Luna, the J-pop girls group ASIANZ‘s main vocalist, started her solo project covering popular Indian songs in the Japanese language. The project aims to expand the art and beauty of Indian songs to the Japanese audience. It also tries to connect both countries through the power of music.
Luna launched the project this March and has already released seven songs on ASIANZ’s YouTube channel.
Are Indian songs popular in Japan?
In the past few years, Indian movies have been getting popular in Japan. Some famous films such as Baahubali, English Vinglish, 3 Idiots have been screened at many theaters in Japan. Also, Some Indian celebrities like Sridevi and Aamir Khan have visited Japan for promotions in the past. Thanks to Netflix, nowadays, lots of Indian movies and dramas are available in the country.
On the other hand, Indian songs are not so popular in the country yet, unfortunately. There might be multiple reasons for it. One of the reasons could be the difficulty understanding the messages that the songs convey because of the different languages used in the two countries.
For Luna, however, Indian songs are around her since ASIANZ’s sister group ASIANZ Dancers dances to it. ASIAN Dancers is a Japanese dance influencer having over 2 million followers on TikTok, and dances to famous songs by various Indian artists. For example, they had gone viral in India when they released their dance video performing to Nora Tatehi’s “Nach Meri Raani.”
How did Luna start the project?
Luna was amazed at the beautiful music and thoughtful lyrics of Indian songs. So, she decided to sing Indian songs in Japanese.
To showcase the beauty and energy of Indian songs to the Japanese audience, Luna writes Japanese lyrics from the original ones in the local Indian languages. “It is hard work to find a perfect translation for songs considering different sounds that each language has. Therefore, I sometimes write Japanese lyrics from scratch to make them fit and retain their original message,” Luna said to Super Sugoii.
In addition, Luna received many messages from the Indian audience on her songs. “They expect me to connect India and Japan through the project. Also, some people encourage me to spread a part of Indian culture to the world. In the future, I would like to increase the number of songs I cover, not only from India but also from other Asian countries. In the end, I wish I could spread the beauty of multiple countries’ songs by covering them in Japanese,” she added.
Luna is the main vocalist of ASIANZ that was scheduled to perform at “KURAIMAX” which is one of the largest festivals combining “food” and “music” and attracts 100,000 people in Japan. This solo project of the group’s lead vocalist is attracting attention from around the world at an accelerated pace.
ASIANZ : YouTube
ASIANZ Dancers : Instagram | TikTok
All the Japanese people who listened to the songs I covered were surprised to hear what Indian music is like. They said it was very fresh and that there were such wonderful songs in India. They are always looking forward to upcoming songs.