Amid all the excitement, analysis and general horse-dancing hoo-haa over Korean musician Psy's smash hit "Gangnam Style," one story that has provoked a certain amount of head-scratching among fans is the song's relative lack of success in Japan.
Brian Ashcraft produced a good summary on the website Kotaku of how audience expectations and music industry practices here — as well as Psy's own promotional priorities — may have left Japan out of the loop. As with many discussions of pop music in Japan, however, the focus on Japan's quirks and peculiarities once again leaves it looking like the loner at an international pop party.
But perhaps in understanding why the song hasn't been such a hit in Japan, it might be a good idea to take a hard look at what made it such a hit in the West.