Marie Mutsuki Mockett

No, it isn't the weak dollar.

For me it's the fact that the price of any large ticket item is relayed in 10,000s. As in:

"How much did you pay for that Marc Jacobs bag?"

"I paid five 10,000 yen for it."

This isn't so bad if you keep in mind that one 10,000 note is worth roughly about $100 (or slightly less, but for simplicity's sake, let's pretend that $100 could buy 10,000 yen). In the Marc Jacobs bag example, it's easy to simply lop off two zeros and figure out the approximate price in dollars. Things become confusing, however, when you discuss the price of a car, or a house, or even an airline ticket.

If a house costs, oh, say the equivalent of $800,000, no one in Japan is going to say: "The house costs 80,000,000 (eighty million) yen." Instead, they will say to you: "The house costs 8,000 10,000 yen (eight-thousand ten-thousand yen)." Or, in Japanese: "hassen man."

I've never understood how the 10,000 yen note actually became a default tool for counting currency. Yes, the number 10,000 is part of the same numeric system that we all use when discussing money in the west. But why count 10,000 notes? Why not actually say that a house is "eighty-million yen," instead of figuring out how many 10,000 yen notes go into 80,000,000?

And you thought learning kanji was bad enough!

Lots of comments on this post over at Japundit.

A wise translator once told me that if I really wanted to learn to read Japanese (aka master kanji), I should spend an hour translating some text every day. He said that over time, I would simply learn the kanji. It didn't matter what I read as long as I was consistent.

I haven't been very disciplined. It's too easy for me to pick up meanings in context, which means that I can read a gossip book or some silly little fashion article and get the gist of what is going on. But I've been thinking that in my current interim non-creative period, I really should do as the wise translator suggested.

So, what to read? What I'd like is something easily digestible. Something in bits and pieces so I can feel that there is a natural cut-off to my daily translation work, but with an overall story arc so I want to get up the next morning to find out "what happens next."

A cell phone novel is the perfect thing.



I read recently that the mobile phone boom in Japan is alive and well. In fact, a number of the top selling works of "fiction" include hardcover versions of these mobile phone stories. Once completed, the novels are assembled as actual books and sold to the public.

This sounded like the perfect thing to discipline my unruly brain. So off I went to Kinokuniya this weekend to pick up part 1 of the 2 part "Akai Ito" series.

What does the title mean? Well, it refers to the "red thread" "red thread" of destiny that binds all lovers. According to the lore, which originated in China, all lovers have an invisible red thread (yeah, it's invisible, but it's red ) tied to their pinkies. You can't see the thread, can't see where it leads, but invariably, you will find the person you are connected to and therefore destined to love.

Here is my first attempt at translation. Voila, the opening lines (with some adjustments to make the English sound reasonable).

According to the gods, there is a red thread tied from my pinky finger to yours.

This thread of destiny isn't visible.

Nor is it a map to you.

I must love you to meet you.

So, our cell phone novel is a love story. A tortured romance, from page 1. The packaging is pretty brilliant. You can see the cover above. Know that the entire book is written in red ink. In the ensuing pages I've learned that the narrator is sure she already knows her "red thread fated lover," but he is too busy being in love with her sister to notice her. Ah! Angst! From the first installment!

So why don't we have cell phone novels in the West? Is it a technology gap type thing? Well, in the battle of who has a better cell phone, the US or Japan, the latter most definitely wins (in addition to having all around better manners when using mobile phones in public places). However, I think this isn't entirely the right question to ask. I think in part that this "mobile phone boom" comes less from a superior understanding of technology than from a shameless love of stories. A real addiction to a constant flow of narrative, a jones for the next fictional fix.

Consider for example, the world of the Japanese drama. Four times a year, each TV station launches a new set of "dramas," which are essentially "telenovelas." All have a beginning, middle and end, and producers and directors are constantly under the process of finding new stories to adapt, cast and produce. Stories are always evolving in Japan, unlike our own network models where the audience watches and wonders when a show might "jump the shark." In this model, serious "literature" is kept separate from television, though of course plenty of movies to try to adapt books. Fans go on message boards trying to figure out spoilers for the ending of the drama, and searching for gossip on what will develop in the future. Dramas adapted from books or manga are analyzed for accuracy. Fans, in other words, are fed a steady stream of stories from a variety of sources, many of which overlap.

