Revisiting Japan’s Pop Sensation “Hatsune Miku”

With almost 2 million followers on Facebook,  100,000 original songs (some have been the top karaoke picks in Japan for several years), with sold out concerts around the globe and  the face of some of the top signature brands such Louis Vuitton, Toyota and Google, Hatsune Miku may be Japan’s most famous pop icon.

Perhaps the most awe inspiring fact about Japan’s famous pop sensation is that she is not human.  The 16-year old with long turquoise pigtails, Hatsune Miku (初音ミク) is a digitally synthesized voice in a humanoid persona developed by Crypton Future Media, a Sapporo-based software contractor, in 2007. Her vocal prowess is sourced from Yamaha Corporation’s Vocaloid 2 and Vocaloid 3 singing synthesizing technologies and Crypton Future Media’s Piapro Studio (a singing synthesizer VSTi Plugin). Her voice was initially patterned from that of the voice actress Saki Fujita.  The name Hatsune Miku was derived from combining the Japanese words for first (初 hatsu), sound (音 ne) and future (Miku (ミク). This refers to her position as the first of “Crypton’s Character Vocal Series” and signifies the “first sound from the future”.

Only after a month since being introduced to Japan’s general public, Hatsune Miku became the highest-grossing software with revenues of ¥57.5 million. The phenomenal popularity of Hatsune Miku can be attributed to the idol culture of Japan which started in the 1970s with foreign stars, eventually moving on to domestically produced personalities and finally escalating to an increasing preference for “artificial intimacy.” This trend is enhanced by the continuing fascination for the anime and manga genre that has reached a global following in large scale proportions.

The past two years have shown an increase in fan base coming from outside Japan for Hatsune Miku. English was also added just last year to Hatsune Miku’s official singing language.  Hatsune Miku is said to represent market power superiority over real life counterparts.

This is based on her ability to satisfy consumer needs without the hazards that normally afflict other living pop stars such as unattainable vocal ranges, fatigue, ageing, contracting an illness, having a bad hair day and so on. Her performances are always as expected, exemplary to a fault. In addition, Hatsune Miku’s fans are given the freedom to create the story of her “life” and they are also given so much creative freedom to write her music. This offers an immense range for the listening and viewing pleasure for all her fans.