Mega girlgroup AKB48 continues to make history, according to Oricon they have officially surpassed Ayumi Hamasaki as the highest selling female Japanese artist of all time. While AKB is a group, Oricon does not differentiate between solo artists and groups under the male and female categories. Hamasaki still holds her record as the best selling solo artist, male or female, in Japan. Naturally, these sales are only accounted for in Japan and not worldwide.

This record was announced shortly after the first week sales were revealed for AKB48’s latest single #SukiNanda, released on August 30th. In just one week over million copies were sold pushing AKB’s grand total to 51, 298, 000. Hamasaki is currently at 50,675,000 units. The girls continued their separate set of records by releasing 30 singles in a row that all sold over 1 million copies, starting with their 20th major single Sakura no Ki ni Narou. AKB48 has also extended their #1 weekly rank streak which started with their 14th single RIVER.

AKB48 center Rino Sashihara thanked fans for making her winning Senbatsu election single such a memorable event. Despite the continuous pressure of being the center of Japan’s most popular girl group, the support makes it all worth it.

Rounding out the top 3 best selling Japanese female artists is legendary singer Yumi Matsutoya. AKB48 now takes third place for the best selling Japanese acts, behind B’z and Mr.Children respectfully.

(via Oricon)