1/7/2024 0 Comments Song big in japanCicadas are one of the few big bugs that can’t be bought at pet shops or supermarkets, and little kids enjoy the challenge of catching bugs that can “go off” at any time.Ĥ. ![]() Cicada hunting is still a super popular summer pastime for kidsīug catching remains a popular hobby in Japan, and it’s not uncommon to see little kids carrying giant nets and with bug boxes hanging from their necks in local parks. He later sits down to write a poem about Utsusemi, describing her “cicada shell” robe.ģ. In the book, Genji attempts to surprise Utsusemi in her chambers, but after his plan is foiled he finds only one of the robes she casts off to evade him. In Murasaki Shikibu’s "The Tale of Genji," one of the first women to ever resist the titular protagonist is known as 空蝉 (Utsusemi or “empty cicada”, or more slightly more elegantly, “The Lady of the Locust Shell”). Cicadas even show up in classical Japanese literature (Fun bonus fact: the reason cicadas don’t annoy themselves or go deaf while calling is because they can “switch off” their hearing.)Ģ. If there happen to be a few of them clinging to a tree outside your apartment or office, the noise can be almost deafening. While they’re not quite as irritating as they are portrayed in popular anime "Namiuchigiwa no Muromi-san." Cicadas are so associated with summer that it’s rare to see a summer scene in a Japanese TV show or anime that doesn’t feature the sound of them chirping in the background, and even video games like Nintendo’s "Animal Crossing" series include their song during the virtual summer months.Īs those who live in Japan or countries where cicadas can be found in the wild will know, however, cicadas can be noisy as hell. Cicadas hold special significance here in Japan, and are considered to be almost synonymous with summer, so join us after the jump for five quick-fire facts about Japan’s summer bug.Įven with the intense heat and humidity of the rainy season in June and July, it is not until the cicadas start chirping that people consider summer to have truly arrived. Having arrived in the middle of summer, at first the ear-piercing racket coming from the tree outside my window drove me to distraction, but over the years I came to enjoy the sound these little bugs made, even if their appearance still gives me the creeps.Īs it happens, I’m not the only one who appreciates these little bugs’ songs. He wrote it with his band mates, Bernhard Lloyd and Frank Mertens.Īnd the track was produced by two of their regular collaborators, Colin Pearson and Wolfgang Loos.Coming from the UK where the largest insect you’re likely to encounter is a slightly overweight bumblebee, I was quite taken aback the first time I saw a "semi," or cicada in English, in Japan. ![]() ![]() “Big in Japan” was written by Alphaville’s lead singer Marian Gold. Moreover, “Big in Japan” was also moderately successful when it was covered by a German rock band called the Guano Apes in 2000. ![]() Ironically it seems “Big in Japan” didn’t chart in the Land of the Rising Sun itself (Japan). However, the song did top the Eurochart Hot 100, the Official German Chart (where it was also certified Gold), the Sverigetopplistan (Sweden), the Schweizer Hitparade (Switzerland) and Billboard’s Hot Dance Club Play list (USA). This is in addition to charting in 11 other countries. And in most of those nations “Big in Japan” also made it onto the top 10. Warner Music released “Big in Japan” in January of 1984. It was the lead single from Alphaville’s first album, “Forever Young”. In fact this track was an unexpected success that blew up before the band had even finished writing the rest of the songs that were eventually featured on that project.Īlphaville also dropped some remixes of this track in 1992. And “the Zoo” is actually the colloquial name of a popular drug den in Berlin. And if they are to actually do so they would be “big in Japan”, as in being able to conquer their addiction in a foreign environment. But this is just a probable interpretation as once again the intended relationship between the title and the storyline of the track is not made abundantly clear. So all of this considered, perhaps what the singer is suggesting is that he and his romantic should perhaps flee “the Zoo”. It points to the idea of someone becoming a popular success in a foreign country while remaining relatively-irrelevant in their own homeland. And this type of phrase is commonly used in reference to entertainers, especially the likes of musicians. But stripped down to its most basic form, it means that a person is able to achieve something great away from home that they aren’t able to do in their familiar environs. And such would likely be the case in which Alphaville has applied that saying to the aforementioned narrative. Now as for the title, “big is Japan”, simply put it is more or less an idiom.
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