surging news report on March 10 The new coronary pneumonia sweeping the world has affected the lives of many people. And it has a more special impact on the entertainment circle that has been in the spotlight for a long time and has huge public radiation. Today, let us observe how the Japanese showbiz is responding to this epidemic. As of 10:30 on March 10, Tokyo time, Japan has accumulated 524 confirmed cases of new coronary pneumonia (including 14 cases returned by chartered flights).
Tokyo Dome is one of Japan’s important performance venues
as a turning point on February 26,
The impact of the new crown epidemic on Japan only gradually appeared in February this year. However, in early February, the main focus of society was still on the heart-wrenching "Diamond Princess" cruise ship, and the public only felt the full impact of the epidemic from the middle of the day.
Although the local governments of Japan’s two largest cities, Tokyo and Osaka, announced on February 21 and 19 respectively that they will suspend or postpone official large-scale events, most of the artists still choose to follow the scheduled itinerary at the first time Organize concerts and other activities. For example, after discussing with the company, the electronic music group Perfume decided to continue the concert at Tokyo Dome on the 25th and 26th of the same month. But at the same time, they also added a full refund channel.
The turning point of the Perfume combination
took place on February 26. In the afternoon of the same day, Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe made a request for the reduction or cancellation of various large-scale events across the country in the next two weeks at the COVID-19 Response Headquarters. In the context of Japan, the government's request (generally called "self-requesting request" in Japanese) does not have strict enforcement power in the legal sense, but as artists and their companies who bear public responsibilities, they are still very active in responding This call.
On the day the news was announced, the aforementioned Perfume group issued an urgent announcement to cancel the performance a few hours before the start of the performance. Exile, who performed at the Osaka Dome on the same day, made the same decision just before the opening. Naturally, this sudden change caused dissatisfaction among some fans. Even after the cancellation of the announcement, many fans gathered outside the venue that day. Among them, the fans who came from other places at the expense of taking time off were particularly at a loss.
Exile combination
Subsequently, more performing arts companies responded. Large firms including Genesis, Ai Hui, etc. announced that they will suspend the arrangements of their artists including stage plays and concerts. Singers who are on national or world tour, represented by Kenshi Yonezu, Masaharu Fukuyama, and Gen Hoshino, have also suspended or changed their schedule. Ringo Shiina in the controversy
In the news that artists have cancelled performances, the group "Tokyo Incident" with singer Ringo Shiina as the main singer can be described as an alien. Facing the government's request, the group decided to continue the performance that was originally scheduled to be held in Tokyo on February 29 and March 1.
This news immediately caused an uproar in the society. Not only the angry netizens expressed their dissatisfaction one after another, many artists also voiced their voices through social networking sites and other forms. For example, Yoshiki, a member of the rock group X Japan, tweeted several times. After emphasizing that his speech was not aimed at a particular artist, he said that the decision to cancel the performance is the right choice at this difficult time, taking the public interest as the first priority.
in everyone'sAmong the criticisms, the boundary between personal and social responsibility became a focus of discussion. As the broadcast writer Yukiko Nonomura said, there may be fans who still want to watch the show even if they know that they are at risk of being infected, but the crux of the problem is that the highly infectious disease has long been beyond the scope of personal choice. . The Tokyo Incident’s venue can hold approximately 5,000 people, and it is located near Tokyo Station, one of the Tokyo transportation hubs. As long as an audience is infected, its impact on society is incalculable. More netizens pointed out that, as a member of the director group for the opening and closing ceremonies of the Tokyo Olympics and Paralympics, Shiina Ringo's decision was even more "knowingly committed".
