There are some points I want to make about the article; firstly, the article doesn't paint listeners (including myself in that group as an owner of ~100 Japanes

There are some points I want to make about the article; firstly, the article doesn't paint listeners (including myself in that group as an owner of ~100 Japanese 70s/80s records) as orientalists. Rather, it claims that the surge in the popularity of city pop has emerged out of stereotypes and biases about Japan, the past, and past Japan. Those stereotypes, and being built into a fetish, is the orientalist element. The Pitchfork writer doesn't say that's a problem. It's more of an article along the lines that the unexamined life is not worth living. Neither the writer (nor the academic they cite) are going to be starting a campaign to get Google to take down city pop album rips on YouTube. They're not on a campaign to get it banned. They're not going to be breaking into your house to confiscate your headphones. They're not calling me racist. If someone had written an article about the rise in popularity of Jazz in the 50s being founded in the idea of the black entertainer to be appreciated for his amazing skill in contrast to other blacks (think along the lines of the movie Green Book for an exploration of the ideas), that might be a valid observation, and something to think about. What attracts you to jazz? Do you know what attracts you to jazz, and how do you know that? It doesn't mean you're a racist, in the same way liking porn doesn't mean you're a misogynist. So there is no 'problem', but maybe it's something to think about and reflect on. I think the article prompted me to do that, but maybe not in the way it intended. Desires and preferences (as much as people can pass things off as 'just what I like') may be worthy of moral consideration, according to some philosophers. I'll keep listening to my records, but I'll also examine what's behind them in my mind. The article does a good job of pointing to the phenomenon of 'Cool Japan' without actually mentioning it. In particular, the last sentence. On the other hand, it's worth considering what effects articles like these have on listeners. If they come away with the impression that it's wrong to listen to city pop or any music that isn't from "their culture", there's been a failure in communication that would seem to encourage people to become cloistered in the superiority of their own cultures, which reduces the recognition of what we have in common as humans. It's a complicated issue. I don't think the article does a great job of addressing it.