if you compare and contrast, you would understand. for one thing in south korea the whole competition between pretty little boys and girls has resulted in breeding the craziest delusional fan girls and boys in the world! almost all the variety, music and award shows are dominated by these idol groups, second tier artists can barely survive in the industry and only really stand out acts from other genres can compete.

the korean music industry is depreciating due to severe problems with piracy and other reasons and thats why Lee Soo Man is promoting overseas like crazy, SujuM in China..Boa, THSK and The Grace in Japan and trying to hit the american market with Boa as well.

Tohoshinki is sold in the foreign artist section cos thats what they are, they didnt debut in Japan, they are marketed as the acapella group from korea. They were trying to be like the Gospellers not johnnys but now i think SM is trying to cash in on the new found idol fame.

Groups like Exile from Avex makes millions more album sales than JE Groups and thats unthinkable in korea, SM makes the most album sales eventhough they mostly produce teen idols and manufactured pop, they dont leave room for any serious competition against their top talents, bribing top tv stations and buying awards are a common fact.

The Ohno scandal resulted in more sales for Arashi thats cos JE fans have learned to accept their weaknesses if it happened in Korea he would probably have been murdered by his own fans. Kimura Takuya is in his late 30′s, married with kids yet he still has hordes of fangirls. thats unthinkable in korea for an all around entertainer. its all about being young, single, pretty or plastic. they say talent come first but what if THSK looked like SMAP instead of their delicate pretty looks..no one would give a shit.

Eventhough THSK got number ones thats cos Avex carefully chose a date to release with no real competition but thats goin to change soon since JE shows are inviting THSK and they are goin against Kat-tun’s Rescue in march.

if anyone should compete with JE, it should be japanese male pop group acts. and it is a fact that the reason why JE artists and Pony Canyon artists didnt appear together on the same shows was due to the chairman making a statement that he didnt want his acts to be on the same stage as JE groups and a fued ensued.

Pony Canyon acts still achieved immense success without music station and THSK did perform in music station once with koda kumi in 2007, the year they started their number 1 streak. they have also been invited to music fair, music japan, music fighter, utaban, hey3. and now smap’s show and kinki kid’s domoto brothers. Some Johnny’s have not been invited to some of these shows but THSK was.

i dont think that JE is threatened by korean idol groups, they rule cos they produce all rounders in acting, modeling, singing, dancing and variety. shounen club is where it all begins, its a pretty boy battle ground for survival at such a young age, gaining fans from that point before debut.

THSK will not be able to survive in the industry for decades like SMAP since in less than a decade they would have to join the army and put a stop to their activities, acting careers of members are also unlikely in the future and i doubt they would get their own show in even korea, super junior and snsd were raised to cover the variety area afterall. dbsk’s successor shinee im also doubting due to lack of star power but who knows.

Its a ruthless business and shit is always gonna happen no matter who’s on top. I dont think getting rid of JE is going to reflect positively on the japanese music industry. they are not all untalented, theres some good stuff there too and i guess thats why im supporting them now eventhough i initially didnt get it at all.

All this sound eerily like Karel Van Wolferen’s 1980s characterization of the Japanese businesses – collusive, price-insensitve relationships between businesses, combined with lifetime employment and seniority pay (at least for Johnny himself) allows for long time horizons leading to ultimate world domination!

The rumour of Music Station’s preference towards Johnny’s artists is widely known (and also a somewhat-accepted truth?), so Tohoshinki should just let it go and find other music shows to promote their singles/albums.

And do they really need to appear in Music Station that much? I find Hey3x & Music Fair 21 more fun (and specifically more respectable for MF21) compared to MS.

Good lord, man, how are you defining “good”?!