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Japan's music industry is the second-largest in the world after America's, and increasingly its pop idols are looking overseas to enhance their status. Since interest is generally low in the U.S. and Europe, many have turned to Asian countries with underdeveloped local music industries and growing young populations--and are meeting with surprising success. "Asians like to have stars they can identify with, instead of always looking to the West," says Stuart Fraser, HMV's commercial director for Greater China and Southeast Asia. It used to be that, if a song reached the American Top 10, it was an automatic hit in Asia. But as Western artists began experimenting more and more with eclectic beats and alternative styles during the 1980s, Asian listeners felt left out. Bands like Pearl Jam and Hootie and the Blowfish just don't do it. "Japanese stars modify Western music to make it more suitable for Asian listeners," says Aki Tanaka, vice president of Sony Music Entertainment in Hong Kong. "They may use a trendy hip-hop beat, but the melody line is more conventional."
The largest Asian market for Japanese music now is Taiwan, followed by Hong Kong, Singapore and Malaysia. "Taiwan has historically been quite close to Japan, so it's natural that Japanese music is popular there," says Tanaka. In early April, six of the 10 top singles in Taiwan were by Japanese artists. Market research has even shown that although most younger Taiwanese cannot read Japanese, many regard owning karaoke videos with lyrics in Japanese script as a status symbol. Avex, Japan's largest independent label, has aggressively expanded in Taiwan and plans to create a wholly owned subsidiary on the island. Channel V, Star TV's music channel, has upped J-pop coverage this year on its northern beam, which spans the Greater China region.
There are limits to how deeply Japanese culture will ever penetrate the rest of Asia. Memories of wartime Japanese brutality still linger in many countries. And despite the country's economic importance to the rest of Asia, few schools in the region teach the Japanese language. But manga addicts don't seem to care: Taiwanese youngsters flock to 24-hour comic-book libraries that dot the island to page through the Japanese imports, some of which are not even translated into Mandarin. "Somehow they can grasp the meaning just from the pictures," says Harriet Sun, a Taipei mother of two grade-school manga aficionados. "Maybe they use their own imagination to fill in the blanks."
Taiwan lifted the last of its restrictions on Japanese cultural imports only in 1994, and in South Korea the debate over admitting Japanese films and music still rages, despite a promise by President Kim Dae Jung to open up to Japanese culture. The Korean government is now committed to a gradual liberalization process: so far only Japanese films that are "artistic"--those that have won prizes at international festivals--are permitted to be shown. And while Japanese jazz is popular, songs with Japanese lyrics are still banned.
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THIS WEEK'S TABLE OF CONTENTS
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Young Japan Home
The Me Generation:
The country's privileged youth are struggling to define what they want. Their efforts--both frivolous and fundamental--are already beginning to transform the culture
Day in the Life:
What a 17-year-old girl does--and buys
Culture Club:
Tokyo has taken over as the source of what's hip and happening for the rest of East Asia
Sound Factory:
An Okinawa school turns out stars
Talk Talk:
What teens are chatting about online
Not Playing Ball:
A fresh generation is starting to shake up the hidebound world of Japanese baseball
Outside the Box:
Breaking the education straitjacket
Viewpoint:
Actress Youki Kudoh says respect the old ways
Viewpoint:
Parents should examine their own ethics
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