Posts Tagged: japanese entertainment

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19
Nov 10

The Japanese Game/Variety Show

“Japanese game shows,” perhaps more accurately referred to as Japanese variety shows, are fairly famous around the world as a genre. Known for their over-the-top wackiness, Japanese variety shows have inspired spin-offs in other countries, such as America’s I Survived a Japanese Game Show, as well as parodies in popular programming like The Simpsons. Of course, an outsider’s view of the genre can be a little warped, as some of the parodies make the variety shows seem even more wacky than they are, but the fact is that a Japanese variety show can be pretty strange to a person not accustomed to the genre.

Most Japanese variety shows combine a series of quizzes, musical performances, stunts, pranks, and comedy routines. They may have Japanese celebrity guests who do more than just answer a few questions and put on a performance–they can participate in all the stunts and quizzes as well. The stunts can range from physical challenges to eating food to designing underwear. There’s always something new and bizarre awaiting those who tune in.

The Japanese variety show may also be known for its over-the-top costumes and set designs. Perhaps more over-the-top than costumes and set designs are actually the actions of the host(s) and guests on the show. Japanese humor relies largely on physical humor and zany expressions, perhaps somewhat like Jim Carrey humor during his height of popularity in the 1990s. So when Japanese variety shows are trying to get a laugh, the host(s) and guests can do some pretty strange-seeming things to someone who’s not into physical humor.

Perhaps the most popular Japanese variety show is Waratte Iitomo! (“It’s Okay to Laugh!”), which has been on air with new episodes five days a week since 1982. Japanese comedian Tamori (real name Morita Kazuyoshi) has been the host the entire time and has even earned accolades in the 2003 Guinness Book of World Records for having hosted 5000 episodes of the show.

Here are a few examples of Japanese variety shows:

Waratte Iitomo

Eggs

Have you ever watched any Japanese variety shows? Did you like them or find them odd (or both)? Do they remind you of any shows from your own country?

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24
Sep 10

Playing Pachinko: How Illegal Gambling Is Legal in Japan

In Japan, gambling for money is illegal nationwide. Nevertheless, somewhere between 40 to 50 million people gamble on occasion–and 30 million of those people are regular gamblers. They gamble in large groups in licensed parlors that together employ roughly 300,000 people across the country. The gamblers win money–or perhaps more often, they lose money–just as anyone does at any casino. And Japanese lawmakers are perfectly aware of these parlors.

Welcome to the world of pachinko. There are about 13,000 pachinko parlors in Japan, where you’ll find dozens of pachinko machines crammed closely together. Pachinko is somewhat similar to a vertical pinball game in that the aim is for the player to try and control where a small steel ball goes using a series of levers. (Some machines can process up to 100 balls per minute!) Balls that fall all the way down are lost; balls that can be maneuvered into special holes can win the player bonus steel balls. Older machines were typically mechanical and most newer ones are digital. The game ends either when the player has lost all of his or her steel balls or the player decides to “cash out” and return trays of steel balls to the prize counter.

Players start with a number of balls that cost about ¥4 (roughly US 4¢) each; they typically buy them in amounts of no less than ¥1000 (~US$10) at a go, so they can start with around 250 balls. Payout is usually the same (¥4 per ball) or slightly less and if you’ve managed to increase the number of steel balls in your possession, you can make more money back than your initial investment. However, here’s where the pachinko parlors skirt the law so that they’re actually legal establishments.

Within the pachinko parlor, you can exchange your trays of steel balls for non-cash prizes, such as cigarette lighters, stationery items or even more expensive items (if you’ve won a lot of balls), such as computers and other electronics and even electric scooters and bikes. “Gambling” for non-cash prizes is legal in Japan. However, most regular customers will instead opt for nondescript tokens as their prizes. That’s because they know that if they take these tokens outside of the parlor to a small window usually around the corner or a small distance away, they can exchange those tokens for cash. These windows are of course usually operated by the owners of the parlor (who else would be interested in buying parlor tokens?) but because the gamblers win tokens, not cash, within the parlor and step outside to exchange the tokens for money, pachinko parlors are not breaking the law.

