Music

Tokyo-based electronic music producer and educator Sakura Tsuruta is the next featured artist on Billboard Japan’s Women in Music interview series, inviting female players in the Japanese entertainment industry to share their views on its current landscape. Billboard Japan’s WIM initiative began in 2022 in the same spirit as Billboard’s Women in Music launched in 2007, honoring artists, producers, and executives who have made significant contributions to the music industry and empowered women through their work.

With a degree in Music Therapy and Electronic Production and Design from the Berklee College of Music, Tsuruta worked as a music therapist in clinical practice. She has steadily broadened her career as an artist and DJ after returning to Japan. Billboard Japan spoke to the multi-hyphenate creative who shared how she perceives the current state of gender imbalance in the music industry and the challenges it faces from her position involved in music from a multifaceted and global perspective.

You studied electronic music at the Berklee College of Music. Why did you become interested in this genre?

I took classical piano lessons from an early age, and in high school, I met a piano teacher who happened to specialize in contemporary music. That teacher became a bridge between electronic music and 20th and 21st-century music for me. Not long after that, I started going to clubs and came into contact with electronic music from the perspective of dance music. It was from both of these approaches that I began focusing on creating music through technology.

In Japan, the lack of women in science-related professions, including technology, has become such a problem that the phrase “rikei joshi” (“science-major girls”) was even coined to describe women in science who are still in the minority. Were you ever aware of any gender imbalances during your time in the U.S.?

Men are still the majority in the field of technology. Most of the people I admire are men and most of the teachers at school were also men. But things are gradually changing. A woman became Assistant Chair of my department while I was still there, and the number of female students is increasing. There are more opportunities for female artists to be recognized fairly.

Unlike acoustic musical instruments, where physical differences like the size of your hand and stamina lead to differences in performance, music based on technology has nothing to do with physical differences. Why do you think that gender imbalance exists in the genre?

What I’ve observed and felt about why women are in the minority is that there aren’t many opportunities to develop new skills in a safe learning environment. Even courses labeled for beginners often turn out to be advanced, without detailed explanations and consideration for psychological safety. I often think it’d be hard for a woman to participate alone. So the current issue is the widening gap between those who are knowledgeable and those who aren’t because the latter can’t accumulate the knowledge due to the lack of adequate learning environments. It’d be nice if there were more welcoming learning opportunities.

The lack of learning opportunities necessary for people to break out of a minority group is a common issue in other genres as well. But your work as an educator and artist empowers women who aspire to this genre. 

Thank you. After moving back to Japan in 2017, there was a period where I felt uncomfortable being called a female DJ or female artist. I was sometimes booked just because I’m a woman. When I objected to this, I was told that I should call attention to the fact that I’m a woman because we’re minorities in the field, which I couldn’t come to terms with initially. Why was it necessary to add that element to be treated equally and not equally from the start when taking something on in Japan? But I decided to try to accept that opinion as well.

Did you decide to accept that opinion because you felt the need to do so?

Yes. In Japan, it’s considered better to avoid making comments that cause friction and that there’s a virtue in knowing your place and acting in a way that doesn’t disrupt social harmony. So sometimes, even if people don’t say anything at that moment, if you ask them another time, they might let you in on what they really think. After realizing that and talking to various people, I began to believe that the goal of diversity in Japan today isn’t to achieve equality from the beginning but rather to provide support or something extra to those in minority positions so that we all can share the same perspective and be more equitable.

People come from so many different countries in the U.S., so there must be a big difference in how the acceptance of diversity progresses between that country and Japan. What differences did you observe between these two countries regarding gender imbalances and attitudes toward feminism?

In Japan, “feminist” is a loanword from English that’s sometimes perceived as a drastic, radical way of thinking. Still, that interpretation is fading in developed or metropolitan areas in the U.S. I was a minority there, both as a woman working in technology and as a person of color. Once I became aware of that, I started reading books on the history of feminism in the U.S. to learn about the changes that have taken place over the years and began to think that what is perceived as radical now might not be so someday. Some people in Japan are consciously trying to rectify the gender imbalances in domestic music events. Music is becoming more interesting as diverse artists are　lined up, and I’m hopeful.

Hearing that a growing population is aware of the need to diversify certainly makes me hopeful too. And it’d be great if this series of interviews featuring female artists and creatives would one day become unnecessary. You have an exciting career, not only as an artist but also as a music therapist with clinical experience. Could you tell us about your solutions when you’re faced with difficulties?

Whenever it feels like I’m in a difficult situation or I’m facing a challenge, it’s like my axis is misaligned or wavering. So it’s important to be in touch with myself. I observe the cause of what I’m feeling and what I want and discuss that with myself. In terms of music therapy, one of the techniques is to not listen to anything on purpose to deal with the situation. Enjoy the time of silence.

You approach music from many different angles. What advice would you give to yourself in the first year of your career? I think it would encourage women in male-dominated environments.

It would be to increase your knowledge as much as possible. It will come back to you later on. At the time, I put in the effort because I didn’t want people telling me, “You don’t even know that?” but I built up my skills as a result. In music production, don’t be afraid of making something that sounds bad. Even people who make cool tracks don’t always come up with cool ideas from the beginning. Take on anything, gain experience, practice, and produce tracks. All those things will come back to you. And I think that will also lead to better working environments for women.

—This article by Rio Hirai (SOW SWEET PUBLISHING) first appeared on Billboard Japan