Note: I know this post might piss some people off, but my conclusions are my own and from years of personal experience. Nothing is permanent, but at this point in time, this is the way I've seen things.


I sure wish I knew Avex's hiring pattern. I've auditioned for them before (via mail, and even flying to Tokyo to do it in person), but I never hear anything. I speak 4 languages, have a mass supply of music I've written/composed/arranged, I dance hip-hop, and at 19 I have 8 years of performing experience in theatre and music. I'm 100% aware of my downfalls, and I'm not perfect. But still, in the American industry (the toughest in the world) I can pull my own weight.

Avex, though, I just can't crack. I don't know what it is, I can't even get a proper interview. The entire Asian market is very, very crooked from an American performer's standpoint. Arashiro Beni, who would be kicked to the floor in a second at any NY or LA audition, somehow has a record deal with the most powerful representation in Asia.

When I was in Tokyo, I would watch a lot of talent shows and things like that on TV. And Pony Canyon had an audition -- and these girls could not sing. They were absolutely terrible. But the judges would praise them like they had just witnessed the birth of a star. It was the most bizarre thing.

I asked my friends in Japan, of varied ages and backgrounds, what they thought. And they all seem to say the same thing: Asia likes cute, bubbly, Asian girls. At least to start in Japan. "Western" culture and music are huge in Japan, but that's because they don't come from Japan (i.e. they're not J-Pop, not speaking Japanese, etc.). Thye're 100% foreign and exciting.

So I've come to a seemingly truthful conclusion that, although skill doesn't account for much in the world of Japanese entertainment, it's important to be atleast part Asian. Crystal Kay is half. Arashiro Beni is half. VERBAL is half Japanese, half Korean, but all Asian. I'm not saying you can't be of another race and make it in the Japanese music scene (Heaven knows, because I'm trying to), but it's been my experience that nobody will be willing to let that happen. You've just gotta keep fighting to find someone that will take a chance on you.

That's what the whole business comes down to, though. Fighting w/o resigning to popular opinion, until someone takes a chance on you. There are NO open doors in showbusiness. Not even any open windows. There's no sure-fire way to get in. You just have to keep ready until someone already-on-the-inside takes a step out of the house, so to speak, and enables you to impress them enough to let you in.

In this day and age, no company can flat out refuse you because of your race. It's political suicide, even if the company has general racist feelings. But you should still expect to be rejected from every possible angle: race, height, weight, cuteness factor, eye color, and yes even talent (hopefully these days that still counts for something).

So whether or not Avex accepts people of other races shouldn't matter. If you wanna audition for them and show them: "Hell yeah, I'm here, I'm not Japanese, but I have something to blow you away with that you can't refuse," then by ALL means go in there and kick their asses.



FAITO~!