Gender Roles in

Japanese Popular
Music, 1980-2000
BY BRENDAN MCGOVERN
 Pop Music Comparisons

Japanese American
 Enka song ballads  Country music
 J Pop idols  Pop divas
 Female: Matsuda  Madonna, Britney
 Male: SMAP  Backstreet Boys
 J Rock bands  Rock/Alternative
 Visual kei  KISS, David Bowie
(British)
Enka- Japan’s “Country music?”

 “National music,” or
“heart and soul” of Japan
 More female singers in
enka, more male singers
in country, both male-
dominated industries
 Both glorify traditional,
blue collar life, submissive
roles for women
 Enka tends to focus more
on women’s sorrow- failed
romances, longing for lost
love, illicit love affairs
 Female Idols

Japanese American
 Seiko  Madonna
Matsuda  Miley Cyrus
 AKB 48

• https://www.youtube.com/wa
tch?v=iwB8kaT_MRY

• Increased agency- sexual

liberation
• Resurgence of production
company-groomed idols
• https://www.youtube.com/wa
tch?v=fTq4Z--gA_k
Boy Bands
 SMAP
 Run by Johnny & Associates since 1988
 Cross-dressing for commercials and
music videos- not entirely serious
 Katori’s “Shingo Mama”
 1980s “new man” ideal- sensitive,
caring for children, counter to salary
man trope
 Best selling band in Asia
 Backstreet Boys
 Homosexual implications, but still
masculine
 Best selling boy band in history
 Visual-kei and Glam Rock
• Influenced by Western “glam” rock (KISS) and artists
like David Bowie
• Band members almost always male, cross-dressing
and cosplay
• Music and costumes combine influences from
classical, heavy metal, rock, video game and manga
characters
• https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UXYUosk-Cgk
Female musicians in J
Rock
 Princess Princess, “Go Away Boy”
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2Rn73hjPWGg
 Shonen Knife, “Butterfly Boy”
 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0Q8yauGYUs
A
 References
All images and videos from Google and
YouTube
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