FANTASTICS member Sota Nakajima tops Oricon weekly BOOK ranking for first time

Sota Nakajima, a member of the dance and vocal group FANTASTICS, has achieved his first-ever No. 1 on the Oricon Weekly BOOK Ranking. His second photo book, "Sota Nakajima 2nd Photo Book 'THE SELF'," sold 23,000 copies in its first week and topped the chart announced on June 18, 2026. In the "Photo Book" genre, it marks his second No. 1 overall, following "Sota Nakajima 1st Photo Book Sota Book" released on April 3, 2023 — a gap of approximately three years and three months.

The photo book is the fourth release in the "GL-9 ~FANTASTICS BOOKS~" project, a nine-month consecutive publication initiative by FANTASTICS that began in March 2026. All photographs were taken during Nakajima's first visit to Europe, capturing his natural and unfiltered expressions. The book also features a special section called "SoTaCaMeRa," where Nakajima himself shot photos with a camera.

Commenting on the publication, Nakajima said, "From the very first meeting, I talked a lot about the places I wanted to go and the things I wanted to do, and I think this book is packed with all of that. You can see me enjoying my first trip to Europe with the best team, and I hope you look forward to the photos I took as well."

Earlier releases in the same project have also topped the photo book genre on the Oricon chart: the first, "Natsuki Sawamoto 1st Photo Essay 'My Shining Way, Not Sparkling'," (dated March 16, 2026); the second, "Reiya Seguchi 2nd Photo Book 'Lei'" (dated April 13, 2026); and the third, "Natsuki Hori 1st Photo Book 'LIVING FOR'" (dated May 11, 2026).