Turning Japanese

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“Turning Japanese”

Single by The Vapors
from the album New Clear Days

Released

1980

Format

7", CD

Vic Coppersmith-Heaven

The Vapors singles chronology

"News at Ten"
(1980)

"Turning Japanese"
(1980)

"Jimmie Jones"
(1981)

"Turning Japanese" is the most popular song released by The Vapors off their album New Clear Days and the song they are most known for. The song's lyrics mainly consist of the singer talking about the picture of his love.

In the US, the song was believed to euphemistically refer to masturbation, specifically referencing certain facial distortions that may resemble the stereotypical image of a Japanese person. In fact, some US media outlets claimed that the phrase "turning Japanese" was a popular euphemism in the UK for masturbation; in reality, however, it has only become such a euphemism subsequent to the release of the song. Dave Fenton would alternately confirm and deny this suggestion in interviews, but admitted the phrase "turning Japanese" just popped into his head one morning when he woke up, and he viewed it as a love song when writing it. The song can be viewed as a love song or the ramblings of a man in a one sided relationship ostracized by society.

The band knew they had a hit with "Turning Japanese", so much so that they waited until their second single before releasing it, fearing that if they released it as their first they would become one-hit wonders. In fact, the delay didn't help much, and they never managed to match its success before or since.^[1]

Persons of Asian descent have been known to take exception to the song, with one Asian-American group named Orient Express creating a parody entitled "Turning Hakujin" (Japanese for a white person).^{[citation needed]}

[edit] Covers

"Turning Japanese" was covered by No Use for a Name and released in 1997 on Before You Were Punk, a collection of 1980s new wave tracks covered by modern day punk rock bands.
A ska punk version of the song was done by the band Skankin' Pickle, on their 1994 release Sing Along With Skankin' Pickle.
This song was covered by the glam rock band, Peppermint Creeps.
Liz Phair covered the song on Juvenilia in 1995.
The song was featured in an advertisement for KFC, in which a man at a karaoke bar gets up and drunkenly sings the chorus.
A cover of the song is a playable track in the PlayStation 2 music game Guitar Hero Encore: Rocks the 80s
Jawbreaker plays it as part of their song "With Or Without U2", a medley of "With Or Without You" by U2, "Skulls" by The Misfits, and "Turning Japanese".
Now defunct Irish band The Revs did a cover in 2002
In an episode of Bill Nye: The Science Guy regarding static electricity the song was parodied with lyrics regarding static electricity replacing the original lyrics.
An unauthorised mashup of the song entitled 'Daddy's Gone Japanese' circulated briefly on the web.

[edit] Pop culture references of "Turning Japanese"

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"Turning Japanese" has been used in many forms of media including the following:

The song was used on the soundtrack of the 2000 film Charlie's Angels, as well as being featured in the 2002 film, Jackass: The Movie, in the Night Panda skit, Romy and Michele's High School Reunion and "Showdown In Little Tokyo". A cover version was used in Beverly Hills Ninja.
The song also appears in the original cut of Sixteen Candles, but was changed for the video release. It is playing in the scene where Dong drops off Samantha at home after a party.
In an episode of Malcolm in the Middle, Hal sings the song while drunk.
The track appears on the commercial for Dr Pepper, the word Japanese being replaced by the number 23 (a reference to the carbonated soft drink being a "blend of 23 flavors").
A MasterCard television commercial used the song's riff, showing John Eales, ex-Wallaby captain, on a Japanese subway platform organising a rugby scrum so that he and others could squeeze into a subway car.
Rick Moranis did a version on SCTV as part of a Gerry Todd Show sketch, where Moranis (in a parody of Matt Monro) performed a music video in cheesy lounge lizard style.
The track was also used in a Trigger Happy TV sketch.
Clips from the song, as well as the name, were used in the UK ITV2 show, Kelly Osbourne: Turning Japanese.
An industrial remix of the song was created by the band 16 Volt, in 1997, as the first track of a remix album titled Newer Wave, which consisted of various artists covering popular New Wave tracks from the 1980s.
The song was also featured in the trailer for Sgt. Kabukiman N.Y.P.D.
The song has also been used in UK adverts for the TV show, Takeshi's Castle.
In the film "The Breakfast Club", John Bender bellows a section of this song whilst running through the schools hallways.
In the Webcomic, "Order of the Stick", the title for strip 516 is a reference to the song. The strip is named "Turning Azurite, I think I'm turning Azurite I really Think So"