Girls' Generation becomes top-selling foreign artist in Japan of 2011

Girls' Generation (top) and KARA (bottom) [SM Entertainment/DSP Media]

Top female idols Girls' Generation sold the most albums in Japan for a foreign artist in 2011, according to the prestigious Oricon website.

A yearly report based on Oricon's accumulation on total sales of singles, albums, music DVDs and blu-ray DVDs showed that Girls' Generation raked in over 2.9 billion yen (equaling to 41.3 billion Korean won) from the sales of their first full-length Japanese album "GIRLS' GENERATION."

Following in their footstep was KARA who brought in over 2.0 billion yen (equaling to 28.5 billion Korean won) from their second Japanese record "Super Girl."

The yearly data also revealed that K-pop artists' total sales amounted to 22.4 billion won (equaling to 318.7 billion Korean won) in 2011 which is an increase by 22.3 percentage points compared to the previous year.

Korean artists also saw increased market share in Japan, the figure climbing by 1.8 percentage points from last year.

A number of Korean singers including 2PM, Jang Keun-suk, SHINee and BEAST performed fairly well in the Japanese market as well.

Girls' Generation, composed of members Taeyeon, Tiffany, Hyoyeon, Sunny, Jessica, Seohyun, Yoona, Sooyoung and Yuri, expanded their career into Japan in September 2010 and since released several Japanese singles as well as holding their nationwide Japanese tour.

Their album "GIRLS' GENERATION" top-selling K-pop records of 2011 in Japan while the girls became the first international girl group in Oricon history to reach the No. 1 spot on Oricon's weekly chart with it.

KARA, composed of members Gu Hara, Han Seung-yeon, Park Gyu-lee, Kang Ji-young and Nicole, is currently one of the most successful Korean girl groups to break into the Japanese market, having their singles and albums place within the top five of the prestigious Oricon chart and earning platinum and gold status.

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