T-ara’s third Japanese album has debuted at #3 on the Oricon daily album sales chart behind Jun.K’s LOVE & HATE and the Frozen soundtrack respectively! Gossip Girls debuted on Oricon (Japanese equivalent of America’s Billboard and Korea’s Gaon) with 6,554 copies sold in the first day.

Compared to T-ara’s previous Japanese albums, Jewelry Box sold 23,796 copies in the first day while Treasure Box managed to sell 10,056 copies in the first day. Although it is a decline, selling over 6,500 copies in the first day with virtually no promotions is still an accomplishment for any group and helps hold still T-ara’s position as the #3 girl group in Japan right now.

If you compare T-ara’s most recent album sales (Gossip Girls) with their best selling album’s first day sales (Jewelry Box), the change in sales is sadly a 72% decrease. While if you look at KARA, who are largely considered the most popular K-pop group in Japan, and their sales, they also have the exactly same decrease in sales — 72%! Their most recent album (Fantastic Girls) sold 20,081 copies in the first day compared with their best selling album (Super Girl) selling 73,076 copies on the first day.

The same exact decrease in sales for both of the groups is just proof of the Hallyu Wave’s diminishing popularity overseas in Japan. Despite that, the sales for T-ara’s recent album is good for any group for one day in the Japanese market – and who knows what the rest of the week and the final weekly sales will be?!

Make sure you have purchased your copy of Gossip Girls via YesAsia here!