The Young People Don't Care... And That's a Good Thing.

The following is just my two cents. Take it or leave it... I've found out that what I think usually doesn't cause the world to turn upside down anyway. Don't send me your mails about "My father fought in...." My dad did too. Know what? I don't care. - Mike (young at heart)

You'll read the news and they'll constantly tell you about bad blood between Japan and her neighbors. Every time some dumb Japanese politician (all over 65-years-old) goes to Yasukuni Shrine, the shrine that supposedly glorifies Japan's past military aggression, the politicians in China and Korea (all over 65-years-old - excepting that lunatic who currently "runs" North Korea) all lose their incontinence and shat their adult diapers. They raise hell and scream about what the other lunatics who "run" Japan are doing and complain about "Japan's war-time militarism" and "past aggressions." (Note: I suspect that Japanese prime ministers visiting Yasukuni shrine while in office could be a sign of senility... We should look into that!)

The news services get into a big tiff and saber-rattling commences along with the typical lame excuses and press conferences....

It's a big deal to the (all over 65-years-old) crowd. But you know what? From my point of view, the vast majority of younger people don't care.

Anytime you see these anti-Japanese or anti-whatever demonstrations on TV, you'll see mostly old people and a few young lunatics in the crowd... Of course, the world has more than enough lunatics to go around for every country... Unfortunately. But you know what?

From my point of view, the vast majority of younger people don't care.

The vast majority of young people from China or Korea (that I've met) and ALL the younger Japanese people I know and live with simply don't care.

World War II was a different world to them. It has nothing to do with them at all. I think you'll be hard-pressed to find a Japanese under 50-years-old who was garreting Chinese civilians in Shanghai in 1942 or administering puncture wounds to Koreans about the same time.

Nope. I'd reckon you couldn't find a single one.

Just like you couldn't find a single former slave owner alive today in the Southern USA.

It's past history. The younger people just seem to not care. And it's a good thing.

I cannot give any data or statistics on how the young people think, especially in Japan, but I can give you anecdotal evidence.

Ever heard of a South Korean boys group named, "Big Bang"? No? Neither had I until my then 17-year-old daughter told me about them about a year or so ago.

Big Bang is massive in Japan; along with several other Korean pop-acts. 

Big Bang

Folks in the west have heard of Paul McCartney or the Rolling Stones. Yes. They played or are playing at Tokyo dome in recent days or early next year. Tokyo Dome holds about 55,000 people... Probably the only western acts that could sell the place out today is Paul McCartney returning to Japan for the first time in 11 years - Doing tons of Beatles songs, by the way - and the Rolling Stones, coming back to Japan for the first time in nearly ten years...

But, in Japan, neither Paul nor Mick Jagger can claim any bragging rights over Big Bang; especially when it comes to young people. The McCartney shows were filled with 55 to 70-year old people. The Stones will probably have the same. 

Big Bang? Three nights at Tokyo Dome sold out within the first 2 hours and packed with 150,000 screaming young girls and guys... And they did the same last year too!

I'm not too hip on today's top of the charts pop music, but I have asked many Japanese women ages between 17 and 35 and they all know who Big Bang is... The Beatles or the Stones? Not so much. Ask any Japanese under 25 if they've ever heard of the Beatles and they'll all say, "Yeah... I think so. But I don't know any of their music..." They don't... But I reckon there's not a single Japanese under 25 who hasn't heard of Big Bang.

It's simply amazing.

(Photo of Japanese teenager showing vicious anti-Korean hostility... Nah, this 18-year-old Japanese girl doesn't just love Big Bang, she worships them! 

To these fans, and many young people just like them, World War II was in a different age in a different universe; they simply don't care about it at all....

I asked my now 18-year-old daughter about Big Bang and she told me that "...all my friends love them! They sing in Japanese that isn't native speaker Japanese, but that's OK. It is what makes them 'cute.'"

I asked my 35-year-old radio station assistant about Big Bang and she told me, "They are huge! All my friends like them. You just cannot get tickets for their shows anywhere!" This is from a girl who works at a radio station, on the most popular show on that station; you'd think she could get tickets if she pulled some strings. No way.

