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Tuesday, September 29, 2009
Turning Japanese: International pop wars
From Guardian UK
Turning Japanese: International pop wars
Thanks to the tension between the two countries, Japanese and Korean pop has developed in isolation. But all that is changing
J-poppers! Turning Japanese is sorry for having treated you for so long as little more than young, dumb starlets who squeal soppy, high-pitched sentiments over painfully crass Casio demo track ditties, designed solely to suck money from the pockets of teens too young to know any better. Little did we know that you pretty, pretty folks (and you really are all so very, very pretty) are at the frontline of a flourishing cultural exchange with your Korean K-pop counterparts.
Not that it's always been this way. Korean-Japanese relations have remained frayed since the second world war, as Japan has never officially apologised for its colonisation of the Korean peninsula between 1909 and 1945. As a form of cultural revitalisation after its liberation, Korea banned all cultural imports from Japan, and for decades the two countries' pop markets developed largely in isolation from one another, which created the roaring black market pop trade of illegal CD-Rs. (This is not, however, the only instance of people committing crimes for J-pop).
But in October 2004 the Korean government lifted the ban on Japanese cultural imports, and in the five years since, pop exchanges have flourished. When Japanese pop group Arashi turn up in Seoul for a press conference these days, 2,000 screaming fans are waiting for them at the airport. They can easily sell out week-long stints in arena-sized venues in Seoul, despite not speaking a word of Korean.
Even though Japanese labels don't tend to promote their bands as strongly in Korea, artists such as Gackt, Hyde, Namie Amuro, Hikaru Utada and Ayumi Hamasaki have developed considerable Korean followings simply from internet buzz. And the favour has been returned; Korean pop princess BoA took the Japanese pop charts by storm and is always popping up in Tokyo – her most recent appearance being at the MTV awards. The singer has enjoyed a success in Japan she failed to emulate when she had a pop at America. Meanwhile, Korean boyband shapeshifters TVXQ are effectively two bands … going by the moniker TVXQ in Korea and Tohoshinki in Japan, for whom they record special versions of their songs in Japanese.
Of course, back and forth through all of this, it's important to remember that by and large the music in question is absolutely dreadful. But if it's improving cultural relations and making the world a more peaceful, understanding place … who am I to begrudge that?
Labels: Coldplay, Gackt, Hyde, Japan, Oasis, Utada Hikaru
Tuesday, February 17, 2009
Songs in Study
陈奕迅《十年》
Labels: Coldplay, Eason Chen, Fish Leong, Gackt, misc, music
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