This is a page about my views and observations of the impact of J-pop culture
in Singapore. If after reading this and you sort of support or disagree with it....
or just wanna voice out or bring out a new topic for discussions, just drop me
a mail and I'll post it here.

Is J-pop culture just a passing fad in Singapore right now?

Yes, yes. The Japanese pop culture is surely catching on
here. Not just J-pop music, but Jap street fashion as well.

J-Pop music has always been around. Remember The Checkers ?
Mann!! I was still a small kid then!! And of course, much
more recently Chage & Aska, made popular by their "Say Yes"
song. J-pop music and soaps will always be popular among the
non-japanese speaking community here.

What struck me is that this whole J-pop culture thing has
suddenly became cool... Y'know, first it was the whole China
thingy, especially during the Hong Kong handover. Youth fashion
stores here started selling Mao's badges and berets. And yes,
someone tried to capitalize on this trend and started some Mao's
restaurant. And you even see the red army selling handphones on TV!!

Now, it's all about Japan. Please don't misunderstand, I got
absolutely no problems with these trends....These are just my
observations.

I was coming back from work the other day, and as I walked 50
meters from the train station to the bus terminal, I saw at least
10 persons wearing T-shirts with Japanese text on them. I'm sure
they don't understand a word. But y'know, it's just cool to wear
some hiragana and katakana characters on the chest. And for your info,
many of these T-shirts are made in Hong Kong!!

Many say that J-pop culture first swept HK and Taiwan before coming
here, which I think is very true. Just look at some of the Chinese music
videos!! The artistes sing in Mandarin, but the director have to somehow
incorporate some Jap text in it....There's even some Taiwanese cutesy
singer who named herself after my idol...Oh no!! When I mention Yuki,
some people think that I'm referring to that cheap ripoff!!

J-pop music and fashion will always be cool (in the real sense).
I'm just hoping for the fad to pass.....