1961 in Japanese music

Billboard

Monthly

The following reached number 1 according to the monthly pop singles chart published in Billboard:

• January: Greenfields - The Brothers Four^[4]
• February: The Green Leaves of Summer - The Brothers Four^[5]

Weekly

The following reached number 1 according to the weekly pop singles chart published in Billboard:

• 24 March and 31 March: G.I. Blues - Elvis Presley^[6]

The following reached number 1 according to the weekly singles chart published in Billboard:

• 31 July: Calendar Girl - Neil Sedaka^[7]

Utamatic

The following reached number 1 according to the weekly Utamatic singles chart published in Billboard:

• 7 April: G.I. Blues - Elvis Presley^[8]
• 14 April, 5 May, 12 May, 19 May, 26 May, 5 June and 12 June: Tokyo Dodonpa Musume [ja] - Mari Watanabe [ja]^[9]
• 26 June, 3 July and 17 July: Kitakami Yakyoku [ja] - Dark Ducks [ja] (King) and Mahina Stars [ja] (RCA)^[10]
• 24 July, 31 July, 7 August, 21 August and 28 August: Calendar Girl - Neil Sedaka^[11]
• 4 September, 11 September, 18 September, 25 September, 9 October, 16 October, 23 October, 30 October, 6 November and 20 November: Kimi Koishi [ja] - Frank Nagai^[12]
• 2 October, 13 November, 27 November and 4 December: Moliendo Café - Hugo Blanco (Polydor) and Sachiko Nishida [ja] (Polydor).^[13] The Japanese language cover version of this song is called Coffee Rumba.
• 11 December, 18 December and 25 December: Koshu (Japanese: 湖愁) - Akira Matsushima [ja]^[14]

Cash Box

The following reached number 1 according to the weekly singles chart published in Cash Box:

• 22 April, 29 April and 6 May: G.I. Blues - Elvis Presley (Victor) and Kyu Sakamoto (Toshiba)^[15][16]
• 13 May, 20 May, 27 May, 3 June and 10 June: Where the Boys Are - Connie Francis (Columbia), Kayoko Moriyama [ja] (Toshiba) and Sachiko Nishida [ja] (Grammophon)^[17]

Local

The following reached number 1 according to the weekly local singles chart published in Cash Box:

• 17 June, 24 June, 1 July, 8 July, 15 July, 22 July, 29 July, 5 August, 12 August, 26 August, 9 September, 30 September and 7 October: Kitakami Yakyoku [ja] (Kitagami-Gawa-no Jojoh) - Hiroshi Wada & Mahina Stars [ja] (RCA), Dark Ducks [ja] (King), Tsuzuko Sugawara [ja], Joji Takagi [ja] (Polydor) and Trío Los Paraguayos (Philips)^[18][19]
• 14 October: Kutsukake Tokijirō [ja] - Yukio Hashi^[20]
• 21 October, 28 October, 4 November and 11 November: Suttobi Jingi [ja] - Yukio Hashi^[21]
• 18 November, 2 December, 9 December and 16 December: Hokkiko [ja] - Bonny Jacks [ja] (King), Hiroshi Wada & Mahina Stars [ja] (Victor) and The Four Lads (Toshiba)^[22][23]
• 23 December: Ueo Muite Arukoo - Kyu Sakamoto^[24]

International

The following reached number 1 according to the weekly international singles chart published in Cash Box:

• 17 June, 24 June and 1 July: Calendar Girl - Neil Sedaka (Victor), Kyu Sakamoto (Toshiba) and Mickey Curtis (Victor)^[25]
• 8 July: Surrender - Elvis Presley (Victor) and June Valli (Mercury)^[26]
• 15 July: Exodus - Mantovani (London), Pat Boone (Dot) and Ferrante & Teicher (United Artists)^[27]
• 22 July, 29 July, 5 August, 12 August, 19 August, 26 August, 9 September, 30 September and 7 October: Broken Promises (Italian: Promessi Falsi, Japanese: 黒い傷あとのブルース) - Henry de Paris (French: Henri de Pari, Japanese: アンリ・ド・パリ楽団) (Colpix), Terumi Nagashima (Japanese: 長嶋てるみ) (King), Yozo Higashiyama (Victor), Hiroshi Mizuhara (Toshiba), Akira Kobayashi (Columbia), Yūjirō Ishihara (Teichiku) and Eija Kitamura & his Quintet (King)^[28][29]
• 14 October, 21 October, 28 October, 4 November, 11 November, 18 November and 2 December: Sucu Sucu - Ping Ping (Kapp), Danny Iida & Paradise King [ja] (Toshiba), Hiroko Takegoshi [ja] (Victor), The Peanuts (King), Smiley Ohara with his Band [ja] (King) and Sachiko Nishida [ja]^[30]
• 9 December, 16 December and 23 December: Moliendo Café - Sachiko Nishida [ja] (Polydor), Hugo Blanco (Polydor) and Shoichiro Matsumiya (Japanese: 松宮庄一郎) (Toshiba)^[31]