Most socially/globally conscious jpop artists?
 

So...I was curious, who do you think are the most socially or globally conscious jpop artists? What I mean is, who are the artists that are trying to make a change, speaking out about global warming or pollution (i rememeber mika nakashima mentioning this issue a while back), making donations for poverty or disaster relief, etc...? Or even just making songs relating to these issues?

Does anyone know?

I think Namie is one of those artist...she made the white wrist campainge...she spends money...she did the lovin it thing (and donated money to this project)

and I remember ayaka speaking of making a change at LIVE EARTH

Morning Musume - NATURE IS GOOD!, perhaps? Or the band EcoMoni?

I know that Namie donated 10M yen to Unicef shortly after the Sumatra tsunami. [article]

sifow's SGR company has a huge ECO offshoot (Emerald Drive). She regularly organises litter picks, and a big concert was held in the summer to raise awareness

http://www.eco-online.org/eco-people.../15-000001.php
http://www.sgr-co.net/ef/
http://www.sgr-co.net/ed/

She's featured in the latest issue of PUCKISH to promote Emerald Drive.
She also released 2 Charity single's in 05. I'm not 100% sure, but I think it went to an AIDS Charity, and she's done work to help HIV since.

http://shibuya-univ.net/blog/index.p...llection_2006a

Morning Musume? They've done much more besides help help dangerous ass.

However, they act more as hired sales people rather than fronting their own causes I guess.

Let's see...

- song+nation: Ayumi, Keiko, hitomi, Namie, BoA, Koda & more avex artists. Raised money for the 9/11.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Song_Nation
- Namie Amuro donated money for the Tsunami disaster
- EcoMoni: Hello! Project environmental awareness subgroup
http://wiki.theppn.org/EcoMoni
- Morning Musume's HELP song (also an EcoMoni song)
http://projecthello.com/momusu/help.html
Also, Takahashi and Koharu were recently in an environmental event.

I don't think we can count the LIVE EARTH artists. They might have sang for that concert, but are they doing anything at all?

I didn't know sifow was to active in this kind of stuff! :)

sifow for sure, she does alot of beach clean ups, aids awareness and had a huge ECO parade in Shibuya. Thats my GAL *sniff* :P

wow, sifow is really on top of it!

has anyone else done any work for HIV awareness?

^^^She really is. That's one of the reasons I get annoyed when people are all 'Why did avex hire her. She can't sing'.

She's a self made millionaire who give's 100% back to the people who've supported her.

Millionaire..? In yens or dollars? o_o

Wow Sifow is awesome :D
I never knew she did such amazing thing

I never see Ayu doing anything philanthropic, but maybe she does things behind the scenes... That's kind of sad...

mika nakashima release non profit single ALL HANDS TOGETHER for hurricane victim in katrina. namie donate 10000 USdollar to tsunami victims in sumatra, indonesia.

^woa cool, where did you get those info?

well, i read those in several article on the net.

i wonder if ayu did any charity... all i know is she spent her money to make expensive PV that burn a wooden house...so sad.

Well, that isn't technically her money.

Most likely, she spends her money on crystal Manolo shoes and Louis Vuitton bags.

Yeah, it's kind of sad. Ayu seems like the type of celebrity that doesn't really gives back or do lots of charity work. To me, Ayu has always seemed a bit ignorant. Not the type that follows the news and stuff like that. :shrug

hitomi - she's really passionate about saving the environment and animals

Apparently, sifow is most aware for reasons already mentioned. Maybe I should add her to my list of role models.

Ayu just seems to waste money on random materials...

i don't think i've ever listened to sifow even...i should check her out. i want to know more about her now.

oh, she's really good



well, other than those mentione,d i can't really say much else...

Hitomi - She has her own association to help animals or something like that. Admirable.

