This post I’d like to direct your attention to is a pretty old, dating back a couple of years now, which as we all know is like the Precambrian Era in Web-years, but it’s still interesting and relevant, so check it out here.
It’s from the sporadically-updated but always thoughtful and worth-reading Appears blog (hat tip to Patrick from Make Believe Melodies for putting me onto the site in the first place) on the state of English language Japanese music fandom and the need for more critical analysis. The writer is way politer then necessary about the more knuckle-dragging, transferred-nationalism elements of the overseas fan community, and I think gets tied up in knots a little in trying to analyse their way around the issue of cultural relativism, cultural imperialism and just generally what legitimacy a foreigner has to express a critical opinion of Japanese pop culture (quick answer: as much right as anyone) but if the worst thing you can think of to say about someone is that they’re nicer than they need to be, that’s basically a rather good sign.
In the end though, there needs to be more of this sort of analysis in the Japanese language media. It’s something I’m looking into at the moment and hopefully will be able to write about in the future, but in terms of the limited (in more ways than one) scope of the English language Japanese music fan community, this is a powerful mission statement.
Clear And Refreshing 