The "retail apocalypse" is the term coined when closings of brick-and-mortar retail chains became a noticeable national trend. The downward started in 2010 and reached a fever pitch in the latter half of this decade when thousands of physical stores were closed in otherwise high-density malls and retail locations.
Whether you blame the Great Recession, stagnant wages, changing consumer buying habits, or online retailers, it doesn’t change the fact that our once packed malls are filled with empty storefronts. Iconic American brands such as Sears, Tower Records, Circuit City, and Dean & Deluca are gone.
Well, gone for us.
You see, it seems that these brands are not just surviving, but thriving, across the Pacific Ocean on the tiny island of Japan. Yep, that’s right, these companies, and more, are posting record profits and have plans for rapid expansion not just in Japan, but all across the Pacific Rim.
Yes, in many Japanese cities, you can sip a cup of joe, grab the latest Taylor Swift vinyl, and listen to it on your new turntable, all of which can be purchased from once blue-chip American brands that no longer exist in the place they were born: America!
And this isn’t the only thing our friends from across the pond have taken a shine to. Japanese are crazy about baseball and basketball. They have long been admirers of our fashion and beauty trends. And, if you’re looking for some of America’s best bourbon, then grab a plane ticket and make your way to the land of the rising sun. In fact, Japanese designers are re-engineering and, in many cases, improving our very own culture in loving detail, including music education.
Yes, that’s right.
In David Hebert’s book, Wind Bands and Cultural Identity in Japanese Schools, he states, "Japan has become a world center for the production and consumption of "Western" music where the All-Japan Band Association Annual Competition draws 700,000 participants. The number of Japanese children who not only play wind band instruments, but do so well enough to participate in this contest brings home how staggeringly mainstream the playing of Western musical instruments is in Japan.”
And it doesn't stop there. The Japanese are embracing all facets of music education and the pageantry arts, including indoor winds, winter guard, and even drum corps.
They have taken our national pastime and adapted it to their cultural values, and while the instruments and literature may be the same, the experience can be very different.
So, given their incredible success, why don't we all mimic ways of the Japanese? Because we are not Japan. As my friend Jason Shian states, "to implement such ideas simply because that's how Japanese bands do it, without consideration of cultural contexts, previous training, etc., unintentionally devalues American music education."
Each country approaches music education in a unique way. The notes and rhythms we play may be the same, but the way we teach them can be very different. The same differences can even occur in the same country from town to town, school to school, and program to program. What works for the inner city might not work for the suburbs, and a meaningful experience in an orchestra might look and feel very different than one in a choir or band.
Music education is as varied as music itself. And just as we celebrate and learn from all types of music, we should celebrate and learn from all types of music education. Our differences don't make us inferior or superior; rather, they celebrate how our varied and unique approaches make us who we are.
Yes, our world and our profession are a complex, complicated, and diverse space, which is just as it should be.
But I would like Tower Records back.
Welcome back and have a great week.