Billboard has announced that it will launch Japanese music charts using data from 3,000 retailers nationwide and 33 radio stations. The main Billboard Japan Hot 100 singles chart will be based on a combination of sales and airplay data which will produce different rankings to the closely watched Oricon charts. The company will also launch separate album and airplay lists. The Billboard name is licensed in Japan by Hanshin Contents Link, a unit of the railway company.
Press release in Japanese here (PDF) from Plantech who will be one of the companies contributing data to teh new charts.