"And Japanese singers who are trying to make ...

2009-11-20T06:26:41.458-08:00

"And Japanese singers who are trying to make it in the U.S. like Boa (who sings in her native Korean as well) and Utada aren’t allowed to sing in their native languages."

I don't know if that is an entirely correct statement for Utada. Isn't Utada Japanese American? The real tragedy is that people like BoA or Utada have fans in America, but they are either mostly either Asiaphiles or people of the Asian diaspora. That hardly counts for having crossover appeal. Or, as you pointed out, if the song had novelty appeal (perhaps used as a theme to a movie, often a movie that reinforces the foreignness of the culture in question: think "Slumdog Millionaire" and "Jai Ho")

I believe Jackie Chan said, in an interview, that he thinks it's deplorable that the East is so eager to take in Western pop culture, but the West doesn't return the favor.

Your observation certainly reflects my experience though. Language barriers don't bother me. I listen to English, Chinese, Japanese, and Thai music.

What an interesting post. That's such a keen cultu...

2009-04-17T08:24:00.000-07:00

What an interesting post. That's such a keen cultural observation that I never really thought about.

What's also amazing is that some huge Asian stars sing in the language of the country they are popular in, like BoA, she sings in Japanese too. But she is quite the Britney Spears of Asia and she sells everywhere.

Some Hong Kong singers have to learn how to tone down their Cantonese accents and mug Mandarin pronunications for their songs to be sold in Taiwan, Singapore, and China.

Comments on Chirashi: A Japan Culture Blog: No Language Barrier in Asian Pop

"And Japanese singers who are trying to make ...

What an interesting post. That's such a keen cultu...