Sakurazaka46’s ‘The Growing Up Train’ claims the top spot on the Japan Hot 100 chart released March 18. The single achieves 597,740 physical sales, ranking No. 9 in downloads, No. 18 in streaming, and No. 37 in radio airplay.
Sakurazaka46’s Chart Dominance
This marks the group’s third single to exceed 500,000 copies on its pre-release day, following ‘Jigoujitoku’ and ‘Unhappy Birthday Koubun.’ It also becomes their ninth No. 1 on the Japan Hot 100.
- Make or Break
- UDAGAWA GENERATION
- I want tomorrow to come
- Shoninyokkyu
- Samidare yo
- Nagaredama
- BAN
- Nobody’s fault
- The Growing Up Train
Koshi Inaba’s ‘Touch’ Surges to No. 2
Koshi Inaba’s ‘Touch,’ a cover of Yoshimi Iwasaki’s 1980s pop classic, jumps from No. 21 to No. 2. Selected as the Netflix support song for the 2026 World Baseball Classic, the digital release from March 6 leads downloads with 42,231 units. It also hits No. 3 in video views, No. 10 in streaming, and No. 2 in radio airplay.
Daily streaming for Inaba’s earlier tracks ‘Hane’ and ‘Stray Hearts’ has roughly doubled since March 6, signaling increased listener interest.
World Baseball Classic Tie-Ins
Fujii Kaze’s ‘My Place’ debuts at No. 32. Featured on the first official 2026 World Baseball Classic soundtrack, it opens at No. 4 in radio airplay, No. 25 in downloads, and No. 92 in streaming.
Other Top Movers
Arashi’s ‘Five’ drops to No. 3 but maintains No. 1 positions in video views and streaming, with No. 2 in downloads and No. 9 in radio.
M!LK’s ‘Bakuretsu Aishiteru’ lands at No. 4, while Kenshi Yonezu’s ‘IRIS OUT’ holds No. 5.
Remioromen’s seasonal hit ‘Sangatsu Kokonoka’ (March 9th) climbs from No. 46 to No. 11. Downloads rise 2.5 times week-over-week, streaming increases 1.9 times, karaoke 1.6 times, and video views 5.2 times.
Note: Streaming rankings for Nos. 4 and 5 differ from play counts due to separate tallies for free-tier and paid-tier services on certain platforms, with varying multipliers for points. This reflects standard methodology, not an error.
The Japan Hot 100 aggregates physical and digital sales, audio streams, radio airplay, video views, and karaoke data for the tracking week of March 9-15.
