FTIsland soars to top of Oricon's weekly chart

Cover of FTIsland's 1st full-length Japanese album "FIVE TREASURE ISLAND" [FNC Music]

Korean rock band FTIsland's first full-length Japanese album has topped Japan's prestigious Oricon weekly chart, according to the chart on Tuesday.

Oricon’s official website showed that FTIsland's album "FIVE TREASURE ISLAND" has sold over 37,000 copies during its first week of going on sale on May 18, making it the first time in Oricon history for an international male artists’ first full-length release to reach the No. 1 spot on the weekly chart.

"FIVE TREASURE ISLAND" had also made its debut at No. 1 on Oricon's daily chart, the highest rank any of their releases in the country had seen.

Their debut single "Flower Rock" last year placed at No. 4 on the daily chart while their fourth Japanese single "SATISFACTION," released on April 20, came in second place with on the weekly singles chart.

"We're incredibly happy to hear the news of our album," the members of FTIsland were quoted as saying. "We want to thank all our fans for showing their love and support and we will work harder on our music."

The five-member band is also set to go on a nationwide tour in Japan this summer which will begin in Nagoya on June 20 all the way to Osaka on July 2, Tokyo on July 6, Fukuoka on July 8 and end at Nippon’s Budokan on July 29.

FTIsland, composed of other members Song Seung-hyun, Choi Min-han and Choi Jong-hoon released their first album "Cheerful Sensibility" in 2007 and followed it up with several singles and studio albums including "Colorful Sensibility," "Cross and Change" and most recently, "beautiful journey."

They expanded their career into Japan in 2008 with single albums “Flower Rock” and “Brand-new days."

The boys are gearing up to make their comeback to the local music scene with their title track "Hello Hello" from their upcoming third mini-album "RETURN" set to hit stores on May 24.

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