J-Pop Culture and its Influence to Indonesia Music Industry

Angga

Just another lazy author for JKT48Stuff whom mainly working with translations and sometimes writing articles about JKT48 with an obvious grammar problem. Was living his life as a JKT48 DD until...

30 Responses

  1. benimaru says:

    the first band (real band, not a few boys singing melancholy songs..) me know bringing the J culture is keniichi (somewhere between ’98-’00)..

    they oftenly performing voltes v opening theme or pegasus fantasy in school fests..

    a good breakthrough since britpop and ska (whom at that time) are the main colour of indo music..

    • Angga says:

      Ah, I mean the one that tried to assimilate both culture into one :D

      Before 2000 there’s not much bands that tried to do this, the only one I know is Pleton from Medan J-Scene which originally covering Deen’s song and then tried to record their own taste of Deen + Dewa.

  2. mm says:

    That’s why I think JKT48 is lucky having being backed up by a formidable group like AKB & Aki-P. They get opportunities to go to Japan and Japanese members transferred into their groups. Even if their songs are just covers of AKB, people don’t mind as much. Hopefully, Aki-P will give them an original song later.

    • Angga says:

      “Hopefully, Aki-P will give them an original song later.” <-- this :D

      And hopefully, some Indonesians musician is getting involved in the process to create that particular new and fresh taste.

  3. Tomo says:

    Interesting article. I am the person who think that JKT48 comes the forceful bridge between Indonesia and Japan also for me(personaly), JKT48 is my portal to grasp Indonesiann culture(including music, media(especialy TV) and most important thing is friendshipp with language(Bahasa Indonesia). But right now, I think it has been still starting point. If JKT48 does not exist in Indonesia, I cannot find many facebook frinends from Indonesia. Once I posted a coment on JT48 facebook in English. Then some high school students enjoying facebook comunication, who can undersatand English approached me. Then they became my best friends in Indonesia. They have been always passionate and loving to bring many information about, at first ofcourse JKT48 (as “breaking news” style and also discussion), J-POP music position in Indonesia (unfortunately till now hearing about Larc only), Japanese Anime and Manga (they are almost grown up with Doraemon, Kureyon Shin Chan, Chibi Maruko Chan, Captain Tsubasa and so on) position in Indonesia , Indonesian “original” music such as Dangdut, History and language. At first, I started to see JKT48 as the 48 business aspect only. At that time, I did not like AKB48. But one Suday night, I saw an information variety TV show in my living room. The onr corner showed JKT48 and this idol group is the 1st 48 group outside Japan. I was higly interested. At that time, for me, this was the one of products exported from Japan. At the same time, I was just intersted in 48 as the business aspect “48 business” generated by Akimoto Yasushi san, AKS and Dentsu, the grand trio. And the key of 48 Business is “duplication” I thought. AKB48 is duplicated to SKE, NWB,HKT, then JKT48. But in that TV show, I felt a different feeling fromJKT48. I felt that how energetic, earnest and pure they are! I was so moved. From that time, I became OSHI JKT48, not AKB48. At that time, the just only one AKB48 song that I knew was “Heavy Rotation”. Because many eldery colleagues and customers sung this song at Karaoke room. I diid not know lyric of the song. But I started to learn the lyrics of 48 songs from JKT48 performance, not from AKB(lol!). JKT48 song lyrics are almost directly translated from Japanese to Indonesian. So JKT48 songs are my effective text book. Finally I must apologize. Because I messed so many sentences in this post around. As my conclusion, I hope JKT48 would be the 1st and powerful impact of J-POP in Indonisian pop culture(probably already done, and more I hope JKT48 will be the one of I(Indonesian)-POP with their new/original songs)scene. Best Wishes, all.

    • Angga says:

      Yes Tomo-san, majority of Indonesians knows Laruku in general. The other Japanese band/groups/solos that have some impact (Ranging from Big to small) in Indonesia included Siam Shade, Luna Sea, Glay, X-Japan, Loudness, Cassiopea, Mayumi Itsuwa, AKB48, Morning Musume, Arashi, Utada Hikaru, Judy & Mary, Orange Range, Tokyo Jihen, Alice Nine, Gazette, Mucc, Dir en Grey, and various Visual Kei bands. Ayumi Hamasaki garnered some attention too but not having a big impact compared to Utada Hikaru.

