The King of Pop, Michael Jackson, passed away last Thursday. He was one of the most imporatant music figures of our time.
For me, a teenager in ’80s, he was a superstar and a symbol of America. He had a profound influence even on Japanese teenagers. Boys wearing a black glove practiced moonwalking in the classrooms, and everyone wanted to visit Disneyland to see Captain EO. When he first came to Japan, we adored his performance so much that there was a national craze for him.
When I first visited the U.S. in 1988, I bought his “BAD” poster. I wanted to bring it back to Japan in mint condition; I couldn’t put it in my crammed suitcase. So I held the poster carefully all the way back to Japan. I couldn’t have been any happier when I arrived at my house with his poster in mint condition.
To understand Pop music in English was a great incentive to learn English. Getting information of international stars was difficult since I lived in a rural city. There was no cable TV, internet, nor English magazines at that time.
I was looking forwad to going to his concert when he was to have a world tour. I’m sad that it will never happen. I thank him for being my idol and helping me to be motivated to study English in my school days.
