If you've recently been following Oricon and the general trends on the Japanese music scene, you'll have noticed two things. One is the Hallyu wave (Korean Wave) and the recent success of groups such as KARA and Shoujo Jidai. The other is the trend of idol groups over solo artists with the explosion in AKB48's popularity, Perfume's utter domination of the technopop scene. Tohoshinki's dominance in the early part of 2010. Not to mention mega group Arashi - or other Johnny's groups such as Kanjani8 and NEWS - having a hit on their hands with every single release.

What does this exactly mean for the solo artist in Japan? In the past five to six years alone, we've seen the dramatic decline of once mega popular artists such as Ayumi Hamasaki, Ai Otsuka, as well as many others in their league. Now while this isn't particularly a singling out of these artists, there is something to be said about the way their popularity is now as compared to these idol groups. And it's not just Ayumi Hamasaki or Ai Otsuka - it's about solo artists in general. Just take a look at Oricon's yearly single charts so far. While the year isn't over just yet, it's shocking for most to see that only 3 solo artists have been able to crack the top 20: Fuyumi Sakamoto at #12, Masaharu Fukuyama at #17 and #19 respectively, and finally Kiyoshi Hikawa at #20.

However, all is not lost for the solo artist as they've been fairing much better on album charts. While this group domination is apparent in the singles charts, the album chart has quite a few successful solo acts to boast: Kana Nishino currently holds the best-selling female solo album this year at #2, with Namie Amuro at #4, and other entries such as Kaela Kimura, Hideaki Tokunaga, Lady GaGa, JUJU, Koda Kumi, Ayumi Hamasaki, YUI, and Superfly, all within the top 20.

As for the first trend, it will definitely be interesting to follow this into 2011 with the intentions of K-pop groups such as 2PM, 2NE1, T-ara, and BEAST to debut in Japan.

What are your thoughts about these trends? Feel free to have your say and let us know!

Oricon Top 20�Yearly�Singles (as of November 4th)

*1 *,826,989 826,989 Beginner / AKB48 10/10/27 ?
*2 *,698,542 ***,*** Troublemaker / Arashi 10/03/03
*3 *,696,022 ***,*** Monster / Arashi 10/05/19
*4 *,689,214 **5,511 Heavy Rotation / AKB48 10/08/18
*5 *,649,169 **2,025 Ponytail to Shushu / AKB48 10/05/26
*6 *,613,633 **1,774 L?ve Rainbow / Arashi 10/09/08
*7 *,572,537 **7,800 Dear Snow / Arashi 10/10/06
*8 *,515,074 ***,330 To be free / Arashi 10/07/07
*9 *,439,736 ***,*** Love yourself ~Kimi ga Kirai na Kimi ga Suki~ / KAT-TUN 10/02/10
10 *,389,073 ***,393 Sakura no Shiori / AKB48 10/02/17?
11 *,350,015 ***,*** This is love / SMAP 10/08/04
12 *,302,665 **1,235 Mata Kimi ni Koishiteru/Ajia no Kaizoku / Fuyumi Sakamoto 09/01/07 (Total: 334,929)
13 *,302,072 ***,688 LIFE ~Me no Mae no Mukou e~ / Kanjani8 10/08/25
14 *,289,412 ***,*** BREAK OUT! / Tohoshinki 10/01/27
15 *,282,901 ***,*** Going! / KAT-TUN 10/05/12
16 *,275,558 ***,*** Wonderful World!! / Kanjani8 10/06/30
17 *,269,765 ***,*** Hatsukoi / Masaharu Fukuyama 09/12/16
18 *,250,206 ***,*** Hitomi no Screen / Hey! Say! JUMP 10/02/24
19 *,238,075 ***,622 Hotaru/Shounen / Masaharu Fukuyama 10/08/11
20 *,236,218 ***,*** Shamisen Tabi Garasu / Hikawa Kiyoshi 10/03/24

Top 20 Yearly Albums (as of November 4th)

*1 1,034,569 **4,501 Boku no Miteiru Fuukei / Arashi 10/08/04
*2 *,629,294 **2,164 to LOVE / Kana Nishino 10/06/23
*3 *,605,245 **1,492 Funky Monkey Babies BEST / FUNKY MONKEY BABYS 10/02/10
*4 *,574,525 ***,*** PAST<FUTURE / Namie Amuro 09/12/16
*5 *,569,530 ***,459 BEST SELECTION 2010 / Tohoshinki 10/02/17
*6 *,559,827 ***,657 Hajimari no Uta / Ikimonogakari 09/12/23
*7 *,466,770 ***,436 5years / Kaela Kimura 10/02/03
*8 *,464,516 ***,594 FANTASY / EXILE 10/06/09
*9 *,425,746 **2,214 Kamikyoku Tachi / AKB48 10/04/07
10 *,393,014 ***,819 VOCALIST 4 / Hideaki Tokunaga 10/04/20
11 *,391,929 ***,455 Aisubeki Mirai e / EXILE 09/12/02 (Total: 1,289,024)
12 *,386,706 ***,*** ALL COVERS BEST / Kobukuro 10/08/25
13 *,382,290 **3,482 The Fame Monster / Lady Gaga 09/11/18 (Total: 440,720)
14 *,374,183 *22,747 Request / JUJU 10/09/29
15 *,371,590 ***,*** BEST?third universe? & 8th AL "UNIVERSE" / Koda Kumi 10/02/03
16 *,332,248 **1,826 All the BEST? 1999-2009 / Arashi 09/08/19 (Total: 1,765,029)
17 *,318,454 ***,*** Rock'n'Roll Circus / Ayumi Hamasaki 10/04/14
18 *,303,994 ***,668 HOLIDAYS IN THE SUN / YUI 10/07/14
19 *,291,124 **2,921 Wildflower & Cover Songs:Complete Best'TRACK 3' / Superfly 10/09/01
20 *,285,592 ***,*** Ano... Konnan Dekimashita kedo. / Yusuke 09/12/16

Source: Oricon