Sifow - For the reason someone explained below. Very admirable, no wonder she is my second role model

Namie Amuro - She donates money here and there, this year she donated some milion yen (I dont remember how much) for the big earthquake that attacked Japan last summer. No wonder she is my role model *__*

Ayu just spend money for herself here and there, I don't think she ever cares or thought to donate something -.-

but didn't ayumi donate once maybe? i thought i had heard she did.

at least she did the song nation thing with keiko, lol.

Cocco is very involved with the environment, specifically the beaches in Okinawa. In 2002, she published her first art book, Minami no Shima no Hoshi no Suna. In August 2003, she organized a benefit concert to raise awareness about cleaning up beaches in Okinawa. A DVD documentary titled Heaven's Hell followed in December. A single was produced titled "Heaven's Hell" was released where all proceeds went to the clean up beaches/hurt animals in the Okinawa area. She continues to donate to causes like these. She's really environmentally friendly. She performed at Live Earth as well.

That being said, I'm sure Ayu does donate, we just don't hear about it, mainly because I'd say the majority of us don't keep up with minor things in the Japanese news. Also, I mean, if you donate and you make a big deal about it like..."oh blah blah blah I donated ALL of this money to this one place", well, you're being superficial about it. Many celebrities donate all the time and don't tell the media they do. The people that do are just looking for praise.

honestly i don't know the answer

While ayu spent on herself money in China when she had the ASIA TOUR there was those news all around that it helped China's economy a lot ^_^ so she actually did something except for giving her song A Song is born for donation for the 09/11.

The items that one person purchased helped the economy of a country with over a billion people? o_____O

She spent a few hundred thousands $ so most likely =P

i think mika and namie maybe -_-'

Ohh yeah! I forgot hitomi! In wiki, it says that she's an animal welfare activist.

that's all i knew ...

-namie donated most of the profit from NEVER END single's sales
-namie donated part of the profit from her SO CRAZY tour 2004 in taiwan & Seoul concerts
-namie attended MTV asia aid and donated to the tsunami's victims
-namie donated 3 million yen (26,000 USD) to the earthquake fund that hits the city of Kashiwazaki on 16 July 2007.

Maybe she doesn't go around bragging about how she donated money :rolleyes

In the past Ayu has shown how she's aware of certain issues, particularly those related to the environment and world peace. I believe the concept of Dome Tour was based on the human impacts on Earth. Her 2005 performance at the Aichi Expo was environmental related too. Also her album "I Am..." was based on the events of 11th September. Also she was part of avex's nonprofit project, SongNation and her songs sometimes reflect some social problems, so I doubt she's this selfish ignorant brat people are picturing her to be.

I'm not sure how genuinely aware most J-Pop artists are with regards to these issues. J-Pop is mostly about keeping up appearances so sometimes it's not easy to see who's doing it for attention or not. However mink does seem to be really interested in animal welfare. Namie also seems another person who really tries to contribute.

I sometimes wonder if some artists are truly aware of these issues or if they just do it simply because issues are very hot issues and consequently this will ensure that they will get some spotlight time. Most record labels are aware that artists who seem compassionate about the weak are about to gain some charisma points and free exposure. I mean Ai Otsuka spent her talk time plugging her single at LIVE EARTH and I bet many just had a nice script memorized while having no idea what the event was exactly about.

Ayu's songs and videos are socially conscious, although not about the environment. In reading interviews with her she seems very guarded: I think she thinks a lot of things that she doesn't say, and those things get expressed indirectly in her songs/videos. (Especially about idol culture and the role of women in Japanese society.) Then she goes and releases...random stuff that anyone could do like glitter/fated -_-;; So it's difficult to tell.

Namie of course donates openly, and while her music/dancing is very light stuff the things she says in interviews are often very interesting socially...(about her music personas, about how she thinks men will think PLAY is "too strong" etc [that was in MTV Trackstory if you're wondering], about avex)

And sifow! sifow is great. <3

Exactly.
I think that ayu is just too modest to donate in most of the things that everyone will know that she donates, same goes with that she doesn't want to take awards anymore. Selfish is one of the last things someone can say about ayu. ayu is a good person and it's too bad people try to make her something she is not. She is a diva and all but an awesome person as well.