Last night, I asked a 42-year-old woman who runs a restaurant in my neighborhood about Big Bang. Of course she knew who they were. She went on to tell me that several of her close friends are "Big Bang crazy."

Like I said, none of these people were bayoneting people in South East Asia about 70 years ago. They don't care. It has nothing to do with them... Just like neither you nor I owned any slaves on southern cotton plantations.

Another world. Different countries in a different universe at a different time. It has nothing to do with them and their lives. It's other people's baggage. It seems the younger people don't want to carry it... Hell, I don't either.

These are real people who I live and interact with. The clowns in the Japanese government who have never had a real job, who steal our tax monies to line the pockets of their well-connected friends, and hire their friends for cushy government jobs are the ones who care about shit that happened 70 years ago...

It is all a part of these oldsters world and part and parcel of their jobs to maintain controversy so that they can justify spending our taxes on insane nonsense and keeping their friends happy...

Thank god for people like the members of Big Bang. They don't seem to care either about World War II, nor do they seem to care about what (over 65-year-old) politicians do. They care about now and their lives and their fans.

Check this. This video is nearing 100 million views on Youtube. Big Bang has many videos (even singing in Japanese too! - a language that is banned by the government in Korea (who are all people over 65-years-old, by the way...)

Here they are at Tokyo Dome for the final of their 2012 Japan tour shows. Laugh all you want, these guys are the real thing.... (Think about it: 2013 tour? $110 a ticket multiplied by 165,000 people... That's about $18.1 million dollars - give or take a few yen!) 

And REALLY thank god that these young people and their fans will someday soon be in their 60s... Maybe then, we can put this WWII friction to rest... 

Why not? World War II is ancient history, it has nothing to do with today's young people. They don't care. And I think that's a good thing.

(This article inspired by my good friend Andrew Sirkis living in northern Japan)

Lady Gaga, Coldplay and Other Western Artists are Minor in Japan

This column is about Japanese Rock stars versus Western Rock Stars in Japan. It was inspired by my friends Allison Sane and JP Valentine. The premise is that, in spite of the hype and hoopla in the western press, USA and UK artists have seriously fallen out of their position of "Most Favored" in Japan (and China and elsewhere in Asia). That's what this post is about.

Allison had asked me if Eric Burdon was "big" in Japan. I replied that he was in the sixties, but not now. That's not to say that Eric Burdon doesn't have fans in Japan, he does. But, over these last fifteen years, whether it's Eric Burdon or not, (or any other modern western pop star) sales of albums from US and UK artists, and in turn their popularity, have dropped off a cliff. Western artists are just not the draw or as popular as they were a few decades ago. 

Eric Burdon today might be able to do some shows in Tokyo but drawing more than a few hundred people is highly questionable. Expensive dinner show is more practical and profitable for this type of artist in Japan.

The biggest (and worse sounding) venue in Japan is the Tokyo Dome. Performing there is considered the pinnacle of success for an artist. I hate concerts at the Tokyo Dome. The sound is terrible (like all large venues). The dome roof is kept up like a big balloon so the sound reverberates around the dome and it sounds like you are listening to a concert inside of a canyon. Heck, you are. The place holds 55,000 people.

The last big western artist who could come to Japan and quickly sell out a few nights at Tokyo Dome was Michael Jackson at the height of his popularity in the early nineties. Madonna has played there. The Backstreet Boys have. I saw David Bowie with Adrian Belew in 1990 at the Tokyo Dome. David Bowie was the last time I went there to see a concert that I actually wanted to go to. I had tickets in the eighth row right in front of the stage and Bowie was 20 yards in front of me. He could have been a mile away. The echo was so bad it sounded like he was singing inside of an airplane hanger.

But that was a long time ago. Very few western artists can come to Japan anymore and sell out the dome even for one night. Most today don't even try. Coldplay certainly couldn't do it. They played at Saitama arena last time which holds 37,000 maximum. The Tokyo Dome is just out of reach for western artists today. 

In fact, I don't think there are any bands in the entire world (excepting, perhaps a Rolling Stones reunion) that could sell out a few days at Tokyo Dome these days. Aerosmith is playing there next week, for one night, but they are having a hard time selling tickets and will be lucky to sell out the arena seats on the first floor.

