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- Convenors:
-
Michael Furmanovsky
(Ryukoku University)
Katherine Mezur (University of California Berkeley)
Annegret Bergmann (Freie Universität Berlin)
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- Chair:
-
Michael Furmanovsky
(Ryukoku University)
- Section:
- Performing Arts
- Sessions:
- Wednesday 25 August, -
Time zone: Europe/Brussels
Accepted papers
Session 1 Wednesday 25 August, 2021, -Paper short abstract
Most Western pop acts do not enjoy much success in Japan. Yet, many release special editions of their CDs in Japan and these releases have become highly collectable outside of Japan. Using cases from the 1980s and 1990s, this paper analyses the Japanese music market and the importance of nostalgia.
Paper long abstract
In 1995, Guy De Launey’s article ‘Not-so-big in Japan: Western pop music in the Japanese market’ was published. It sought to explain some of the reasons why the overwhelming majority of Western (by which that article implicitly and this paper more explicitly takes to mean those acts from North America, Europe and Australasia that release songs in the English language) do not enjoy great success – in terms of sales of CDs especially – in Japan. Although over 25 years have passed since the publication of De Launey’s article, there has been little, if any, additional academic study on this subject, with studies about pop music in Japan focussing on Japanese acts.
On the face of it, the reason why Western acts would want to crack the Japanese market is obvious – at the time (De Launey’s study and this one focus on the 1980s and early 1990s due to the focus on physical sales), it was the second largest market in the world. Yet, the data shows that other than some exceptions – primarily big stars from the USA – most acts did not manage to sell huge quantities of albums and the share of Western music continue to shrink during this period (to about 24% of total sales). So why was it that Western acts not only released albums in Japan, but many offered special versions of the CD or additional remix versions? What does this teach us about the nature of the music market and its fans in Japan? What was the relationship between the acts and Japan? How and why did some Japanese people follow certain Western acts? These are some of the questions that this paper addresses.
Additionally, this paper considers the reasons why the Japanese release of Western acts’ CDs have been collector’s items, looking at issues ranging from rarity through to the importance of nostalgia as these CDs continue to sell at prices many times higher than their original retail price.
This paper is significant as it addresses a gap in the literature about pop music in relation to Japan.
Paper short abstract
This paper examines nationalistic tendencies in the popular music genre nyū myūjikku. By focussing on the artistic output of singer-songwriter Sada Masashi (b. 1952) I will uncover strategies that were used to incorporate cultural policies into mainstream pop music from the 1970s to this day.
Paper long abstract
The now historic genre of nyū myūjikku (New Music) is often associated with urban aesthetics and a light, polished, international flair that is emanated by the classy easy-listening sound of singer-songwriter Matsutōya Yumi (b.1954) or the timeless and borderless rock music of the band Happī Endo. There is, however, another side to the genre that includes aspects such as the negotiation of Japanese-ness, an embrace of the imaginary of the nostalgic furusato (rustic hometown) and even straight-forward nationalism.
My paper examines this unexplored field within a music that in recent years has soared to new popularity amongst global netizens under the cosmopolitan label "City Pop". Hence, I will focus on the artistic output of singer-songwriter Sada Masashi (b.1952), whose works not only epitomise these other, frequently overlooked, aspects of nyū myūjikku, but make the lines of its evolution clearly visible.
Based on a qualitative content analysis of Sada's songs, I intend to point out the aesthetics of a branded nationalism that proved to be highly compatible with popular culture. In addition, I'm going to lay bare the social and political contexts - from the furusato-zukuri policy of the 1980s to the new cultural nationalism of the Abe era - under which they were formed, introduced to and institutionalised within the Japanese mainstream popular music.
Thus, I aim to paint a fuller picture of nyū myūjikku as a genre that reached beyond its quality as the soundtrack of the urbanised bubble-years for which it has been known to and valued by critics, scholars and audiences alike.