The drama "Train Man" (Densha Otoko) which the Mockett household loved and enjoyed a couple years back started as a series of message board posts, before it became a book, then a move and then a TV show.

In the case of the first successful mobile phone book, the author created a website at the same time that he was sending out installments of his book. He read the feedback.

Readers e-mailed him with their feedback, and he incorporated some of their ideas into the story while it was in progress, so that new plot twists were constantly being added. This work was truly a collaboration between Yoshi and his readers.

(I should also note that this article points out that due to space restrictions, these cell phone novels tend to be "simple." That's fine. I don't mind starting a translation project on something simple. I'm usually considered way too cerebral in my ther life.)

Anyway, the cell phone novel boom strikes me as something quite unusual--a collaborative effort. Now, it's not that we don't have this kind of fandom in the States. Very generally speaking, I'd say that the science fiction and fantasy communities are far better at putting readers and writers together. They are also much better at being open to exploring a world or a story through different mediums. I remember, for example, how fan groups dissected the novelizations of the Star Wars prequels to try to figure out exactly why Padme died, after supposedly being stubborn and tough to have given birth to the resourceful Princess Leia.



Like a lot of people who play games (I'm really not sophisticated enough to consider myself a full fledged gamer), I have been patiently waiting (and waiting and waiting and waiting) for Bioware to release its almost finished game Mass Effect . In the meantime, if I want, I can go and pick up the novel which acts as a precursor to the actual game story. I can also participate in the message boards where I can analyze every single interview or screen cap of anything that Bioware has released so far in an effort to figure out what my gaming experience will be, and if I will be emotionally satisfied.

In other words, I'm trying to say that we in the west do have this kind of blending of narrative devices in our own culture . . . but it lives in the world of genre.

I went to an interesting talk a number of months ago which feature Patrick Nielsen Hayden of Tor Books. He's very smart and very blunt and made the point that science fiction has been around for long enough to have penetrated the collective skulls of entertainment consumers so that we are no longer surprised by leaps in time, by warps in space, or strange memory lapses, even in films that tend to defy categorization . In other words, we've all been conditioned and caught up with the SF and Fantasy fans who were all over time travel and reality bending a half a century ago.

How long until literary types catch up with these fans who now investigate stories through mediums other than the novel?

I don't know. I don't like the idea that book readers are essentially conservative people who don't want to be open to other mediums for storytelling. I don't like the idea that a true writer limits herself to words on a page (or that a book real reviewer doesn't blog). I find this insulting.

I always hear that one reason why the cell phone is more popular in Japan than in the US is because we are addicted to our computers over here. In Japan, people don't necessarily have the kind of space to devote to a laptop.

More than that, though, I wonder just how starved my own country really is for stories, especially with the reality shows we've been bombarded with in the past number of years. It seems to me that there is a reason why we, in this country, exhaust a show in one medium (ie many years of Friends), before moving on to something else, while in Japan, stories appear on TV with each season. Does it have something to do with the appeal of disappearing into a fictional world? Is that a stronger wish or expectation outside of the US?

First posted over at Japundit .

Some stranger sent this video of the band Monkey Majik. After I got over the initial shock of seeing some gaijin in a band in Japan, I decided I actually like the song and the video, with its nod to kitsune mythology. And of course, I really, really love the Yoshida Brothers. So, thank you, mysterious person!



The ending bit with the kitsune reminded me of the opening vignette in Akira Kurosawa's film "Dreams," in which a boy is told not to go out and play, but does anyway, and in doing so, spies on a fox-wedding. As a result, he is told he must commit suicide. Never, ever mess with foxes.

First posted over at Japundit, where someone noted: Best cross-cultural music/video I’ve seen so far.Not cheesy, not even too “clichesque”. I tend to agree.

I finally got around to seeing this movie. In fact, I've just finished watching it about 20 minutes ago. I went in with very low expectations and . . . was actually disappointed.

Seriously, I've always thought Golden did a pretty good job with the book--the whole "mizuage" issue aside. I've never liked the romantic story, or perhaps to be more accurate, I've never been persuaded by it. But on the whole, I felt like he was really imagining a world with many textures and smells and characters and I respected that. I thought many of his similes were very Japanese and his "feel" for his main character, quite authentic.

The movie though. Yeesh.

