On September 24, Mnet announced, "Mnet Asian Music Awards(MAMA) will be held this year at Nagoya Dome, Japan." However, the news did not draw much excitement.
'MAMA' wrote, "The Dome event will become the most spectacular MAMA in history." "Dome performance has been acknowledged as a measuring yard for artists' influence and a stage that all singers admire. The best singers have proven their influence through the dome performance, and the Nagoya Dome is held to mark MAMA once again as Asia's premier music awards ceremony."
He added, "There was an in-depth discussion on the selection of venue due to the trade dispute between Korea and Japan, but it is important that the cultural exchanges should continue regardless of political issues."
However, it is not easy to accept this explanation immediately. Since Hong Kong, where MAMA has been hosting the awards since 2012, has been swept by the turmoil due to recent protests triggered by repatriation law, there may have been some concerns about MAMA's selection of venues.
As an alternative, however, Japan, rather than Korea, is discussed, and it is difficult to find or understand the meaning of why it must be held at Nagoya Dome. Is holding in the Sky Dome of Gocheok not be able to fulfill a status as Asia's best music award ceremony? In recent years, as Korea-Japan relations have been strained, the boycott of Japanese products has been continuing, and it is questioned whether it was necessary to hold an award ceremony abroad in which a large amount of capital was invested. There is even speculation that it is to give a justified reason for the Produce 101 Japan cast to get on the stage.
In addition, Nagoya is the city that has requested the removal of the Statue of a Girl of Peace last month from Aichi Triennale 2019. Their reason of removal request was that the statue tramples on the Japanese mind. To be judged only by the view of simple private cultural exchange, it is inevitable to receive criticism.
In addition, Mnet has recently been suspected of manipulations such as 'Produce X101' final text voting and online voting. Suspicion was not cleared up yet as police investigation is continuing. As the news of 'MAMA' being held in Japan broke out, it was forced to meet the criticisms from netizens. K-POP is a global trend now. Should it be held abroad just because it is an "Asian" award ceremony?
