chart (Unknown–2000-02-07)
* VHD Chart (Unknown–1989-11-27)
* Cartridges Chart (1974-12-02–1978-04-24)
* Sell-Video Chart (1974-02-06–2005-05-30)
* All-Genre Formats Ranking (1984-05-24–2001-04-02)
* Game Soft Chart (1995-02-20–2005-11-28)
* Comics Chart (1995-02-06–2001-03-26)
* New Media Chart (January 2004–2005)
== Best Selling Singles Of All Time ==
Rank	Year	Title 	Artist 	Sales
1 	1975	Oyoge! Taiyaki-kun 	Masato Shimon 	4.547m
2 	1972	Onna no Michi 	Shiro Miya and Pinkara Trio 	3.256m
3 	2000	Tsunami 	Southern All Stars 	2.934m
4 	1999	Dango 3 Kyodai 	Kentarō Hayami, Ayumi Shigemori,Himawari Kids, Dango Gasshōdan	2.918m
5 	1992	Kimi ga Iru Dake de 	Kome Kome Club 	2.895m
6 	1991	Say Yes 	Chage & Aska 	2.822m
7 	1994	Tomorrow Never Knows 	Mr. Children 	2.766m
8 	1991	Oh! Yeah!/Love Story wa Totsuzen ni	Kazumasa Oda 	2.587m
9 	2003	Sekai ni Hitotsu dake no Hana 	SMAP 	2.573m
10 	1995	Love Love Love/Arashi ga Kuru 	Dreams Come True 	2.488m
== Best Selling Albums of All Time==
Rank	Year	Title 	Artist 	Sales
1 	1999	First Love 	Hikaru Utada 	7,650,215
2 	1998	B'z The Best "Pleasure"	B'z 	5,135,922
3 	1997	Review 	Glay 	4,875,980
4 	2001	Distance 	Hikaru Utada 	4,469,135
5 	1998	B'z The Best "Treasure"	B'z 	4,438,742
6 	2001	A Best 	Ayumi Hamasaki 	4,301,353
7 	1996	Globe 	Globe 	4,136,460
8 	2002	Deep River 	Hikaru Utada 	3,604,588
9 	2000	Delicious Way 	Mai Kuraki 	3,530,000
10 	1998	Time to Destination 	Every Little Thing	3,520,330
歴代アルバムチャート</small>
== See also ==
*List of number-one albums (Japan)
== References ==
== External links ==
* Oricon website 
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Category:Companies listed on the JASDAQ Securities Exchange
Category:Companies of Japan
Category:Japanese music
Category:Japanese record charts