When I first heard about the film and how upset people were about the casting, I couldn't get too excited in kind. As has been pointed out by many, Cate Blanchett gets to play an English queen even though she's Australian, and lord knows how many Brits have played Americans and vice versa. It's not like there are so many great roles for Asian actors out there in Hollywoodland, so in general, I'm on the side of "inter-Asian casting." And since the book version of "Geisha," and the movie production were both American based, why were people suddenly clammering for real "Japanese authenticity"? I could see the furor if the book had been written by a real Japanese person, but it wasn't.

Then I finally sat down and watched the film. I have the heebies as a result.

It wasn't the Chinese actresses, or the wierd trying-to-pronounce English accents and needing-audio-geniuses-to-splice-in-syllables that bothered me. Nor was it that during a number of scenes I kept thinking to myself, "Hey. That looks like Northern California" (it was).



(Muir Beach anyone?)

It wasn't the psychotic "dance scene" in which Sayuri throws herself into a backbend worthy of a poster for Cirque du Soleil.



Nor did it bother me that we never saw anyone eating anything that wasn't in a cup or on a stick.

I was incredibly disappointed that all the characters were unrelentingly stiff. That's what I hate about "respectful minority entertainment." In wanting to be reverential, the director made all the characters come off as leaden and wooden. It was clear to me that neither the director nor the writer had any belief in the inner lives of these people. It was all repression and Zen koans instead of real dialogue. It was all "suffer suffer suffer" and "this is what it mean to be geisha," which made me think of C3PO mourning to R2D2, "It's our lot in life to suffer," and consequently made me giggle. What was with Hatsumomo wandering around Gion with that ridiculous Kabuki hair? Where was the real, intelligent and scheming woman that Golden created?

And then . . . there were moments when suddenly the film-makers couldn't help but exoticize their subjects. What, for example, was Sayuri doing in the onsen with the men? When on earth did that happen in the book? She protests to some white guy that she is "not for sale," but there she is frolicking naked in a tub of hot water with a bunch of guys? Who on earth came up with that idea? What the heck was she doing dipping her washcloth in the water (a strict no-no). I mean, if the movie was going to include a scene like that, then it should have done away with any pretense for guarding the geisha's dignity.

Ditto for the embarassing mizuage scene in which Sayuri appears in a scarlet robe. (Hint. She's in red and she's about to have sex for the first time!). She goes back to the okiya looking . . . all mysterious and deep and possibly wounded but maybe not 'cause she's a hot Asian chick and it's hard to read her emotions . . . and she is told: "Now you are a real geisha." Again. Not in the book. But I'm sure the idea that sex=geisha appealed to some producer somewhere, so they threw it in. Along with a bunch of bullsh*t about how geisha aren't prostitutes.

In other words, you could tell that the writers had read the book and tried to adapt it . . . but then had to throw in some kind of "spice" anyway which discredited the rest of the script. Why does anyone believe a geisha when she insists she is not a prostitute if she's told that she only becomes a geisha by having sex?

So, why would a writer do this? Well, there's the old "can't help but exoticize" answer. But I think it's more than that.

The movie is so incredibly stiff, at some point someone must have realized just how dead the storyline really was. There was no tension at all. And so a dash of "life" was thrown into the plot, the life being this sort of false drama that comes from Sayurai 1) becoming a true geisha at last by having sex, because mastering a bunch of fine arts just wasn't "dramatic" enough and 2) Sayuri forcing herself to have sex with a white man so we'd all feel just how icky her life really was.

But this isn't true drama--it isn't the kind of true storytelling tension that comes from creating a character that an audience loves and then putting her in a difficult situation that arises as a result of her world and the people around her (aka a realistic situation). Of course, to accomplish the latter, a writer or filmmaker has to believe in that character and in her world as inherently interesting; if the writer/director doesn't believe, then why should we?

I left the movie feeling as though the producer and director and crew all believed that the world of the geisha was physically beautiful. People always think that Japan is beautiful (or, northern California, as the case may be) and it is. But I didn't leave it believing in the inner lives of anyone on screen. And this makes me think that while Golden was able to make pages and pages of kimono embroidery and dance lessons interesting, Marshall could not because, at the end of the day, he couldn't find a way to believe in its worth himself. And thus we get, once again, sex=geisha.

In other words, as my fiance said, we leave this movie with no understanding of what a geisha is at all--which, in part, is what Golden worked to reveal to his readers. How sad is that?

The sad thing is that this movie did so poorly at the box office, it'll be a while before anyone "dares" to put together a film with an all Asian cast. Then again, if this is going to be the result, then I suppose it's best to keep Hollywood out of these Asian films all together.

