Lip-sync quandary: Honest Superficiality in Japanese Pop

A few days ago something struck me as interesting, albeit a little strange. I’m a fan of a good amount of Japanese music. In particular, I’m a great lover of Japanese electronic music, especially that produced by a man named Nakata Yasutaka (中田ヤスタカ). Nakata Yasutaka’s name is perhaps best known through his work as half of the post shibuya-kei/electronic duo Capsule. However, he also works as a producer for many successful musical acts such as MEG and Suzuki Ami, not to mention his lesser known projects like COLTEMONIKHA and Nagisa Cosmetic. One of the groups which Nakata produces is an electropop trio named Perfume. For the uninitiated, Perfume is currently one of the most popular musical acts in Japan. Their latest album “Triangle” which was released on the 7th of this month debuted at #1 on the Oricon weekly charts, as did their 2008 album GAME.

Now, I suppose it’s fair to say that Perfume is most recognizable through two specific elements of their music and image. One is the synchronized, well choreographed dances which accompany all of their songs. The other is the heavy electronic influence of Nakata Yasutaka; the highly vocoded vocals and heavy use of synths. These two essential part of Perfume, while appealing, are also largely responsible for an aspect of the group which I initially found repulsive when I first noticed it long ago- Perfume lip-syncs their live shows.

When I first realized that Perfume lip-synced their music, I was torn. I loved their music, but I couldn’t help but feel as if it was somewhat cheapened by the fact that they only pretended to sing at their concerts. Understandably, it’s hard to sing while dancing complex choreography, and vocoding their voices correctly in real time would be extremely difficult if not impossible. Even still, I was distressed by this revelation. Since this incident, I’ve come to see that many artists in Japan lip-sync their concerts. This may not seem to be very far removed from the situation in the United States; obviously, many artists in the U.S. lip-sync their shows and use auto-tune on their records. The crucial difference between the two countries in this regard is that in the U.S. such practices are taboo and thus secretive, whereas in Japan they are accepted amongst audiences and are usually very obvious.

So I got to thinking- why is it that the Japanese have such a seemingly high tolerance for artists which ‘fake’ their sets in contrast to America, where a lip-syncing artist is prey for the tabloids and entertainment news? On the same token, why does Japan have such a high tolerance for artists which are clearly not as talented as their Auto-Tune’d albums would suggest? The idol industry in Japan is filled with singers who don’t have the best singing voice, yet still achieve great success through the clever tricks of their studio technicians and producers. Again, in Japan’s case such singers’ lack of natural talent isn’t so much hidden as much as it is ignored. The focus seems to be elsewhere. This led me to ponder another question- how do I justify my taste for artists which seem to have little inherent musical talent?

As I mentioned before, the focus of the Japanese audience doesn’t seem to be the artist’s level of talent. I can only speak for myself when I say this, but when I think about the criteria by which I normally judge a musical act it’s usually the inherent talent of the artist in question. “This melody is clever.” “These lyrics are interesting.” “His/her voice is good.” These are examples of common thoughts which, when I think them, usually lead to the conclusion, “This act is talented.” However, at least when presented with cases such as Perfume, the Japanese seem most concerned with the act as a whole. This includes the music as well as the personality and image/gimmick of the artist, the presentation and performance. This lies in stark contrast to the ‘traditional’ mode of appraisal which judges an artist purely by the amount of inherent talent present and not necessarily the end product.

If there’s a part of the Japanese entertainment industry which is indicative of this, it’s got to be the the part dealing with idols. An absolute requisite for an idol is beauty, as is an appealing personality or image. As such, when an idol performs as a singer, the Japanese audience appraises the idol based not only on her singing talent but also on the rest of her image. Would Morning Musume be appealing were it not for the group’s image and performance? I don’t think so. If Morning Musume was composed of ‘unattractive’ girls who didn’t dance, wear outfits, or have cute personalities, Morning Musume would not be nearly as popular as it is today. I’d say if you asked (honest) Morning Musume fans in Japan the same question, you’d get the same answer. Those who argue the contrary are lying to themselves. Listening to an idol sing is much less about the music in and of itself than the music in relation to the character of the idol and the collective experience of the idol’s image/character as a whole. In the same way, going to a Perfume concert is less about the music itself, and more about Perfume’s presentation and persona. Of course, Perfume doesn’t really fall into the idol category, and their music is enjoyable independent of their image. In my opinion, it’s the work of Nakata Yasutaka which makes Perfume quality electropop which holds its own without any gimmick. Perfume’s image and presentation merely serve as an enhancement, augmenting the audience’s collective experience of the trio.

As far as otaku culture is concerned, examples of this attitude can be seen in the Japanese cosplay scene. American cosplayers place a great deal of importance on the creation of one’s own costume; it’s standard at American anime conventions for the cosplay contest’s rules to include making one’s own costume as a requirement for entering. In Japan it’s quite different. Japanese cosplayers have no qualms about buying costumes from a store, unlike American cosplayers which largely revile the concept. Instead, Japanese cosplayers are more concerned with the presentation of the character, the performance as a whole. Maybe it’s a stretch.

Is the ‘Japanese mode of appraisal’ superficial? Maybe. But at least it’s honest superficiality. And, it’s superficiality of the positive sort. As long as people don’t refuse to listen to music on the basis of the singer’s looks, I could care less if they enjoy music sung by modestly talented idols or go to lip-synced concerts. Ultimately, humans are irrational beings. If we like something for superficial reasons or enjoy something in spite of negativity, all the more power to us. Maybe the key to enjoying music like Perfume is to regard it as the product of many individuals rather than just the members of the group- the producer, the choreographer, the designer, et cetera. Maybe the key to enjoying Jpop is an approach of, “Do I like this for what it is,” rather than, “Is this artist inherently impressive.” Hell, this approach works for a lot of things. As long as one can differentiate between the two, I don’t see why not. Just pray you can make the distinction.

~Sam