Asian Studies: Popular Music in Japan - Essay Example

Asian Studies: Popular Music in Japan Name Course Institution Date Asian Studies: Popular Music in Japan Popular music is certainly a primary resource for leisure in the contemporary society. The sound of popular music permeates the lives of people in different ways. From live gigs and nightclubs, through televisions and cinemas, to what Hosokawa, a Japanese music theorist, refers to as autonomous and mobile from of listening facilitated through the invention of the personal stereo; for a great many people, popular music is an omnipresent aspect of their everyday existence (Hosokawa 2005). According to Hosokawa, (2005), “we absorb songs into our own lives and rhythms into our own bodies; they have a looseness of reference that makes them immediately accessible”. Japan like some other regions of the world has an evolving and robust music industry. Music is a fundamental aspect of any society or community because it acts as an avenue whereby the artist or people express their feelings or celebrate. More often than not, the content that is entailed in music bears a message that could be expression love, pain, purveying political message, making cultural stance among other probable messages. Popular music in Japan has responded over time to Japan’s relationship to the West, especially the United States, in the postwar period, steadily growing in independence from cultural and political hegemonic presence of America. Concurrently, the artists of popular music too grow in independence in relation to their role in the process of production as well. Various researches that have been conducted in the past show that Japan is a nation that constitutes the world’s largest market in terms of music consumption. Despite the recorded successes of various artists in Asia, a huge percentage of sales of Japanese popular music are made in the local market. In other words, popular music in Japan is still mainly consumed locally. Still, Japanese music recording companies, both solely owned and in partnership with international corporations, dominate the world popular music market. It is estimated that the value of total retail of music in this country is approximately 40.97 million dollars and it is mostly dominated by Japanese artists (Linhart, 1998). Japan Local music is often observed and heard in venues hosting karaoke that are leased by record labels. The Japanese traditional music to some extent varies from the western music in the sense that it is mostly punctuated with intervals of human breathing unlike the mathematical timing in western music. In Japan, with the advent of globalization, multiculturalism and advancement in technology there has been a vigorous emergence of popular music industry. According to Linhart (1998), “there is no other period that has experienced greater shifts in the technological means of producing and consuming music than the half-century after the Second World War” (Linhart, 1998). From the vinyl record to the cassette tape to the mini disc and compact disc and mp3, the production and consumption of popular music have been transformed through the advancements in musical technology, and no other market in the whole world demonstrates this more dramatically than Japan (Linhart, 1998). Technology is so important in production and consumption of popular music in Japan that it even constitutes one aspect of its current definition. According to Ugaya Hiromichi, a Japanese music analyst, one of the Japanese popular music’s defining marks is that it is digitized and the greatest growth period in the Japanese music business can be synchronized to the shift from analog to digital recording and playback (Ogawa, 1998). According to Stevens (2012), popular music is the kind of music that the lyricist as well as the composer is known. It is the type of music that is promulgated in most cases via platforms such as mass media that can deliver sound products. Like music in any other part of the world there are aspects that are particular as well as there are some that are non-particular to contemporary popular music in Japan. This specific and non specific aspects of Japan music emanates from the fact that there is deep rooted cultural and lingual tenets in Japan that bolster certain specific aspects whereas interactions and multiculturalism brings about non specifics. One of the aspects that are specific to Japanese music is the fact that most of the music is structured in Japanese lyrics. This is the case because the lingual influence in Japan is still strong and that for wider appeal the lyrics are composed in Japanese (Hosokawa, 2005). This to some extent is unique to Japanese music because those from other parts of the world are composed in English that are deemed as international language. The other specific aspect to this music is the huge degree of traditional music genres influence. The vocal styles, scales and melodies entail these influences and the effect is even evident in mainstream pop music (Hosokawa, 2005). This aspect is well illustrated by enka, which is the popular song genre in Japan, and it exhibit enormous influence of traditional music. The use of subtitles and lyrics illustration is another aspect that is much attributed to the Japanese music unlike those from other parts of the world. This style clearly indicates that Japanese artists value the wording and the lyrics of their music to the audience, which exhibit the idea of valuing message rather than just entertainment. There are also aspects that are non-particular to Japanese music industry such as the idea of cross promotion content application. This is the process of utilizing TV dramas and TV commercials as theme songs in marketing and other publicity goals. This idea of media mixing cut across most industries of the world and therefore it is not unique to Japan music production and consumption (Hosokawa, 2005). The other non-particular aspect is the idea that new songs in Japan are structured in a manner that imitates the models that are made in chart list in other parts of the world. The performance styles and thematic content of the Japanese music lyrics is majorly structured on the perspectives of the consumers or producers. The performance styles are different but the platform that has gained prominence over years is the karaoke. This style has become the major means of music reception in Japan and this cut across various age groups in