Their popularity isn't what it used to be so I imagine they don't ask for green M&M's anymore. But, I also imagine that Aerosmith insists upon playing there because Steven Tyler is so insecure that he needs to say "We're playing the dome" because perhaps he's afraid of meeting Nigel Tufnel in the lobby.

Really good Japanese rock bands don't become famous in this country. 

(Pictured, The Neatbeats - Japan's Beatles) 

As an aside, I once interviewed Aerosmith and I said to Steven Tyler, "I go back with you guys since high school. I have all your records. My question is which one of you guys was wearing the makeup as the cat? Which one of you had the star on your eye and which one had the long tongue?"

Tyler got pissed off for a second but Joe Perry and the other guys laughed. It think it was the first time in history that a TV interviewer got Aerosmith to sing the Kiss song, "Rock and Roll all Night" on national TV. 

Later I overheard Perry tell his manager, "Now THAT'S the kind of interview we want to do in Japan!" I'm sure he said that because Japanese interviewers always ask dumb questions about what is their favorite food or color.

But I digress....

I'm sure they'll be giving away lots of Aerosmith tickets to industry related people just to try to fill the place. (Edit: As suspected. The Aerosmith was sold only the arena seats. The other half of the seats were empty. That's a disaster!})

Big Bang at Tokyo Dome.  This band sold out three days straight at the Dome in under thirty minutes.

But when it comes to Japanese (or Korean) artists, playing in Japan, it's a completely different story. You might think that major Japanese and Korean pop artists all suck and I might well agree. But I will add that they suck no more or less than most big western (especially Top 40) artists! But no one can sneeze at these bands that can sell out an entire week at the Tokyo Dome. And the list of bands that do is long.

Just a few weeks ago, I went to see Complex who sold out two nights in a row at Tokyo Dome. Complex is Hotei Tomoyasu and Koji Kikkawa. They sold out two nights a short while back and donated all the money to charity! So laugh all you want. These guys are not a joke.

Do the math. Let's see: ¥9,800 a ticket times 54,000 people equals: ¥529,200,000. This amount of yen at today dollar rate (¥76.91 yen to $1 USD) equals: $6,880,769.00. Now take that times two and you have over $13 million dollars for two nights performance. (Please someone double check this math. I've done it over and over and still come up the same. It's astounding to me this number... But Muhammed Ali got $5 million dollars for a 45 minute fight with Joe Frazier in 1975, so I guess this is correct. If I am wrong, please comment!)

Complex at Tokyo Dome - Total David Bowie ripoff? yes. But the fans don't care. And David Bowie doesn't sing in Japanese.

Now imagine a bunch of other Japanese artists who can do this for an entire week straight! The top bands in the west? Nope. One night, maybe. Like I said, there's not a western artist in the world today who could do that excepting a Rolling Stones reunion, maybe. They might be able to pull off two nights, but not three.

For many years, Japan and Japanese rock stars have had an inferiority complex towards western artists as they deservably should have. But nowadays, things have changed in Japan. And, when they can make this kind of money playing in Japan - and never make near that amount in the west - all the while western artists come here to make big money - why bother going to play in the USA?

Sure, the big name artists still dream of becoming big in the west too, but the west doesn't hold the allure it once did for people. And that's not just people in Japan, but, I think for people all over the world.

Sure, some dream of Hollywood and New York, but when it comes to the big name Japanese artists (who don't sing in English anyway) it's no longer practical to even consider trying to break into the USA market... Most certainly isn't profitable.

These big name Japanese artists can stay at home, in their comfy chairs, and copy the western artists that they are inspired by and make those musicians' music their own. 

The domestic audience doesn't know the difference.

Glay at Tokyo Dome 2005. Massive in Japan. They suck, but were fans of my radio show, so that's OK.... But they still suck.

NOTE: It might sound like I am dissing these Japanese artists or even Aerosmith, but I am not. When anyone can sell their music and become professionals, regardless of how crappy I might think their music is, that is to be respected. After all, who cares what I think and isn't everyone a music critic?

Playing music and actually getting paid to do so is great. Getting paid very well to do so is the dream of a lifetime.