[aisasami]

This topic was inspired when I was watching J-Melo on NHK World during dinner (I had nothing else to watch) with the family. My dad isn't into Japanese pop culture like my siblings and I are (he likes old skool anime from when he was a kid but that's it). So, when Morning Musume appeared on the show, my dad's reaction on Haruka was priceless.

Dad: That girl in the top right corner, how old is she? 12 or 13?
Me: Yep, she is about 12.
Dad: Holy shit. She is that old?
Me: Yeah, the one who is talking is 23. She graduating from the group soon.
Dad: I can see why she is graduating. She is an "old bag" compared the 12 year old.

He also thought the Pyoco Pyoco costume were prostitute outfits (because yellow is the color of prostitution, according to him) until I told him that it's a duck outfit.

He can't believe there is more than 48 girls in AKB48. But, that's another story...

How does your parents, family members, co-workers, or normal friends (who aren't into the whole Japanese culture) think about Morning Musume and/or the whole Japanese idol culture? I was originally going to post this in the off-topic chat (and I hope it's not in the wrong sub-forum). But, I am interested in hearing how others, who are clueless about the Japanese pop culture, think about when shown this type of things.

[Anderei]

I don't bother sharing it with my family or anyone like that, but I have a kpop friend (his knowledge of jpop doesn't go past knowing who Ayumi, Namie, and Kumi are) who likes to call them Moo Moo Musume. He's pretty underwhelmed by them.

He did like Takahashi, though. He thought Fantasy ga Hajimaru was a great song, too. He also thought Riho's dancing showed promise, but he didn't think that it would really go anywhere because she's in a jpop group.

[showraniy]

Umm... I have a few IRL friends (that's all I can think to call my non-Jpop/Asian pop culture friends) who know who Morning Musume are. One was my second roommate in college, and she calls them Morning Children, and likes them other than thinking they're oversexualized. She's strongly against the outfits that are acceptably worn by idols in general in Japan, but she's only seen me watching MM concerts as reference for that. The midriff-baring, short shorts/skirts are probably the main things she doesn't like given the age of some of the girls (anyone who wasn't Takahashi, Reina, or Sayumi at the time).

My other roommate has heard me talk about them for a variety of unrelated reasons, but I haven't talked about them too in depth and she probably wouldn't remember who they were if asked.

... Thinking about this, this forum is the only place I talk about H!P at all to be honest. My online friend isn't into Jpop or Asian culture much at all anymore, but vaguely knows of/cares about Girls' Generation and Super Junior and would recognize "Gee."

I guess this is the only forum I have to talk about Asian pop culture at all. I need more outlets.

[Mukuro]

Whenever I order CDs or whatever that isn't English my parents always group it as "Chinese music" not in a racist way it's just I never inform them which it is but I do correct them as always.

My friends don't really care for it so I don't mention it. I got my cousin into H!P a year ago and she's obsessed now so she's the only irl person I talk about it with openly.

I guess really no one but my one cousin really cares and I I showed or explained it to anyone else they would most likely think I'm insane..

[Plum]

Unfavorably. My family refers to J-Pop (and to a lesser degree also K-Pop) as irritating, screechy noise.

I had a couple of friends in the area that liked H!P, but we kind of stopped following MM at around the same time. Everyone else's reaction is basically that MM is proof of how weird and messed up Japan is, because of the sometimes odd outfits and very young girls.

To some degree I am also not comfortable with the wardrobe choices I see on some of the younger girls, particularly during concerts. I have also never been a fan of the photobooks.

[Rally]

Everyone I've tried talking to about K-pop or J-pop usually hates it. Not only because of style or music, but because none of it is in English. Language barriers seem to be the biggest deal in the world for anyone.
My mom likes some current K-pop, but she's more into the 90's K-pop (what I grew up on).

As for Morning Musume and other H!P stuff, I honestly wouldn't dare sharing any of it with anyone. It's really something you have to grow into (in my opinion). I personally hated everything H!P-related since I was a kid save for a song here and there and Risa Niigaki. I only started taking interest once the 9th Gen came in and stole my heart

I play it out loud around people once in a while because IDGAF, but I know it makes them all burn (including my family).

[Pi Miki]

My mom heard me playing some Morning Musume songs once and told me to shut it off because it sounded like "cats nyao-ing."

