Although I’m not a huge fan of J-pop, I do really love Japanese ’80s music, so I thought I would start a Japanese ’80s gossip series here in light of its wonderful abundance! I’ve also made a playlist on Spotify, so if you are interested in it, check it here.
When Japanese people think of Japanese ’80s music, two names come first to mind: Nakamori Akina (中森明菜) and Matsuda Seiko (松田聖子). They were the most popular singers of this era, when fans were often asking if you were “Akina-ha” (明菜派) or “Seiko-ha” (聖子派) — which roughly means “team Akina” or “team Seiko.”
“Ha” (派) means “clan, faction, group, political party, clique, sect, school.” It is used in words like “ryuuha” (流派), which means “schools” in philosophy or art. In addition to this, “ha” is commonly used to describe preferences like being a “dog or a cat person,” inu-ha (犬派) or neko-ha (猫派).
Even today, when people talk about that music scene, they often mention which “ha” they were in. One of the reasons people identified this way is due to the two singers’ characters, which were completely opposite. Seiko was very “angel-like,” usually wearing white or pink dresses with a lot of ribbons. Moreover, she was performing a very “sweet cutsie girl attitude” and it was also the behavior and style of most female singers of that time. It was conforming to the image of the “ideal girl” many Japanese men had.
Akina’s persona was completely different: she was regularly wearing black, barely smiling while singing, always so cool and a bit cold. That was unusual and very refreshing! All her songs were generally “punchy,” with lyrics suggesting a strong woman, and a little bit of a “bad girl” vibe (for Japan).
Check out the link above to see one of her biggest hits “Jukkai” (十戒 = Ten commandments).
Next time, I will talk about Matsuda Seiko and her scandal filled youth!