      While some also knows other “obscure” Japanese pop musicians (in Indonesia and not in Japan obviously) ranging from the 70’s as well 00’s such as Deen, Tube, D-Shade, Noriyuki Makihara, Oda Kazumasa, Princess Princess, ELT, CCB, Flow, Tokio, T-Square, TotalFat, Daijiman Brothers, The Alfee, Mr.Children and many others. Recently the indie Japanese pop-jazz band Unchain garnered a little attention from local Jazz lovers.

      So yeah, Japanese Music is pretty much known here in Indonesia with JKT48 as the baton holder now and yes, my hope is the same with you, a new Indonesian pop culture based on the assimilation with Japanese Pop.

      I myself becoming interested in Japanese culture overall after I falling in love with Goggle V main theme when I was a kid as well as my late Dad influence after I heard him playing the late Kyu Sakamoto’s songs non-stop in his car :lol:

  4. Tomo says:

    Again, some interesting points you, Angga san have. Regarding J-POP knowlege, probably, I should learn from you(lol!). BTW, the one of my facebook friends told me the lyrics of JKT48 songs use some words that can not be used in casual talking in Indonesia, he said particularly in “Gomenn Ne Summer”. Do you feel any difficuties on Indonesian lyrics of JKT48 songs to be understood? Akimoto san’s lyrics have many unique and charming points. I think there are many differences between Indonesian ordinal social habits and Japanese ones. Do you all think those differences affect the interpretation of the lyrics of 48 grups songs?

    • Angga says:

      Well, it was understandable since it is very rare in Indonesian music industry to combine two different languages into one sentences :lol:

      Maafkan, Summer <-- this one is very rare Usually combining two different languages happened with two different sentences/parts such as this one :

      Menyandang Arti Cinta
      Walau kau tak pernah mengerti
      Bahwa Kau selalu menjadi arti yang terindah
      Dalam hidupku

      I wish you in my heart eternally
      To hold our love forever.

      or this

  5. Tomo says:

    From Mega Con2. At the beginning scene. I was shocked to see a sort of “Kendo”tic formation indicates a battle. Then cut off the back “Shouji”tic wall. Then JKT48 run out to the stage. Even now, the whole image of Japan that Indonesian people imagine like that? But this question is not only for your country, but for so many other counties too. On the other hand, Japanese propaganda is not good, simply saying…

    • Angga says:

      For general public yes perhaps. Samurai, Ninja, Sakura, Anime and super-tech country.

      I still remember when a friend of mine who knows nothing about Japanese Pop Culture once said back in 2004 that Japanese songs were all reminded her to some child cartoon :lol:

    • Foreign culture can actually penetrate Indonesian society better after 1998 (because of some political developments that I won’t go into unless you want to know further). Prior to that, most foreign work had to be “Indonesianized”. I watched a streaming of one of the Doraemon movies in one of the TV channels and was surprised to find that they are no longer dubbing the theme song. I hadn’t watched Doraemon in ages and only remember it with an Indonesian theme song.

      Each culture will always a misconception of a foreign culture. It’s inevitable, but with greater exposure we get to know others better. Japan has its own stereotypes of Indonesia as well from what I’ve seen on variety shows.

      • KageTora says:

        In mid 80s New Order Regime of Indonesia limited – if not entirely banned – any foreign music to enter Indonesia. While this can be seen as a loss, in the other hand it did promote local music to grow, flourish, and readily interact with incoming foreign influence as the ban lifted gradually.

        Nevertheless, I can still remember clearly the time when Kokoro no Tomo and Amayadori can be heard in local radio before the ban was imposed

        Perhaps someone from Japan can tell me something about this favourite song from my childhood ;
        http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vj2yLbzhPx0
        This song was sung by Indonesian singer, in Bahasa Indonesia, praising mount Fuji. Is it originally a Japan song?

