Manga, anime, J-pop – once it was all about Japan. But the country’s efforts to channel its ‘cool’ as part of a global soft power strategy may need a revamp amid intense competition from Korea.
“New York bands all seemed to sound the same,” Shutoku Mukai says of his latest trip. “All the bands in Brooklyn had female singers and sequencers with a punk-funk feel. It seemed a bit limited. The freshest sounds right now may be coming out of Tokyo.”