Leang, Amy
Record Shopping With Puffy AmiYumi
Issue #29
The Japanese rock duo hits up a Detroit vinyl shop to pick up some gifts for their family back home
By Stephanie Tardy
Published: September 1st, 2006 | 12:00am
In Japan, Ami Onuki and Yumi Yoshimura are mega pop stars. Started 10 years ago as part of a talent search, Puffy AmiYumi has spawned Puffy-Mania: dolls, video games, books, and even their own weekly TV show, which aired from 1997 to 2002. In the United States, they star in Cartoon Network’s animated series, Hi Hi Puffy AmiYumi. But with worldwide exposure and an international audience also comes a language barrier. Though they sometimes sing in English, Onuki, who grew up in Tokyo, and Yoshimura, who is from Osaka, speak very little of it and often utilize a translator while traveling — which can make a quick trip to an American record shop a daunting task.
On the way to meet up with Onuki and Yoshimura at People’s Records in Detroit, I began to worry. How would $50 from Venus Zine, 30 minutes, and a translator turn out? Then I remembered the lyrics of “Call Me What You Like,” the first track from Puffy AmiYumi’s latest record, Splurge. “Don’t call me if you listen to country / Don’t call me if you listen to modern soul / ... But you can call me what you like if you like rocknroll,” they sing. Maybe I listen to country, but I could take or leave modern soul, and I really like rocknroll. This was comforting. Music is universal!
When Yoshimura and Onuki arrived in cute, slouchy outfits fresh from sound check at St. Andrew’s Hall, it was easy to see why Puffy AmiYumi is a J-Pop cult phenomenon. Sporting a workman’s shirt bearing the logo for Japanese punk label Pizza Of Death, Onuki literally wore the duo’s cultural influences on her heart. People’s Records is the kind of place where analog nerds spend hours digging through 45s for the perfect obscure disco sample. So while the basement shop is super for many American music lovers, it may not be the best fit for foreigners who mainly stick to releases by musicians from their own country.
However, the ladies, who prefer CDs to records, said they would try to find something in the all-vinyl store. While on tour, they generally listen to Japanese artists like Onuki’s favorite, Tokyo Jihen, but there is one U.S. band that the girls really like. “They are both big fans of the Red Hot Chili Peppers and plan to catch them when they come to Japan,” said their translator, Yaz Noya.
On Hi Hi Puffy AmiYumi, Onuki is the cute, shy one and Yoshimura the sarcastic, cool one. In person both women were talkative and kind, patiently browsing records that, ultimately, they could not play. After failing to find anything in bins of rock and ’80s LPs — and time quickly dwindling — I tried a different angle. “What did you listen to when you were a kid?”
“My parents listened to country music when I was little,” Onuki said. “Merle Haggard?” Merle, we could do.
Yoshimura asked for Peter Tosh, but when none of his records were available, the pair had to give up the hunt and headed off to St. Andrew’s Hall to play their last show before leaving for Japan. Maybe the duo would have better luck at their favorite record store, Tower Records in Shibuya, Tokyo. “It’s big and easy,” Onuki explained.
THE SHOPPING LIST
· Merle Haggard & the Strangers, Mama Tried, $1
· Merle Haggard & the Strangers, A Working Man Can’t Get Nowhere Today, $3
· Merle Haggard, Okie From Muskogee, $4
“They are buying these for their parents,” Noya said.
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