Don’t blame me, blame the Korean Wave Research Institute and Newswire:
n the meantime, in Japan, they express doubts on the globally dominant status of “Gangnam Style” on YouTube, generating conspiracy theories about its possible manipulation. Such an outrageous argument is tantamount to doubting a world record in an Olympics marathon. Rigging is perhaps possible if it is a local portal, but to express skepticism toward the views generated from 222 countries on YouTube, the world’s largest user-created contents sharing site should be viewed as a primary school kid’s jealousy and envy. Such interest in conspiracy theories about rigging in Japan only attests to the great significance of the record on YouTube.
On 30 Most-Viewed Videos on YouTube, there’s a Japanese video titled “An Experiment”. As of Oct. 19, it registers whomping 237,170,000 or so views (with “AKB48” at 80 million views as the second most-viewed as a Japan-made video), and it contains the most grotesque and preposterous content of all 30 most-viewed videos on YouTube. It shows a Japanese woman putting Mentos in coke to make it explode, another lowly example showing the video-related preference of the Japanese.
Mentos in a Coke bottle… par for the course for a culture that couldn’t produce decent ceramics prior to the 16th century.
(HT to John Power)
{ 65 comments… read them below or add one }
Five hundred million views on YouTube can be expected to earn the video’s owner US$500,000. Psy is having a good year.
“A whomping 237,170,000 or so views”?
Well I guess Super Mario Brothers is from Japan.
Well, if you read some of the comments, it’s clear that some people are rooting for his video to reach the #1 all time spot to dethrone Justin Bieber in order to piss off his fans.
According to this article on Kotaku, there is suspicion in the number of youtube hits, even suggesting “folk (or bots) refreshing over and over again” might be involved. Apparently, Youtube has recently changed the metrics to place more emphasis on ‘engagement’, negatively impacting Gangnam Styles rank in Most Viewed songs. The last line of the article is interesting:
“The question now, however, isn’t whether or not “Gangnam Style” was big, but how big it actually was.”
http://kotaku.com/5952092/how-youtube-just-screwed-gangnam-style
Wouldn’t this be more accurate?
“Five hundred million views on YouTube can be expected to earn the video’s owner US$500,000.
PsyYG Entertainment is having a good year.”Considering psy’s popularity proven at Billboard (USA), UK chart, and iTune charts all over the world, the half billion might not impossible number. Look at what has just happened in Milan, Italy:
http://youtu.be/px5-hm9Lo8E
Even GS is now being played at baseball games in Japan:
http://youtu.be/1mnKMizYoOg
How the hell does this – http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6Jlv8F9cerA – generate 237m hits?
$500K for 500 MILLION views? That’s it???
#7, click on the video stats, top location for this video being watched from is Japan.
Just how much do you expect advertisers for each individual hit with an extremly low possibilty of leading to a sale?
On a weekday afternoon about a month ago, I walked the street at Shin-Okubo down to the crossing with Meiji Dori where a governmental Pension Bureau is existing. I could notice that the GS video was played at several shops on the street. I did not see anyone listening, dancing or paying attention to the music although there were not many people on the street at the time of the day.
There might be only two countries on earth that were not affected by GS: Japan and North Korea.
I hear that Japan once told your people not to rhythm and dance this way:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i86fiRjvafk
#13
Interesting. A video clip of a rural Korean dance scene, probably taken sometime in the early 1980′s (looking by the dress), used as anti-Korean propaganda by Japanese youtubers.
@ Arghaeri
more than $0.001 per view.
#5,
That’s not right. I read somewhere it’s on average 4$ per 1000 hits. It varies from 2 to 6$ per thousand.
A tourist to S. Korea found out an evidence that the invisible horse dance might be originated from Buddhist ritual dance (just for fun):
http://article.joinsmsn.com/news/article/article.asp?total_id=9624671
Seokbul Temple is located in Busan.
Thank you, very informative
From this interesting article on the Post-Racial Elite in the US:
Neither Japan nor South Korea are ready to become a post-racial society. But Japan’s present should be a warning to South Koreans.
Post-racial or xenophobic. Survival or demise. It’s a fork in the road for both countries.
Actually, Liz, that’s what China will face soon too. All three nations share the serious problem of rapid aging. I hope their mentality would not go senile as much as their physicality.
#14
I am glad to hear that Koreans have revived that tradition by themselves and are presenting once in a while as we hear they have forgotten so many traditions such as origami, bonsai, taekwondo, yudo, tea ceremony and many others through their very long history of over 5000 years.
#21
It’s not good for your body to have such hatred inside you.
