Park Hyun-bin No. 1 on Japan's USEN chart

Album cover of Park Hyun-bin's Japanese debut single "Shaban Shaban" (Limited Edition) [Inwoo Business Production]

Korean trot singer Park Hyun-bin has topped a music chart in Japan in the category of enka, revealed his agency Inwoo Business Production on Wednesday.

According to a press release from Inwoo, Park’s debut single “Shaban Shaban” which went on sale today, claimed the No. 1 spot on Japan’s USEN’s weekly enka chart as of March 31.

The USEN chart, which combines data from various cable channels and number of requests a song receives by listeners, is considered one of the most popular music charts among Japanese cable music channels that also supplies music to various stores and households.

“It’s wonderful to know that I’m on a good start. This will give me the strength to reach other goals, namely the prestigious Oricon chart and NHK’s Red & White Year-end Song Festival,” Park was quoted as saying in the statement.

The upcoming album which will include title track "Shaban Shaban," based on Park's earlier Korean hit “Shabang Shabang” and an original Japanese song titled “Sakura Michi,” will be released simultaneously in a regular and limited edition with the latter version including a music video and a DVD containing interviews and behind-the-scene clips of the music video.

Park will promote the album in the cities of Tokyo, Sapporo, Fukuoka, Nagoya and other places through interviews, TV and radio appearances, record shop visits, while being set to perform four of his songs at an event celebrating the 60th anniversary of broadcasting station CBC broadcasting station on Saturday.

Park, 28 is one of the most well-known young trot singers in Korea who debuted with single “Ppari Ppa Ppa” in 2006 and became famous with numerous hit songs such as “Shabang Shabang,” “Just Believe in Oppa,” “Gonddurae Manddurae,” and “Ouch It’s Hot,”

Having signed a contract with Irving Co., one of the largest K-pop management companies based in Tokyo, he was set for debut on April 6 but postponed the date due to the massive earthquake and a tsunami that devastated the eastern part of the country on March 11.

Just before the earthquake, he participated in the 2011 Enka Festival last February where he became the first singer to perform there even before making his official debut in the country.

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