X-Japan

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Contents

[edit] Introduction

This section needs more information.

[edit] The Band

X-Japan (エックス ジャパン) is a Japanese metal/progressive rock band founded in 1982 by Toshimitsu "Toshi" Deyama and Yoshiki Hayashi. Originally called X (エックス), they changed their name to avoid confusion with the American punk band of the same title. The band was active from 1982 – 1997 and then regrouped in 2007.

X-Japan is widely credited for leading the visual kei movement and is an important group in JRock fandom.

[edit] Members

[edit] Members

As with numerous other Japanese bands, the members of X Japan are usually credited with their given or stage names.

Former members
  • Taiji Sawada (沢田泰司 Sawada Taiji) – bass, backing vocals (until 1992) [5]
  • Hideto "Hide" Matsumoto (松本秀人 Matsumoto Hideto) – guitar, backing vocals (until 1997) [6]
  • Hisashi Takai (Jun/Shu) - Guitar (Orgasm EP) [7]
  • Hikaru - Bass (Orgasm EP) [8]
  • Yuji Izumisawa (Yuji) - Guitar (I'll kill you EP) [9]
  • Tomoyuki Ogata (Tomo) - Guitar (I'll kill you EP) [10]
  • Atsushi Tokuo (Tely) - Bass (I'll kill you EP)[11]
Support members (live only)

[edit] Terminology

Below is a list of terms and their definitions that are used in this fan community.

Era: A defined time in the band. For example, the indies era which comprised 1982-1988, or the Taiji era, when Sawada Taiji was the bassist, which comprised 1987-1992. [citation needed]


"Last Live or The Last Live capitalized: the last concert played by X Japan on December 31, 1997. [citation needed]

[edit] Timeline

Below is a partial timeline of events that took place in this fan community.

[edit] 1982

  • "X was founded in 1982 while vocalist Toshi and drummer Yoshiki were attending high school together. " [13]

[edit] 2002

[edit] 2003

[edit] 2004

[edit] 2005

[edit] 2006

[edit] 2007

[edit] Kerfluffles

[edit] Pre-internet kerfluffles

The Legendary Flamewar: Fans of vocalist Toshi and late guitarist hide often argue or dislike each other, especially when shipping enters the scene. The Legendary Flamewar, by all accounts, began before the existence of internet media, when Japanese doujinshi writers got into a shipwar over whether Toshi/Yoshiki or hide/Yoshiki was the One True Pairing. The enmity naturally seeped into internet discourse as well as the fandom in general, only worsening with the 1997 breakup of the band and hide's death in 1998. [citation needed]

Some Toshi fans blame hide for stealing Yoshiki's attention from Toshi, for focusing more on his successful solo career, and accuse him of committing suicide for revenge on Toshi, Yoshiki, or both. Meanwhile, some hide fans vehemently reject these allegations, blame the band's breakup on Toshi's joining a religious cult or insisting that he would not perform anymore and blame the band breakup for either causing or contributing to hide's death.[citation needed]

The Legendary Flamewar is notorious for its staying power (it is probably one of the only fandom kerfluffles to be older than some of the people engaged in it, having began in its first form in 1988 or 1989, and even Yoshiki and Toshi reconciling and the reunion of the band hasn't quenched its flames), and for being a nesting doll of drama (it's notorious for often starting up several other kerfluffles mentioned below as it runs its course, such as I'm Straight Dammit, Unsolved hide Mysteries, and Your Cult Is My Religion).[citation needed]

My Guitarist Is Better Than Yours: Fans of hide and fans of Pata will often argue over who is a better guitarist, and some dislike each other to the point of engaging in pages of drama to try to "prove" one to be better than the other. My Guitarist Is Better also pre-dated the internet, as one can hear rival fans cheering each on in the audience in early 1990s clips. This kerfluffle can be recognized by the hide fans involved pointing out the achievements of hide's solo career and stage presence, and the Pata fans pointing out that Pata was a better player on more complicated parts and that hide only became famous due to drama and dying.[citation needed]

[edit] Kerfluffles originating in 1992 through 1998

My Bassist Is Better Than Yours Fans of Taiji or Heath will occasionally get into drama over whether Taiji or Heath is the better bassist. Much like "My Guitarist Is Better Than Yours," both sides will trot out "evidence" to prove that Taiji was the best bassist and the band "sold out" or "went into decline" after his departure, or that Heath is technically better than Taiji and brought the stability the band needed. Some fans involved in this kerfluffle will go as far as demanding that Taiji be brought back into the now-reunited band.[citation needed]

