The Meaning Behind "Turning Japanese" by The Vapors

When The Vapors showed up on the scene in 1980, the rumor going around was their new hit record was about masturbation. The power pop quartet was having success on the singles chart in the U.S., UK, Canada, and New Zealand. They even hit No. 1 in Australia. Was this a song about self-gratification? Let’s look at the meaning behind “Turning Japanese” by The Vapors.

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I’ve got your picture of me, and you

You wrote “I love you”, I wrote “Me too”

I sit there staring, and there’s nothing else to do

Oh, it’s in color, your hair is brown

Your eyes are hazel and soft as clouds

I often kiss you when there’s no one else around

Screaming Girls

Like so many others, lead singer/rhythm guitarist Dave Fenton of The Vapors was inspired by the Fab Four. “The Beatles were the first band I saw, at the age of 10 at the Gaumont Cinema in Bournemouth [England] in 1963,” he told The Guardian in 2023. “I couldn’t hear a bloody thing because of the girls screaming. After that, I wanted to be in a band.”

I’ve got your picture, I’ve got your picture

I’d like a million of ya over myself

I want a doctor to take your picture

So I can look at you from inside as well

You’ve got me turning up and turning down

And turning in and turning ’round

Discovered by The Jam

Fenton teamed up with guitarist Edward Bazalgette, bassist Steve Smith, and drummer Howard Smith (no relation) to form The Vapors. Bruce Foxton of The Jam saw them perform and offered them a few spots supporting his band.

I’m turning Japanese, I think I’m turning Japanese

I really think so

Turning Japanese, I think I’m turning Japanese

I really think so

Turning Japanese, I think I’m turning Japanese

I really think so

Turning Japanese, I think I’m turning Japanese

I really think so

Was It a Song About Japanese Culture?

From the troubling opening guitar riff to the music video featuring geisha girls and samurai warriors, The Vapors seem to be obsessed with all things Japanese.

Fenton told VH1 otherwise in 2008: “It could have been Portuguese, Lebanese, anything that fit with that phrase. It had nothing to do with Japanese.”

I’ve got your picture, I’ve got your picture

I’d like a million of them over myself

I want a doctor to take your picture

So I can look at you from inside as well

You’ve got me turning up and turning down

And turning in and turning ’round

Was It About “Self Love”?

After the song was released in 1980, the consensus in the U.S. was “Turning Japanese” referred to the facial expression a person makes during the climax.

Fenton debunked this one as well: “The first time the idea of masturbation came up was when we were touring America. The Americans seem to think it was written about that. That was an English phrase for masturbation. It wasn’t.”

I’m turning Japanese, I think I’m turning Japanese

I really think so

Turning Japanese, I think I’m turning Japanese

I really think so

Turning Japanese, I think I’m turning Japanese

I really think so

Turning Japanese, I think I’m turning Japanese

I really think so

It’s Actually a Love Song

The reality is the song is about somebody who lost their girlfriend and was slowly going crazy. “Turning Japanese is just all the cliches about angst and youth, and turning into something you’d never expected [it] to,” Fenton continued. “A boy sitting in his room with a photograph of a girlfriend who’s just left him. … It’s about a girl.”

No sex, no drugs, no wine, no women

No fun, no sin, no you, no wonder it’s dark

Everyone around me is a total stranger

Everyone avoids me like a psyched Lone Ranger

Everyone

It Almost Didn’t Happen

“I Think I’m Turning Japanese” almost didn’t get recorded. Producer Vic Coppersmith-Heaven told The Guardian in 2023: “Bruce Foxton gave me a Vapors demo tape while we were working on The Jam’s Setting Sons album. I played it in the car in the early hours of the morning while driving home and was not inspired.” Foxton wanted him to produce the band, but Coppersmith-Heaven was not interested. The Vapors enlisted another producer to record their debut single, “Prisoners.” It didn’t chart.

Coppersmith-Heaven continued, “Later, on another car ride, I delved into my pile of cassettes, found that Vapors demo, and gave it another listen. I had been focused on The Jam, but now their album was in the final stages, I was ready for something new—and this time, ‘Turning Japanese’ really caught my attention. The song’s arrangement was different on the demo to the finished version. I met them, and they played the track live, but when I suggested several changes to the arrangement, there was this embarrassing and rather long silence. I’d just offered to leave the room when Dave Fenton said, ‘Well, I did have this other idea for guitar parts.’ We progressed from there.

“As a producer, you immerse yourself in a band’s original creation and trust that you don’t mess it up too much with your interpretation,” he continued. “… I recorded The Vapors live to capture their energy, stripped everything down to the drums, then overdubbed it all again. I had no idea what the song was about. The main obstacle was convincing the band that having a producer on board with extra ideas would benefit the project.”

That’s why I’m turning Japanese, I think I’m turning Japanese

I really think so

Turning Japanese, I think I’m turning Japanese

I really think so

Turning Japanese, I think I’m turning Japanese

I really think so

Turning Japanese, I think I’m turning Japanese

I really think so

Turning Japanese, I think I’m turning Japanese

I really think so

Turning Japanese, I think I’m turning Japanese

I really think so