Ugh. Now I'm all worked up and will doubtless sleep very poorly.

So, where do all the pretty Japanese boys come from?

Well, Japan of course. Duh. No, but seriously. How are they annointed? One very serious contender for the source of manufacturing these pretty images is Johnny's Entertainment otherwise known as Johnny's Jimusho.

Johnny is Johnny Kitagawa. His westernized first name is no fluke, as he was born in Los Angeles, came to Japan with the military, stayed and founded Johnny's Entertainment with his sister, Mary. Johnny's runs a stablehouse of young talents, all boys as young as 10, who are auditioned every year by parents hoping their children have what it takes to be stars (modern Memoirs of a Geisha, anyone?)

The company is run somewhat like the old studio system of Hollywood; young kids are coached in singing, dancing and acting classes. The younger members, Johnny Juniors, form groups and often dance backup to senior performers, who make up "boy bands." These individual, senior members not only sing and dance, but dominate the young, male acting roles in Japan's dorama world, which, for those who don't know, are seasonal shows, akin to the telenovels of South America. The most successful "talentos" go on to endorse products, appear in side gigs and films, as is the case with SMAP, one of Johnny's most successful groups.

The genius of Johnny Kitagawa, says American composer Joey Carbone who has penned many a J-Pop hit, is his vision and ability to spot and groom a future star.

Carbone says Kitagawa’s genius lies in finding someone at a young age, and imagining what they might look like a few years later. “As a businessman, I have a tremendous amount of respect for Johnny because, in a sense, he’s more creative than his artists. His creativity is to put these acts together . . .

Could you have seen the "star potential" in this young boy? (And please note that his blood type is "A," the most desirable kind.)



Dig a little deeper, though, and the story gets somewhat, er, interesting. Maybe even messy. Or maybe I'm just a sucker for trouble. Either way, here's the scoop. Johnny's boys--and they are referred to as "Johnnys" or "a Johnny" are very tightly controlled by their manager. It is said that one phonecall from Johnny boycotting a network should said station try to use another talent agency is enough to squash the competition. Mr. Johnny, in other words, has a total monopoly.

Most other management jimusho are smart enough to avoid such a conflict. But some get cocky, like Amuro Namie and Speed's company Rising Production (now Vision Factory), who attempted to break into Johnny's turf with Okinawan-staffed dance acts, Da Pump, w-inds, and Flame. How many times have these been on Terebi Asahi's Music Station total? Two times: just Da Pump twice in 1997. Johnny's Jimusho artist appearances from 1997 to 2004? 405.

This all started in the early 60s, with a group known as "The Four Leaves" generally considered to be Johnny Kitagawa's first real hit. As one article puts it:

Kitagawa's model wasn't rock'n'roll but Broadway musicals like West Side Story. His genius was to turn youth music into a mass-marketable commodity by mixing it with slick dance routines. He was certainly the first impresario in Japan to form an all-male vocal pop group and possibly influenced the way Western boy bands would be formed and marketed. His first real success came in 1968 with Four Leaves, a group of teenagers on the cusp of manhood whose breezy look and sound caught the public imagination and set the tone for Johnny's bands to follow.

And on we go to bands like SMAP, TOKIO and the younger set like Arashi and KAT-TUN.



Look, for example at "heart-throb" Hideaki Takizawa, who started as a Johnny Junior, performed in Tackey and Tsubasa, then went on to portray Yoshitsune in the NHK taiga drama of the same name.



The boys' images are almost never used unless permission is given.



Note, for example, that in some of the material for Hana Yori Dango, Johnny's member Matsumoto Jun's portrait is missing. His character is represented by a manga sketch (in red), instead of a photo. Johnny hadn't given his permission to use the photo. Woe betide the casual photographer wanting to snap a candid of a Johnny. In fact, you can't even easily find a photo of Johnny himself!

And lest you think that these guys are raking it in, think again. Johnnys are paid a salary by their agency; the bulk of their profits to go the impressario himself. Woe betide the Johnny who tries to strike out on his own, with Tahara Toshihiko and Motoki Masahiro rare successful exceptions.



Rumors circulated that SMAP was considering leaving the Johnny world along with their legendary manager, Michi Iijima, who put the band on the map when other managers had failed. SMAP is actually popular and powerful enough to succeed, unlike other former Johnny's who simply faded once they bolted from their benefactor. But so far, SMAP has essentially stayed put under the Johnny umbrella, with Iijima given her own "sub-company" to run, called "J-Dream."

