Making headway through the mass of work . . .

Hmmmm . . not sure if I am improving at this whole essay bollocks or if they just expect less here and I'm getting used to that but I just churned out a 'report' entirely based on hearsay and options . . . It's pretty adhoc and I hate that you always need to make some sort of stupid and overstated conclusion. This is so Yr 10 High School.
I wonder what Shelley will think of my couple of hours work in comparison to her year's of toil on a similar topic?!
Sacrilege?

I'm too busy with work to get anything much written to figure I'd post thi sjust to prove it!
Despite the busyness one must make time to enjoy the culture - that's why I'm here - so I'm going out drinking at a Beer Garden on the top of the Asahi (brand of beer) building tonight and tomorrow I am heading to Miyajima for a festival - Camping in tents with Vickers and Alex - hope that our passports don't get eaten!


Karaoke Culture and Japanese Music Industry

A prevailing image of Japan as a country largely populated by hardworking, hard-drinking men in suits who make drunken fools of themselves as they slur into a microphone is an amusing stereotype that lingers on from the ‘modern culture’ rampage of the bubble economy in 1980s. As is the case with most stereotypes, examples can be found but the depth of the situation is much greater than this image acknowledges. Karaoke is a Japanese phenomenon that has found its way into Western culture to a certain degree but it remains on an entirely different level to its prominence in Japan, and other nearby Asian countries such as Korea and China whose youth have been greatly influence by the vogues of their affluent neighbour.
In Australia there was a brief fad for karaoke in bars where people could go to drink and sing a favourite song or two in front of friends and strangers. There are very few such bars in and the notion of a building filled with rooms set up for groups to come and sing karaoke is a great novelty. In my hometown of Adelaide there is one such karaoke centre in the nightlife precinct of the city centre and is generally frequented by a majority of young Asian students. Before coming to Japan I was aware that karaoke was an activity far more popular here than in Australia but I was surprised at in what a different way people consider karaoke. Karaoke is considered to be a normal choice in the list of potential activities for a day or not out with friends. Unlike Australia, in Japan the suggestion of going out to karaoke is as everyday and acceptable as one to go to shopping, to see a movie, or a cup of coffee or drink. Karaoke holds a place in the standard repertoire of pastimes and this seems unlikely to change soon.
In Japan karaoke is a pastime with few barriers. It’s not considered to be an activity only suitable for girls, groups of men also frequent karaoke centres. While not everyone likes karaoke, anyone can and is encouraged to participate regardless of skill and ability. In Japanese there is a word specifically used to refer to people who are not good at karaoke (音痴(おんち)) but this isn’t really considered to be a particularly derogatory term. Karaoke is seen as just another way of enjoying time and bonding with others and it’s not a forum where people are made to feel inadequate. In this it is a typical representative of the Japanese attitude of appreciating the efforts of all when they attempt something to the best of their ability whether or not they results are overly successful.
It also seems that karaoke’s popularity helps to support the national music industry. Globally the popularity of American produced music and cultural products is huge and Japan is no exception. However, Japan has the largest consumption of nationally produced music in Asia. In other words, the amount of music by Japanese artists being bought in Japan is far in excess of foreign music.
The entire music industry in Japan works in a way that slightly different to that in Australia or America. In these countries prefabricated groups such as the historically popular The Monkees, and The Spice Girls and other such bands have all had their reputation tainted to varying degrees when it came to light that the group was manufactured by a music production company in a style akin to a marketing exercise. In contrast, this is a well-established and openly acknowledged tradition in Japan, where attractive and keen youngsters are chosen for grooming by star-producing companies. These people are then trained to be an all-round perfect entertainment package of good looks, dancing and singing ability.
TV media are also heavily involved in this process with the majority of variety programmes from quiz, physical challenge and dare, dating to cooking shows largely involving Japanese celebrities, generally singers and actors, as participants. The TV media constantly promotes and parades Japanese music and musicians so that even those with little interest in popular music are aware of the latest hits. A particular highlight in the TV media for the music industry’s year is the annual 紅白歌(こうはくうた)合戦(がっせん) which is aired on December 31st and has traditionally been a popular aspect of New Year’s celebrations for all ages. This is a programme that presents well-known artists whose songs have been popular hits of the past year, divided into two teams (male and female), competing for a victory by popularity vote based on that night’s performance. On many karaoke machines there is an option which allows you to choose a 紅白scoring system for rating your own karaoke performance. The strength of the Japanese music industry helps to support the karaoke culture, which simultaneously continues to supply a constant demand of product from the music industry. While the style of much popular Japanese music has origins in the popular music of the West, in typical Japanese fashion these beginnings have been adapted in a uniquely Japanese way so that the national music industry has become yet another way for strengthening and development of Japanese culture and the nation’s identity. Karaoke is indeed an important cultural activity of the country that supports many larger cultural institutions of Japan.

(Did have a picture - go Google if you feel desperate!)
SMAP - An example of the Japanese music industry at work. SMAP are a group produced by the famous ‘Janni’s’ company. The members are all accomplished dancers and sing adequately, however their tours are always hugely popular and is it fair to say that every member can be seen on TV every day! They appear as the main characters in drama series’; in commercials advertising food products, horse racing, and laundry detergent; they host ‘this is your life’ TV shows about other celebrities; act as interviewers; host variety and music TV shows, and the band even have their TV show SMAP SMAP which features the 5 members in a cooking battle producing specialty dishes for guest celebrities and they perform their latest predestined hits.


You read this far ?!! Good for you! How dedicated!

THANKS to BEENZ, MIDGE and POOJ for two excellent parcels in the post!