What Inspires Me: J-Pop

| Bee-Bee Deigner

I love J-Pop. This type of music brings me such joy, such warm fuzzy feelings, it makes me feel young, hopeful and, most of all, super happy 🙂

There are a couple of musicians that are my favourite ones, and everytime I watch to their videos I have a sort of Eureka! moment and get a strike of inspiration.

For instance, Kyary Pamyu Pamyu. She is definitely a source of inspiration for my work.

Kira Kira Killer (2015): this video is a sort of journey to the Otherworld, and back. Do not get fooled by the overall color overload.

I follow her work since the Pamyu Pamyu Revolution phase (Ponponpon, anyone?). Although she is considered the Queen of Kawaii (and OMG she definitely is, with all her Lolita-style outfits and crazy headgear!), she is absolutely more than that. Many of her lyrics feel like a bit autobiographic (for example, Furisodeshon was made when she was 20 years old and had her coming of age ceremony, or Yume No Hajima Ring Ring, that talks about leaving school and going to the adult world). Although my coming of age was ages ago (no pun intended), it does strike a chord somehow, since it reminds me how I felt when it was my time to become an adult – I got married to my ex-husband and moved to Italy -, and all the challenges I faced when I decided to stay in Austria after a rather bitter divorce and all the turmoil that came afterwards.

Oto No Kuni (2019): one of the trippiest and loveliest videos of hers since Ponponpon 🙂 It feels like it was a wonderful way of saying goodbye to the Heisei era, while welcoming the new Reiwa era. It is just amazing.

Another musician that inspires me a lot is Hatsune Miku.

Tell Your World (2012): glitch art masterpiece.

I know, she is not real, in the sense that she is a Vocaloid rather than someone in flesh and blood. But seriously, in this current age, where we rely to Cortana, Siri or Alexa, what is really real and what is not?