The following is an overview of the year 2011 in Japanese music. It includes notable awards, lists of number-ones, yearly best-sellers, albums released, groups established and disestablished, deaths of notable Japanese music-related people as well as any other relevant Japanese music-related events. For overviews of the year in music from other countries, see 2011 in music.
The following is a list of the 5 best-selling music artists in Japan in 2011 by value of sales, including sales of records and of DVDs and Blu-rays, according to Oricon.[1]
| Rank | Artist | Value | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | AKB48 | ||
| 2 | Arashi | ||
| 3 | Exile | ||
| 4 | Kara | ||
| 5 | Shōjo Jidai |
The following is a list of the top 10 best-selling albums in Japan in 2011, according to Oricon.[2]
| Rank | Album | Artist | Copies | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Beautiful World | Arashi | 907,589 | |
| 2 | Koko ni Ita Koto | AKB48 | 829,645 | |
| 3 | Exile | 743,242 | ||
| 4 | Born This Way | Lady Gaga | 658,554 | |
| 5 | Girls' Generation | Shōjo Jidai | 642,054 | |
| 6 | Checkmate! | Namie Amuro | 484,336 | |
| 7 | Super Girl | Kara | 450,595 | |
| 8 | Keisuke Kuwata | 414,725 | ||
| 9 | SMAP | 413,943 | ||
| 10 | Ikimono-gakari | 397,459 |
The following section includes albums by Japanese artists released in Japan in 2011 as well as Japanese-language albums by foreign artists released in the country during this year.