Hi, I'm Masayo. I was born and raised in Sapporo, Hokkaido,1983. I spent a year in Portland, Oregon, 1988 to 1989, and that time MTV was huge in the States, and I was mesmerized by it as a five year old girl, watched it every day.
After coming back to Japan, I realized many differences between two cultures, good and bad, and I've been trying to support each others' understanding.
I've been brushing up on my English for almost ten years now by myself in Japan. I played bass guitar and keyboards when I was in university in Tokyo,
and I released my original album by myself in 2012. I programmed the musical notes and beats on my laptop using Cubase along with my awesome musicians in Sapporo.
masayomassayo - Listen on YouTube, Spotify, Apple Music - Linktree
After released my album, I noticed that the gender inequality in Japanese music industry, and I started to think I need to do something about it. Have you heard about Johnny Kitagawa or Sono Sion's sexual abuse scandals, etc?
Such mentality thoroughly permeated in Japanese entertainment industry, and I realized that I can't write anything for girls whose aming to be a singer or an actress, if I don't know the mentality of feminism movements in the west like suffragettes. That's why I started to learn English.
When I visited a live venue in Taiwan few years ago, a few indie rock bands were played, but I didn’t understand a single word that they sung or spoke. It was like I was a cat. They sounded nice, but I couldn’t be a big fun.
What if the woman sing like “girls have no power, you need to follow your man” ? I believe it’s okay and kind of funny for men on this planet, but for women, we definitely have to say no.
(I resented it in 2016, at Daiso)
Rock music is important to awareness. Have you listened to Bob Dylan, John Lennon, Joni Mitchel or Cyndi Lauper? Billy Holiday or Stevie Wonder? That's what I mean.
I translated into Japanese↓
https://goodsongs.hatenablog.jp/entry/BUTTST%252A%252ASMONEY
Come to think of it, when I was 14, I was so into American/British pop/rock music, although I couldn’t understand 90% of their English, yet I understood some of their words llike “Lucy”, “ in the sky” “with diamonds” . That's why I was into their music.
I believe lyrics are important. So I'm trying to translate. If my English weren't too good, please don't hesitate to let me know!↓
kaseno.m@gmail.com