this society. Karaoke also as the dominant performance style act as a way of making certain cultural expression that pertain the Japanese people (Hosokawa, 2005). To accentuate this performance style establishments that host karaoke such as bars have come up with electronic database that are central whereby customers can freely choose songs that they want from thousands that are posed. The pop composers and karaoke organizers have propagated the creation of songs that are simple and in which the amateurs can sing with ease. This will encourage new enthusiasts as well as push the sales volumes that bring forth revenue to the record labels and organizers as well as promote the music industry in Japan. The fan or artist connection in respect to Japanese music is immense because the platforms in which the music are performed is interactive for instance the karaoke. These styles built long-standing connection between the actual artists or the performers because the process is participatory and entertaining. This is not the case in most western music because the artist bears the ultimate responsibility to perform and for a minimal period of time depending on the pay in concerts and shows. In terms of music consumption, the appetite in Japan is more or less the same like any other parts of the world. Music is embraced for entertainment, education, consolation or communication and this structures the appeal of music in the Japanese society. According to Ogawa (1998), the research established that 94% of the students that are in primary listen to music through television sets (Ogawa, 1998). This is the prototype across other age groups and generation, which is a trend that is brought about the numerous musical shows and talks that are carried on the free-to-air television. The aspect of purchasing CDs and other popular music products is influenced by the economic and financial capabilities of the consumers. This is a reality in the Japan community in that people across various age groups have varying purchasing power and majority prefers to listen and watch on television. In Japan, there are numerous programs on media like television that are targeted on various age groups that are promoted by bands and young idols in Japan. Miki Imai’s songs are among the most common popular music in Japan. Imai’s songs are particularly popular among women of up to the age of thirty. That she is popular among young women is a remarkable, as her music is not particularly geared to them; Imai writes and sings in a more jazz-oriented “new wave” kind of style that typically appeals to more musically sophisticated adult audience. One of her hit songs is called “Boogie Woogie Lonesome High Heel” (Wade, 2005). The song is about a woman who decided to forget about all her troubles and just dance the night away. She spends the evening in a dance hall, exchanging jokes and bantering with men. The title of the song describes the feelings of the artist in a manner that neither Japanese nor standard English could describe alone: “Boogie Woogie” covers dancing, and appeals to the Japanese listener, as similar onomatopoetic expressions abound in the Japanese language. “Lonesome”, on the other hand, conveys the isolation mood of the artist; and “High Heel” alludes to the setting of the song, a time and location, that is, at night in a ballroom where formal dress is the form. The range of emotion and expression with which Imai puts her songs strikes a chord in the hearts of both young and old women in Japan, which accounts for the popularity of her pop music among different age groups. For instance, one of her songs titled “The Days I Spent with You” narrates how the winter constellations looked so different when she was with her lover. She and her lover had talked about their dreams and encouraged one another in every way, but one night, with their relationship unraveling, he simply said good-bye (Wade, 2005). In general, the popularity of Imai’s songs across different generations shows that young Japanese women will not buy something besides standard Japanese pop, and hints at a rising complexity in taste and sense of self on the part of female Japanese listeners as well as the artists. Imai’s song is depicts several distinguishing features of Japanese popular music even when it appears to be superficially indistinguishable from its Western counterparts. For a start, the performers are generally Japanese, the lyrics are written in Japanese, although phrases in English are used in some genres, and Japan is, for the most part, the only country where it is produced. This is a different situation from that of pop music in English or Spanish, for example, which is produced and consumed in numerous countries. In addition, there seems to be a high level of interest in Japan in knowing the exact lyrics of songs; for instance, televised performances of popular songs are commonly sub-titled in Japanese and commercial CDs almost without fail include the song lyrics. While it is natural that the viewer of a music show on television in the karaoke era may be very interested in learning the precise lyrics of a song they might wish to perform in future, the seemingly more generalized high level of concern with knowing the precise lyrics of a song may, in fact, go beyond karaoke and pre-date it (Ogawa, 1998). Generally, popular music has become the in thing in the music industry across the world though the span period that they become a hit is short. The young generation is the common group that has taken this genre to higher levels with some trying to fuse with the traditional tenets of culture and language. References: Hosokawa, Shuhei (2005) ‘Popular entertainment and the music industry’, in A Companion to the Anthropology of Japan, Jennifer Robertson (ed.), Oxford: Blackwell, pp. 297-313. Linhart, Sepp (1998) ‘Sakariba: Zone of “evaporation” between work and home,’ in J. Hendry (ed.), Interpreting Japanese Society: Anthropological Approaches (second edition), London: Routledge, pp. 231-242. Ogawa, Hiroshi (1998) ‘The effects of karaoke on music in Japan,’ in Mitsui, T. and S. Hosokawa (eds.), Karaoke Around the World: Global Technology, Local Singing, London: Routledge, pp. 45-54. Stevens, Caroline (2012) Japanese Popular Music: Culture, Authenticity and Power. New York: Routledge Wade, Bonnie C. (2005), Music in Japan: Experiencing Music, Expressing Culture, Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2005. Read More

