Make Believe Mailer Vol. 56: I'm Just Playing Games
Sorry for not sending anything last week, and for this one being a couple days late! Traveled to Seoul and had a really busy weekend, respectively.
Last week, I wrote a feature about Mariya Takeuchi for The Japan Times. This has pretty much been my focus for the last six months, and I'm really happy with how it came out. Of course, a lot of that comes down to how Takeuchi herself was an incredible person to talk to, one with all kinds of great stories and who was really curious learning about memes associated with "Plastic Love" (not included in feature: me trying to introduce vaporwave to one of Japan's most celebrated singer-songwriters).
The final story posted online ended up pretty long -- thank you, my patient editors -- but the original plan actually included even more. I reached out to a few artists who either covered or remixed Takeuchi's music in recent years as a way to show just how international her appeal has become. Since that couldn't make it in the final version, I've decided to share those quotes here!
TANUKI (electronic artist whose 2015 "BABYBABY NO YUME," a rework of Takeuchi's "Yume No Tsuzuki," was one of the first songs related to her to get attention in online communities, with help from an anime-featuring video)
"I first came across Mariya Takeuchi's music back in 2009 through Marty Friedman's Tokyo Jukebox album where he covered 'Eki'... the main melody just wouldn't leave my head after the first listen. This really made me want to jump into the deep end with 70s and 80s era J-pop as 'Eki' was unlike anything I'd heard before. The fact that after all these years, albums like Variety and REQUEST are still sparking interest around the world, and still sound extremely fresh, are a testament to the fact that Mariya Takeuchi is without a doubt one of the all-time greats of Japanese music."
Marty Friedman (former lead guitarist of Megadeth, but now Tokyo-based and a J-pop expert. One of his quotes appeared in the main story, but I also asked him about his cover of "Eki")
"When I choose songs to cover, the top priority is finding a song with a melody that I can really make sing on the guitar. A melody that I can put an insane arrangement under with lots of twists and turns and still not lose a bit of the beauty of the melody. 'Eki' was a no-brainer, as the melody lends itself to an infinite number of interpretations that I can make sexy on the guitar. The fact that people of all ages in Japan know the song was another deciding factor."
Night Tempo (Korean future funk producer whose remix of "Plastic Love" gained traction even before "Plastic Love" did. Also, as touched on in main story, part of the reason that Yubin's recent foray into City Pop was half-shelved...that's real internet!)
"Hmm.. just I'm her big fan from I was kid."
9m88 (Taiwanese artist doing all kinds of interesting work, and who also covered "Plastic Love" at the start of the year to 800,000-plus views)
"I heard "Plastic Love" 5 years ago from a DJ's mixtape. It was the time I still didn't know about the term City Pop. I got turned on by "Plastic Love" right away. It was something new to me. The arrangement is energetic, funky, and mixed up with the vibe of J-pop. Takeuchi's voice has this affirmative tone, at the same time, really charismatic. I was excited to hear something new. Last year, knowing that my 7-inch vinyl was going to release in Japan as well, I was encouraged to do a cover of a Japanese song. This song popped out from my head. I don't speak Japanese, so I researched and talked to my friends who speak the language. I was drawn into the lyrics. I always consider myself as a performer who tells mostly about love-hate issues and observations in city life in my songs. "Plastic Love" somehow resonates with me. Even though I haven't had a chance to meet Takeuchi in person, I feel she invites us to her world merely by listening to her singing. It's the magic the musician do to us."
Caitlin Myers (also known as mom0ki on YouTube, a singer and voice actor who recently did an English-language cover of "Plastic Love" currently holding over a million views. Unlike others on this list, she came to the song after it went viral, which makes for a nice change in perspective)
"From the moment 'Plastic Love' first appeared in my recommendations, I fell deeply in love with it. I was immediately searching for translations so I could understand every angle of the song. I could tell it was going to be a sad song, and (with my minimum knowledge of Japanese) I could already get the gist of it, even my first time listening. The beautiful thing about it, though, is even without any knowledge of the language, I still think the meaning would have gotten through. Ms. Takeuchi's stunning vocals along with the lovely composition create an unforgettable pair.
As a cover artist, I knew through the first chorus that I had to cover it. It spoke to me at such a deep and profound level and I wanted to share that feeling with my audience. The specific line that really captured my heart, for some reason, was '孤独な友だち' ('kodoku na tomodachi'). There was something so familiar about viewing material objects as the only things you have, as your friends. Honestly, hearing this line alone would have been enough to make me cover the song, just to be able to translate that single line and get that message across in my native language was something I was really drawn to do.
It was such an honor to get to write trans lyrics and sing to 'Plastic Love' and I honestly hope I was able to create something that Mariya Takeuchi would be able to approve of."
News And Views
Biggest story of the last two weeks -- Kohaku announcements! While the show's viewership continues to decline, actual excitement over who actually makes the roster remains high, and this year's batch sees a few notable new names, including Aimyon, Daoko, Suchmos and King & Prince among others. DA PUMP are back thanks to their Eurostep, while TWICE got on despite simmering tensions between Korea and Japan. The biggest snubs (or, uhhhh, maybe they turned them down) would be Kenshi Yonezu, who is easily the country's biggest star right now, and BTS, who were long speculated to make it on this year (they even got an NHK documentary made about them!) but did not, potentially because of....
So, BTS shirt-flap 2018! This was just boiling over last newsletter and only got more wild from there. A quick synopsis: netizens on both sides went in, Twitter turned into a historical lecture, some people really showed their warhawk side, something something Nazis, and BTS performed a couple shows at Tokyo Dome following an agency-issued apology. I also wrote about it, putting it in a larger pop history context and predicting that things would course-correct in due time. Naturally, the day that went up was also when Japanese netizens zeroed in on a member of TWICE for wearing a comfort woman shirt...and featuring a mushroom cloud outline in a video.
But here's the thing...nobody actually cared about any of this later stuff except the usual netizens who always throw a hissy fit over this. Because this tension is normal, and it takes something really out of the ordinary to get those waters raised. Plenty of people in Japan aren't thrilled about watching K-pop acts talk about comfort women or the Liancourt Rocks, but those aren't just music-related issues, they always hang around. You know what's not an everyday geopolitical stumbling block? A shirt featuring the atomic bombing of one of your cities, which was insanely gruesome and had all sorts of wild global implications. The lesson here isn't to avoid contentious issues when promoting somewhere, but to know where the line is. And I honestly think artists on all side now know firmly where it is.Speaking of BTS...when I went to Seoul, I took a taxi to get to my place and within five minutes the driver asked "Do you like K-pop? Do you know BTS?" I had gotten in the awkwardly named "foreigner only taxi," so maybe I should have expected that. But for the next hour, he played a loop of BTS clips of them performing on American late-night talk shows. What I want to know -- was this 50-something-year-old driver that proud of BTS, or is this the equivalent of a Japanese driver asking you about anime for 15 minutes?
Toshi of X JAPAN is a YouTuber, and he's making pancakes.
Ex-SMAP member Takuya Kimura -- Kimutaku -- has a daughter named Koki, and she won ELLE Japan's award for best newcomer in movies award. Congratulations! She has never appeared in a film.
YMO's 40th anniversary is here, and The Japan Times had a great look back on the group and an interview with Yukihiro Takahashi.
Ai Otsuka and RIP SLYME's SU -- who cheated on Ai Otsuka, his then-wife -- have now divorced.
Japan has a problem promoting Latin music...or even just Latin-sounding music!..within their borders. Following a year where "Despactio" had to be promoted via comedy boofs and Beverley, Cardi B's "I Like It" gets a chill-inducing anime-style music video. While it's important to get angry at weird cliche portrayals of Japan coming from outside, it is important to remember a ton of them also come from inside, in an effort to make Japanese people care about Cardi B.
Oricon Trail For The First Two Weeks Of November
Before the shirt issue took off, BTS' scored a top single with that release that was originally supposed to feature Yasushi Akimoto-penned lyrics, but which ended up being a trial run for...well, mid-November. The next week...Nogizaka46. The album side is just as predictable, with TWICE's YES or YES release going to one (the rare K-pop release where every single b-side...including the ballad!...easily tops the single. "Sunset" is PURE VIBES) followed by, uh, some anime thing I need to research. Maybe I should take more vacations from this section.
Perfume's GAME (33 1/3)
My entry in the 33 1/3 Japan series is out now! Get a copy at Bloomsbury or Amazon. Or at Kinokuniya bookstores in the US.
Look At Me!
You know what, I'm proud of it, clhttps://www.japantimes.co.jp/culture/2018/11/17/music/mariya-takeuchi-pop-genius-behind-2018s-surprise-online-smash-hit-japan/ick that Mariya Takeuchi feature one more time.
I also talked to Kyary Pamyu Pamyu, which was part looking at her new album (which is good, and probably the closest Yasutaka Nakata is going to get to re-creating High Collar Girl) and looking at the fact she's pretty much ignored in Japan right now...but still pretty much an avatar for all J-pop abroad.
I talked to the producer Moe Shop for Metropolis. This month was full of really great interviews!
Diving deep into Saitama for Pulse this week.
Blog highlights: Homecomings, Fuishoo, Daoko and Yasutaka Nakata