Children aren’t technically allowed in pachinko parlors because many parlors serve alcohol and allow smoking, although you may find some children who have snuck in with their parents or grandparents. Don’t let the sometimes cute designs on the pachinko machines (such as anime and Hello Kitty designs) fool you! These designs are aimed at adults because animation and “cute” is more acceptable for adults to enjoy in Japan.

Have you ever been to a pachinko parlor? Did you find the game fun? What do you think of this brazen sidestepping of the law?

*Photo by Michael Maggs, Wikimedia Commons*

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13
Aug 10

Karaoke: More than Just a Sing-Along

Karaoke may not be an exclusive activity to Japan—nor was it necessarily originated in Japan—but the name itself demonstrates how widespread and influential the activity is in Japan. “Karaoke” is a Japanese loanword, a portmanteau of the words “kara” and “ookesutora” which mean “empty” and “orchestra,” respectively. (Incidentally, the word is pronounced “kah-rah-oh-kay,” not “carrie-okie.”)

While sing-along was nothing new even in the US at the time, the concept of karaoke blossomed in the 1970s in Japan. Musical entertainment during dinner has been a long-standing cultural tradition and it was during the 1970s that a drummer named Inoue Daisuke first decided to market a tape player that played music (so that people wouldn’t need to play the instruments) at ¥100 (about $1) a song. The machines were too expensive for most people to purchase, so hotels, restaurants, and bars tended to rent them out for parties at those establishments.

Later in the decade, businesses actually developed with the karaoke machine at the center. “Karaoke boxes” were places that offered sound-proof rooms for small groups to rent while singing with karaoke machines. These businesses really took off, eventually booming in the 1980s (when the phenomenon and the word “karaoke” was exported to the West). They’re still quite popular today.

Karaoke boxes typically serve alcohol (which frees legal adults’ inhibitions and makes them more likely to have the courage to sing in public!) and food upon request. You just need to pick up the in-room phone and place your order. Rooms are usually available at a set hourly rate, although you may be charged by how many people you have in your group as well. You can even rent a room in a karaoke box by yourself if you’re too embarrassed to sing in front of other people! Karaoke song catalogs typically include mostly Japanese songs and Western songs (which everyone tries to sing in English).

Anthropologists have surmised that karaoke is especially popular in a country like Japan where the general population works extremely hard and needs a physically freeing way to unwind. In Japan, most people don’t care how good a singer you are, nor do they make a big deal and laugh if you’re a bad singer. They just enjoy letting go with each other after a hard day at work or school.

Have you ever sung karaoke? Have you sung karaoke in a Japanese-style restaurant or karaoke box? Would you like to sing with a group of Japanese people?

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2
Jul 10

Visual Kei Music: When Gothic Meets Flair

A style of music native to Japan with a sizeable following is Visual Kei (“visual” of course is an English word and “kei” means “style” in Japanese). This type of music is known for its performers’ visual style as much as their music, as they’re dressed in incredibly ornate fashion.

Visual Kei may owe some of its roots to flamboyantly colored and stylized ancient performance styles from Japan, such as kabuki and noh. They may also owe some of their style to glam rock singers, such as Ziggy Stardust (David Bowie). However, their look is largely unique and not quite exactly like any of these influences.

Visual Kei bands typically—but not always—wear clothes inspired by overly colorful or Gothic black-and-white Victorian-era European attire, with lots of ruffles and large, baggy sleeves. Feathers, ribbons and lace are common accessories. The band members’ hair is typically dyed bright colors and is styled in long, wavy or spiky style, but may also be elegantly tied back. The band members may also wear color contacts, since most Japanese people have dark brown eyes and they want to appear a little more European. (However, the contacts may also be a color not found in human eyes.)