[neshcom]

One of my friends jokes that MM release new songs every week (though, that's more applicable to AKB nowadays), and all of my friend's are generally cool with it. Hell, they all listen to gabba/hardcore/j-core, so suck it, best friends. My parents only know of my liking of Asian music on the whole. Trufax: once, when I had Love Is The Greatest Thing as my ringtone, my mom asked if it was Cher and the Situation could not be properly resolved due to an unrelated but immediate phone call. I never get a hard time about it, especially because of my self-depreciating lead-in to every one of my Public Rants and Musings. Rrrltales: when I interned at my mom's office, my Asia-liking was kind of well-known around the office, and one day, somebody put up a piece of paper in the men's bathroom awarding me Employee of the Month for some stated reason related to my aforementioned Asia-liking, and I tore it down and put it in the nearby trash can, and when ask about it later, I feigned ignorance, and the Situation was blamed on a creepy and also smelly Asian accountant and I don't think I fessed up.

I'm sorry, I don't believe I answered your question?

[Petit Hulk]

I tend to keep it under wraps, though my brother knows who they are probably because I had them as my PS3 theme for a good while. I had to change it because it seemed like every time I was by myself I'd get a group shot and when company came over it was Eri bikini shot on the cliff. The bf doesn't like them at all, he keeps asking me why I still listen to them when all the girls my age graduated. Don't even try with Momoclo or any other idol-type stuff. He just side-eyes me and wonders how I can decry some music as horrible and listen to those songs.

He's not opposed to foreign music entirely, I managed to turn him onto Takui (and I was quite surprised to see that he had several of his songs in his top playcount on his ipod before it was stolen) Scandal, AKFG (though that was more of him becoming a fan of them on his own because I'm not huge into them), and 2NE1. We enjoyed making fun of Bad Boy (those lyrics can be applied to many a thing) from Big Bang this weekend too. For others, I have no problem showing Kpop or Jpop/rock to willing listeners.

But morning musume? Strangers? For one, I'm deathly afraid of being labeled as some sort of kodomo hunter (hurrdurrseewhatididtherehyukhyuk) because once Risa's gone, most of the girls will be considerably younger than me. If they happen to see a picture I'll lie and age up the girls 3-4 years so it won't be entirely too creepy. Secondly, idol music is a hard sell in general. And lastly, anything that requires me to explain before showing is better left unshown. It's part of myself that I don't like to "hang out" so to speak unless it's an online message board. I'll let myself geek out over movies, comics, ect but not idol music in public.

I don't know if someone my age or around my age could go into MM and love it. I got into MM because the girls were my age and acted like I did with my friends. It didn't help that at the time it was the Christina/Britney/blonde B-listers sexathon that I was not comfortable with at all and so I had those girls that were my age and acted normal, unlike our pop stars, who even now I see as standoffish/rude/snob/ect. Of course now I see the "sexual advertising" was a different flavor, but back then I didn't notice at all unless I stumbled into a H!P kids thread and certain posters creeped me out with their drooling comments. Now, well, it's been a long time, at least/more than a decade, so for me, stop listening to a group that's been a part of my life for so long would suck. Especially since so many of the groups from my youth don't exist anymore.

[zlilzlilzlil]

Well, my brother and mother know about H!P... my brother is really into anime and manga, so he hear songs once in a while... so he already know to sing some lines from songs of H!P

About my mother there is a funny story - I was about a year ago and I was watching Natsu Dakara by Buono when my mother entered the room, I stopped the video and it was an airi close up, and my mother started saying that she looks like a very pretty person and she can be a nice wife...


About friends, some of my closest friends know I'm listening to japanese music in general, and my closest friend really tried to figure out what is diffrent from english or hebrew (my native) songs and how the H!P group work in general, but she doesn't seems to understand...

[MysticForceRed]

My family don't care for it. When they are with me I can't listen to it. My little sis likes a few songs. Mainly because of costumes, the beat of the music, etc. Which she is nearly 9. My friends are the same way. I know one person that listens to k-pop and they live in Montgomery. I still feel like no one in the state of Alabama likes anything like this because 4-wheelers, trucks, and football is all people breathe

[Al Kusanagi]

All my friends are huge nerds and gamers of all types (card, board, video, computer, tabletop role playing games, etc.), comic, anime and fantasy/sci-fi novel fans and most work in IT, so they're not allowed to say shit about my love of J-pop.