Koda Kumi - Song Nation Project /w Boa (Sept 11th Victims)
Koda Kumi - Fever Live Concert (Profits go to World Wildlife Foundation) I heard tickets were about 100 us dollars and over 13,000 attended.
Koda Kumi - Works With Global Nuclear Disarmament Fund
Koda Kumi - Live Earth

Here is an article in Japanese about conservation or something. I think sifow may be part of it. A bunch of magazine models are, Egg, Ranzuki, Popteen, etc

http://news.livedoor.com/article/detail/3156915/

Yeah, maybe Ayu does help socially/globally and maybe she doesn't care that it appears in the news or not. But it would be cool if she could do more. I'm sure she'll be able to influence lots of people. If she was doing what sifow is doing to help the earth right now, the impact would be much bigger because her fanbase is bigger. Oh well.

I wouldn't add that. I don't think appearing in LIVE EARTH means you're socially/globally conscious. Sure, they appeared on the concert. But are they actually doing anything? That, we do not know.

True that she should do more and I agree with you there. It's a shame that she never did something to create a movement for something really productive. Live Earth seemed to me that avex and Sony and some other record labels had some spots assigned for their artists and they chose popular ones to give them free promotion.

I was in Tokyo when Kuu did that WWF concert and I even saw commercials for it constantly but didn't know what it was, so I didn't end up going. When I found out about it after the concert, I was pissed because I could have actually gone if I had known :(

Anyways, it's good to see sifow does so much. She's so admirable. And Namie is just insanely generous. I admire that woman in every way. Ayu on the other hand hasn't made any contributions big enough for coverage, so obviously she couldn't be doing too much for noteworthy causes. It's funny she can buy a first class seat for her teddy bear, but doesn't spend money like that where it could be put to better use (i.e. some awareness fund).

Then this goes back to my thread. How can u not respect namie?

ayu must be sorry that she didn't do enough for your taste. If you can be sure she didn't anyway.

She really did? How my god O.O I can't believe she waste money like that -__-

i've never seen ayu's teddy, to be honest...unless it's that huge one during the teddy bear live?

As far as I know this is not exactly news but tabloid stuff so there's a big probability that it's fake junk. In any way it's her money and she should spend it however she likes because she sure as hell deserves it. She has worked terribly hard to arrive where she is and now why shouldn't she enjoy her well deserved money?

It's not like she owes the disadvantaged something. Sure it's nice when people donate but seriously acting like someone's this horrible person is a bit bigoted and having one track mind. Of course some of you are just here to take yet another shot as bashing as usual. Doing good deeds is not limited to showing how money you donate but also by actions and as far as I know I never saw her screaming her head off at her staff or kicking her dogs around.

I don't think Ayu would be the type of person to make a huge deal if she donates money. But in the same time, maybe she doesn't actually help all that much either. I guess we'll never truly know.

Maybe it's this one:
http://ayumi.primenova.com/cdscans/c...large/mu13.jpg

Are you against me of what? I don't think she donates and also I think make a first class reservation of a Teddy Bear is a WASTE of money so I'm tired of seeing you quote my posts all the time to fight with me.

It's just because you love Ayu so much that u need to defend her at all costs (strange, but u ONLY quote my posts even I'm not the only one who said it's sad that Ayu doesnt donate) that u don't see how much blind you are.

If we were talking about any other japanese or occidental artists that waste a lot of money and doesnt donate at all you would say the same thing I said not "IT'S HER MONEY SO SHE SPEND THE WAY SHE WANTS", of course it's so, I can't go to her and say GIVE ME YOUR MONEY SO I WILL DONATE THEM, it's her decision always, but it's really a pity and a waste. And this is MY opinion.

ah...cute teddy
thanks!