The band members’ faces and exposed skin are also typically painted pure white, which is a direct connection to the kabuki and noh style of theatrics. (Pale, white skin is traditionally seen as a sign of beauty in Japan and may represent delicateness.) Perhaps more closely tied to the theatrical traditions of kabuki and noh is the fact that many Visual Kei bands feature at least one band member who dresses explicitly as a woman—despite being a man. All of the band members tend to embrace a sense of androgyny, but some more so than others.

The type of music you might hear from a Visual Kei band might be described as some sort of punk, classical music or operatic music and glam rock mix, with hints of metal. Songs can be both hard-core and upbeat or slow and ballad-like.

Visual Kei debuted in the late 1980s and was quite popular during the 1990s, but the popularity died down somewhat toward the end of the decade. It’s had a sort of revival since 2007, but it’s more popular these days with a core audience than a widespread one.

Here’s a taste of some Visual Kei:

~Versailles, a modern band~

~Malice Mizer, one of the most popular bands from the ‘90s (now disbanded)~

What do you think of Visual Kei music? What about the bands’ style? What do you think is more important to this genre of music, the music itself or the style of the band?

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28
May 10

The Japanese Cinema Experience

When it comes to seeing a movie in cinemas, you probably don’t think the experience differs much from country to country. However, seeing a movie in Japan is a bit different than seeing a movie in the US, for example—and we don’t just mean that there are a lot more foreign (foreign, in this case, being American) movies showing in mainstream theaters dubbed or subtitled.

Although seeing a film in cinemas in the US can be fairly pricey, particularly if you’re in a metropolitan area and you’re opting for an evening show, seeing a film in cinemas in Japan is almost universally pricey to the point where it’s only an occasional treat for most people. (Think of how often you might go see a play, an opera, or a live sports game.) The average movie ticket price in Japan is somewhere between ¥1700 and ¥1800 (approximately US$19 to $20)!

While there are discounts, there are usually no matinee shows. However, there may be a discount for late-night shows, like those after 9:00 p.m., which cost an average of only ¥1200 to ¥1300 (approximately US$13 to $14). Those who are hoping to see a movie for a price closer to the price in the States may want to stop by on the first of the month for Movie Day or on Wednesdays for Ladies’ Day (if you’re a lady, of course!). Prices on these special days drop down to about  ¥900 to ¥1000 (approximately US$10 to $11)—but on Wednesdays, the discount is only for women. You can also save about ¥200 to ¥300 (approximately US$2 to $3) by purchasing your tickets ahead of time from a ticket broker, which is a wide-spread practice, much like people buying tickets for plays, operas, and sports events often purchase tickets ahead of time.

Instead of having generic paper tickets printed out, Japanese moviegoers get souvenir-quality tickets with artwork from the movie printed on it. They’re also assigned a seat, which is printed on the ticket (like in a play theater), so that once you have a ticket, there’s no reason to get there extremely early to get a good seat. They can also get a playbill-like souvenir booklet with behind-the-scenes information about the movie to commemorate the occasion.

Japanese cinemas are generally smaller than their American counterparts with seats that are not as comfortable. Rather than stadium-style seating, the seats are staggered on a downwards-sloped hill. However, at some Japanese cinemas, you may find a small portion at the top devoted to comfortable lounge-like seating with tables—moviegoers who get tickets for seats here are served drinks before the movie!

There’s one more point you should know before going to a Japanese cinema and that’s to stay in your seat all the way through! Of course, there are exceptions for emergencies, but moviegoers rarely get up during the performance to use the restroom or get more food (like theater-goers here rarely get up to avoid disturbing a play). Japanese moviegoers also wait for the credits to finish rolling before they leave.

If you lived in Japan, do you think you would see a movie in cinemas as often as you do now? Do you like the idea of assigned seating in a cinema? Could you make it through an entire movie without getting up?

