Special

Japanese Artists Stay Connected During COVID-19 Crisis Through "utatsunagi" Hashtag

11/04/2020 2020-04-11 15:30:00 KoME Author: Christine, Laeza

Japanese Artists Stay Connected During COVID-19 Crisis Through "utatsunagi" Hashtag

Artists from across the Japanese music scene have been posting short performance videos filmed from their homes under the hashtag "utatsunagi" to stay connected during the COVID-19 crisis.


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Have you been keeping an eye on your favourite artists' Twitter accounts during the COVID-19 crisis? If so, you may have noticed the hashtag "utatsunagi", which translates roughly to "song connection" or "connected through song". Artists will post a short video of themselves singing or playing part of a song, then tag another musician they'd like to see do the same.

As countless tours and concerts have been cancelled to help minimize the spread of the virus and many musicians find themselves at home with some unexpected time to spare, this trend has quickly spread through many different scenes, with both mainstream pop artists and lesser known indie acts taking part. Artists have used this hashtag as an opportunity to tackle tracks by groups they admire, to cheer fans up by covering classics by their own beloved disbanded or inactive bands, or even to share brand new songs from their current projects.

For readers who aren't regular Twitter users, we've compiled some of our favourites below:

Masashi Yamada, vocalist of rock band THE BACK HORN:


Singer-songwriter Rina Katahira:


Sohei Oyamada, vocalist and guitarist of rock band AL, solo artist, and former frontman of andymori:


Momo, vocalist of folk duo Charan-Po-Rantan:


JESSE, frontman of rock bands RIZE and The BONEZ, performing with members of The BONEZ:


Chiaki Sato, solo artist and vocalist of rock band Kinoko Teikoku:


PES, one of the MCs from hip-hop group RIP SLYME:


ZAQ, a popular anisong artist:


NOBUYA, one of the vocalists of rock band ROTTENGRAFFTY:


AiNA THE END, solo artist and a member of alternative idol unit BiSH:


Has your favourite artist taken part? Check out the hashtag on Twitter or follow some of the chains in these Tweets to see more.

What are some of your favourite "utatsunagi" videos? Let us know with a comment on social media.

We'll also be highlighting some more of our favourites as new videos are posted, so stay tuned.
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