Musicians rile against nuclear power
Anti-nuclear music is creating excitement on the Japanese internet. Mainstream radio and television refuse to give play to these musicians seeking to express their distaste for the nuclear power companies in wake of Japan’s nuclear accident of March 11.
This is not the first time Japan has experienced this “musical genre”. Kiyoshiro Imawano, one of Japan’s most popular rock singers, put out antinuclear songs as a response to the Chernobyl nuclear accident more than two decades ago.
Imawano died in 2009, but that has not stopped fans from flooding YouTube to view his and his band’s videos. Music with antinuclear sentiments has always had to find an alternate route. When Imawano and his band tried to release their record “Covers,” their label, Toshiba EMI, backed out because its parent company built nuclear plants; they had to release the album independently. Today musicians have had to find alternate routes of getting their music to the audience if they intone antinuclear lyrics.
The Japanese power utilities spend around a billion dollars a year in advertising. Knowing this it is no surprise that mainstream television and radio shy away from giving such music airtime.
Kazuyoshi Saito, a popular rock singer-songwriter, adjusted one of his songs “I Always Loved You” and renamed it “It was Always a Lie”. He uploaded the new song to YouTube. On it he criticizes the Japanese government and Tokyo Electric power. The song was removed from YouTube after Saito’s record label, Victor Entertainment, requested it be taken down they explained because it was “leaked in a way he did not intend.” Though those looking carefully enough can still find the song.
