Billboard Japan spoke with Kaori Hayashi, CEO of Hayashi Worldwide Promotions Co. Ltd., for the most recent installment of its Girls in Music interview collection. H.I.P. has lengthy been considered one of Japan’s main live performance promoters of each home and worldwide artists.
Billboard Japan launched its Girls in Music initiative final yr in an effort to spotlight girls within the nation’s music business via tasks together with interviews by main figures of their respective fields of experience.
Since Hayashi took up her present publish in 2021, H.I.P. promoted sold-out stadium exhibits for Bruno Mars (October 2022) and Maroon 5 (December 2022) in Japan instantly after the nation reopened following the pandemic. For these achievements, she was acknowledged on Billboard’s 2023 Worldwide Energy Gamers listing. H.I.P. is producing one other spherical of Mars’ sold-out stadium exhibits in Japan set for January subsequent yr.
Hayashi, who studied in London and is at the moment based mostly in California, shared her ideas on the present panorama of the Japanese music business.
Congratulations on being acknowledged on Billboard’s Worldwide Energy Gamers listing this yr.
Thanks. My father (Hiromichi “Massy” Hayashi) based H.I.P. and quite a lot of the opposite names on that listing are individuals who’ve been working within the business since his days, so I really feel honored to be named alongside them. There aren’t many feminine live performance promoters on the market, so I’d be comfortable if individuals discover me for being the subsequent technology of the enterprise and for being a uncommon lady in it who can actually assist shake up the business.
So there aren’t too many feminine live performance promoters on the entire, not simply in Japan.
Proper. You see quite a lot of girls in positions just like the vice-president of a report firm now, however the individuals I speak to every day are solely males. We don’t pull our punches, although. [Laughs]
Why do you suppose there are extra males in live performance promotion?
Our work is completed each domestically and internationally, so now we have to cope with taxing time zone variations and are below steady strain every single day. It takes quite a lot of bodily power, and it may be actually damaging for those who’re not robust mentally. However I feel there can be extra girls coming to the enterprise sooner or later. I feel this job is minimize out for people who find themselves good at multitasking.
We began this collection of interviews after noticing the gender imbalance on our charts. The subject of gender imbalance in music festivals can also be being talked about lately. Do you’re taking gender into consideration when inviting artists?
To be trustworthy, under no circumstances. After we plan and promote live shows, we by no means take into consideration what we do based mostly on whether or not the acts are male or feminine.
An remark that’s come up quite a few instances whereas talking to numerous individuals on this collection is that there’s a bent in Japan for girls to have a tough time being accepted for asserting one thing strongly, not like within the U.S. the place artists similar to Beyoncé and Billie Eilish who categorical robust convictions are standard. Have you ever observed such sentiments in your line of labor?
I’ve by no means observed any such reactions to the overseas artists we work with, however it’s true that for Japanese feminine artists, there may be in all probability the next demand for being cute and fairly fairly than whether or not or not they’ve one thing to say. Within the U.S., being assertive and having daring and flamboyant performances are thought-about fascinating and garner consideration.
What influenced your pondering behind not taking gender into consideration when making choices?
I feel I used to be raised to not suppose an excessive amount of about gender. I’ve all the time questioned why we take into consideration women and men in a separate method and discriminate after we’re all “from Planet Earth.” In fact, there are occasions I discover myself not having the ability to talk easily with conservative-thinking males. But it surely’s as much as me to resolve whether or not or to not affiliate with such males. I don’t let it distract me as a result of it’s my option to make.
You talked about the shortage of feminine live performance promoters. I’m certain your presence evokes others to contemplate your line of labor. How did you resolve on this profession?
I usually used to accompany my father to the live shows he produced and watched him work. It was nonetheless uncommon on the time to see so many non-Japanese individuals round, so seeing him working in such an atmosphere appeared out of the bizarre to me. I feel that’s why I additionally needed to do it too. Once I was 18, I labored on Mariah Carey’s dome tour as an assistant. That’s once I began pondering I needed to make it my profession.
Getting began engaged on a Mariah Carey tour sounds superb. Now that you simply’ve established your self within the enterprise that you simply aspired to, what elements of the job make it worthwhile?
Daily I preserve operating into some form of wall, whether or not or not it’s massive or small. However once I’m in a position to overcome these obstacles and obtain one thing, I really feel a way of achievement.
Once you hit a wall, how do you overcome it?
I by no means quit and preserve searching for a method. If possibility A doesn’t work, then I take into account possibility B, then C and even D, and simply suppose issues via.
You’ll discover a method for those who work actually laborious. You’ll be able to obtain your objectives even below intense strain. An important factor is to by no means quit. My father embodied this angle. He by no means ran away from the truth in entrance of him and overcame obstacles by going through them with sincerity.
If you happen to might give your self one piece of recommendation if you first began working, what would it not be?
“Go together with your intestine.” On the time, I didn’t have a lot expertise and didn’t belief my instinct. However now I do know that my instinct is extra necessary than anything and may information me alongside the best way.
Earlier than I began working, I used to be a scholar and determined to go to the U.Okay. as a result of I used to be feeling cramped in Japanese society. I used to be additionally uncomfortable with the concept that it was thought-about the norm for girls to do all of the house responsibilities. I used to be younger on the time and needed journey, so I lived in London and discovered from many experiences. I additionally discovered that within the U.Okay., girls are equal to males in terms of pursuing a profession, and that males are inclined to encourage girls and help their development in society.
I stay in California now and am surrounded by many ladies who’re moms and enterprise homeowners. In Japan, there appear to be lots of people who suppose that it’s not good to let different individuals assist care in your youngsters or assist do issues round the home, however that’s not the case within the U.S. I feel a supportive atmosphere for girls is crucial for them to be extra lively on this business.
You’re proper, the best way individuals suppose must be modified together with working circumstances as a result of this stuff are instantly associated to gender imbalances within the office. Is there something you strive to concentrate on to keep up a free mindset?
I attempt to consciously create conditions that enable me to be free. For instance, when selecting a associate, I select somebody who doesn’t suppose “girls ought to keep at house.” It’s my alternative. I attempt to do not forget that the alternatives are all the time mine.
—This interview by Rio Hirai (SOW SWEET PUBLISHING) first appeared on Billboard Japan