We often hear how about much American culture has taken from Japan and fashions their culture to fit our society. From game show imports like “I Survived A Japanese Game Show” to live action children’s programming like ‘Power Rangers’ (that were adopted from multiple Super Sentai series), it’s a rarity that you hear Japan adapting anything from us (besides baseball). One culture that has assimilated much adolescence under the red sun though is the culture of Hip Hop.
Upon reading an in depth article on the website, aphire, I found
out that Japan has adopted the culture as is own. Hip Hop, commonly known as
Hippu Hoppu, took the country by storm by the movie Wild Style. Tokyo’s Yoyogi Park
became the place to be every Sunday. Dj’s would party and spin records while
break dancers would perform routines battling other people through expression
of the body.
Another form of expression that was adopted was graffiti. Graffiti became popular in the 1970’s in New York and a movie called ‘Style Wars’ documented the life of the people naming themselves ‘writers’ and taking to the streets spraying their name on subway carts. In Japan, Yokohama’s Sakuragicho train station is covered head to toe with graffiti.
The youth of Japan also adopted
the look of Hip Hop. Gone were the Levi jeans of yesteryear and in are the
baggy jeans, sweatshirts or ‘hoodies’, and Nike Air Force Ones. As told in the
article Spike Lee, a famous film director and hip-hop supporter, opened two
retail stores to lines of people, selling sweatshirts with English catchphrases
like “Stay Black” with a price tag of $67.
The devotion some times can get a
little out of hand as the article explains:
Clothing is not the only fashion
statement made by Japanese youth; they are also changing their skin color and
copying the hairstyles of their idolized rappers. Many hip-hop devotees
repeatedly burn their body to a darker color with tanning salons, although the
result is similar in color to a dark orange instead of the light brown color
that was desired. If the hip-hopper decides not to go a Salon, then they can
purchase a one-month supply of skin darkener for $315 and up.
Wealthy fans can
have the Jamaican hairstyle of dreadlocks for a seven hour salon appointment
with a price of $314 to $1,215 and upward. If they are not wealthy or are not
able to spend the seven hours in a salon, they can purchase a Jamaican style
hat with fake dreadlocks attached to it.
The influence is soaked within the bones of the Japanese youth. So much so that even a video game was released depicting the love affair the youth has with hip hop. As explained in the article: the game “Parappa the Rapper” (released in 1998) presents America’s gangsta rap with a kid-friendly array of colors and cartoon appearance.
The
hero of the game is a dog dressed in the stereotypical American hip-hop fashion
of baggy jeans and a stocking cap. The purpose of the game play is for person
playing to make the main character rap (in English) by pushing directed buttons
on the controller. The goal of the video game is to be lectured about rap from
a teacher within the game. Japanese youth bought the game with fury and spent
hours at home trying to master America’s style of hip-hop from their chairs
with their fingers moving from button to button. The same game was later
released in America.
It’s amazing how one culture
thought to be a phase with the urban youth in America has gained so much
momentum and is now an almost 50 year phenomenon spanning international waters
taking all who experience it by storm.