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12
May 10

Aidoru: The Japanese “Idol”

American Idol may have gotten North American audiences used to the idea of putting a person plucked from obscurity on a pedestal for his or her singing talent for a year or so before the idol (usually) fades back into obscurity, but the “idol” (aidoru in Japanese, but the word is taken from the English equivalent) has long been hot in Japan. Not always (but often) singers, the Japanese idol becomes a massive cross-media hit known more for her (we’ll get to that in a minute) looks and (possibly manufactured) personality than her talent.

Sometimes in the 1970s, the idol boom began in Japan, strangely not after the cross-media popularity of a native Japanese woman in Japan, but of a French musician named Sylvie Vartan. Talent agencies formed keen to produce the next “idol,” the next young woman who would be plastered across all media outlets and become the next big “cash cow.”

Japanese idols are usually women, but some young men may be considered idols (men typically become idols through initially joining the music or acting industry, though, and don’t specifically set out to be an all-encompassing “idol.”) Idols are usually teenagers (specifically 14 to 16), but may be as young as 12 or so and as “old” as in their early 20s. Very few idols remain popular beyond their 20s, but there are a few memorable ones who have preserved and have been recognized for their talents in the long-term.

Idols may sing, act, or model (or all three), but they don’t necessarily have to have a “talent” and aren’t marketed for their one talent. The goal is to have the next, hot new idol permeate everything in the entertainment industry that she can. This typically means frequent appearances on talk shows, variety shows, radio shows, and game shows, as well as sponsorship deals. A Japanese idol must be pretty or cute (as deigned by the talent agency), thin, and must demonstrate a lovable, sweet personality in her appearances. Some are even known for being “lovable airheads” and gladly milk this personality portrayal for all that it’s worth. However, it’s well known that the overly cute “personality” is often just an act and there are sometimes gossip stories about how ruthless and mean—or conversely, how intelligent and down-to-earth—the idols can be when not “on camera.”

The Japanese idol industry is a tough, competitive industry for which thousands of young women compete each year. Only a few successful idols “survive” their few years of fame to become famous in the long-term, and those are usually the ones who have real talent and genuinely act like themselves when interviewed.

Do you know of any Japanese idols? Who are your favorites? Do you think it’s demeaning for women to become idols or does it at least provide a good start for women with genuine talent to become recognized?

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26
Apr 10

“America’s Pastime” in Japan: Japanese Baseball

Baseball may be America’s pastime, but it seems like other sports such as football often take the spotlight away from the sport. In Japan, though, baseball has been the most popular league sport in the country for decades (although soccer may be starting to steal some of the spotlight).

Contrary to popular belief, baseball was not introduced to Japan by American soldiers after World War II and has been present in Japan since 1872. The first game took place at Kaisei Gakko (which is now Tokyo University), where an American professor organized a game and introduced the game to the nation. Professional nation-wide teams have been present in Japan since 1934 and the national league was established in 1936. Rules fluctuated but have remained mostly the same since 1950, when two leagues became the norm.

The two leagues in Nippon Professional Baseball (NPL; “Nippon” is one word for Japan) are the Pacific and the Central Leagues and there are six teams in each league. In the Central League, there are the Chunichi Dragons from Nagoya, the Hanshin Tigers from Nishinomiya, the Yokohama BayStars from Yokohama, the Hiroshima Toyo Carp from Hiroshima, the Tokyo Yakult Swallows from Tokyo, and the Yomiuri Giants from Tokyo.

In the Pacific League, the teams are the Orix Buffaloes from Osaka, the Fukuoka SoftBank Hawks from Fukuoka, the Chiba Lotte Marines from Chiba, the Hokkaido Nippon Ham Fighters from Sapporo, the Tohoku Rakuten Golden Eagles from Sendai, and the Saitama Seibu Lions from Tokorozawa.

The baseball season lasts from April through October with a total of 144 games. The two leagues have their own championships and then the winning teams from each league compete in the Japan Championship Series, a seven-game championship that airs in October and November. The Japan Championship Series doesn’t affect the participating teams’ rankings, so it’s similar the World Series in America, but it’s a beloved annual event in the world of Japanese sports.

