Tenor Masafumi Akikawa continues to break records. His single "Sen no Kaze ni Natte" has been selling incredibly well since his first-time appearance at last year's Kohaku Uta Gassen, even though the single originally debuted last May. Last month, the single became the first by a classical artist to reach #1 on the charts.

This past week, "Sen no Kaze ni Natte" sold about 73,000 copies. This puts the song's total sales so far at about 534,000 copies, breaking the record for a single by a classical artist. The previous record-holder was Yoshikazu Mera's 1997 single "Princess Mononoke," the theme song to the animated film of the same name. That song sold 504,000 by the time it left the charts in July 1998.

Akikawa also holds the records for highest-ranking album and best-selling album by a Japanese vocalist with his recent "Ifu Dodo"; it has peaked at #14 and has sold over 69,000 copies to date.