  6. Tomo says:

    Please allow me to ask some more questions about J-POP(songs/movies and TV programs) in Indonesia. 1) Can you easily to access to watch/listen/purchase (on TV/Radio and at CD+DVD shops nation wide) to enjoy J-POP contents?. Sure you have more than 10,000 islands, so I assume “nation wide” is an exaggerated saying. 2) Regarding TV program, I saw on Metro TV, “Kokoro No Tomo (introducing Japanese culture)”. But I don’ know any other TV programs right now. Do you have some music TV programs which introduce J-POP music for Indonesian audience? 3) Do you have some Radio music programs which tell J-POP music to you all? 4) I saw storefronts at some CD+DVD shops in Indonesia on some Japanese TV news programs. At one CD+DVD shop, almost of all CD racks were dominated by K-POP. Is still the pop culture in Indonesia (pls. undersatnd, I don’t want to be belligerent agaist K-POP).?

    • The Japanese import market is still relatively small compared to Korean and Chinese music. The interest in Korean music is fueled by the Korean drama craze. Interest in Chinese music is fueled by the local Chinese Indonesian population, which is the largest Overseas Chinese population in the world.

      It is possible to find J-pop CDs in music stores, but generally only for the most popular artists. I’m not sure if you have seen the episode of AKBとXX! where Mii-chan visits Jakarta to promote JKT48. She goes to visit a location dubbed the “Akihabara of Jakarta”, which Jakartans know as Mangga Dua Mall. The shopping center is indeed like Akihabara in that it’s the electronics marketplace of the city. However, Mangga Dua is also notorious for the prevalence of its pirated media market. If one wants to have access to the most up-to-date Asian entertainment scene. It is not surprising then that the people who work in this area are more likely to know of AKB48 and Japanese music.

      Someone else should probably answer your question regarding TV and radio shows as I rarely watch Indonesian TV from overseas. From what I understand, Kokoro no Tomo is a new program that just started this month, and it is really the first Japan-focused TV program in Indonesia.

      Awareness and enjoyment of foreign entertainment is mostly limited to the urban areas of the country. Indonesia is still a mostly rural and agricultural nation. Even if the poor or rural folk know of other Asian music (e.g. Gangnam Style), they are most likely only following a fad like the rest of the world.

      • Tomo says:

        Last night, on Tubu, I saw that Chelsea(an idol girl in Indonesia?) sung “Shonichi”. I was so happy to see/hear that. I think this happening can tell me that JKT48 songs would be taken root to musicians in Indonesia. Do you think my expression is too large? Also I hope many Indonesian musicians will cover JKT48 and more many J-POP songs very soon. Again I hope JKT48 would be touchstone to expand/penetrate J-POP in Indonesia.

        • I looked into Chelsea’s performance. She is actually one of the contestants on the show Idola Cilik (Child Idol). She happens to be a fan of AKB48, hence she sung a cover of Shonichi in Indonesian.

          As you mention, JKT48 actually provides a unique way for Indonesian fans to show their affinity for Japanese music in public. Because JKT48 sings direct translations of AKB48 songs, it’s as if fans are singing the exact same songs as their idols. No other Japanese artists have attempted to have their lyrics translated into Indonesian and put to the same melody.

      • Angga says:

        As for television or radio show (Aside from Kokoronotomo) :

        1. We have JPopZilla on Ochannel
        2. We have some special reports on MetroTV every morning brought by Dalton Tanonaka
        3. There’s a show called Iro-Iro on Trax on Sky
        4. There’s also a show on a local radio but I forget the name

        and for paid TV, of course there’s Animax with their show Animax Music and the unfortunately no subtitle NHK World.

        EDIT :

        There’s a lot of web-show that showcasing the culture, but I will promote a long time friend of mine here : OtakuOtamu on YouTube :)

    • yahya jani says:

      We can listen radio to enjoy J-Pop culture on NHK WORLD Indonesian. One of that program name in bahasa is Budaya Pop Jepang. We can enjoy this channel by internet access or radio FM (37 radio FM at 21:06 WIB-21:51 WIB) every day.