Almost as popular as professional baseball is the annual high school tournament called the Koushien. The Japanese High School Baseball Federation allows Japanese high school teams nationwide to compete in two tournaments (one in the spring and one in the summer) that culminate in a final 2-week tournament of 49 teams at the Hanshin Koushien Tournament in August. Many high school players who hope to go pro know that their performance at this tournament can make or break their dreams.

Have you ever watched a Japanese baseball game? Have you ever seen how supportive the Japanese fans are for their teams? Why do you think baseball is more popular in Japan than it is in the US?

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5
Apr 10

Osaka: The Home of Cuisine and Comedy, Part 2

On Friday, we discussed Osaka as “the nation’s kitchen.” Today we’ll talk instead about Osaka as the home of comedy. But first, we’ll take a closer look at Osaka-ben, or the Osakan dialect.

Just like in the U.S., where an American southerner often speaks with a remarkably different accent than a New Englander, for example, there are multiple distinguishable accents throughout the nation of Japan. The standard Japanese accent, which foreigners are most likely to study and which is the frequent accent used in TV and movie productions, is the Tokyo-ben (the Tokyo dialect). The next most famous accent is the Kansai-ben and in particular, the Osaka-ben (Osaka is a prefecture in the Kansai area).

The Osaka-ben involves putting the emphasis on different syllables in most any given word as well as a different intonation. Some sentence-ending particles and verb conjugations are changed slightly. There are also a few phrases synonymous with the accent, including “ookini” (“thank you,” “arigatou” in standard Japanese, or “please,” “onegai” or “kudasai” in standard Japanese) and “kore nambo” (“how much is this?” or “kore wa ikura desu ka” in standard Japanese).

While Osakans are stereotypically known to be jovial and friendly, the Osaka-ben is characterized as being a bit goofy and backwards by the rest of Japan, although of course that’s just a stereotype. However, it’s the stereotype that the accent is “funny-sounding” that makes it an integral part of Osakan comedy.

The most famous type of Osakan comedy is manzai, which actually was developed roughly 1000 years ago in other parts of Japan. However, since the late 19th century, manzai has been so strongly associated with Osaka that performing the act in an Osakan accent (whether or the performers are Osakan natives) is virtually a prerequisite, even when taking the show on the road to other parts of Japan.

The manzai act involves two comedians, one called the tsukkomi (literally, “butt in,” but basically the straight man) and the other the boke (literally “senility,” and in other words, the funny man). Like in the Western straight-man-funny-man combos, the humor is derived from one comedian trying to tell a story and the funny man acting incredibly airheaded and dumb, “unintentionally” causing the audience to laugh with his incorrect and simple observations and increasingly exasperating and the frustrating the straight man.

However, unlike such combos in the West, the tsukkomi is really much harsher to the boke, constantly interrupting him (“butting in”) to insult him for his stupidity and correct him or to even hit him on the head with a large paper fan or some other item! The tsukkomi frequently ends an act with the phrase, “Yamesashite moraimasu wa!” which means “Let’s quit!” because he can’t take the boke’s stupidity any longer.

While there are currently female comedian manzai duos and male/female duos in Japan, the art has traditionally been exclusive to men and the number of male performers greatly outnumbers the number of female performers. The M-1 Grand Prix competition for manzai features over 3000 duos competing for the title of best in Japan each year.

See an example of a manzai comedy routine here.

Have you ever seen a manzai comedy routine in person? Do you think the tsukkomi-boke style of humor is funny? Have you ever spoken with a person from Osaka? Did you notice his or her different Japanese accent?

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26
Mar 10

Japanese Television: Dorama

In the U.S., the goal of virtually every television show is to get renewed for another season. The successful shows are renewed for a total of three, five, ten or even twenty years (The Simpsons, if you’re wondering) even if, as fans often discover, the longer a show runs, the weaker the writing and the quality of the production becomes. In many parts of the world, though, what is effectively known as the mini-series in America is the standard for fictional shows.

