Minzoku madness

Abstract

Japan is currently undergoing a subtle but pervasive social upheaval, a period of broad structural reform and soul-searching triggered by the rigors of the collapse of the hyperinflated "Bubble Economy" of the late 1980s. As the nation confronts the irretrievable loss of that economic mass delusion, it is turning instead to the reclamation of a quality of life sacrificed for much of the 20 th century to national ambition for first military, and then economic pre-eminence. Historian Jeff Kingston has claimed that the ongoing changes, ranging from the reduction of working hours to the institution of freedom of information laws, have been equal in magnitude to those following the Meiji Restoration and Japan's defeat in World War II. Arguably, they represent the long-delayed fruition of postwar democratizing reforms. This dissertation examines the use to which Japanese have put American forms of popular music, particularly hip hop, in grappling with these changes. The influence of African-American music in Japan has been strong since the 1920s and 1930s, and came to full flower during and after Japan's surrender and subsequent occupation. African-American music-not just jazz, but rock, funk, and soul-eventually became a 'music of resistance,' connected to events such as the student protests that marked Japan in the 1960's, indicating the symbolic power of what black America represented for Japanese youth, over and above the political or military might of America as a nation. Hip hop, which reached Japan in the early 1980s and entered the mainstream by the mid-1990s, has shown the continued power of African-American sound and imagery in Japan. The uses and meanings of that power, though, are ambiguous. Hip hop in Japan today often means Japanese artists who imitate African-American styles and sounds. This imitation has been criticized by international commentators, condemned as contextless ACKNOWLEDGMENTS Like all major undertakings, this one is the product of the effort of many people in addition to the author. Primarily, I owe thanks to the state of Iowa, whose hardworking citizens funded this research through both the University of Iowa Presidential Fellowship and various travel and research grants through the Center for Asian Pacific Studies, the Graduate College, and Student Government. More direct assistance came from the many faculty members of the University of Iowa who contributed feedback and advice. In addition to my committee members, this included Barbara Biesecker and Stephen Vlastos.

Accommodation and resistance in Hokkaido hip hop practitioners: An ethnographic analysis of Generation Resignation in post-growth Japan

“…The practices and narratives of individual hip hop practitioners in contemporary Japan confirm hip hop as a “site of contestation, struggle and reflection on the current state of our society” (Vito, 2015: 404). This paper builds on previous hip hop studies that have highlighted the ambivalence ingrained in the genre (Lamotte, 2014; Maxwell, 2009; Morris, 2010; Vito, 2015). It provides insights into the role of hip hop as a multifaceted vehicle of simultaneous social engagement and withdrawal by members of a materially and emotionally saturated post-growth society.…”

“…These subtle forms of resistance concurring with lingering references to mainstream values and social constraints and markers are empirical proof of “divided selves, divided situations, divided practices” (Morris, 2010: 42). Face-on derision of postwar values coexists with subtle indication of resistance; senior hip hop practitioners plead for musical diversity by referring to other musical genres, yet they often imply highly prejudiced views.…”

“…Jazz, soul, disco, baroque, and folk elements all are referred to in progressive ways and molded into something that for lack of words is categorized as hip hop. In a similar vein, Morris (2010) defines Japanese hip hop as “a moment of aesthetic risk, in which an art form is pushed beyond its predicated limits in a new direction” (5).…”

“…Furthermore, David Z. Morris (2010) observed that “all of the artists in Japan’s hugely diverse hip hop universe deal with divided selves, divided situations, divided practices” (42). It is these divided selves, situations, and practices in hip hop practitioners that are the main research interest of this paper.…”

Black Television Travels

“…These ideologies, connected closely with the discourses of Black Power and anticolonial struggles in general, continue to resonate in Japan today. For instance, a Japanese anarchist group, Shirouto no Ran, staged a collective viewing of the miniseries in 2009 in an effort to stoke resistance and build solidarity and mutual support, much as the Black Power movement did (Morris, 2010).…”