      37 radio FM:
      Nikoya 106 FM Banda Aceh (sumatera island)
      Sonya 106,6 FM Medan (sumatera island)
      Padang 102,6 FM Padang (sumatera island)
      Gress 105,8 FM Pekanbaru (sumatera island)
      Kei 102,3 FM Batam (batam island, near singapura)
      Jambi 103,5 FM Jambi (sumatera island)
      Muaro Jambi 92,5 FM Muaro Jambi (sumatera island)
      Flamboyan 105,9 FM Bengkulu (sumatera island)
      LCBS 103,4 FM Palembang (sumatera island)
      Star 106,7 FM Bandar Lampung (sumatera island)
      Harmony 98,1 FM Serang (java island)
      Green Radio 89,2 FM Jakarta (java island)
      Garuda 105,5 FM Bandung (java island)
      Q FM 94,6 FM Tasikmalaya (java island)
      Maritim 102,6 FM Cirebon (java island)
      BOM 106,8 FM Semarang (java island)
      Metta 104,7 FM Surakarta/solo (java island)
      Star Jogja 101,3 FM Yogyakarta (java island)
      Global Jogja 106,9 FM Bantul (java island)
      Jayabaya 90,4 FM Kediri (java island)
      R FM 94 FM Mojokerto (java island)
      Andalus 91,1 FM Malang (java island)
      Sindo 104,7 FM Surabaya (java island)
      Tawang Alun 92,1 FM Banyuwangi (java island)
      Global Bali 96,5 FM Denpasar (bali island)
      Global Lombok 96,7 FM Mataram (lombok island)
      DMWS 103,5 FM Kupang (timor island, near australia)
      DIA 95,9 FM Pontianak (borneo island)
      RCA 100,2 FM Palangkaraya (borneo island)
      Chandra 88,5 FM Banjarmasin (borneo island)
      Gema Nirwana 105,1 FM Samarinda (borneo island)
      ROM2 102 FM Manado (sulawesi island)
      Nebula 101 FM Palu (sulawesi island)
      SPFM 103,5 FM Makassar (sulawesi island)
      ZIP 93,9 FM Maros (sulawesi island, near Philippines)
      Duta 90,9 FM Ambon (ambon island, part of the Maluku Islands of Indonesia)
      Perkasa 101,2 FM Biak (biak island, part of the Maluku Islands of Indonesia)
      source:
      http://www3.nhk.or.jp/nhkworld/indonesian/aboutus/radio.html
      http://www3.nhk.or.jp/nhkworld/indonesian/top/index.html

  7. lee says:

    Do not forget with idol group SuperMoeLand (SML). :wink:

    Unfortunately, since they run in independent pathways, they are difficult to develop. well considering they come from a small town (Curup city, Sumatra island) in a (very) far from the capital (Jakarta city, Java island). plus they have trouble collecting fans both like j-pop culture in there. :(

    sad news, their had dispersed since last december, due to stagnation group, which is compounded by the absence of co-operation with others who can support them. thus lead with internal problems between management and members and breach of contract issues wich ultimately management decisions with graduated all first-generation members, which means their have disbanded now. :cry:

    you can still see their PV here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L8yNstGsQ7k&feature=youtu.be

    in short, they are not as fortunate fate as like JKT48 which from the first is already supported by big companies. that is the cruel business of entertainment world . :!:

    * sorry for my bad English :wink:

  8. deza says:

    Another prominent example of the influence of J-POP in Indonesia. The mix of J-POP sound with Sundanese lyrics :lol:

  9. jengkol says:

    “As we all know, JKT48 is the milestone for J-Pop culture that -fortunately- hit Indonesia.”

    delusional wota as we all know it , i stop reading the whole article after red that line.

    • Angga says:

      Any J-Pop culture (in music) that sets the milestone in Indonesia other than JKT48? Correct me if I’m wrong, but as far as I know there’s not a single local group in Indonesia that able to grab this many attention coming from the J-scene :)

      And that’s not being delusional as I came from and once did my business as a musician in the scene too. Only stated the fact. And the way you stop reading right from the first line didn’t help at all to promotes all the groups that I’m trying to promote as well too right there in the article, especially the indies one that needs more recognition outside of the scene.

      If that’s not you being delusional with one line you might misunderstood AND your clear lack of comprehension due to your blurred justification, I don’t know in what kind of languages I should explain that to you anymore.