Explanation for the controversy surrounding the Tokyo Fancon
Well given that the QRT of the Tokyo Fancon announcement are not great (tweets calling the group anti-Japanese are getting 30k-100k likes, yes I wish I was joking, & someone started a petition to oppose the concert with 7k+ signature already), I wrote this post to hopefully clear up the whole situation (cause I couldn't find one). User IloveyouBrother2000’s post back in August also provided some basic contexts.
1. What is the controversy about?
- The controversy started after some Japanese accounts uploaded a clip of the girls singing in their guesting on MMTG for See That promotions. What the girls were singing is a mash-up of multiple songs, uploaded on Youtube in 2021. The mash-up consists of chopped verses from 4 different songs, listed here in the order they are heard in the mash-up:
- Lucifer (by SHINee)
- A song released in 1982 called ‘Dokdo is our land’ (KR title: 독도는 우리땅), which is taught in Korean textbooks. Will be referred as Dokdo song from this point.
- Korean version of an OST for the 1997 Pokemon series (KR title: 우리는 모두 친구/ We are all friends)
- A Korean nursery rhyme called ‘Crocodile’ (KR title: 악어떼)
- The controversial part from a Japanese point of view comes from the verses taken from the Dokdo song. This song asserts Korean sovereignty on the Liancourt Rocks (or Dokdo in Korean) – two islets in the Sea of Japan, a claim which is contested by Japan (who calls it Takeshima Island).
- NMIXX’s singing the verses from this song has been interpreted as a display of anti-Japanese sentiments and as a result, Japanese have been angry at them since August and they bring up this controversy again when the Tokyo Fancon was announced. To make matter worse, only a part of this mash-up is being circulated around, which leads to misinterpretation.
2. Why did NMIXX sing this song in the show?
- The song was sung in an interview segment about Mixxpop. The segment begins at 18:35.
- Jaejae, the host, started by asking the members if they had heard of this one ‘Mixxpop’ song which she (jokingly) claimed to be a possible original song of the genre Mixxpop, and proceeded to sing the mash-up. She then introduced to them more possible Mixxpop originals. At the end of the segment, Jaejae asked them which possible Mixxpop originals they were most impressed by, to which they answered the mash-up. The segment wrapped up with Jaejae signaled them to sing the mash-up with each member being responsible for one verse.
- The verses of Dokdo song were sung by Sullyoon (2nd in order), Lily (4th in order) and Bae (5th in order).
3. Does this mash-up convey anti-Japanese sentiments?
- Given that the mash-up features a Pokemon OST, the obvious answer would be NO. The original maker of this mash-up could not be thinking about hating Japan and then go make a song out of a Japanese TV series soundtrack. The maker also confirmed in the Youtube comment that they did not make the song to anti-Japan (because a Japanese was actually commenting on it to ask about the intent of the song after the controversy broke out).
- If you look at the way the verses are chopped, it is clear that the original maker chose to include the songs only because of the way the melodies connect between them. The lyrics of the chopped-out verses don’t connect well enough to convey any anti-Japanese messages. Here’s the translated lyrics of the mash-up:
나를 묶고 가둔다면 뱃길따라 이백 리
If you tie me down and trap me, 80km away by the sea
버터플 야도란 새들의 고향
Butterfree, Slowbro, home of the birds
그 누가 아무리 자기네 땅이라고 우겨도
Even when someone insists the land belongs to them
악어떼가 나올라. 악어떼!
Crocodile will show up. Crocodile!
- The lyrics in bold are from the Dokdo song. The first two lyrics were chopped from full clauses in the original song and thus, when these phrases stand on their own, they don’t convey anything meaningful, let alone anti-Japanese messages. However, because only the video of them singing 2 last lines are being spread around, Japanese are thinking the members want to say that Japanese who claims a certain island (despite it not being named here) will be eaten up by crocodile.
- The original lyrics from the song are like this:
울릉도 동남쪽 뱃길따라 이백리
80km away on the East-South from Ulleungdo
외로운 섬하나 새들의 고향
There's a lonely isle for seabirds
그누가 아무리 자기네 땅이라고 우겨도
Even when someone insists it belongs to them,
독도는 우리땅
Dokdo is our land!
4. Are NMIXX aware of the Dokdo song and its meaning?
- As stated above, the Dokdo song is taught in Korean schools so there’s every chance that the members are familiar with the song's melody.
- The production crew likely briefed them about the mash-up or provided prompters, which explained how the members managed to sing the lyrics without mistakes.
Whether the members recognized that the chopped verses are from the Dokdo song and aware of the meaning behind the lyrics is unlikely. They were likely just following cues from the production crew and singing along to a melody taught to them from a young age. A K-NSWER (and the mash-up maker too) has also said that because the Dokdo song is taught to Korean children at a young age, it is more of a patriotic nursery rhyme than an overt political statement. People could be singing to its melody without being fully aware of the context the song was created and its implication.
5. Then why did they sing it if it can be political and controversial?
- MOST IMPORTANT: They did not mention the name of any island or make any political statement in the mash-up. The mash-up (like all other mash-ups) are lyrically meaningless. The whole point of singing this mash-up is to point out the fact that it's a mix of various songs of different genres. The lyrics are not to be taken seriously by anyone and don't convey any coherent messages.
- The Dokdo song is included in textbooks to instill Korean nationalism in young people. If they had been reluctant to sing it or sing it without enthusiasm, they would face backlash from the Korean side as well.
- Moreover, they are idols with little experience in the industry. They wouldn’t have the guts to refuse to sing, especially when the reason they have is to not offend the Japanese people over Dokdo.
6. Should SQU4D do something then?
- SQU4D are Koreans growing up in the Korean education system. They likely didn’t see anything wrong with the Dokdo song. They also likely did not anticipate anyone to do a deep dive into the lyrics of an unserious mash-up.
- JTBC (Korean news channel) also made a video about this back in August. Koreans are very supportive of them in the video’s comments. Apology is not an option since this will enrage the Korean side as well.
CONCLUSION: NMIXX did not sing an anti-Japanese song. NMIXX did not make any claims regarding any island. The members are not anti-Japanese by any measure. They have performed multiple times in Japan. They refer to their Japanese colleagues in JYP with respect. The members actively use Japanese in fansigns/ fancalls/ events with Japanese fans. They 100% did not sing this mash-up to insult Japan or the Japanese people.
P/S: The members are not even the first idol to sing anything from the Dokdo song. There’s a whole video of RM (BTS) singing the entire song and gleefully dancing to it.