These are the Oricon number one albums of 1996, per the Oricon Albums Chart.[1]
| Indicates best-selling album of 1996 |
| Issue Date | Album | Artist(s) | |
|---|---|---|---|
| January 1 | Beauty and Harmony | Miwa Yoshida | |
| January 15 | Back Beats #1 | Maki Ohguro | |
| January 22 | |||
| January 29 | |||
| February 5 | Hey Man | Mr. Big | |
| February 12 | Banzai | Ulfuls | |
| February 19 | Beat Out! | Glay | |
| February 26 | Looking Back | Kazumasa Oda | |
| March 4 | The Live 3 | TRF | |
| March 11 | King & Queen | Tomoyasu Hotei | |
| March 18 | |||
| March 25 | Singles Collection +6 | Wands | |
| April 1 | Daiginjō | Miyuki Nakajima | |
| April 8 | bgcolor=#FFFF99 style="text-align: center;" | Globe | Globe |
| April 15 | Love Unlimited | Dreams Come True | |
| April 22 | bgcolor=#FFFF99 style="text-align: center;" rowspan="2" | Globe | Globe |
| April 29 | |||
| May 6 | Style | Luna Sea | |
| May 13 | bgcolor=#FFFF99 style="text-align: center;" rowspan="3" | Globe | Globe |
| May 20 | |||
| May 27 | |||
| June 3 | Neon Genesis Evangelion III | TV soundtrack | |
| June 10 | Fake Star | Kuroyume | |
| June 17 | Love Brace | Tomomi Kahala | |
| June 24 | Only Good Summer | Tube | |
| July 1 | Love Brace | Tomomi Kahala | |
| July 8 | Shinkai | Mr. Children | |
| July 15 | Red | Nanase Aikawa | |
| July 22 | Today Is Another Day | Zard | |
| July 29 | Young Love | Southern All Stars | |
| August 5 | Sweet 19 Blues | Namie Amuro | |
| August 12 | |||
| August 19 | Since 1995: Forever | V6 | |
| August 26 | Smap 009 | SMAP | |
| September 2 | Singles | T-Bolan | |
| September 9 | |||
| September 16 | Psyence | Hide | |
| September 23 | By Myself | Hitomi | |
| September 30 | Montage | Yen Town Band | |
| October 7 | |||
| October 14 | Missing Piece | Kyosuke Himuro | |
| October 21 | MTV Unplugged Live | Chage and Aska | |
| October 28 | Kyutai no kanaderu ongaku | Kenji Ozawa | |
| November 4 | Indigo Chiheisen | Spitz | |
| November 11 | |||
| November 18 | Dahlia | X Japan | |
| November 25 | Aozora no Tobira | Shōgo Hamada | |
| December 2 | Beloved | Glay | |
| December 9 | Friends II | B'z | |
| December 16 | Greeting | V6 | |
| December 23 | Maximum | MAX | |
| December 30 | Golden Q | Sharan Q |