Make Believe Mailer Vol. 2: Japan Sells...But Who's Buying?
This intro comes to you a few minutes away from this weekend's Moshi Moshi Nippon Festival, the "ultimate Japanese pop culture matsuri." It more or less functions as a giant expo for all things Japan, promoted primarily as a music festival headlined by the likes of Kyary Pamyu Pamyu, Dempagumi.inc and Capsule, but featuring booths repping all sorts of sectors. The first year this event was held, it found itself in a little bit of simmering water for its "foreigners get in free promotion!," but that's mostly vanished, possibly because they switched to the more welcoming "non-Japanese passport holder."
(Or maybe ex-pats realized crying racism against something that would save them almost a $200 entry fee wasn't a hot look.)
The Moshi Moshi Nippon Festival...formerly devoted to showcasing Harajuku cuteness, but now expanding its cultural net to bring in anime, idols and, uh, meat...seems like a good marketing move. Sure...but I'm not really sure for who. The show-us-your-passport-get-in-free deal clearly eyes tourists, but the sort of person to head out to this probably already has some sort of appreciation for Japanese pop culture. My gut tells me that, like half the projects floating in the orbit of government gas giant Cool Japan, it's more about showing Japanese people how awesome Japan is, a shot of confidence administered as the country's soft power keeps deflating. To the organizer's credit, they put on similar gatherings abroad, but it seems like the most effort goes into the one place on Earth where Japanese pop culture doesn't need any more boosting.
But hey, I get in for free, why am I complaining?
Japanese Music Highlights From The Past Week
- This week in women rapping, we got to see two sides of the burgeoning trend. Itadaqi (formerly Canopies And Drapes) teamed up with Tomobitch for the playful, food-centric "Caramel Banana Combination." On the other end of the emotional spectrum, Izumi Makura shared her melancholy new single "P.S."
- Quarta 330 released a wonderfully laid-back EP through Sabaacn Records. Great for trying to adjust to mornings. One other EP highlight comes courtesy of mus.hiba, a rare artist using Vocaloid in an experimental way.
- In September, I indulged my nostalgia for three years ago while reviewing the latest Moscow Club album. Well, the glory days of 2012 keep on coming back, as the band Super VHS emerged from some time away to share new song "Conservative." New album out in December.
- Kindan No Tasuketsu shared "Kiss," featuring a member of idol group You'll Melt More! That unit also has a new one out, produced by one of the former members of Supercar, who you should probably just listen to instead.
- Robots will inevitably take all our jobs, but now they are gunning for our musicians too.
The future is now
News And Views
Nikkei Entertainment shared their power rankings of bands pulling in the biggest live audiences, and the results are stunningly predictable. Of course, a good rule of thumb is to approach all rankings in the Japanese music industry with a healthy distrust.
LINE Music teamed up with British company Omnifone, a cloud-based service with access to a bunch of music.
When I moved to a new apartment two years ago, I threw away my record player because...well, it was broken, that was really the main reason, I can't even make a stand against the vinyl resurgence. But it's going strong, and Perfume's first four albums (a.k.a. non-Universal) will be released on vinyl next year. Before you pre-order that set, though, save some cash for the Number Girl reissues coming out on Christmas.
Speaking of old media, the BBC dusted off a classic Japan article trope by wondering...what's the deal with old technology? There's seriously a fucking "faxes...remember those?" joke here. Anyway, the existence of this article prompted some to make weird assumptions about the role of the cassette tape in Japan, which I've never actually seen on sale at a "corner store" but whatever.
Meanwhile, 3/4ths of Asian Kung-Fu Generation lost their jobs to a robot.
Oricon Trail For The Week Of Oct. 26 - Nov. 1
Every week, I'll share the top-charting single from the Oricon Charts, a deeply flawed ranking system that favors groups who get fans to buy multiple copies of the same song, offering a warped view of what anyone actually listens to.
#1 Nogizaka46 "Ima, Hanashitai Dareka Ga Iru" (626, 905 Copies Sold)
Big week for AKB48's officially sanctioned rivals Nogizaka46. Their newest single debuted as their highest-selling in terms of first week sales, an impressive stat for a group that was already among the country's top acts (and they only needed five editions of it to hit that milestone). The song itself avoids typical idol pep in favor of a more subdued, wind-swept sound that's probably one of the better songs they've been involved with in recent memory.
Also in the news, Nogizaka46's still-pupating sister group Keyakizaka46 got their very first scandal! One 17-year-old member of the unit was found to...be dating someone described online as her former teacher. I'd share the photo-booth photos here, but I don't want to sully this beautiful TInyLetter, so be creeped out over at Arama.
Look At Me!
Talked to Kyoto's Turntable Films about their new album Small Town Talk for The Japan Times.
I'm not a big personal-essay person, partially because my life is not captivating material, and partially because the one unique aspect I have going for me (living in Japan) has been blogged to death by expats with Wordpress accounts. So the closest you might ever see me is in this review of the new Perfume documentary, which Australian outlet the AU Review asked me to write. Savor this tiny insight into me.
I'm a travel writer now, so if you need to spend 24 hours in Tokyo or look at autumn leaves, I'm your dude.
Bonus Song From 2015 That Is Very Good Despite Coming From A Group I Don't Like
GENERATIONS from EXILE TRIBE's "All For You" -- I keep waiting for the big, peppy chorus to ruin this but it thankfully doesn't come.
Next Time: How to make a hip J-Pop artist. Tell your friends to get in on this newsletter!
Written by Patrick St. Michel (patrickstmichel@gmail.com)
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