I am sorry I’d like to revoke my statement @ #12. Some Japanese seem into GS:
http://youtu.be/8H4b-JYqQqA
Here are pretty decent covers of GS in Japan:
http://youtu.be/Ps7-z9iIc0g
http://youtu.be/J4plfe3nsf0
It think cultural influence is like water is hard to block artificially. Even Chinese navy joined in GS:
http://youtu.be/TvEoNqOXNOk
It might be a silly idea but how about people in the world in conflicts have time off together to dance GS dance? When the world economy is getting worse, people suffer, and discordance among nations are unceasing, we need more reason to have camaraderie to overcome these global crisis.
#4 It also becomes a question for all videos then. A lot of video creators will often “put out the call” to get people to help them reach #1,etc. You can imagine a lot of 12 year old girls who watched bieber’s video over and over.
and it seems at the end of the article they mention that the song is back at #1 on the most viewed list. It may have been a bug.
like the above said, psy is back on the most viewed list at number 3.
#22; I appreciate your words on me. I am thinking I have no hatred in me, but it’s just my feeling. I am so far feeling reasonably good as ever. My statement, to my regret, was certainly not in good tune with the topic of this post.
Remember the little boy who became famous all of a sudden (the mini Psy) who dances beside Psy in the music video? Here’s a little story about him, with the picture of his parents in the article. Interestingly his mother is Vietnamese.
http://news.donga.com/Enter_Photo/3/09/20121024/50348079/1
PIGHTING!
Psy hangs out with Ban Ki-moon at the UN:
http://www.thestar.com/news/world/article/1276148–skydiver-felix-baumgartner-offers-to-teach-un-chief-ban-ki-moon-how-to-skydive
Note the cracking joke at the end.
This Korean pop song not catching on in Japan shouldn’t be used as an example of Japanese racism, just as the song and dance catching on in the US shouldn’t be used as an example of American acceptance of or interest in Asian culture. Americans love a good internet meme, nothing more, and Japanese have plenty of Korean stuff on TV and in the stores.
The strange ranking movement peculiar to all 3 Kang Nam style videos is a proof beyond reasonable doubt that the ranking is manipulated.
>Mentos in a Coke bottle… par for the course for a culture that couldn’t produce decent ceramics prior to the 16th century.
What about European countries? The first “decent ceramics” in Europe was made in Meissen in 1708, which is in 18th century. Until that time, all china in Europe came from China, or Japan like Imari. Is there any Korean porcelain that became famous in Europe?
When tea ceremonies became big time hobbies among war lords in Japan in 16th century, they loved Korean teacups that were in uneven and odd shapes for uniqueness, naivetes and or primitiveness, in comparison to perfect symmetry of Chinese cups. That may be the reason Korean porcelain was not famous in Europe.
32
I read that in the early 1600s, some Japanese warlords invaded Korea and took Korean potters to Japan for their ceramics knowledge. I think the most famous Korean pottery is the celadon stuff, though I’m unsure to what extent that is and what its influence was in the past.
“This Korean pop song not catching on in Japan shouldn’t be used as an example of Japanese racism”
True. But the charges from some Japanese are that Youtube is being manipulated by Koreans and Koreans control the world in pushing Psy’s music forcibly onto other countries, could be used as example of Japanese racism.
GS stayed at no. 2 in Billboard chart for five weeks, whilst GS topped UK, Germany, and France single charts.
Stereo. When you’re washing your van, make sure to use the double bucket with grit guard method. That black paint is really, really hard to take care of.
Bendrix,
Yi Sampyong (李參平) is ‘the founding potter’ of Imari. When Hideyoshi invaded Korea, Nabeshima Naoshige(鍋島直茂) kidnapped Korean potters to Japan, among whom were Yi Sampyong.
http://ko.wikipedia.org/wiki/이삼평
#36
Bum, that was god damn funny.
Er, Q @ #37
Wiki on Imari says:
It’s so funny to see that even half a millenium ago, the same discrepancy exists as it does today c.f. Softbank Son’s grandfather and comfort women etc.
At some point in time, the Japanese woke up and smelled the coffee, while Korea wallowed (still does to some extent).
The future is a different story of course.
And Behold! Shoki Imari!
Much more beautiful (well, to my taste) than the loud red and gold affairs ofthe Chinese/Japanese styles.
And let’s try that again – google image search of Shoki Imari
The wiki in Korean language says:
I have suspicion on the description that he and his extended family “voluntarily emigrated to Japan” circa Japanese invasion of Korea.
I’m just a fat man with two kids
And that’s how he conquered the world – humility’s a fine thing sometimes, eh?
Avaast,
30
That was kinda corny but funny!
stereo, did that answer your question?
we always hear the creeps tell us that the japanese have no problem admitting korean influence on their culture. i always say the japanese lie and distort. heres the history of imari as told by imari dot com. where’s korea?
http://www.imari.com/new_page_16.htm
‘True. But the charges from some Japanese are that Youtube is being manipulated by Koreans and Koreans control the world in pushing Psy’s music forcibly onto other countries’
It’s not as if Korean organisations don’t have a track record of this in the past:
http://ph.news.yahoo.com/eighth-wonder-jejus-18-8m-phone-bill-074005508.html
Or that the Korean government isn’t actively drawing attention to/promoting (not necessarily ‘pushing onto’) Korean culture in other countries:
http://nwww.koreaherald.com/view.php?ud=20120510001142
Personally, I think it’s shame that a lighthearted song gets dragged down to this level of bickering, but perhaps that’s what happens when you use YouTube user’s comments as statements reflecting a whole countries opinion on a subject.
