Good Morning Musume

Well, maybe my lament about there being no welcome mat for J-pop in the U.S. has been heard because Active Anime has just reported that the Morning Musume song, “3,2,1 Breakin’ Out!” will not only be the official theme song for LA’s 2009 Anime Expo, but this mega J-pop girl group will also be guests of honor and perform in concert there. I think it’s pretty unusual for a J-pop group of this magnitude to make an appearance in the U.S. and maybe it shows that the J-pop trend is finally spreading worldwide. The song was written especially for Anime Expo by Tsunku, the prolific songwriter and producer for Morning Musume and others. He has also made news recently by teaming up with Nintendo for the Rhythm Heaven video game.

Now Morning Musume may not be my favorite J-pop group, though I do remember thinking their crazed “Love Machine” song was pretty catchy (but what good J-pop song Isn’t catchy?). In the San Francisco Bay Area we don’t get any major J-pop artists to perform -- there’s just not enough audience for them, though we’ve had our share of medium-famous enka singers. Perhaps New York and LA have hosted a few, but it’s rare.

I’ve never been to a con, but maybe I’ll have to make it to LA this July to witness this historic event!