Tokyo Incident group
, but in the midst of scolding, many people also put forward different voices. Their focus also did not stop at a single artist, but to explore the impact of such emergencies on the show business circle as a whole. Singer Takashi Nishikawa pointedly pointed out the lack of government responsibilities. He said that it is actually an irresponsible performance for the government to simply ask the singer and the company to make their own decisions. In fact, every large-scale performance in the Japanese entertainment industry requires several months of preparation in advance. The dome-level performances of the Olympic year are even on the schedule set a few years ago, and it is difficult to cancel or postpone them at will. According to calculations by the Japanese media, the loss of revenue for every cancellation of a dome performance, including tickets and peripheral products, is as high as 1 billion yen (about 66.185 million yuan). What's more serious is that under current regulations, performance insurance does not apply to cancellations due to epidemics. Therefore, the government's request without policy guarantees such as subsidies is undoubtedly a big problem for the performance unit.
The Tokyo Incident’s tour was originally scheduled to take place on February 29. Most of the artists who made the cancellation decision at the first time belonged to large firms, and they have the ability to deal with the billion-dollar crisis. But smaller firms and even independent artists may not be able to survive this shock. The aforementioned Tokyo Incident belonged to the small office of which Ringo Shiina was the president. This performance is the first reorganization after the group announced its dissolution 8 years ago. It is of great significance. In addition, the day before the government announcement, the news that Tokyo Incident will sing as the theme song of this year's "Detective Conan" theater version has just been released. This has also become an indirect reason why the group cannot easily cancel their performance.
Tokyo Incident becomes the theater version of "Detective Conan: Scarlet Bullet" singing OST.
crisis/turnaround
In addition to the above controversy, the new crown epidemic has also had an impact on other aspects of the Japanese entertainment industry. And the response method adopted by the industry also makes people seem to see a turning point in the structural reform of the entertainment industry in the crisis.
First of all, in addition to the cancellation or continuation of public events, many artists have chosen an innovative way of performing without audience. For example, the singer aiko decided to hold his March 8th concert as scheduled, but changed to a form of no live audience and at the same time broadcast live on the video website YouTube. On the 29th of last month, the Tokyo Girls Collection, which has a huge influence among young people, was also held in the empty Yoyogi National Stadium. Including the costume show and guest Nogizaka 46 performances can be watched online for free.
For emerging artists or artists other than pop music, the Internet has also become their first choice. Many performance venues in Tokyo have also adopted measures such as not charging venue fees.Preferential policies contribute to alleviating the impact on the entertainment industry. For example, the free live broadcast of the Tokyo Symphony Orchestra on the well-known website Niconico attracted an unprecedented audience of nearly 100,000 people. This also makes many conservative classical musicians think about the possibility of new changes.
aiko has a live concert on YouTube.
After the Japanese government announced the decision to temporarily close schools nationwide on February 28, new media, represented by the Internet, responded more actively. Hulu and Paravi, the two largest audio-visual streaming websites in Japan, have decided to release some of their TV series and variety shows for free. The publishing company Shueisha also announced that it will open its "Weekly Shonen Jump" magazine and "One Piece" and other electronic versions of animation works free of charge to readers.
The performance of various spontaneous organizations in the Japanese entertainment industry is also a side of the epidemic that deserves attention. On March 4th, the Japan Music Entrepreneurs Association and two other related organizations jointly issued a reminder for future large-scale performances. The next day, the Japan Actors Federation also issued an open letter calling on the government to protect the rights of actors during the epidemic. Due to historical development and industrial deconstruction and other reasons, compared with the entertainment circles of other developed countries, the trade union power of the Japanese performing arts community has never achieved long-term development. It is difficult to say that the above two associations have assumed a similar role as a trade union in terms of activity content or scale. But no matter what, the re-focused discussion on related topics caused by the new crown epidemic has paved the way for subsequent development.
In an article reviewing the Japanese entertainment industry in 2019 at the end of last year, I mentioned that the Tokyo Olympics to be held in 2020 may be an opportunity to further digitize the Japanese cultural industry and test the relationship between public power and the autonomous relationship of the entertainment industry. Paradoxically, the unexpected new crown epidemic that came first achieved the same effect in these two aspects. I believe that the gains and losses of the Japanese industry can also provide more people with different enlightenments.
(original title: Japanese showbiz under the epidemic: performances that are difficult to cancel)
(responsible editor: Hu Mengyao_NK5655)
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