Shuhei Hosokawa

The walkman effect

The walkman – a cassette recorder for headphone listening. This gadget, originally invented and marketed by Sony in the spring of 1980 in Japan, and soon exported, has become known throughout the West, however awkward its Japanese-made English may sound. As its use has proliferated, so have the arguments about its effects. One example, a report in Nouvel Observateur , was cited by Philippe Sollers (Sollers 1981, p. 50). The interviewer, apparently, asks young people (eighteen to twenty-two years old) the following: whether men with the walkman are human or not; whether they are losing contact with reality; whether the relations between eyes and ears are changing radically; whether they are psychotic or schizophrenic; whether they are worried about the fate of humanity. One of the interviewees replies: your question is out-of-date. All of these problems of communication and incommunicability, according to him, belong to the sixties and the seventies. The eighties are not the same at all. They are the years of autonomy , of an intersection of singularities in the construction of discourses. Soon, he says, you will have every kind of film on video at home, every kind of classical music on only one tape. This is what gives me pleasure.

'SALSA NO TIENE FRONTERA': ORQUESTA DE LA LUZ AND THE GLOBALIZATION OF POPULAR MUSIC

This article discusses key dynamics in the globalization of popular music, more specifically the interplay between technology, social and commercial structure, and meaningful sound forms. It analyses Orquesta de la Luz, an all-Japanese salsa band, as an example of the transgression of ethnic, geographical, linguistic and national boundaries of Latin American music. The band demonstrated the intertwined nature of the global and the local, in addition to the historical formation of modern Japanese culture. Their worldwide fame derived from their musicianship, their synchronicity with the world music boom, and finally the diffusion of digital technology in popular music production and consumption. This article argues that economic and technological conditions are as much constitutive of the bands unique practices as are aesthetic ones. It then goes on to question the dichotomies, ‘universalism vs. particularism’ and ‘creativity vs. copy’. This discussion builds towards an examination of the relationship bet...

Singing contests in the ethnic enclosure of the post‐war Japanese‐Brazilian community

This article examines the historical development and social organization of the amateur singing contests known as nodojiman among Japanese‐Brazilians, looking at how they contributed to the forging of Japanese‐Brazilian identity in the post‐war era, precisely the time at which Japanese immigrants realized that their residence in Brazil would be permanent. The singing contests operated within a highly structured hierarchical network, which linked Japanese‐Brazilians together into a broadly based ethnic enclosure. Within the competition setting, the negotiation of “Japanese‐Brazilian‐ness “ took place through intense debates over repertoire, the role of amateurs and professionals within the contests, and notions of art, entertainment and authenticity. Through the use of an exclusively Japanese repertoire, the competitions promoted the preservation of the Japanese language, the expression of Japanese sentiments and the cultivation of Japanese virtues. In this performative context, “Japanese‐ness” could be theatrically and musically over‐communicated, promoting strong affective experiences of belonging amongst participants.

Toru Mitsui goes into retirement

For the readers of Popular Music , the name of Toru Mitsui is associated with the ‘Booklist’, a column he was in charge of from 1989 to 2002. For many members of the International Association for the Study of Popular Music, the meeting he organised in Kanazawa in 1997 is unforgettable. For scholars and students interested in Japanese popular music, his numerous articles in English are the first references to be read. Last March (2005) Professor Mitsui retired from Kanazawa University, where he had taught since 1969. To commemorate his retirement, a Festschrift entitled Popular Music and Academia (2005 b ) was published in coordination with a symposium held at the University of Tokyo in May 2004. This is a good opportunity to look back over his prolific career in popular music studies.