When it comes to MM, I hold the same views as religion: Don't force it on people, let them come into it on their own. I'll show them various dramas and horror or action movies with HP members in them, and the occasional funny variety show, but that's about it. As far as most of them are concerned, they mainly think their actresses and will comment "Oh, that's the girl from that movie about ___," but that's about it. I have one friend that's slightly more into them and can name his favorites out of HP, but even then I don't make him watch performances or anything. I do constantly play Japanese music in my car and if someone comments on a song they find catchy I'll say who it is and let them borrow the album or whatever. I have a Japanese-American friend who was living there during the 2000-01 "golden age," so he knows about that era of MM, but his knowledge of J-pop is pretty much limited to that era of MM, Hamasaki and Hikaru Utada.

If I WERE going to introduce friends directly to HP, I think MM would be more of the destination than the path, since I'd start them off on MKB with the older girls and larger musical variety, then transition into Buono for the mix of younger girls and pop-rock, then probably the EriJunLin era MM and finally their current form.

[BonkyuAsh]

My friends generally don't care. I told my crush about it and he was laughed at me and said he likes some anime and that's all.
My parents hate it, call it Chinese music and don't let me listen to it around my siblings because they shouldn't be exposed to crap that's not English.
My room mate thinks its a joke and not music at all and that none of the irks can sing and that thy just squeak out the lyrics. He loves Hide and X-Japan though.
Me and my old best friend used to listen to it together, but we had a falling out. I kind of think she only listened to it because if me anyways.

[Kaworu]

BonkyuAsh, on 05 March 2012 - 06:02 PM, said:

My parents hate it, call it Chinese music and don't let me listen to it around my siblings because they shouldn't be exposed to crap that's not English.

This is horrible. I'm sorry, but it is. Your parents need to explore other country URGENTLY.

[Cyrene]

Luckily for me no one really cared that I listened to MM and they didn't judge it since I've always listened to Jpop or anime music. (I started at like 12 with Sailor Moon haha). Morning Musume actually got a better reaction than AKB48 because there were less girls and not always partially naked .

My parents called it "bubble goon" music!(Because it rhymes with Sailor Moon)
My boyfriend loves AKB48 and used to love MM too.

My friends were either into MM or Jpop in some way, so I guess I was lucky. Unfortunately I -do- hide the fact I listen to AKB/MM when it comes to my college campus because a lot of the 'anime' crowd out here are a special breed of dumb.

[BonkyuAsh]

Kaworu, on 05 March 2012 - 06:54 PM, said:

BonkyuAsh, on 05 March 2012 - 06:02 PM, said:

My parents hate it, call it Chinese music and don't let me listen to it around my siblings because they shouldn't be exposed to crap that's not English.

This is horrible. I'm sorry, but it is. Your parents need to explore other country URGENTLY.

They're very close minded. I just blow them off.

[Anderei]

Petit Melon, on 05 March 2012 - 07:38 AM, said:

Don't even try with Momoclo or any other idol-type stuff. He just side-eyes me and wonders how I can decry some music as horrible and listen to those songs.

One of my kpop friends loves all the MomoClo stuff I show him. He thinks Momoka is adorable.


Not Morning Musume related, but I know a lot of people who love Buono but aren't really aware of H!P or that all the members are apart of other groups.

[enmi]

Back in college, I listened to JPOP so much during study dates that my husband (then boyfriend) would end up with it stuck in his head. He likes how catchy the songs are. (I just about smacked him when he wouldn't stop singing Pyoco Pyoco Ultra. Not that I hate it that much, it was just annoying.) I think he is pretty impressed with how, well, genki the girls seem. He doesn't follow any girl too much because he doesn't want to seem like a pedophile since many of the girls are young. He does a pretty good Sayumi imitation, though.

My parents never really said anything about it to me. I guess they figured I was trying to study Japanese and other Asian cultures, so it made sense to them that I would listen to Japanese music. My mom only wants to listen to slower, more melodic songs like Buono!'s "Goal" or a few of Utada Hikaru's songs, and then only if she has to (if she's in my car).

I have a few friends who think JPOP is dumb and that I have (I HATE this term) "yellow fever" since I like it. Other people just say, "They have chipmunk voices," or, "They're copying Lady Gaga!"

Like others, I don't really talk about it that much.

[kitaoji]

I virtually don't tell anybody. But I have a few friends who do know about my habit, and of course, my parents, since every now and then, I mail home a hefty-sized box full of anime/manga/CDs.

So - my parents. They'd rather have me listen to nothing after the 90s, but that's taking it too far. My dad doesn't mind. He's too much of an individualist.

I dragged my mom with me to an anime musical(!) and to the SKE shop this past January straight from the airport (so that involved a Shinkansen ride), and she was beyond annoyed that I was still listening to "teenager stuff" and more importantly, spending craploads of money on photos and CDs and DVDs. Then again, it still is her money, and when I use my own money, she's only concerned with the amount of time I spend on it (fair enough). Otherwise, she does recommend me to practice the dances as a means to stay in shape. But she hasn't seen any wota in person yet, so I dunno...

My friends either don't care, or they dislike it. I hauled my friend (who was in JET that time) to a concert and she didn't talk to me for months. But she acknowledged Ai-chan and C-ute's talent so that's okay.

Another friend of mine is really into SNSD and when I played for him SKE48, he said it was "too recycled" and "old fashioned".

A third friend of mine wanted to get into Jpop and I played for her a couple of SKE48 videos. I probably should have chosen something better like Hirai Ken or Ayu or just good old fun like Yuzu. She wasn't disturbed by the swimsuits, but more by the fact that there were so many people crammed in the video. Oops.

tl;dr - they're mostly indifferent, or don't listen to anything outside their own favorites (I have a friend who refuses to touch anything beyond old 60s live music), or they think it's just dumb.

[kitaoji]

BonkyuAsh, on 05 March 2012 - 06:02 PM, said:

My parents hate it, call it Chinese music and don't let me listen to it around my siblings because they shouldn't be exposed to crap that's not English.

Well, if your parents are fixed onto hating Chinese music, try this old Chinese tune. And have its English counterpart.

Or how about this.

In fact, back in the 80s, a lot of Chinese singers covered Jpop tunes. Like this one - I didn't learn until years later that it's actually "Manatsu no Kajitsu" by Southern All Stars.

[strawberryjam]

My brothers used to be in anime and stuff when it wasn't so cool. And naturally that leads to Jpop too and they decided to show their little sister a disturbing PV of Minimoni because she would naturally like it. Which I did!

After that, I got completely obsessed with being like Ai Kago. I used to hang out with all the Asian kids at school; they all already knew Ayumi Hamasaki and Utada Hikaru at the very least. My good friends and I liked Kpop then too. We learned a SES dance together. And we were super obsessed with w-inds and learned their dances too. Anyways, so I did show them MM and H!P and I think they did like it. They weren't obsessive like me, but at the very least today if I were to talk to them, I could still say, "OMG AI KAGO IS PREGNANT" and they'd go "NO WAY!"

Anyways, people at work asked me what kind of music I like. I said Japanese and Korean pop. If they ask me more, I'd go with the safe side and just show them Girls' Generation. There's just much cooler/more normal things today even in Jpop to show.

I told this story to the BBS before. My brother isn't allowed to like Japanese stuff anymore like idols because his wife thinks by default they are gravure idols and their fans are disgusting perverts.

kitaoji, on 06 March 2012 - 02:36 AM, said:

In fact, back in the 80s, a lot of Chinese singers covered Jpop tunes. Like this one - I didn't learn until years later that it's actually "Manatsu no Kajitsu" by Southern All Stars.

I also didn't know this. Though I am aware of a number of Chinese songs being covers of Japanese songs. I remember one weekend when my mom had her usual concerts up, I saw one saw that said the lyrics were written by Akimoto Yasushi.

Another very famous song that is a cover. But it's so.. classic and dear to Chinese people I think they all forget that fact or don't even know it.

[NekoKai]

I first got into J-Pop with ºC-ute and then I knew some ZYX, Berryz, MoMusu, and Shuffle songs, but I didn't know who they were, I just knew the songs, and then I got into W and my friend at the time (who got me into J-Pop) and I did the dance to Ai no Imi wo Oshiete for our school talent show and I did Tsuji's part, and we also did covers of songs and got a few of our friends to join us. My high school had/has an anime club so at the very least people put up with us (there were some black kids who got annoyed when my "Kago", who was black, and I practiced the songs during down time at gym).

My family also knows that I listen to mostly non-american music and I make my mom listen to my mixed H!P CDs whenever we're in the car, and my brother is into Japanese...everything, but he used to get mad at me for watching the commercials that W was in but he likes most of the songs he's heard and since he knows Japanese culture he understands the whole graduation aspect of MoMusu, but I think he's the only person that I've told about that aspect. Whenever the kids in my family wanted to listen to my CD player I let them listen to J-Pop so I wouldn't have to worry about them understanding cuss words or sex stuff and they liked it because it was lively. My niece watched a few music videos (Pepper Keibu was one of them) because she liked the outfits.

I think the only "problem" I ever ran into with the music was my mom thinking that ºC-ute especially was annoying, so I started with Namida no Iro (since she likes Spanish stuff) rather than Sakura Chirari and that made a huge difference. My boyfriend just thinks I'm weird, but I think he's weird for being the one to show me new Taylor Swift songs, so... Oh! and the reason we started dating when we did was because he asked me what I was listening to, so I sent him the link to what I was ironically listening to, Hinoi Asuka's ♥Wanna be Your Girlfriend♥ So that plus him seeing me be Tsuji and dressing up like a dead Japanese Popstar for Halloween means he was well aware of my insanity, and I tell him that that song is our song, much to his chagrin.

[Shoujo Q]

I tend to be a bit respectful at home when playing music. I only play it when I'm alone or I have it down pretty low. My mother doesn't seem to care about it. Though I remember showing off a Princess Princess video and thought the lead singer couldn't hold a tune and thought it was horrible. I think it was M that I was playing, not sure. I also remember showing the Mopreme's video to her years ago, but she just did the motherly thing of nodding and not really paying attention. She doesn't give two craps either way so why bother?

My sister and most of my co-workers all think it sounds the same. "Chinese" That goes for Korean, Japanese and otherwise. If I do play my music at work I have a separate American Only playlist I must use. I can only enjoy my music with headphones. Sometimes if work is empty and there aren't many people there I will put it on my speakers. There's only one girl at work who knows what Kpop is and that's only because her Aunt is Korean and she was exposed to it through her.


Oh and I fixed the title of this topic, it was bothering me.

[Madara]

NekoKai, on 11 March 2012 - 06:23 PM, said:

Oh! and the reason we started dating when we did was because he asked me what I was listening to, so I sent him the link to what I was ironically listening to, Hinoi Asuka's ♥Wanna be Your Girlfriend♥ So that plus him seeing me be Tsuji and dressing up like a dead Japanese Popstar for Halloween means he was well aware of my insanity, and I tell him that that song is our song, much to his chagrin.

You're scaring me. What dead Japanese pop star did you dress up as for Halloween?

[Ap2000]

I study Japanology so everybody knows I've been into all kinds of Japanese shit for years.

None of the non-Japanology people I know listens to anything Japanese.
And only my roommate likes some K-Pop and watches anime.

I yet have to meet a student that even knows MM.


@NekoKai; I read that as "dead Japanese pornstar".

@BonkyuAsh; That is absolutely horrible that your parents treat you that way. =/

[JPope]

Morning Musume indirectly brought my wife and I together, so it's all good here.

[Petit Hulk]

Shoujo Q, on 11 March 2012 - 06:49 PM, said:

Oh and I fixed the title of this topic, it was bothering me.

Oh god I wasn't the only one.

edit-
@Ap - This is one of the many threads you have mentioned mistaking sex for something else. I think you need to get laid.

[aisasami]

Petit Melon, on 12 March 2012 - 06:24 AM, said:

Shoujo Q, on 11 March 2012 - 06:49 PM, said:

Oh and I fixed the title of this topic, it was bothering me.

Oh god I wasn't the only one.

Heeeeeeeeeeeeeeeey, it was hard coming up with a title and the topic. The effort was there, just not the right words. :(

[NekoKai]

Madara, on 12 March 2012 - 02:02 AM, said:

NekoKai, on 11 March 2012 - 06:23 PM, said:

Oh! and the reason we started dating when we did was because he asked me what I was listening to, so I sent him the link to what I was ironically listening to, Hinoi Asuka's ♥Wanna be Your Girlfriend♥ So that plus him seeing me be Tsuji and dressing up like a dead Japanese Popstar for Halloween means he was well aware of my insanity, and I tell him that that song is our song, much to his chagrin.

You're scaring me. What dead Japanese pop star did you dress up as for Halloween?

I just wore what I wore for "Ai no..." but then I did this to my hair(which is blonde) and skin>  halloween.jpg (5.11K)
Number of downloads: 0(sorry for the bad lighting, quality, and size. I didn't want to take up a lot of room.

[Petit Hulk]

aisasami, on 12 March 2012 - 06:34 PM, said:

Heeeeeeeeeeeeeeeey, it was hard coming up with a title and the topic. The effort was there, just not the right words. :(

It was a great topic~ and it seems we all have the same sorts of stories.