Popular human voice synthesizer Vocaloid Hatsune Miku are getting known oversea as a Japanese web phenomenon. Like the global company Google picked it up as a “singer” for Chrome promotion in Japan, where they chose Justin Bieber and Lady Gaga for US.

As the Chrome video shows, there are massive number of generated songs and videos are created, uploaded on Nico Nico Douga and YouTube.

On YouTube, some Miku fans started noticing that some of the Hatsune Miku videos were removed with “copyright violation” recently. Many of the banned videos are English and other subtitled ones made from the original Japanese versions.

Nico Nico Pedia has a detailed history of the issue started in last November [J]. According to it, the users who reported the copyright violation all have a name Junichi Sasa, or slightly modified of it, who are unlikely own the copyright of the removed videos.

Fans made a video to inform this issue. The English subbed one is here,

Chinese,

French,

The copyright holder of the Hatsune Miku’s video is each creator, so, on regular copyright report, the original creators are encouraged to claim YouTube to get it back. However, making things difficult is that many of Hatsune Miku videos are re-uploaded from Nico Nico Douga to YouTube by non-authors, and foreign language subtitled versions are usually made another users. In that meaning, those removed videos are not really by the original copyright holder.

Even when the author does not care, or is pleased that their videos are distributed across the web services and the languages, not many of them notice and take countermeasure on those distributed versions.

Tags: Japan by Akky Akimoto
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Like US Google featuring Lady Gaga and Justin Bieber, Google Japan chose the most popular singer on Japanese web, virtual singing tool Hatsune Miku, a 61 seconds video which praises all involved creators.

The playing count does not move up from 309, which might be from Japanese word-play 3(=Mi) 9(=ku). You may check the stats of the video and see it is played heavily now in Japan.

Unofficial home ground of Hatsune Miku movement Nico Nico Douga, from where most of videos really come, does not appear in the video, probably because YouTube is a competitor of Nico Nico Douga in Japan.

” Hatsune Miku ” is a virtual singer who can sing any song that anybody composes.

It has made a massive impact on all creators through the web.
They, inspired by her songs, have published their original works
not only in the field of music, but in illustration, video,
CG, cosplay, live performance and dance.

Besides over 30,000 original tracks, many more works are
still being released over the web.

Feel the possibilities of the web through the social phenomenon caused by million craetors.

“Tell Your World” / livetune feat. Hatsune Miku
Lyrics・Music: kz

　Grasp the phrase I happen to be humming
　Spread secret words of the heart into the sky

　I want to tell you
　I want to give you
　Nodes of feelings forms a link
　Connecting everything. Connecting to everywhere

This film was created with the support of CRYPTON FUTURE MEDIA Inc,
SEGA, and many creators and fans from all around the world.

See Also:

Asiajin » Computer-Synthesized Vocal Album Tops The Japanese Chart First In History

Asiajin » tagged articles with Hatsune Miku

Google Chrome: Lady Gaga for Japan

Google Chrome: Justin Bieber for Japan

Tags: Japan, Marketing by Akky Akimoto
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All Japanese analog terrestrial television broadcasting were terminated today at 12:00 p.m. July 24 (Japan Standard Time) as planned, aiming more effective radio wave usage by re-assigning their bands from analog TV to newly introduced digital TV. They have been simultaneously broadcast until today.

All channels stopped in 44 prefectures, besides three prefectures, which suffered by Eastern Japan Great Disaster and given another 7 months to prepare. All channels are airing the end of their analog service and guide of phone number for digital TV. The waves will be stopped completely this midnight.

(TV screenshots by @ichitaso)

“Anarogu Housou Syuuryo”(End of analog broadcasting) was the buzzed word on Twitter and other social media in Japanese.

Both on YouTube and Nico Nico Douga [J], many net users had uploaded the final moment of analog channels they recorded.

In Akihabara, a electric parts shop ran a funeral of the analog wave, with a portrait of an unofficial analog TV character Analoguma (Analog + guma = kuma = bear), which was converted from a popular 2-channel Ascii-art character bear (he also became Pedobear in English BBS 4chan) to be a rival of an official digital TV support character Chidejika(Chideji = terrestrial digital, jika = shika = deer).

(photo by @LetHis)

Tags: Japan, Trend by Akky Akimoto
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Lady Gaga’s Japan visit was a sensation, left a lot of news with celebrities including Japanese’ Ophra Tetsuko Kuroyanagi, prime minister Naoto Kan and SMAP, long-time ruling boys unit.

Lady Gaga’s appearance on Japanese TV was estimated 135 million dollars worth [J] if it was advertising.

Gaga is recognized as a celebrity who directly talk to her fans over social media. Japanese, both media and people chased her tweets during her stay.

What happened today is that they noticed that her uploaded video, a TV program hosted by SMAP featuring her, which she had introduced on twitter on 12th, is not watchable. The same movie was posted on Rolling Stone, too.

It was not only that. Lady Gaga’s YouTube official channel has been stopped, too.

The movie was claimed by Media Interactive Inc., which is the same company who mistakenly removed YouTube movie uploaded by a popular Japanese singer Hikaru Utada before. They were her own official movies.

SMAP and its agency Johnny’s Office are well known by their hard-line portrait rights control. It is not easy to find their unofficially uploaded photos, at least on Japanese web. Lady Gaga uploading such movie and a photo over Twitter was worried by Japanese users, because if other Japanese talents did that, she/he will get hard time by that. Actually, no Japanese would post their photos of Jhonny’s Office talents on the web, as they know it would be troublesome.

When SMAP sang in front of Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao, who was visiting Japan, most Japanese media did not post a photo with SMAP, whilst Chinese media did.

I do not embed the photo of Lady Gaga and SMAP here, because I do now want to be cautioned.

Tags: Japan, News by Akky Akimoto
6 Comments »

I wrote “Poo is a magic word for primary-school children. It is an universal motif and will work even 100 years later” before. It does not change even at the disaster in Japan.  A Japanese media artist Hachiya Kazuhiko has explained nuclear crisis in a Youtube video, using the poo and fart.

English subtitles version

At first, he has explained nuclear crisis on Twitter [J], using the poo and fart. Afterward, he drew an cartoon and uploaded it on YouTube. Nuclear Boy(Fukushima nuclear power plant) said, “My tummy hurts…I can not hold my poo any longer…”  and he broke wind a bit.  On the other hand, Chernobyl leaked poo. Besides, it was diarrheal stool and he ran around. It’s unbelievable tragedy!

If everybody is wise, the difference between Fukushima and Chernobyl will be able to be understood. The fart is certainly stinking. However, it is better than leaking diarrheal stool.

Chinese subtitles version

Spanish subtitles version

French subtitles version

Tags: Japan by Chiho Komoriya
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