In the band’s second album “Pinkerton,” Weezer promotes its Japanophilic sense most notably in three of their songs: “Across the Sea,” “El Scorcho,” and “Falling For You.” What immediately sets this album off as a product of Japanophilia is its cover, which appears to be something taken from an ukiyo-e print and mass-produced to be used as the CD sleeve. Prior to the release of the album, Weezer also released their “El Scorcho” single, which most assuredly inspired the album cover of “Pinkerton.” In Weezer’s single release, we see on the cover what could be described as a Japanese woman in traditional attire and holding an umbrella, almost as though the picture were taken sometime in one of Japan’s more traditional ages. We also see the half-revealed CD, which has representational pictures of using chopsticks, just to add to its Japaneseness.
At a deeper level, the lyrics of the three tracks I listed contain references to Japanese things, authenticating this album’s direct correlation with the already exoticized portrayal of Japan. The lyrics within the above mentioned songs make reference to things such as “stationery” (Across the Sea) that could only be found in Japan, to “[those] god damn Japanese girls, [who] do it to me every time…,” (El Scorcho) possibly in reference to some bitter past occurrences, but nevertheless with reference to Japanese ‘things.’ In the beginning of “Falling for You,” a Japanese woman mutters something before the bass and guitar come in, though to this date, I do not have a clue what the woman says. I have also looked through some online lyrics websites, but they only note Cuomo’s, lead singer of Weezer, opening lyrics.