The Japanese Pussification of Gabo

Yes, it’s true. As the title of the posting states: regarding Japanese aspects, I’m a bit of a pussy. It’s an odd phenomena in that this pussification relates to my taste and only to things of Japanese origin and Japanese language.
I should state that while I have what I consider to be a wide range of tastes, I tend to lean towards heavy metal, rock and darker music. My favorite bands include: Metallica, Iron Maiden, System of a Down, Muse and bands of that sort. This contrast is what makes things so odd to me.

The obvious origin of this is the 15 months I spent in Japan. It didn’t happen suddenly, but took a bit of time to manifest and it began with music and specifically with this:



This song was played to us in a Japanese language class and it changed me. I consider the combination of the vocalist’s voice with the nostalgic tone of the song that got to me (it was certainly not the lyrics as I did not understand them at all). From that point on, I actively pursued music in Japanese and while there are other genres and groups I liked, I gravitated mostly to sappy J-Pop songs targeted mostly towards female teenagers.

I guess a reason why this type of music grew on me was also the ease with which I could follow the lyrics and so practice my Japanese, but I think that'd be more of a rationalization (excuse). I just liked those songs for some reason. Maybe a part of me wanted to step back from complicated music and let myself go with the silliness, disposability and simplicity of J-Pop songs.

Regarding other media, I wanted to see the Japanese people in another way. My daily interactions with them, gave me the impression of a cold, detached, indifferent and untrusting people (at least toward foreigners). Movies and TV shows from Japan offer a different side of the Japanese. There, the main characters are shown as people who have deep-seeded feelings and strong relationships (be it with family, friends or couples). I wanted to be exposed to that, to experience those sorts of relationships (as you can imagine, I didn't score with a Japanese girl during my time; I did with a German girl though!!).

While I enjoyed my time in Japan immensely, there were times where I did feel lonely and longed for warmth and affection in a way that the friends I made there weren't able to provide.

Why am I bringing this up now? Two things mostly:

a) I recently saw a Japanese movie entitled “Hana and Alice” and I liked it a lot. Hell, I loved it. Much more than I should have. It’s the story of two teenage girls who are friends. Following their daily lives, we see different aspects of their culture, of romantic and family relationships and the all-powerful power of friendship! It is a slow, touching movie with equal bits of sadness and silliness.



b) This past weekend I had a karaoke night with some friends from work. Someone
had this impressive set-up and we spent the night drinking and singing Japanese songs. It seems I’m not the only one afflicted with this condition.

So to sum it up, I have vastly contrasting tastes and I'm not ashamed of it. I may be teased and made fun of, but fuck it; I like what I like, so there.

Oh, there were also other songs and bands I liked from Japan that don't rank so high on the pussy-meter: