Three Girls Revitalizing Asia
Three Girls Revitalizing Asia 興亜三人娘 | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Background information | |
| Origin | Japan |
| Genres | Musical nationalism |
| Years active | 1940-1941 |
| Labels | Nippon Columbia |
| Past members | Bai Guang Ri Kōran |
Three Girls Revitalizing Asia (Japanese: 興亜三人娘, romanized: Koa sannin musume), known simply as Three Girls, was a transnational girl group that was active briefly in the 1940s.[1] The trio was part of Japan's cultural propaganda efforts during the Second World War, aimed at promoting the Greater East Asia Co-Prosperity Sphere—a concept that sought to create a bloc of Asian nations led by Japan, free from Western colonialism.[1]
Career
[edit]The group released its first single, "Koa sannin musume" ("Three Girls Revitalizing Asia"), in December 1940, signed under Nippon Columbia.[1][2] The track is a Japan-Manchuria-China friendship song, sung by all three girls in the major key.[1] The song's lyrics describe each culture as its national flower, chrysanthemum for Japan, orchid for Manchuria, and plum blossom for China.[1][3] The B-side track was "Kokoro ni saku hana' ("Flowers Blooming in My Heart"), a ryūkōka sung by Ri Kōran, also about the three girls.[1] On the album cover, each girl is depicted wearing her respective national costume while holding flowers and smiling. Slightly below them on the cover is a male Imperial Japanese pilot.[1]
The group would disband in 1941, shortly after releasing a re-recorded version of the single.[1] One of the group's members, Ri Kōran, would go on to have a successful career as an actress, journalist, and politician.[4] Despite its short run, Three Girls is credited with inventing the "marketing strategy where each member takes up a unique 'official position' in the group", still used by many idol groups in the modern day.[1]
Membership
[edit]The group consisted of three young singers, each representing a national identity within the Greater East Asia Co-Prosperity Sphere:[1]
- Bai Guang (representing China)
- Saiko Okuyama (representing Japan)
- Ri Kōran (representing Manchukuo)
Ri Kōran was ethnically Japanese, but was born in Manchukuo and selected for the group in-part for her ethnically ambiguous appearance.[1]
References
[edit]- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k Nan, Mei Mingxue (2023). "Imperial Media Mix: Japan's Failed Attempt at Asia's First Transnational Girl Group". Mechademia. 16 (1): 79–97. ISSN 2152-6648.
- ^ Raine, Michael (2018-06-22). ""You Can't Replace Cone with the Wind with Chushingura": China Nights and the Problem of Japanese Film Policy in Occupied Shanghai". Film History. 30 (2): 164–199. doi:10.2979/filmhistory.30.2.06.
- ^ Hopkins, David (2013). "Kessen Musume: Women and Japan's Record Industry at War" (PDF). Harvard Asia Quarterly. 9 (3/4).
- ^ 丸山鐵雄 (1983). 歌は世につれ (in Japanese). みすず書房. ISBN 978-4-622-00387-8.