Seventeen Hits Another Million in Japan With 1 Million Sales… K-pop’s Biggest Ever ‘Fourth Million’

A ‘million’ four times, swallowing Japan… Seventeen emerges as the absolute power in the K-pop scene

The group ‘SEVENTEEN’ has built yet another golden milestone in the Japanese album market. By clinching the fourth ‘million’ certification—an industry first and the most for any K-pop act—the group again proved its overwhelming standing in Japan.

According to ‘Pledis Entertainment’, Seventeen’s local Japanese best-of album ‘Always Yours (ALWAYS YOURS)’, released last year, surpassed one million copies shipped cumulatively as of last month. As a result, it obtained an official ‘million’ certification from the Recording Industry Association of Japan.

This achievement marks a new benchmark for K-pop that goes beyond simple commercial success. Starting with Japan’s mini album No. 1, ‘DREAM’, it follows the group’s earlier milestones that include Korea’s mini album No. 10, ‘FML’, and mini album No. 11, ‘SEVENTEENTH HEAVEN’—and this is the group’s fourth time overall to cross the one million mark. It is an unprecedented record across all K-pop artists in history.

Seventeen said, ‘SEVENTEEN HEAVEN’ was certified last month, and “We are honored to bring another piece of great news one after another.” It added, “We will repay the fans who continue to show unwavering support with deeper music and a variety of activities.”

In Japan, the Recording Industry Association of Japan grants strict certifications each month based on cumulative shipment totals, ranging from ‘Gold’ (100,000 copies or more) to ‘Million’ (1 million copies or more). In this review, along with Seventeen’s record-setting performance, the multi-front advance of K-pop artists also stood out. ‘IVE’’s Japanese mini album No. 4, ‘Lucid Dream,’ ‘ATEEZ’’s single album No. 5, ‘Bade,’ and ‘NCT WISH (NCT WISH)’’s single album No. 3, ‘YOIDON! / BOY MEETS GIRL,’ each exceeded 250,000 copies, reaching the ‘Platinum’ threshold.

In addition, ‘aespa’’s mini album No. 2, ‘Kiss and Tell,’ ‘ILLIT’’s single album No. 2, ‘I GOT YOUR BACK,’ ‘NiziU’’s best-of album ‘Portfolio’ also earned ‘Gold’ certification with shipment totals of more than 100,000 copies, showing that K-pop has a solid share in Japan’s music market.