New era for American-International Wota?

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Berryz Kobo, 2005: Time to keep the bias, censorship and petty, childish politics out of Japanese idol-music commentary.

As of this writing, American Wota’s revolutionary music site has been shut down for some kind of rebuild. To its credit, tandem metablog site International Wota remains alive and busy – but just what does Hawaii-based Ray Mascallado, founder and owner of these sites and pioneer in the area of Asian music critique, have in mind?

Of late, Americanwota.com had shown some decided bias in its normally thorough coverage of the Japanese idol universe. Somewhere, somehow, the site lost its way. Links that have been on that site for a long time have been removed. Infighting appears to have watered down much of what that site used to offer. Contributors have been unilaterally eliminated, methodically muzzled and a stagnant philosophy has replaced what used to be spontaneous creativity.

Yes, the excellent commentary continues full-blown on International Wota, and is actually better than it ever has been. The problem is that International Wota’s reviewers just ignore a vast body of J-music bloggers out there and there is no good reason for this. Part of the fun with American Wota and International Wota had always been crossing literary swords with the experts (and seeing the experts cross literary swords with each other).

But all that has stopped. AW and IW have been reduced to a clique, a narrow-minded gathering of self-indulgent, self-protective and fearful cowards – scared, it seems, of any view that shakes up their little universe. So be it. They will remain under a microscope and a spotlight, viewed and critiqued by a third party.

International Wota has also shown an intolerance for bloggers with opinions that vary from their own. It is a closed shop. Get out of line, and you get ignored and squeezed out. Well, if that’s the way it is, then there will be a price to be paid. This is America, folks, land of the free and home of the brave – not a land of decree and home of the slave.

As of today, the blogging combine of BIJP, Radreview and YankeeOtaku will still keep an eye on what AW and IW are up to (I’m no longer allowed to sign on to either AW or IW, and my blog links have been removed from both sites), and comment as appropriate. But the better part of BIJP, RR and YO will be devoted to promoting bloggers that AW and IW ignore or criticize.

There’s a lot more room in this world for freedom of expression. Since such freedom is no longer to be found on AW or IW, then the blogosphere might as well find another way. Cyberspace always does.

This is Rad signing off – for now.