AW, IW, J-pop and a clash of cultures

Latest blog ratings are on YankeeOtaku

Just dealing with the blur of what Morning Musume, Berryz Kobo and °C-ute are up to is enough to confuse even the most experienced blogger or writer.

Note: This is in response to yet another profound post on American Wota dealing with the current state of Japanese pop-culture writing and blogging:

Personally, I know I haven't visited American Wota / International Wota as often as I used to because the topics of discussion have drifted into areas to which I am clueless (i.e. Japanese TV, doramas and fiction). Not that I'm against these genres, I just have zero access.

Japanese TV has firewalled itself from the West; no satellite cable, no pay-per-view, nothing. TV Tokyo is the worst, summarily browbeating any site that carries any second-hand clips.

Next in line is Sony Music, which through its subsidiaries, severely restricts high-quality Japanese music acts in the US. Sony, a global corporation, does not want to comingle its fan base between its Japanese and American talent. It's OK for, say, Michael Jackson to invade the Far East markets, but not for Hello Project to have any meaningful market presence in the US. Why? Who knows?

Incredibly sizzling performances, such as this effort by Morning Musume in January 2008, will likely never be allowed off the shores of Japan.

So, therefore, I'm always hunting in earnest for reliable Hello Project-based sites and blogs. As AW and IW branch off into ancillary subject areas, I'm less inclined to be a regular visitor. The J-pop business, especially the tiny sliver called Hello Project, presents a vast universe of material that is overwhelming to me by itself. Morning Musume, Berryz Kobo, °C-ute, Melon Kinenbi, Buono!, High-King, Happy! Style ... you name it, it's there, and very complicated in and of itself.

Then, I've looked into other J-rock bands and discovered another massive pool of extraordinary talent and limitless material: Ketchup Mania, SCANDAL, Detroit7, Emeralds, King Brothers ... it's enough to make one's head spin.

This is a far cry from the humble beginning in 2001 when I first heard of Puffy AmiYumi.

Bloggers are a big reason why so many fans around the world are even able to enjoy the miraculous sound, motion and color of Japanese idol music – even if many don’t admit they are writers.

In short, I'm getting left behind at AW and IW through nobody's fault except except possibly my own. As for a book on Japanese pop music, that is a superb idea, but it might comprise several volumes and take years to put together -- only to be rendered obsolete and outdated before it's printed and distributed. Plus, one of the best e-books in Japanese idol music history already exists here in Cult of Pop, etc. It’s fascinating thumbing through these older posts, and I hope they stay in cyberspace forever.

Bloggers vs. writers? Hmm. As one who writes for a living (it is the only job I have right now), I choose not to make any distinction between blogging and writing. It's all good. Any time any human being places thoughts into print, it's a great thing, and I don't care what's being discussed. It's a miracle of communication that, when injected into the Internet, remains part of the global consciousness forever.

In summary, this whole concept brought up in this post is just too big a story for me to grasp. I'm just going to continue to blog and write as long as I can. Someday I will understand.

This is Radicalipton signing off – for now.