No I'm not against you, I don't even know you :rolleyes However your constant attempt at trying to bash Ayu is not amusing to watch. I don't want to fight but seeing people offend your favourite artist is not cool to watch. You are making these sweeping statements without knowing the facts and I'm pretty sure no one would enjoy getting accused of things without getting informed in the first place.

I love Ayu but if you ever check my posts you can see I don't defend her at all costs. I didn't like it when she wore fur coats because I don't like the fur trade. I'm not blind and please don't go offending people just because they don't agree with your views, because that's rude and not very mature. I quoted you because it was the last post posted about the issue so don't think I was referring to you only.

Finally, please don't assume. I won't judge an artist by how they spend their money but by their talent and effort, because it's their hard earned money. It's a shame she doesn't do these huge humanistic acts like Namie because we should see more of these things by a load of people, not only artists. I never was trying to change your opinions because I can't. I was just pointing out that Ayu is not this horrible person some people here are claiming she is and that she actually has done some humanitarian acts in the past to promote several current problems.

I don't think it's true that she bought a seat for her teddy bear, that's just so lame. but I think she does buys extra seats for more space and not having to deal with anyone sitting next to her , I think a lot of celebs do that.

I don't personally hold not doing a lot of charity against anyone, IMO it's a personal choice.

wasn't the photobook "SuperStars" by Leslie Kee for charity too? it featured a lot of jpop stars too, Ayu & Namie at least.

I don't bash people because they have other opinions, that's what u do with me.

I'm sorry but I remain with the same idea, it's not just Ayu but many artists that are VERY rich do nothing to help the world to change even a little bit, but since the posts before mine talk about Ayu (and this is an Ayu's forum) I wanted to say I agree that she does nothing and it's a pity. Of course she is not the first or last that does nothing for the people but for me it remain the same thing...I dislike that because if I would have so much money I would donate for sure, donate to the right people...not to church or so like I do now...because at least the 50% of what I donate remains to them even they don't say that. And I'm not rich at all, but I just feel bad when I see someone sick or poor in the street and it happened just today that I saw a very DISGUSTING scene here in Tokyo and that makes me so much angry!!! but now it's OT..

SuperStars was for charity? o.o I think that photobook is ridicolous (and u don't need so much effort to make a picture), all the scans are HORRIBLE and Namie's one aren't even shot for them, that scans were the same of some magazine she did months before ^^

It doesn't matter if they are new pics or not. They were shot by Leslie Kee.

Are you sure sure? so I don't understand why Namie's one was actually in one magazine some months ago...they made him shot it for the magazine?

Yup. He's quite famous.

http://www.lesliekeesuper.com/portfolio/ (you can spot Namie on the "Asian" section)

If you check his page, you will probably notice lots of mag covers of Ayu you've seen before too. Here:
http://www.lesliekeesuper.com/photography/

He also did the kimono Koda photos, Black Cherry....

Again and again I'm so not bashing you. You were the one calling me "blind". I was just showing a different opinion and you keep getting offended. Also I am not trying to change your opinion. KEEP it but saying that she does nothing for others isn't true. She contributed to several non-profit projects and I bet she wasn't paid a cent for the work she did. Isn't that the same thing as donating money? For me it is.

Changing the world isn't gonna happen in a few days even if Ayu donates all her LV bags along with all her shoes. A lot of artists who take this "change the world" approach are just trying to look good. All they do is preach and yet waste so much money on private jets and their expensive homes making them pretty hypocritical, because they're telling us how to live, while they're definitely not willing to give up any comfort. At least these artists who don't boast about donating are not being fake and trying to gain sympathy through their "generosity".

Sometimes what there's needed is a change in the mentality but it won't happen anytime soon. On several times donations never arrive at their destination because they get "lost" through the process. Also it's a pretty well known fact that many governments spend what is given to them through aid on some sophisticated project to show off. However most of the inhabitants will never use it because they'll never afford it.

Anyway let's stop this. Obviously we'll never agree and you'll still keep on thinking I'm out to get you.