I'm Straight, Dammit: The sexual orientation of any member of the band, usually Yoshiki, is the subject of this kerfluffle, though it has been rather angrily fought over hide and Toshi and Taiji as well. Some fans believe that some or all of the band members are gay or bisexual offstage, while other fans believe that all (or their favorite member) are 100 percent straight and anything implying same-sex relationships or attraction on their behalf is fanservice. [citation needed]

Hide or hide?: This kerfluffle usually happens when someone refers to hide as "Hide" or "HIDE." Since it is generally recognized among older fans and those with knowledge of the fandom that hide preferred his name to be in lowercase, no exceptions are made except for Yoshiki and drama usually ensues. [citation needed]

One Man's Cult Is Another Man's Religion: Toshi joined a sect led by a man by the name of Masaya in 1996. Some people claim that Toshi was brainwashed by Masaya and has become an operative of the group they consider to be a cult, others believe that he sought religion to cope with his issues and that it saved his life.[citation needed]

Unsolved hide Mysteries: Some fans believe that hide intentionally killed himself. Others bring up evidence that he did not seem uniquely suicidal and/or otherwise agree with the official statement that hide's self-inflicted death was accidental. Yet others have conspiracy theories that hide's girlfriend, the Yakuza, or someone else killed him and made it look like a suicide. When these fans meet and disagree, a kerfluffle will often result as one of the three sides tries to prove their case. Sometimes, this happens as a spinoff of the Legendary Flamewar, and someone posting an inflammatory enough theory regarding Toshi can use this kerfluffle as a springboard to the Legendary Flamewar.[citation needed]


[edit] Recent Kerfluffles

Yoshiki's health: Since Yoshiki's collapse at the March 28th concert and the postponement of the 2008 world tour due to his health issues, his health status has become the subject of the occasional kerfluffle. A massive kerfluffle over whether his faint was real or just a drama bid and cash grab broke out between JRR and JROCKNYC, and smaller kerfluffles have ensued from the postponement of the tour due to Yoshiki's herniated spinal disc and tendonitis.[citation needed]

X-Freaks Goes Boom: X-Freaks forums split, attributed by some to the actions of some of the admins including PanthereNoire. [citation needed]

PanthereNoire Gets Fired PanthereNoire is fired from JRR. The official reason is a disagreement with Kuri, but it is rumoured that Yoshiki found out about PanthereNoire's alleged bashing of hide and demanded her firing. PanthereNoire then proceeds to claim "official" status through BXTE (Bring X To Europe"), after which the organisation split. After this, Hypno banned her from the X-freaks forums. [citation needed]

We Love X But We Hate Yoshiki! A rather recent rift in the fandom has appeared between fans who think Yoshiki cares nothing for art or his fans and fans who still love him.[citation needed]

[edit] The Internet

[edit] FaceBook

There is a small active community of fans on FaceBook.

[edit] LiveJournal

The community on LiveJournal is more organized than the community on LiveJournal.

On December 4, 2002, the X-Japan LiveJournal community xjapan was created. [23]

[edit] Fanworks

[edit] Fan art

There is an active fan art community for X-Japan that can be found in several places including message boards and on social networking sites like LiveJournal. [24] There is a thread on Forum X-Japan.fr dedicated to fan art that goes on for over 8 pages. [25]

[edit] Fan fiction

There is an active fan fiction community. Many members of the community write slash. This has been encouraged by the band. This is discussed in Slash, Fiction, and Rock 'n Roll: an Excursion into Actor Slash by Mimi who characterizes it as follows:

If you do visit, try scrolling down the subject list to find a fandom that's called X-Japan. With the exception of unfamiliar-sounding Japanese names, the stories maynot seem too different from what you usually read. But there is one catch. X-Japan is not a television show, not a movie, and not even an anime series. It is a popularrock band in Japan that has a devoted female following. Slash readers may begin to squirm. This is beginning to come uncomfortably close to actor slash. But at this point the story takes on a strange twist.
It seems that the members of X-Japan, instead of trying to deny the speculation of homosexuality that so often dog all-male bands, decided to capitalize on its appeal for female fans. They have authorized mangaka (comic artists) to create several graphic novels featuring the members of the band, all of which contain more than hints of homoeroticism. The stories in the Aestheticism archive are simply the tip of theiceberg. In Japan, you can find a large number of doujinshi (fan-produced comics, similar to fanzines) based on X-Japan for sale at trade shows and bookstores. Nor isthis an isolated case. It is a marketing strategy that is gaining popularity in Japan. Another popular anime series, Weib Kruez (White Cross), also features an all-male band that has a real-life counter part. [26]

[edit] Influential fanworks

This section needs more information.

[edit] Fandom members

[edit] Fandom size

This section needs more information.

[edit] External links

[edit] See also

[edit] Sources

Below is a partial list of articles and academic sources to help you continue to learn about this community.

This section needs more information.


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