^ SunshineSlayer's experience has been my overall experience of Japan as well. I've seen a huge shift since the first time I was there in 2004 until now (having been there again in 2013, 2015, 2016, and 2018).

The main context being that the youth of the late 90's/early 2000's were the "lost generation" in Japan. The first who really were post-bubble, and trying to normalize life. I think, in general, they were much more outward looking, trying to find their place in society, who they were, and more interested in a global world. The current generation of youth have been born into their own time, and global connectedness is commonplace, and really not that interesting to them - they're much more focused on their little bubble.

That too :D

Good thing is that there are always exceptions. But most of it is garbage. :D

I think I have a pretty decent grasp, yeah. And of course, at individual artists own concerts, crowds can be a bit more lively (I would hope so at least!) But yeah, a lot of audiences look pretty dead lol. And at any end of year music show or special etc these last several years, the audiences seem on life support.

Definitely agree with this. But I think it's yet another thing that shows that creativity and music in general is just not being as sought after.

Yeah, Kansai people are called "hot hearted" for a reason. :) I lived in Tokyo from 2010-2015 and worked at Japanese public school by day and was a bartender at neighborhood Izakaya by night, then later at an Irish pub; so I feel I really saw quite a large cross-section of people and experiences (as most bartenders do.) I also lived near Hiroshima from 1993-1996. And have visited every year once or twice a year since 2004 to present. And yeah, I do feel that Japan has regressed in terms of expression and emotion and that has reflected itself in the current state of the music industry, but there is no way to really "prove" that. I could go way in depth about how Japan's various societal problems and the rise of "herbivore men" and everything have all converged to facilitate this, but that feels like it would need to become a college essay and seems way too daunting, haha.

Thanks for backing me up because it's a really hard thing to pin down, and you hate having to generalize so much.

The post-bubble generation and the bubble generation itself were very outward looking. Some could even argue that the bubble generation were a little too out there, lol. I've seen some old primetime variety shows that flat out had nudity in them with no censor. Can't imagine that ever appearing now on the totally sanitized Japanese tv channels.

Oh, overall I agree that Japanese society is more toned-down now. Never doubted you on that.
I just say it's much more delicate than saying it regressed and different aspects need to be looked at differently.
Music shows e.g. just don't have that audience and influence anymore like in the past. So of course people going to those music shows specials and year-end shows would behave in a different way, more expressionless in that instance.
Because of the segmentation and permanent globalization I agree people are more focused on their "bubble". You don't need to go out of it to find what you want (it's easier to find your bubble in the first place), popularity is different than in the past. For music show specials you probably can find more fans of more artists, why they can be quieter as a whole. But it's hard to pin it down in either way.
That's why I don't want say anymore to this, it's complicated enough as it is like every social matter. :laugh
And simply liking or not liking cultural products is something different. ;)

self hating much? Just respect other peoples preferences in style. Its still a legit style in music just like 'your favorite'.

And I dont agree that majority of Jpop is trash. Generic pop music is also art on its own, its actually much harder or as hard to produce 'generic pop track' verses 'indie avant garde'.

^Nah... A generic one isn't harder to produce. A generic track that become a huge hit? Yeah, that really IS hard (on the same way producing something that can be experiemental and comercial at the same time is pretty hard), but some generic filler track aimed to sell well enough and be fastly forgoten isn't.

I in no way implied I do not respect other people’s preferences nor have I said its not “legit” so you can take your dumb comment and shove it up wherever it feels right to you and I will respect that and appreciate your preferences.

Art can be trashy too. I did not say it’s not art, just that it is predominantly trash, just like pop music generally is. Again there has to be something terribly wrong with you as I said none of the things you are commenting on 🙄

So how is her tour doing? Has the set list changed much?

The tour is on break until February.

Okay so I've just catched up with the latest TA entries that Ayu made and here is what she said in an entry two weeks ago :
"Having racked up 63 shows, we will be visiting our hallowed ground at Yoyogi for the Countdown Live, then renewing everything for the final leg of the TROUBLE TOUR."
So it means that after August this endless TROUBLE tour will finally end??

EDIT: Nevermind, I was so happy that she was confirming that this was the end of TROUBLE tour that I didn't read the entry until the end, just after that it says :
"I’m sure you’re wondering just how many shows this tour, with 101 currently announced, is going to run to in the end...? (p_-)"

Yes Ayu, everyone is wondering when this nonsense will stop lol

101 and more...

https://i.imgur.com/J9AoAIp.jpg?1

I know that Ayu extended her tour with dates in 2020 - but how does one purchase tickets? I could not find any way to do it on her official website, and I registered for Livepocket and did not see anything on there to purchase tickets.

I've never seen her live, and would like to try to next year.

The tickets aren't on sale yet.
The TA lottery will be announced first, then general ticket sales will happen.

Hi guys. I'm planning to go to Japan to watch Ayu's concert. Anyone wanna share their experience or advice travelling in Japan, like the budgets, hotel, how to get the concert ticket, transportation. I really want to see her Live.

Japan is the land of options. You can spend very little or you can spend a lot, depending on where you stay, what you do and eat. If you are staying for a week or more and traveling outside of Tokyo a lot get a JR pass, if you are just hopping from Tokyo to one other place, fly. Transportation will probably rat most of your cash as compared to the EU its pricy cuz as a tourist you need to use it a lot. JR pass makes it cheaper if you are staying for a week or two.

For the concert tickets, join TA. Us foreigners typically get very good seats and it’s the safest way to get them at a regular price, especially if you don’t wanna risk it. Japan is easy to get around as everything works.

I’ve been there with both a very small and a very big budget. The first time I went it was 9 days and I spent around 800 eur (airplane ticket excluded). If you are buying electronics it can be pretty cheap as you can get tax free on the spot which is 7-8% (I always forget) and Yodobashi has an additional 5% off for VISA card holders.

If you want a nice cheap hotel/hostel try Juyoh. Its in Minami senju, so a bit far away from Shibuya, but super close to Ueno, Akihabara and Narita airport.

Oh and do check Narita if you have the time before the flight back!

Better make a thread in the Japan Sub-Forum, so this goes not too much Off Topic^^
Because it rly differs a lot in budget depending on what you want to do as njanjayrp said.
But yes TA is your best option for tickets.

Yeah. Sorry about that! :) @Didz-19 if you have any questions PM me :)

Btw has anyone seen ayu’s TA post from the end of August:

It seems this is definitely the last leg of TROUBLE.

Finally!

https://i.imgur.com/A02sLZv.gif

R.I.P, you'll not be missed, much.

It seems like she didn't wanted to finish the tour... Wonder what she's planning.