Were Billboard, UK chart, German and French charts, iTune charts, numerous covers and flashmobs, etc. paid by ministry of propaganda of Korea?
This conversation about rigging anything is just stupid. I’ve seen PSY on Saturday Night Live, on Ellen, on the Today Show, on the X Factor, etc. If ma and pa redneck are watching a Korean pop song on afternoon talk shows, then clearly he has a hit on his hands. It’s essentially a perfect storm of catchy lyrics, a memorable dance, and a humble performer who can speak relatively fluent English. That his appearance is at odds with our stereotypical image of pop performers only helps fuel his exposure overseas.
The real question is whether Psy can maintain this momentum with English songs — especially in a genre of music where Asians haven’t really been welcomed with open arms. I find it kind of hard to believe that this will lead to an explosion of K-pop at this level of exposure, but it seems that the genre is doing pretty well as it is so I don’t see where the problem is.
Btw, the horse dance has become one of the go-to celebratory dances in the NFL:
http://goo.gl/zo7G3
Even Secretary Ban is into it.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-20053091
Well, its not as if the government and others representing perceibed culture are above rigging and manipulating global open media voting systems to bolster koreas reputation：http://m.cnngo.com/explorations/eat/worlds-50-most-delicious-foods-067535
Personally, i say good luck to Psy on his success, and perhaps if you tune commments were no more and these kind of stats were taken with the large pinch of salt they deserve, the world might be a happier place.
So there it is folks, it’s all a rigged conspiracy job by Koreans who control the world media! Koreans don’t have secret hand shakes, instead they use the F5 key!
Do you remember for a while Japanese netizens claimed psy and GS is Japanese and J-pop:
http://www.koreabang.com/2012/stories/viral-gangnam-style-korean-music-video-confused-as-japanese.html
That was epic failure. Now they in jealousy say that the popularity of GS is fabricated by Korean government. Wow, if Korean government could have that much influence on the (internet) world, Google and Apple would not have changed Dokdo to Takeshima or Liancourt rocks in their maps.
Considering this latest story, it really is not far off comparing Japanese zealots vis-a-vis Koreans and Zainichi Koreans to the white supremacists and conspiracy theorists who think evil “Zionists” are responsible for all their troubles.
Seriously, Japan. You have twice the land area and twice the population of Korea, a country that is divided in half. Stop complaining about Korea. You got bigger problems on your hands with China.
The Japanese are certified tinfoil hat wearing conspiracy nuts. But ONLY when it comes to Korea. It really shows an ugly and jealous side of the Japanese.
They don’t show such skepticism or suspicion when it comes to their own government’s lies or when it comes to their dark history. The only thing they rememeber about the 20th century is that they were victims of two nuclear bombs.
And there you have it. Comments made by a very few members of a population on a YouTube page represent all of that country, every single man, woman, child, their government and all that has a heart beat. Because as we all, they’re all the same and their all out to get us.
Which leaves me wondering, who really is paranoid party in this ridiculous non-event.
For those who really wonder, you CANNOT increase views on YouTube by simply refreshing videos with F5. Counting valid views means a lot to YouTube.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oIkhgagvrjI
>pawikirogii 石鵝 October 25, 2012 at 8:33 am
>we always hear the creeps tell us that the japanese have no problem admitting korean influence on their culture. i always say the japanese lie and distort.
This is the page pawi linked.
http://www.imari.com/new_page_16.htm
The history page on the same site.
http://www.imari.com/history.html
Now, we know who is distorting. People like pawi gives a bad name to Korea in Japan. Why do they keep telling lies, which will just discredit themselves?
>pawikirogii 石鵝 October 25, 2012 at 8:23 am
>stereo, did that answer your question?
What question?
>Q October 25, 2012 at 7:17 am
>I have suspicion on the description that he and his extended family “voluntarily emigrated to Japan” circa Japanese invasion of Korea.
Potters in Korea were not free men. They were slaves of feudal lords, just as all the Korean peasants were. Korean king may say that the potters, who were his property, were taken against his will. Japanese will say they freed slaves with better job offering. If they had stayed in Korea, they would have stayed slaves without any significant achievement. They came to Japan and their work received worldwide appreciation. I think they made a good choice.
can we say ‘otaku creep’?
btw ur link full of dishonesty.
one last thing, the potters didnt have a choice. dont tell me they did. creep.
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