In early November, a new book, “Joseitachi no Koe wa, Hit Chart no Soto ni ~Ongaku to Ikiru Josei 30mei no ‘Ima’ to ‘Shisei’ wo Saguru Interview Shu” will be released. The book is a collection of re-edited interviews from Billboard Japan’s “Watashitachi to Ongaku” series. The book questions the gender imbalance in the Japanese charts, and ask why female acts only occupy 27 of the spots in the top 100 chart.
Referring back to the book’s title, it appears that women’s voices in music exist largely outside of the charts. The books asks how this happened and what should be done to correct this imbalance. It does so by talking to 30 women in music, ranging from artists like Kyary Pamyu Pamyu and Mika Nakashima, to behind the scenes players such Spotify Japan’s Ashizawa Noriko and YouTube’s Nakajo Ryoko.
Interviewees:
Ashizawa Noriko (Spotify Japan Music Planning Promotion Head)
Akko Gorilla
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Kyary Pamyu Pamyu
Sakura Tsuruta
Sasaki Mai (YouTube Artist Relations)
SCANDAL
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CHAI (Mana, Yuuki)
Chara
Chanmina
TOMOO
Mika Nakashima
Nakajo Ryoko (YouTube Japan representative)
Nishina
Hayashi Kaori (Representative Director of Hayashi International Promotions)
Harami-chan
Haru Nemuri
Maasa Ishihara
Ryokuoushoku Shakai (Nagaya Haruko, peppe)
Watanabe Shiho (music writer)
