Notes from the Underground
Why has Japan struggled to foster credible underground music scenes? Turning Japanese spoke to three people who are trying to rectify this, starting with indie label owner, Fumi Chikakoshi.
My name is Fumi, I was born and raised Kanazawa, where I have run my label, Rallye, for seven years. I deal mostly with western artists, like Au Revoir Simone and Whitest Boy Alive, but I have a few Japanese artists as well. I don't mean to release albums only by Western artists, but sadly I don't think there are any Japanese artists that are any good right now.
The lack of an independent/underground scene in Japan is mostly down to snooty attitudes among people who might be involved in potential scenes; they're more interested in trying to be cool than in doing anything original. Shibuya-kei was the last real movement, 15 years ago – but even this just came from fashion, there was nothing more substantial or political to it. Most bands don't express themselves beyond fashion – except a few big artists promoting environmentalism. This is partly because of the closed-minded nature of our country, something I wish would change.
In Japan, "punk" is not an attitude or a spirit, it is just a fashion. So Japanese people will think that the Sex Pistols and Avril Lavigne are the same thing, because they are associated with a trend. The British movie This Is England has just been released here, but young Japanense people in are more interested in the skinheads' wardrobes than in the historical background. They definitely enjoy it as a fashionable film, but won't consider its political content. They don't know what a skinhead really is.
Japanese people have a tendency to think that music is not "art", but "entertainment", something to be consumed.
We grow up with J-POP and this is what young bands aspire to: joining a major label and getting famous. I think the reason why Japanese artists haven't gained international success is because they don't have the ambition. Japanese indie bands influenced by western groups tend to sound exactly like the bands they are influenced by – so they don't appeal to an international audience because they don't have anything original to offer.
The other reason for a lack of underground scenes developing is that there are not enough environments to support them. Venue rental fees are costly, and bands have to pay to play: putting on gigs is expensive and not practical. The Japanese music media is terrible, too: all the articles in music magazines are about bands from rich major labels, who pay for all the advertising. In other words, if you have money, they will write positively about shitty bands. The music magazines these days are like catalogues for major labels – there is no such thing as a music critic.
I can agree with a lot of that. Mind you, they seem a bit more clearly articulated than you usually get in a Japanese interview. That does make me wonder whether Chikakoshi volunteered these observations himself or if the writer, Alex Hoban, "suggested" them to him and Chikakoshi just answered "So desu ne". I'm probably being unfair to both.