Japan is one such example. There are many long-running variety shows, reality shows and shows aimed at children, but the vast majority of fictional shows in Japanese TV are short-running. Only when a show is really quite successful will it get a sequel series—but even that sequel series will run for a pre-determined amount of time or may even be a one-time special bonus episode. In lieu of a TV-original sequel special, the very most popular Japanese shows—shows that get as much as 30 to 50% of the viewership, which is quite remarkable—might get a cinematic-release movie sequel instead, but this happens somewhat rarely.

Rather than the comedy sitcom or the long-running crime-solving drama series, the dorama or “drama” (the word is taken from English) is the standard of live-action Japanese fictional shows. With few exceptions, a dorama begins as a 12- or 13-episode series (each episode runs an hour with commercials) with a complete story contained therein. In other words, shows won’t end on monumental cliffhangers in the hopes of getting renewed (which, in America, often leads to disappointed fans if the show isn’t renewed and questions go unanswered). They end happily, as is most often the case, or at least they end with all questions answered and the storyline satisfactorily wrapped up.

If the show is popular enough for another 12- or 13-episode sequel series or at least a 2-hour one-time sequel special episode, the story in the sequel will be new and not a continuation of unanswered plot points from the original series. That’s not to say that more “drama” won’t ensue in the dorama, as a happy ending from the original series is often turned on its head so that the sequel can be full of conflict again, but if you never saw the sequel, you ought to be left satisfied with the original ending.

Japanese dorama shows air throughout the day, but the evening shows are the most popular. Because shows generally last only 12 or 13 weeks, new seasons start four times a year and there is no “off” season for new shows like there is in America during the summer. Dorama shows are often based on original stories, but they’re also frequently based on popular novels, light novels, and manga (graphic novels).

Do you like that popular American shows keep on airing or would you rather they end before they get less interesting? Do you like the idea of having a new favorite show four times a year?

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16
Mar 10

Enka Music

Enka music is a uniquely Japanese style of music that’s popular with the older generations of Japanese in particular. As the enka singers dress in traditional Japanese kimono during their performances and sing slow ballads in vibrato style, you might think that enka is a very ancient form of Japanese singing. Although enka does have its roots in traditional Japanese music, it’s actually a cultural pop music phenomenon developed during the 20th century.

Modern enka became popular after World War II. The lyrics of the songs, like blues songs in the West, most often deal with sadness, lost love, death, and dealing with difficult trials. However, the music does usually include some self-encouragement to persevere even through difficult times.

Another characteristic of enka music is the vibrato. Vibrato is when a singer sings a note at a fluctuating pitch. The effect is a bit echo-like. The type of vibrato that enka singers employ is called kobushi and it’s a slightly different style of vibrato that that employed by opera singers, as the pitch only fluctuates to one degree.

Kitajima Saburou is generally considered to be the country’s most famous enka singer. His most popular songs in the 1960s and 1970s often made it to the top 10 positions on popular music charts. He continues to release singles and even released one earlier this year at the age of 73.

Here’s a performance by Kitajima in the early 1990s:

Kitajima Saburou

The music hasn’t been particularly popular with young Japanese for the past few decades, although that’s changing thanks to a few pop music stars trying out the genre and the debut of artists like Jero, who better appeal to young Japanese. Jero (Jerome Charles White, Jr.), whose maternal grandmother was Japanese, became Japan’s first professional African-American enka singer when he debuted in 2008 to rave reviews. Jero appreciated the art form while growing up and decided to pursue it professionally after moving to Japan as an adult to teach English and work as a computer programmer. He became famous only 2 months after his debut. Unlike the native Japanese enka singers, Jero chose not to wear traditional Japanese clothing during his performances and instead wears American hip-hop baggy clothes and jewelry. The contrast of his voice and style of singing with his clothing makes for very surprising performances!

See Jero perform enka with another enka singer here:

Jero

You can see Jero in the United States this spring, starting later this month! Click here for more information.

What do you think of enka music? Had you ever heard any before you read it here in this post? What do you think of Jero’s performance and style?

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