Big Bang's 2nd Japanese album No. 1 on Oricon's weekly chart

K-pop idols Big Bang [YG Entertainment]

K-pop idol group Big Bang has claimed the top spot on the prestigious Oricon weekly chart with their second Japanese album, making them the third Korean and Asian artist to achieve the feat.

According to the chart's website on Tuesday, Big Bang's latest studio release titled『BIGBANG 2』, which went on sale in the country on May 11, took the No. 1 spot on Oricon's weekly albums chart for the fourth week of May after seeing 65,000 copies sold.

Big Bang follows in the footsteps of previous holders of the record including TVXQ's "BEST SELECTION 2010" and JYJ's album "The Beginning" which came in first on the weekly chart in February and September of last year, respectively.

"It feels great and meaningful to hear that our album is doing so well and we hope to dominate the monthly chart as well," Big Bang leader G-Dragon was quoted as saying, while fellow member T.O.P. explained that the group will work harder on their activities.

Meanwhile, Big Bang kicked off their promotional concert tour "Love&Hope" in Osaka last week which will continue with performances in Chiba and Nagoya till May 19.

Composed of other members Taeyang, Daesung and Seungri, Big Bang has released several albums and hit songs such as "Lies" and "Haru Haru" since their debut in the K-pop scene in 2006.

The group then crossed over into the Japanese music market in June 2009 with their debut single "My Heaven" which reached No. 3 on the prestigious Oricon daily singles chart and they toured three cities in the country which attracted a total of 60,000 fans.

The quintet have released other singles in Japan such as "Tell Me Goodbye" and "Beautiful Hangover" and performed on the main stage at the Summer Sonic Festival August last year.

Recently, the boys have promoted themselves in Korea for the first time in over two years after pursuing their musical activities as solos or duets as well as expanding their singing career as their quintet in Japan in the summer of 2009 which saw success.

Their latest releases in Korea, their fourth mini-album and the special edition of the album, topped various music charts and scored wins on televised music shows in the country for several weeks.

※ Any copying, republication or redistribution of 10Asia's content is expressly prohibited without prior consent of 10Asia. Copyright infringement is subject to criminal and civil penalties.

Reporter : Lucia Hong luciahong@
Editor : Jessica Kim jesskim@