What's with all the secrecy and control freakishness? Well, partly it has to do with money, of course. The boys make Johnny wealthy, and are therefore protected. Johnny invests heavily in his talents. Groups may go years without a hit, and then suddenly break through. And who do they have to thank when this happens? Johnny, of course, for sticking by them.

But then there's this. In 1988, a former member of The Four Leaves published an article in which he claimed to have been molested by Mr. Kitagawa.

In it, he alleged to have been raped and coerced into a long-term sexual relationship with Kitagawa. The boy band boss was said to operate a system of patronage, promoting the careers of idols in return for sexual favours.

A similar claim was made in a 1996 book by Hiramoto Junya, a former Johnny's Junior member. In 2001, Shukan Bunshun, a weekly newspaper, salaciously accused Mr. Kitagawa of various lewd acts of a sexual nature. Nothing was ever proven, however, and in 2002, Kitawaga successfully sued Shukan Bunshun for defamation. Johnny's Entertainment continues to operate and remain dominant. Can you imagine something similar going on in the US? Or the UK? Er, don't think so. It will be interesting to see how this changes, in light of the growing awareness of and campaigns against all forms of abuse in Japan.

Interestingly enough, the images of the boys are very tightly controlled to appear as smutless as possible.

The ideal Johnny's boy does everything with a posse of other cute available Johnny's boys or all by himself. Johnny’s boys at one time could not wear their hair long or change their hair color in any way. They could not have their ears pierced as well. They were supposed to be the ideal boys, appealing to their peers as well as to their parents. They were just the type of boys your mom would love and they would never be the ones plucked from school assembly for wearing their uniform shirt untucked or having hair that was suspiciously tea colored. Times have changed, as anyone who has ever trawled the net can attest. Nowadays Johnny’s boys have multiple piercings in their ears, wear jewelry and clothing styled after rap stars and rockers, are tanned and show it, and have hair ranging in color from gold to black and worn in styles anywhere between short and spiky to shoulder length locks. However, their daily life is subject to much scrutiny by their managers and a host of other Johnny’s insiders (doubtless because it will be scrutinized more thoroughly by the press and their fans - these are boys who have their room plans printed up in magazines monthly).

Girlfriends, while allowed, are allegedly discouraged. This is all to ensure that the boys appear "available." And on the occasion that a boy does misbehave, Johnny goes to great lengths to try to "fix" the situation.



Recently, for example, fans were stunned to learn that Akinishi Jin of KAT-TUN was going abroad to study English. And off he went, leaving his band behind. Why? Well, allegedly he managed to knock up two teenagers (and someone else in the States; you can follow the link if you need names), and as punishment was sent off to the US. I guess this means that going to LA is the new rehab for Japanese celebrities.

Why does no one break this monopoly? Well, partly because Johnny Kitagawa is uncannily good at finding talent, good at, ahem, nurturing it, and good at finding young men to fill all those drama roles. Which means that essentially it is all about money. And fantasy. And dreams. And if you were a sensitive young guy, and you knew that were going to hate high school, and yet someone came along and offered you a chance to live a completely different life, wouldn't you consider taking it? Entertainment is always filled with people who aren't quite "normal," and need a creative outlet.

The Johnny's have their detractors; people say that all those Arashi/SMAP/V-6 groups are all essentially the same thing.

As is the case with many highly successful boy bands, Johnny’s groups also have their detractors. A common criticism is that the members do not have to be particularly good singers, dancers or actors to be seen on TV in heavy rotation, and that they are merely famous for being famous.

But the monopoly doesn't show signs of slowing down for a while yet. The SMAPsters are in the 30s, and still going strong--some have even managed to marry and maintain their careers. The new boy bands are successful, and younger ones are waiting in the ranks. Johnny's have a frighteningly accurate success rate, in no small part because of Johnny's ability to spot emerging trends and capitalize on them. Jun Matsumoto of Arashi was a hit in the drama Hana Yori Dango; his band performed the theme songs for both seasons. And Arashi member Kazunari Ninomiya just had a spellbinding role in Clint Eastwood's Letters from Iwo Jima. There's much, much more to milk there.

The pretty boy factory will be in operation for a while.

There, there. I know you were worried!

First posted on Japundit where you can read the comments.