A good friend of mine brought up a question the other day that sparked my interest and I had no idea about the answer!

Is there a reason a lot of Japanese artists sing in French? Hirono Nishiyama or EeL for instance.

They also do a lot of German and English too.

The reasoning's actually pretty simple- Japan is western crazy. You know how a lot of us westerners are totally nutso for Japanese things? Well they're the same way, only in reverse.

I noticed that one too.
& all the french songtitles (Malice Mizer and Moi dix Mois did/do that a lot =O).
It kinda bores me, why waste that great Japanese culture/language?

Well to them, the Japanese culture and language is boring everyday stuff. After all, they grew up hearing of and living through it. But to them, European and American stuff is really fucking awesome and new, and they like to dabble in that.

After all, to them it's new and nifty. We're just bored with it because we all grew up strongly influenced by French, German, and English. To us, those languages are dull and only mildly interesting. Yet we perceive Japanese language and culture as new and fascinating, simply because it's had very little impact on us... until recently.

Gotta look at things on the other end of the perspective.

It should also be noted that they like the sound of the English/German/French.

Plus, they carry a certain style with their clothes, and depending on the band the visual is just as important as the music itself.

I love when they add the french style to their music and such, but I wish they'd correct their grammar when they do. I tend to translate the french parts of Japanese music for a good friend of mine every now and again, and they always butcher the language, almost like they just it in bablefish and used that.

@Lysander: And now you know where the word 'engrish' comes from. Japanese artists tend to butcher English, too, but I don't really mind. Most people don't. It's cute, really, and hell, at least they tried. You can't expect every band to know every language they think sounds nice, you know?

Besides, it's not like they're trying to offend anyone on purpose. You really should be flattered they're even using a language you know. ;3

I know, it's just funny reading what looks like a bablefish translation. The stuff that Mana does always seems to have the more amusing french in them since they generally make no sense at all. Hehe, my ten month.

Really? o.o;; -blinkblink- I've noticed the English, but I didn't know there were many songs in French as well. Can... anyone... recommend a few? o.o