Technology is so important in production and consumption of popular music in Japan that it even constitutes one aspect of its current definition. According to Ugaya Hiromichi, a Japanese music analyst, one of the Japanese popular music’s defining marks is that it is digitized and the greatest growth period in the Japanese music business can be synchronized to the shift from analog to digital recording and playback (Ogawa, 1998). According to Stevens (2012), popular music is the kind of music that the lyricist as well as the composer is known.

It is the type of music that is promulgated in most cases via platforms such as mass media that can deliver sound products. Like music in any other part of the world there are aspects that are particular as well as there are some that are non-particular to contemporary popular music in Japan. This specific and non specific aspects of Japan music emanates from the fact that there is deep rooted cultural and lingual tenets in Japan that bolster certain specific aspects whereas interactions and multiculturalism brings about non specifics.

One of the aspects that are specific to Japanese music is the fact that most of the music is structured in Japanese lyrics. This is the case because the lingual influence in Japan is still strong and that for wider appeal the lyrics are composed in Japanese (Hosokawa, 2005). This to some extent is unique to Japanese music because those from other parts of the world are composed in English that are deemed as international language. The other specific aspect to this music is the huge degree of traditional music genres influence.

The vocal styles, scales and melodies entail these influences and the effect is even evident in mainstream pop music (Hosokawa, 2005). This aspect is well illustrated by enka, which is the popular song genre in Japan, and it exhibit enormous influence of traditional music. The use of subtitles and lyrics illustration is another aspect that is much attributed to the Japanese music unlike those from other parts of the world. This style clearly indicates that Japanese artists value the wording and the lyrics of their music to the audience, which exhibit the idea of valuing message rather than just entertainment.

There are also aspects that are non-particular to Japanese music industry such as the idea of cross promotion content application. This is the process of utilizing TV dramas and TV commercials as theme songs in marketing and other publicity goals. This idea of media mixing cut across most industries of the world and therefore it is not unique to Japan music production and consumption (Hosokawa, 2005). The other non-particular aspect is the idea that new songs in Japan are structured in a manner that imitates the models that are made in chart list in other parts of the world.

The performance styles and thematic content of the Japanese music lyrics is majorly structured on the perspectives of the consumers or producers. The performance styles are different but the platform that has gained prominence over years is the karaoke. This style has become the major means of music reception in Japan and this cut across various age groups in this society. Karaoke also as the dominant performance style act as a way of making certain cultural expression that pertain the Japanese people (Hosokawa, 2005).

To accentuate this performance style establishments that host karaoke such as bars have come up with electronic database that are central whereby customers can freely choose songs that they want from thousands that are posed. The pop composers and karaoke organizers have propagated the creation of songs that are simple and in which the amateurs can sing with ease. This will encourage new enthusiasts as well as push the sales volumes that bring forth revenue to the record labels and organizers as well as promote the music industry in Japan.

The fan or artist connection in respect to Japanese music is immense because the platforms in which the music are performed is interactive for instance the karaoke.

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