Religion, Power, and the Rise of Shinto in Early Modern Japan

Abstract

Japanese responding to the music of poor Southern Whites, encouraged by the US occupation (152). The ethnographic description shows an insider view, Mitsui having lived through most of the postwar genres dealt with. The final chapter, ‘Domestic Exoticism: A Trend in the Age of “World Music”’ (Mitsui & Hosokawa, 1998) discusses World Music as an ‘Asian turn’, a cultural globalisation in which Japanese began to listen to Asian music. At the same time, Japanese started seeing Okinawan groups such as Rinken Band as exotic and interesting, and seeing mainstream Japanese folk of Itō Takio as exotic, but ‘revved up’. The concluding overview section compares ‘indigenous’ (traditional classical) music with other genres. Mitsui simplistically maintains that traditional music has not been affected by the West and has not changed. The final section of the original overview chapter was a review of publications by non-Japanese, here touched on briefly in footnotes. The overall style of writing is scholarly, but accessible. Expression is sometimes stilted, syntax often awkward, and occasionally impenetrable. It is further marred by occasional misprints. Romanization and use of hyphens are not standard. The book contributes to existing publications on Japanese popular music by dealing in detail with genres that are rarely treated in English scholarship, bringing together in one place significant research by this pioneer of popular Japanese music research. The book is further enriched by a comprehensive list of Japanese and English language entries providing an excellent resource.