Struggling musicians have long made dubious claims about being “big in Japan” in a bid to compensate for weak record sales at home.

But Susan Boyle, the 48-year-old who swept to fame in Britain and the U.S. after an appearance on reality TV, looks to be genuinely on the cusp of becoming a household name in the suburbs of Nagoya, Osaka and Tokyo.

The Scot’s ascent to stardom in the land of cutesy J-pop and traditional enka was given a big boost when she played a key part in the country’s New Year’s Eve celebrations.

Boyle appeared to wow the audience with her trademark rendition of “I Dreamed a Dream” from “Les Miserables” on NHK’s ”Kouhaku Uta Gassen“, a men versus women singing competition that the state broadcaster has shown on the night of Dec. 31 for 60 years.

In the minds of many people, religious rivalry could occasionally be expected to  spill over into violence in places as diverse as the occupied West Bank or Glasgow’s ‘Old Firm’ football derby.

Japan’s Kansai region, home to the world’s most renowned Zen gardens and some of the country’s finest cuisine, on the other hand, is not generally seen as a tinderbox of religious tension.

But over the last year a series of mysterious attacks on Protestant churches and other facilities have roiled the area, leaving many churchgoers shaken and perplexed.