Make Believe Bonus: Snow Miku Sky Town At New Chitose Airport
No one is building any museums to Noonoouri!
Like clockwork, everyone’s having to confront “virtual singers” again. While not generating as molten-hot a reaction as the likes of Lil Miquela or FN Meka, news of German virtual artist Noonoouri signing a deal with Warner Music Central Europe stirred some buzz and plenty of blowback on social media. You’ve got your vacant tech-centered wonderings if this is the future of music, deep dives and then no shortage of Twitter broadsides against Noonoouri…with one other character coming up a lot in these counter arguments. But hold on to that. For now, take in her debut single “Dominoes.”
Definitely recommend spending time in the comments for this one
According to the Music Ally news story on her signing, Warner Music Central Europe wants to emphasize how actually real this unreal creation is. “She’s not AI generated, though AI assisted tech was used to help create her singing voice,” a rep having to justify all of this told the publication. “Talented songwriters and musicians wrote and recorded her debut track ‘Dominoes,’ and we can’t wait for fans to discover it.” That’s a fresher wrinkle, albeit one not to elevate this above the Bored Apes or K-pop groups that have come before them in the last three years. None of these efforts have yet to make a true impact, offering just speculation turned Silicon-Valley-lite excitement that soon curdles into scorn. Then…it repeats.
What’s most telling about the music industry’s rush to create a virtual superstar is that lack of anything lasting. These projects emerge, but leave little behind some YouTube uploads, goofy Instagram pages and meme-riddled comments sections hijacked by critics. Nearly nothing tangible remains.
That especially has lingered in my mind in the months after I visited an airport housing a museum devoted to a digital avatar with one of the greater legacies so far in the 21st century.
New Chitose Airport doesn’t need Snow Miku Sky Town to be a destination that, multiple times, I’ve considered flying to for the day just to soak in the terminal. Located about 30 minutes by train from Sapporo, it’s easily the best airport in Japan. That’s owing in part to an overall sleekness in the design, but mostly it stems from how the building celebrates the surrounding region. It’s almost a Hokkaido theme park in the heart of Hokkaido, with every regional dish represented (an ENTIRE Hokkaido ramen street tucked away in one corner) along with a seemingly endless supply of souvenirs, local business representation and a whole-ass onsen on the top floor.
Fittingly, New Chitose would make space for a hometown hero. While held up as a digital popstar and virtual avatar, Hatsune Miku’s origin story is tied to a very specific place — Sapporo, home of Crypton Future Media, a company proud of what it has accomplished in the northern-most prefecture of the archipelago. Even as she grew into a national sensation and then a global force, Crypton made sure her roots were represented, specifically with the “Snow Miku” annual event, allowing the character to rep her home region.
That’s the thematic core for this Vocaloid-centric corner located on the fourth floor of the airport, a spot I always make sure to stop by when arriving far-too-early for a flight back to Tokyo. The majority of it isn’t anything too special, and more like bait for people in deep to this artistic subculture. There’s a gift shop selling Snow Miku goods, and a cafe space. There’s also a 360-degree theater showing a special Miku musical performance…alongside various programs offering panoramic views of everything Hokkaido has to offer, from the comfort of a novelty cinema inside a transportation hub.
All of that’s fun and fine, but not much different from the Royce Chocolate hall of sweets or the Doraemon play-a-palooza an escalator ride away. What makes Snow Miku Sky Town worth a stop is the museum.
While small — you could, and some would say should, build a larger facility devoted to Vocaloid history somewhere — the Snow Miku Sky Town museum offers a compact history of not just Hatsune Miku, but the software she represents. You can learn about the evolution of Crypton’s Piapro Character series, see original packages of the singing-synthesizer software she and other Crypton characters act as avatars for, and learn about historic moments in her career (mostly live shows). There’s a wide variety of goods on display reflecting the early days of Miku mania, with space set aside to also celebrate the character’s local ties and efforts in her home region.
What’s most striking about it all is how physical it all is. For her status as a “hologram” who isn’t real, Miku has inspired a lot of tangible goods, whether they be behind glass at New Chitose or sitting out in the gift shop a few steps away. The very existence of this museum speaks to a greater impact she has had, one few other virtual singers have managed (Gorillaz have museum exhibits, and I’m sure Alvin And The Chipmunks were given their due at some point), while the connection to the area around her gives Miku a depth no Web 3.0 creation has. Sure, she’s a digital character…but one with a real connection.
2016 “Hokkaido Catchphrase Song And Image,” Starring Snow Miku
Hatsune Miku could have only enjoyed the success and influence she has accrued because she debuted in the late Aughts. The internet of 2007 was still years away from simply becoming a mainstream you needed wi-fi to access. It was still a bunch of holes for doofuses to hide away in, like those little burrows catfish make in rivers you have to stick your hand into to pull them out. She could be whatever fans wanted her to be, and from the start Crypton wasn’t envisioning some massive hit product. She had time and space to develop a real community away from the zeitgeist.
I don’t think Hatsune Miku could have happened in the social media age we find ourselves in today, with the best example being how far short this new generation of “virtual singers” falls to anything resembling her success. The Noonoouri’s of the world are envisioned first as influencers — not the sort of “plays video games and jokes around with you but can also sing” influencer1, but rather the “rich person doing rich things” influencer. They’ve been created for brand partnerships, with art just being a convenient way to present them. If they are avatars for anything, it’s for living with Instagram.
While Hatsune Miku has found herself with plenty of commercial tie-ups over the years, they reflect the level of interest in her rather than any #goals other contemporary virtual acts have. She’s closer to a Hello Kitty or Pikachu, designed to sell a specific product (stationary, video games, software) but transforming into something so much more and becoming an actual not-real star.
That’s because people have a genuine connection with her, whereas someone like Noonoouri is a Twitter ad first, wowing or repulsing via her concept and kicking off “discourse,” because everybody has too much time on their hands2. Miku became what she has because of the community that sprung up around her. The new era of virtual artists exist because of PR and tech, in search of anyone to care.
The company’s behind them are starting to clue in to this. AI and “metaverse pop star” used to be hooks, but now they are presented as full disclosures. Noonoouri’s human elements are emphasized. Her hair is in the same spectrum as Miku, which seems really on purpose (she wasn’t the first). But they are still a long way to actually finding what it is that makes a person connect with a star digital or not…and lightyears away from their own airport exhibit in Germany.
One of the nicest touches at Snow Miku Sky Town comes at the very end. A big whiteboard has been set up, with markers around it. Anyone can leave a message. Every time I’ve stopped by, it’s completely full of drawings of Miku and messages to her, from very real fans.
Written by Patrick St. Michel (patrickstmichel@gmail.com)
Twitter — @mbmelodies
Follow the Best of 2023 Spotify Playlist Here!
This is what Virtual YouTubers do, which is why they are the actual corner of this world that writers should be spending more time with.
Hey, I’m writing a newsletter about it, count me in.