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PR: Japanese Government Establishes “Creative Industries Internationalization Committee” to Strength

As you see, Thriller has sold a lot around the world, but has the US market been undermined? No. Seriously, back yourself up man

The thing is... why does it matter if they attract people overseas? The Japanese music market is very healthy and you have some of the most loyal fans out there in the otaku (some people will buy 100 CDs of their favorite AKB girl just to help them in the elections!). Abandoning that fanbase just to appeal worldwide is really risky and not really worth doing in my opinion.

The thing with Japan is that its tastes and what it enjoys is pretty different from the rest of the world... Why bother trying to appeal internationally if you lose your home audience? The home audience will always be the most important.

What does that have to do with what I said at all? American culture is loved and embraced around the world since its pretty much easy for anyone to get into. Yet Japanese culture is quite different and its hard to try to appeal worldwide while still staying Japanese enough to keep the fans there interested. Its a different type of deal.

Unless you're just trying to tell me that Japan should change what they like just to appeal to the rest of the world, and thats pretty egotistical.

if you're going to try to appeal internationally, you'll often do so at the expense of your own fans at home. Its similar to the video game industry that way... they can try to make shooters and other Western oriented games, but Japanese don't buy them at all.

@mdo7
I believe Puffy Ami-Yumi did a gig here at the Odeon in Hammersmith, West London a few years ago.

Because K-pop is gaining more fans then J-pop and I'm seeing more K-pop concerts then J-pop concerts (I don't count anime con), aren't you concerned that Girls Generation and Super Junior will only be remembered around the world while AKB48 is only going to be remembered in Japan and not around the world. I mean aren't you jealous that K-pop group and artists are getting more fame and western attention then J-pop artists. Don't you want your J-pop group/artists getting the same level of fame and western attention like K-pop is getting?

Uh, Call of Duty, Battlefield 3, L.A Noire, GTA, and Uncharted 3 sales in Japan would like to talk to you about that. Also western games are also selling very well in Japan. So that's starting to change a bit in Japanese gaming market.

I don't think Michael Jackson changed his style every time he toured a different country and to my knowledge his music videos are more or less the same in every country. Michael Jackson was already a big star before Thriller and American artists are generally better acknowledged in international media.

mdo7 wrote:

Uh, Call of Duty, Battlefield 3, L.A Noire, GTA, and Uncharted 3 sales in Japan would like to talk to you about that. Also western games are also selling very well in Japan. So that's starting to change a bit in Japanese gaming market.

http://www.vgchartz.com/game/49054/uncharted-3-drakes-deception/
http://www.vgchartz.com/game/40230/battlefield-3/
http://www.vgchartz.com/game/33961/la-noire/
http://www.vgchartz.com/game/44605/call-of-duty-modern-warfare-3/

Yeah, look at those huge sales. And only reason CoD did moderately well was because Square published it and gave it a pretty big marketing campaign.

The main reason the consoles are dying in Japan vs handhelds is because they're full of little else but niche Western titles

mdo7 wrote:

Because K-pop is gaining more fans then J-pop and I'm seeing more K-pop concerts then J-pop concerts (I don't count anime con), aren't you concerned that Girls Generation and Super Junior will only be remembered around the world while AKB48 is only going to be remembered in Japan and not around the world. I mean aren't you jealous that K-pop group and artists are getting more fame and western attention then J-pop artists. Don't you want your J-pop group/artists getting the same level of fame and western attention like K-pop is getting?

No, why would I be? If all I cared what is what was popular, I wouldn't be an anime fan. I enjoy what I enjoy and couldn't care less if others liked it.

So you don't want AKB48, EXILE, and other J-pop artists to get the same level of fame and western attention like K-pop artists even though they have potential to compete with K-pop artists on a international scale. You don't want Japan to have it's own "hallyu"/Japanese wave like Korea did? Wow, you're really are not caring about Japan losing it's status as cultural superpower when South Korea have that status.

Here's my 2 cents.

My impression is that most K-pop emulates western styles, tastes, sensibilities. So too does J-pop, but yet there is still a significant portion that is distinctly Japanese, sort of like how enka is Japan's version of sentimental ballad. For example, the non-musical portions with the idol and gravure culture e.g. photo spreads in shounen mags, and kawaii factor. Dances are also different. Not sure how well those distinguishing factors will fly in some countries.

I don't care about your evidence, because you just want to make western games in Japan look bad although they had strong sales when they first came out. Of course sales would go down weeks by weeks, it happen too in other countries. That's why I focus on their release sales, that help me determine how receptive the game is in Japan.

I just want to note that I find it incredibly ironic that mdo is using AKB48 as example of the "failure" of JPop compared to KPop when Akimoto has already built "sister" groups in Indonesia and Shanghai and I think he's considered doing an American one.

I also find the notion that ANY of these groups (Japanese OR Korean) would sustain beyond maybe 5 years to be fairly laughable. Even with Western Pop, you have, what, 5 performers/groups that one can realistically say are enduring. The Spice Girls were huge (worldwide) for a few years, so were "New Kids on the Block", and sure, people that lived through their run remember them, but any concept that they'll be more than a blip in the mythical "music history book" is ridiculous. It's not like people are clamoring for the reunion tours their trying to do. (yes, some people do GO to them, but they're not the sensations they were before and they won't be remembered for what they're doing now)

I don't know why you are so concerned about the future of J-Pop. So what if the Koreans are dominating now. Couple years from now, it will be someone else. It is the way of things. The fans that like anime, J-Pop, and J-Dramas are not going anywhere.

You burying us in stats is useless too. We really could care less about them. They mean nothing.

If Japan wants to expand and market to a international audience, they can do so with the next wave of new talent. You don't seem to understand that many of us, like the Japanese the way they are. We don't want them to change to reflect Western morality. What you want would destroy what we like about the Japanese.

Yeah, there are those that like anime, but don't like where it is now. They probably want Western sensibilities or concerns reflected in it
Personally, I hope that never happens, because it would not be Japanese anime anymore.

Your evidence is Kotaku, one of the biggest joke sites out there when it comes to video gaming 'journalism'. Notice they say it was the "#1 top charter in Japan". Know why? Because nothing else came out that week.