Asia News: Olympics Music Composer Drama, K-Pop Positives

Two weeks ago, the organizing committee for the Tokyo 2020 Olympic and Paralympic Games announced the music component for the opening ceremony on July 23. Two of the musicians involved were central stars of the so-called Shibuya-kei scene, Japan’s homegrown underground independent music movement that eventually came to define much of J-pop in the 21st century. Tomoyuki Tanaka, better known as Fantastic Plastic Machine, would be music director for both the opening and closing ceremonies; and Keigo Oyamada, better known as Cornelius, often credited with creating the Shibuya-kei sound with his former band Flipper’s Guitar, would compose the music. As soon as the announcement was made, Japanese social media began filling up with comments about Oyamada’s fitness for providing music for what its backers often call a “festival of peace,” not to mention an event that celebrates the accomplishments of people with disabilities. Music fans with long memories recalled that in 1994 and 1995, just as Oyamada’s star was rising, he did two long interviews with Japanese publications in which he described how, as an adolescent, he had tormented and abused at least one classmate with developmental disabilities over a period of years. However, rather than express remorse for his actions, in the interviews he recounted these episodes as if they were fond childhood memories. In some remarks he even seemed proud of them.

Suddenly, the interviews were the talk of Japanese media, and then of the international press, which was already tuning in to negative Olympics news coming out of Tokyo. The organizing committee was understandably taken aback, and some commentators wondered how they had come to hire Oyamada without checking his background. Obviously, it had never occurred to them. Several days later, Oyamada issued a long statement on his home page apologizing for making people “feel very uncomfortable.” He said he deserved all the criticism he had received for his “thoughtless remarks” of 26 years ago, saying that “at the time of the interview, I couldn’t imagine the feelings of the victims.” However, he also said that he was not given a chance to check the contents of the interviews before they were published and implied that some of the contents were “different from the fact.” Nevertheless, he took full responsibility, but in the statement said he would fulfill his obligation to the organizing committee

The organizers, in a very brief statement, acknowledged his apology and left it at that. With only a week to go before the opening ceremony, it would have obviously been very difficult to replace his music. However, the criticism continued on social media, with many commenters saying that Oyamada’s music should not be used. A petition circulated to have his name and music removed from the games and a group that advocates for people with intellectual disabilities slammed the organizing committee’s decision to retain Oyamada since “the Olympic Charter vows to act against any form of discrimination, as well as the Paralympics, which is a festival for athletes with disabilities.” Then, on the evening of July 19, Oyamada said he was quitting the position. The organizing committee said it would not use his music.

One question that many people asked during the controversy was why is this only coming out now? Why didn’t people react the same way in 1995? After all, Oyamada almost immediately went on to become an international star following the interviews. One veteran music critic and DJ wrote that when the original interviews were printed, well before social media was even envisioned, Oyamada was considered “cool” by young Japanese cognoscenti, who thought of his bullying story as yet another facet of his iconoclastic image. They seemed to find it refreshing that he was both honest about his past and didn’t seem to care about it.

As the recent reopening of the South Korean concert and performing arts industry to in-person audiences is threatened by a fourth wave of COVID infections, several prominent K-pop singers have tested positive for the virus.

The Korea Herald reported on July 17 that Lee Min-hyuk of the boy band BTOB had contracted COVID-19, according to his management agency. Apparently, Lee’s vocal coach had tested positive for the virus some time ago, and the singer was subsequently tested twice but both tests came back negative. However, he then started showing symptoms, including a cough and a fever, and underwent a third test at a public health center that came back positive. He is now under quarantine.

YG Entertainment also announced that two members of boy band Treasure tested positive after using self-testing kits. The members then had formal PCR tests done, confirming the diagnosis. The other members of the band as well as their staff have all returned negative tests so far. 

The Korea Times also reported that a popular veteran “trot” (traditional pop ballad) singer, Na Hoon-a, has come under fire for going ahead with six sold-out concerts in the city of Daegu between July 16 and 18, just as the fourth wave was gathering steam and other artists had cancelled planned performances. Though Na’s management had limited the number of tickets to each concert, media showed up and recorded large crowds of people lined up to enter the venue without social distancing measures. The city of Daegu was also criticized for having allowed the concerts to proceed, and replied that they had no legal grounds for stopping them, since each show admitted no more than 4,000 people and current COVID guidelines for the venue size where Na performed allowed up to 5,000. Daegu was under Level 2 social distancing alert at the time, while Seoul, the hardest hit city by the pandemic, was under Level 4 alert, which is the most severe. At any rate, Na said he would continue his current tour.