This is a guest post by Samantha Jennings
Despite being one of the most – if not the most – technologically advanced nations today, Japan has retained a rather conservative view towards music. Not the type to jump up and down and rave, they impressed the world with how polite they were at a One Direction concert, and even Zedd had to warm the crowd up with his hits before they started jumping frantically with fists in the air.
Dance Music has had some trouble penetrating Japan, but the appeal hasn’t been lost to them completely. MTV Iggy’s featured a list of seven of the most promising producers in Japan’s EDM scene, and while EDM festivals have slowly been popping up all over the country, these producers just don’t have as much room to showcase their talents. In the US, where EDM seems to have reached its full potential, EDM producers found their homes in the nightclubs in casinos – venues that are absent from Japan.
This could change soon, however, as talks of the liberalization of gaming in Japan could mean more room for casinos in the country. While illegal in Japan, many analysts predict that casinos could bring a potentially multi-billion dollar industry to the country. The Japanese have also been known to enjoy the occasional game, playing a version of Pinball they know as Pachinko. In other parts of the world, the Japanese have made such an impact on the online gambling market that Intercasino, the world’s first online casino, has even expanded their services to accommodate the Japanese.
Discussions on whether or not casinos will be allowed on Japan are still underway, and with the 2020 Olympics bolstering growth in the region, Japan is looking towards casinos as a potential source of revenue. Should casinos be allowed onshore, they mean a great new opportunity for Japanese EDM producers, who up until now had been restricted to the occasional night club and EDM festival.
But there are others who have made the most of the situation, banking on Japan’s collective obsession with pop culture to bring a different kind of EDM. Ryo Inoue, a man who goes by the name DJ Evangelion, has managed to secure himself a seat at MOGRA, Akihabara’s local anime club, where he spins a mix of western classics and surprisingly, anime theme songs. Producers like DJ Evangelion, DJ Livetune, and Mofuku-Chan have managed to keep EDM alive in the country, by mixing it with the Japanese love for anime.
Here’s a video of DJ Livetune performing at MOGRA’s third anniversary: