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This Rina Sawayama a pansexual Japanese artist Performing on "Late Night with Jimmy Fallon." It is not common for solo female artists to perform let alone a pansexual Japanese artist.
Sawayama Rina, Rina Sawayama: XS,

The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon, 2020, Youtube Video, 4:01, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g9MhEMYapac

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This is an article from GAY TIMES awarding Rina Sawayama. They award individuals that have an effect on the LGBT+ community.
Clark Conor, Rina Sawayama wins British Excellence in Music at GAY TIMES Honours, GAY TIMES, 2021

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Rina Sawayama has been named the recipient of this year's GAY TIMES Honour for British Excellence in Music presented by SKITTLES®.

SKITTLES® GAY TIMES Honours delivered by Gorillas celebrates the individuals and organisations who have had a profound effect on the lives of LGBTQ+ people over the past 12 months.

Chester Lockhart announced Rina's win in front of an audience full of LGBTQ+ community members and allies on 19 November at Magazine London in the heart of the capital.

Whether it's calling out the capitalist beast of the industry or the inner industry microaggressions and racism she faced as an artist, Rina has proven herself a force to be reckoned with.

Releasing one of the most critically acclaimed albums of the year, as well as delivering an accompanying tour of the same calibre, Rina personifies British Excellence in Music and we can't wait to see what she does next.

The GAY TIMES Honour for British Excellence in Music was presented by Gorillas.

Eddie Lee, UK General Manager at the company, said: "We've been so excited to partner with GAY TIMES for their annual awards ceremony.

"Inclusion is really important to us and we've loved being involved, to celebrate the incredibly talented LGTBQ+ community here in London."

SKITTLES® GAY TIMES Honours delivered by Gorillas was our biggest event yet with more than 1,000 people filling the venue to watch show-stopping performances by Rina, RAYE, Baby Queen, Poppy Ajudha, Kwaye and DJ sets from Raven Mandella, Jaguar, ABSOLUTE. and OUTHAUS.

The new digital edition of GAY TIMES magazine spotlights this year's winners and is available to read now on the GAY TIMES app, Apple News +, Readly and Flipster.

Jade Thirlwall, Bimini and Munroe Bergdorf grace the cover of our special Honours edition.
To follow all of the action from SKITTLES® GAY TIMES Honours delivered by Gorillas, check out our Instagram @GAYTIMES. For the latest winners, performances and special moments from the night click here.

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Rina Sawayama wins British Excellence in Music at GAY TIMES Honours 2021

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Rina Sawayama has been named the recipient of this year's GAY TIMES Honour for British Excellence in Music presented by SKITTLES®. SKITTLES® GAY TIMES Honours delivered by Gorillas celebrates the individuals and organisations who have had a profound effect on the lives of LGBTQ+ people over the past 12 months.

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This is one of the first Hip-hop artists that was on the scene in the early 1990's. He represented a tough street image. He later joined Nitro Microphone Underground.
Dabo, Tomoni Ikou, SHAKKAZOMBIE, 2021,  Youtube Video, 4:31, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZtCFVXVZjVM

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This is a tv show that is music-dance program where normally american artists are featured. Toshinobu Kubota was the first Japanese artist to get featured on this American show in 2004.
Unknown artist, Jammin' , Cool Music Japan, 2020

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This is an example of Japanese breakdancing battle. They are battling a French team. You can see the Japanese team has some influence from American culture and from Japanese culture.
Floor wars, MELTING FORCE (France) vs. OTOKOGI (Japan) | 3on3 Quarter-Final, YAKbattles, 2011, Youtube Video, 7:28

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MELTING FORCE vs. JAPAN | Quarter-Final Battle | FLOOR WARS 2011

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This was one of the most important events in Japanese hip-hop history. This was the first large scale hip-hop venue in Japan. It fully sold out and show cased a lot of underground at the time hip-hop artists. This exposed a lot of people to this kind of hip-hop and inspired generations to come.
Uemoto, Ichiko. Hatarake ECD : Watashi no ikuji kontonki, apjjf.org, 2018

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Akihabara Hokousha tengoku (temporary pedestrian area) 

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There are times that intersections in city are closed down to road traffic so that it is only pedestrians. During this time artists are able to perform in a public space.
rhythmsift, Akihabara Hokousha tengoku, flickriver.com, 2011

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Akihabara Hokousha tengoku (temporary pedestrian area) - a photo on Flickriver

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Flickriver - view images as a 'river of photos' and more...

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This is a song from Hime who is a female hip-hop artist and her song was in the game Fast and Furious 2006.
Hime, Himehajime 2006 (姫始 2006), Fast & Furious FM, 2006, Youtube Video, 5:03,
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RTTfZJsLu_I

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Hime- Himehajime 2006 (姫始 2006) [Full Version] The Fast and The Furious Game OST

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Sony Music Japan is a large company that distributes a lot of the music for Japanese artists.
Sony music, Sony music most recent list, Sony music Japan, 2021

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ソニーミュージックオフィシャルサイト

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ソニーミュージック公式サイト。所属アーティストの最新ニュースやリリース情報、ビデオ、ライブ・イベント出演情報、メディア情報などを掲載。

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This is a song by Toshinobu Kubota he is known as one of the pioneers of Japanese hip-hop as well as Japanese soul music. He is also one of the best selling Japanese music artists.
Kubota Tonshinobu,  Dance If You Want, R472 Funk Channel TV, 1988, Youtube Video, 4:53
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ulCqwSjQ-t4

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Toshinobu Kubota - Dance If You Want It (1988)

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This is a movie that is based on a Manga. This movie has theme of sexual indepence in the way it portrays the main character. Koda Kumi worked on this movie.
Anno Hideaki, Kyûtî Hanî, IMDb, 2004, Feature Film, 1h 34m

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Cutie Honey: Directed by Hideaki Anno. With Eriko Satô, Mikako Ichikawa, Jun Murakami, Mitsuhiro Oikawa. The adventure of Cutie Honey, a super heroine who can transform into anything using her necklace to switch on and say "Honey Flash!".

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These are the Japanese MTV music awards. They are very similar to the normal MTV music awards but only focus on Japanese artists. They have categories for female artists.
Scott Mhaliya,  BTS Bags 2 Accolades at the 2021 MTV Video Music Awards Japan, kpopstarz.com, 2021

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This song by Koda Kumi has themes of sexual freedom. In the music video there is imagery of men kissing and doing sexual acts. Homosexuailty is heavily frowned upon in Japanese culture, this is now often shown in mainstream media.
Kumi Koda,  Ima Sugu Hoshii, avex, 2006, Youtube Video, 4:43
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iqd9hE5vlJU

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倖田來未 / 今すぐ欲しい

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This is a song by Koda Kumi that was used by the video game Resident Evil extinction. This shows the extent of the reach of Japanese female artists.
Kumi Koda, Last Angel, ladymarsy, 2007, Youtube Video, 4:08
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OFT6Kn-NpVg

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Koda Kumi feat.Tohoshinki-Last Angel MV(super HQ)

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This is a song by Koda Kumi. It is her first number 1 song. It was part of a 12 piece single project.
Kumi Koda, You, Avex, 2005, Youtube Video, 5:34
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uYt6Z_891r4

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This is a song by Koda Kumi, she is an influential female artist who's song was featured as a theme song for the Final Fantasy X-2 game.
Kumi Koda,  1000 Words, Fantasy TV, 2003, Youtube Video, 6:02, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6InnFUDiuqk

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Final Fantasy 10-2 Music - 1000 Words (Japanese Version)

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Nitro Microphone Underground is a legendary hip-hop group that is compared to the American group Wu-Tang. They are known in Japan and held to a legendary status because they did not stray far away from their hip-hop roots or moved towards pop music.

Multiple authors, NITRO MICROPHONE UNDERGROUND, Last.FM, 2012

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Biography

Nitro Microphone Underground is a Japanese hip hop group. NMU are one of those groups where it is hard to tell who is actually in it and who is not (like Wu-Tang Clan or So Solid Crew). The group appeared on the club scene in the late 1990s with members Dabo, Macka-chin, Deli, Suiken, Gore-Tex (although Gore-tex appears on many songs on the Nitro Microphone album, he is credited under different names, including the alias "More-sex"), S-Word, XBS, and Bigzam. The name of the band is said to have been suggested by Macka-chin. They have done collaborations with Shakkazombie and about half of DJ Muro's work. Most of them have done some solo work, especially Suiken and Dabo. They released their self-titled first album as an indie release in 1999, soon selling out of the 20,000 copies. They were picked up by Def Jam Japan and the album was re-released in 2000 making it to number 12 on the Japanese charts. Nitro Microphone Underground's success is very often compared to that of the Wu-Tang's in the USA. Also note that the group is of legendary status in Japan for it was the first japanese hip hop act to gather major acclaim without having to go pop.

Edit this wiki

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NITRO MICROPHONE UNDERGROUND biography | Last.fm

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Playing via Spotify Playing via YouTube A new version of Last.fm is available, to keep everything running smoothly, please reload the site. Nitro Microphone Underground is a Japanese hip hop group. NMU are one of those groups where it is hard to tell who is actually in it and who is not (like Wu-Tang Clan or So Solid Crew).

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Rina Sawayama is quoted saying "I've always written songs about girls. I don't think I've ever mentioned a guy in my songs, and that's why I wanted to talk about it." She identifies as bisexual and pansexual and wants to spread the message that having a different sexuality.
Multiple authors, Rina Sawayama, Wikipedia, 2021

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This is the cover for Newsweek Japans 100 people respected by the world. Rina Sawayama is on that list as a pansexual female artist. This shows how powerful her movement and message is.

100 Japanese people respected by the world, Newsweek Japan, Augusts 2021 issue

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This is a song from a British-Japanese artist that discuses her sexuaality. She talks about her everyday life as coming out as pansexual.
Sawayama Rina, Cherry (Official Video), 2018, Youtube Video 3:29

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This is a French podcast that dicuess Japanese Hip-hop. This shows that the influence of Japanese Hip-hop is global.
Real Japanese Hip-Hop, LE PODCAST DU HIP-HOP JAPONAIS, September 2020 , Podcast Mp3 19 episodes
https://open.spotify.com/show/1pkGmnvd55nQJX8IRV80y3?si=58d496503567483b

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Découvre tous les samedi, le Podcast du Hip-Hop Japonais, commenté par #ATTANGO de la Team Real Japanese Hip Hop. Des sons 100 % hip-hop japonais, rap underground, trap, oldschool et R&B en provenance du Japon. Sans oublier les emissions spéciales avec des artistes japonais invités à commenter leurs musique et leurs productions.

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Listen to LE PODCAST DU HIP-HOP JAPONAIS on Spotify. Découvre tous les samedi, le Podcast du Hip-Hop Japonais, commenté par #ATTANGO de la Team Real Japanese Hip Hop. Des sons 100 % hip-hop japonais, rap underground, trap, oldschool et R&B en provenance du Japon.

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This is a mixtape created by 2 Japanese DJs that combine American artists with their beats.
The AXIS, INTRO / DJ Oasis & Inovader, THIRD EYE DEVIL

2021, Youtube video, 8:41

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INTRO / DJ Oasis & Inovader（THE AXIS）- Blend Mix CD

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King Giddra contributed to the soundtrack of this movie. This hip-hop group is able to not only produce music in album form but also produce songs for soundtracks.
Sonoda Kenji, Kyoki no sakura, IMBD, 2002, Feature film, 2h 1m

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Kyoki no sakura: Directed by Kenji Sonoda. With Yôsuke Kubozuka, Yoshio Harada, Yôsuke Eguchi, Rie Hagiwara. Yamaguchi, Ichikawa and Kosuge dress in white military-style uniforms to clean the streets of Shibuya from bad elements.

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This is a recent promo flyer posted on the Instagram of one of the original Shibuya hip-hop clubs. It is important to note the female DJ
Family 1996, Instagram post, 2021

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This is an example of a modern Shibuya Japanese nightclub. Shibuya was the first part of Japan to have hip-hop clubs

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This was one of the first Shibuya hip-hop clubs, at this one specifically  FUNKY GRAMMAR UNIT would hold a concert here every month called FG Night.
Trip advisor, Example picture, 2017

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This song criticizes American "war on terror" which shows that Japanese hip-hop doesn't just focus on Japanese issues but global issues.
Giddra King, 9/11, Unethikal, 2002, Youtube Video 3:01
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ze8PfbT2Bp0

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This is a recent article that interviews Utamaru from Rhymester about his view on the most recent music festival.

Rhymester Utamaru complains about dense music festival "naturally criticized, Oricon music, 2021

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This article discuses Japanese rappers expressing their opinions on international wars
Lim Vincent, Rapping about war, www.international.ucla.edu, 2007

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MIT anthropologist Ian Condry discusses the history of Japanese hip hop and Japanese rappers’ commentary on the Iraq war and 9/11.

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This Japanese group sampled Public Enemy in this song that speaks about the Japanese education system.
Giddra King, Bullet of Truth, TKILA MZ6, 2011 Youtube Video 3:28
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=owWD-aJlVgQ

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King Giddra [Rey Giddra] - "Bullet of Truth" -  [Rap Japones][JRap]

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Public Enemy is an American hip-hop group that spoke out about racial issues in America and influenced some Japanese groups. This song is sampled by King Giddra in their song "Bullet of Truth".

Enemy Public, Black Steel In the Hour of Chaos, Universal Music Group, 1988 Youtube Video 3:55
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZM5_6js19eM

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Public Enemy - Black Steel In The Hour Of Chaos

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This music video is one thought to be influential on the Japanese dance scene by bringing more of a New York influence.
Hathaway Lalah, Baby Don't Cry, TVLalah, 1990 Youtube Video 3:39 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xzshDL1Nm9Y

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Lalah Hathaway - Baby Don’t Cry (1990) (HD Remaster)

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This is a poster for the movie Wild Style. It was shot in the Bronx during the early 80's. It is regarded as an influential movie in Japanese dance culture.
Ahearn Charlie, Wild Style, IMBD 1982, Feature Film, 1h 22m

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This group has some some strong messages in their lyrics, in this song they give the message of self improvement.

Rhymester, B-BOYイズム, RHYMESTER - Topic 2016, Youtube Video 4:33

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In this book Duke professor Ian Condry writes about how Japan has adopted American hip-hop culture and made it their own.
Condry Ian, Hip-Hop Japan, 2006, 264 pages

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" Hip-Hop Japan is . . . an informative book that empowers English-language readers to judge the merits of Japanese hip-hop from a standpoint of greater knowledge." - Paul Jackson, Daily Yomiuri

" Hip-Hop Japan shows us the importance and joys of sympathetic commitment to and participation in micro actions as well as of lucid and vivid writing. A gekiyaba (super bad) book." - Hosokawa Shuhei, Social Science Japan Journal

"[ Hip-Hop Japan is] a thought-provoking work that forces the reader to re-examine their notions of globalization by considering the places where culture is produced: the genba. For it is through the genba that foreign hip-hop is made into something local." - Jeffrey A. Dym, Canadian Journal of History

"[A] book engaging enough to appeal to hip-hoppers, anthropologists and even to the common reader. That is no small achievement." - David Cozy, Asahi Shimbun

"[A] well-research study of race, gender, prosody and praxis in Japanese hip-hop. . . . [T]he author's resistance to pleonasm and his love for his subject matter make the book as useful for a general audience as for the academy." - Brian Howe, Paste

"For anyone interested in how Hip-Hop arrived, spread, and is currently treated, in Japan this is a very informative read." - Adam Bernard, EIAL

"The book attractively combines a careful combing through of other material on the topic with a reader-friendly amiability and marked loyalty to the artists interviewed. Hip-hop Japan may technically be an academic work in Asian anthropology, but non-academics interested in the subject can approach it and be fairly certain to find plenty of material in its pages to inform and even entertain them." - Bradley Winterton, Taipei Times

"Anyone that's interested in-or just plain baffled by-Japanese pop culture will be happy to have Condry's book demystify one of the country's most complex subcultures." - Max Herman, XLR8R

"From New York to Rio, from Nairobi to Tokyo, hip-hop, more than any other musical genre or youth culture, has permeated nations, cultures, and languages worldwide. Essential to the contributions by anthropologists and hip-hop scholars on the globalization of hip-hop is Ian Condry's Hip-hop Japan." - Melisa Riviere, Journal of the Royal Anthropological Institute

"Ian Condry's engaging and intimate ethnography of Japanese hip-hop performance is both a vivid portrait of a local scene and a subtle analysis of how media forms circulate among such locales in the process of cultural globalization." - Rob Efrid, American Ethnologist

"It is compelling work. The ethnography is strong, the result of a sustained period of fieldwork in the genba, and the theory unfolds nicely from that fieldwork. . . . Condry is at his strongest when writing about rapping." - Ian Maxwell, The Australian Journal of Anthropology

"Lucidly and accessibly written, Ian Condry's Hip Hop Japan offers a dynamic analysis of the cultural processes that have produced the simultaneously globalizing and localizing aspects of the hip-hop scene (s) in Japan. . . . The book's strength lies not only in thorough ethnographic commitment, depth of analyses, and methodological integrity, but also in the concrete and wide-ranging set of specific suggestions Condry makes-from advocating how better to critique the essentialist discourses of Japanese uniqueness to suggesting a new marketing strategy for the music industry." - Marié Abe, Pacific Affairs

"Overall, Ian Condry has written a fine account of hip-hop music in Japan which can be aimed at any academic or general reader-especially if they have an interest in Japanese culture. He provides meaningful case studies of established artists. . . . This book is certainly the first of its kind to tackle such issues, and for that it is most welcome." - Shara Rambarran, Pop Music

"Through a nuanced discussion of the relatively short history of this phenomenally successful musical form, this work shows the limited use of such polarities as global-local, national-international, domestic-foreign, and Western-Japanese, as well as the usual contrasts between the little-guy musician and the corporate powers creating him and his market. . . . The strengths of this book lie both in the novelty of its analytic strategies and in the vivid and telling descriptions of place: the reader feels the heat and the thudding beat of the club in the early dawn hours." - Merry White, American Anthropologist

"With Hip-Hop Japan, Ian Condry may accomplish what most of us in Japanese studies aspire to but too rarely achieve: so ambitious and expansive is his agenda, and so ably does he pursue his argument, that he may earn a readership and intellectual influence that compels other anthropologists of globalization with no particular interest in Japan to cite his work." - E. Taylor Atkins, Journal of Japanese Studies

"Ian Condry's wonderful Hip-Hop Japan . . . is as intellectually engaging about cultural globalization as it is an impressive introduction to Japan's vibrant rap scene." - David Leheny, Daily Yomiuri

"Ian Condry's years of contact with the main players in Japanese hiphop allow him to create a keenly observed oral history of rap in Japan from its very earliest days, and the story is longer and more complex than might be expected. . . . Hip Hop Japan is initially academic in focus, but Condry has done his research in clubs and the studios, and as a result it's of considerably wider interest." - The Wire

"What comes over most clearly is Condry's clear enthusiasm for his subject and dedication to his cause. He foregrounds his study with a detailed history of post-war Japanese pop from jazz via Beatles copycat bands through to the birth of hip-hop in the early 1980s. . . . The result is comprehensive and highly readable." - Rupa Huq, Times Higher Education

"I found Hip-Hop Japan fascinating. Ian Condry writes with both authority and intimacy. Taking on the movement of musicians, CDs, soundtracks, graffiti, breakdancing, fashion, racialized culture, style, musical genre, lyrics, and history from the United States to Japan, he offers a groundbreaking transcultural study of popular culture explored through an ethnography of the local." - Anne Allison, author of Millennial Monsters: Japanese Toys and the Global Imagination

"Ian Condry's book moves masterfully between ground-level observation of the Japanese hip-hop scene and sharp insight into the global flows of cultural influence. His analysis of the urban spaces in which Japanese hip-hop culture unfolds is fascinating and smart. So, too, is the book's careful mapping of hip-hop's place within the complex history of Japanese popular music since World War II. Condry is one of the handful of writers breathing new life into popular music ethnography with lively, evocative writing and a firm grasp of contemporary cultural theory." - Will Straw, author of Cyanide and Sin: Visualizing Crime in 50s America

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" Hip-Hop Japan is . . . an informative book that empowers English-language readers to judge the merits of Japanese hip-hop from a standpoint of greater knowledge." - Paul Jackson, Daily Yomiuri " Hip-Hop Japan shows us the importance and joys of sympathetic commitment to and participation in micro actions as well as of lucid and vivid writing.

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This is a park where an annual hip-hop festival is held, this is a celebration of music, dance and fashion.

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Hime is an example of a hip-hop femenisnt in Japan, her lyrics speak out about injustice towards women

Hime,  姫 (Hime) - 浮き名 (Ukina),
dj honda, 2007, Youtube Video 5:04

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This article talks about his experience watching breakdancing competitions.
Weiss, Jeff, Breakdancing Through Japan, Vice.com, 2017

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A few days in Japan at the Red Bull BC One Championship, the individual B-Boy equivalent of the World Cup.

I've been in Japan for the last 72 hours and no one has inasmuch raised a voice above a steady meditative keel until now. I've wandered the winding cobblestone lanes of Kyoto and the industrial labyrinths of Nagoya for hours and barely heard a honk. I stood amongst hundreds of near-silent pilgrims, tossing clouds of incense smoke and solemnly venerating the ancient fox god of sake. I watched dozens of people refuse to cross a red stop signal despite no cars being within blocks.

But for the last 15 minutes, I've carefully weighed the consequences of violent retaliation on the breakdancing fanatic sitting directly behind me. He's intermittently babbling like an auctioneer and unleashing bloodcurdling howls of "MURASAN!" into my left eardrum at 15-second intervals-save for the lone time he shrieks, "JAPANESE NINJA!!!"

We're at the Red Bull BC One championship final, the individual B-Boy equivalent of the World Cup, and for the first time in the nation's history, a Japanese dancer is on the verge of winning it all. Inside this Nagoya gymnasium, directly in the shadow of a 500-year old Tokugawa shogun's castle, 3,000 berserk, euphoric, nerve-wracked breakdancing devotees, some as young as six, cheer on 19-year-old Issei-the "Japanese Ninja" in question. Due to a grievous seating twist, the loudest golem from here to Hokkaido has opted to turn my superior canal to cinders.

The last 90 minutes have obliterated previous expectations of breakdancing, gravity, glow-in-the-dark costumes, and the slim nexus between archetype and stereotype. The festivities commenced with a pair of sumo-sized men in red silk kimonos furiously plucking shamisen stringed guitars. The house DJ is a roughly 40-year old Japanese B-Boy adorned in a cherry Kangol, gold dookie ropes, Adidas tracksuit, and Run-DMC glasses. It feels like an unfinished script that Quentin Tarantino wrote in 1984 after smoking six spliffs during a Bruce Lee and Wild Style double feature.

No one wants to go first. In the BC One competitions, there are no coin flips to decide order, it's just who's willing to acquiesce. So for an interminable 120 seconds, the rivals from historically antagonistic nations, turkey neck, whip their hair, clap, point, mug to the crowd, raise their fists to the sky, and try to intimidate each other as politely as possible. Finally, Issei cracks. Daps and pounds are exchanged. The recent graduate of the Daiichi Pharmaceutical High School starts to top rock step. The crowd bolts upright. Then with a piercing soul-snuffing scream, the lunatic behind me screeches once more: "MURESAN!!!!!!!!!!!"

* * *

Maybe you're wondering why I'm here. Beyond the desire to inhale enough sushi to court a Jeremy Piven-like case of mercury poisoning, I'm trying to understand how a largely outmoded American art form became a venerable Japanese rite. In its home country, breakdancing's relevance currently ranks somewhere near swing music-which experienced a third wind two decades ago when Generation X briefly became convinced that salvation lay in ironic bowling shirts, second-tier scotch, and Big Bad Voodoo Daddy.

American B-Boying has long been consigned to the darkest rungs of Mario Lopez Dance Dance Revolution hours, NBA halftime shows, and the occasional cinematic battle between the ridiculously good looking. I've seen people Crip Walk, pin drop, jerk, milly rock, crank dat, shmoney dance, cat daddy, reject, krump, clown, yike, two-step, dab, nae nae, and hit the quan. I've been in a room full of 100 ostensibly sane adults performing a Mannequin challenge. But during this millennium, I've never been to a party, club, Quinceanera or Bar Mitzvah, where regular people breakdanced without a hint of ironic nostalgia.

This December night in Nagoya exists as a bizarro alternate future of the Bronx circa 1977. During that bombed out, blackout, Summer of Sam, no one could've predicted that teenaged B-Boy crews battling in the parks would eventually impact almost every culture, international or domestic-let alone still thrive 40 years later in the land of Naruto.

Here for the festivities is Crazy Legs-avatar of the Rocksteady Crew-who became one of Japan's first hip-hop missionaries in 1983, as part of the promotional tour following the global release of Wild Style. Until that point, a few stray singles ("Rapper's Delight," "The Breaks," "The Message,") earned occasional spins at Tokyo discos, but no one knew what hip-hop looked like. Most historians trace the dawn of Japanese hip-hop to that initial Rocksteady visit. The dancers performed in Japanese department stores and clubs, and left the most searing impression of hip-hop's original four elements.

"I couldn't tell what was what with the rap and the DJing... but with the breakdancing and graffiti art, you could understand it visually," said first generation rapper, Takagi Kan in Ian Condry's book, Hip-Hop Japan. "Or rather, it wasn't understanding so much as, 'Whoa, that's cool. With rap and deejaying, I couldn't imagine what could be cool about it."

A wave of American breaksploitation films soon followed (Beat Street, Breakin,' Flash Dance), which amplified Japanese interest in the phenomenon. But back home, Madison Avenue ruthlessly siphoned breakdancing's cool-using it to sell McDonald's and Mountain Dew, and even to present a B-Boy parade on a nationally televised Kennedy Center dance extravaganzas before Ronald "I Got It 4 Cheap" Reagan. The future Carlton Banks sold breakdancing "How To" books via television commercial.

While most of us can agree that great breakdancing is thrilling to watch (at least for a few minutes), its current influence currently extends little further than super niche communities and as a trite gag employed by unimaginative comedy writers. Survey the average 16-year old and odds are that their most significant interaction with breakdancing was this LeBron State Farm commercial. If Americans are brilliant inventors, they're mediocre preservationists. The country that conceived planned obsolescence only pledges allegiance to momentary trends and market tantrums. Vine incubated some of the biggest hip-hop dance crazes of the last decade, but Twitter promptly put it out to pasture as soon as marketing executives abandoned it.

Of course, the Japanese are equally famous for their love of a good fad. Coca-Cola manufactures 850 types of beverages for the Japanese market alone, including garlic and kimchi-flavored concoctions and something called Qoo, a "water-drop-shaped forest creature designed to appeal to Japan's cult of the cute." But by a wide margin, the most popular drink remains green tea, as traditional and ancient as it gets.

I spend two days amidst the abundant shrines of Kyoto. What's most surprising isn't the dedication to preserving their rich cultural heritage, but rather the massive throngs of religious pilgrims, solemnly paying tribute to the Shinto deities and esoteric Boddhisattva's of the distant past. There is no attempt to modernize or re-interpret them for modern society. A belief in their vitality seems secondary to the trust in the tradition.

This reflects the inherent paradox at the core of contemporary Japan: you're simultaneously thrust into a flamboyant neon future and a sacred reverent past. While that might seem schizophrenic in America, it feels perfectly natural over here. A contemporary Japanese rap scene thrives, including "Trap Queen" remixes and hits called "Dirt Boys" featuring a Japanese rhymer named Dutch Montana. But so does breakdancing, considered an irreplaceable component of the most authentic, Ur-form of hip-hop.

"The B-Boys in Japan know that they're true to the origins of hip-hop," says DJ Mar Ski, the official DJ for the BC One championship. "They care about the four elements and the relationship between MCs, DJs, and breakers. They're humble, tough, and their quality keeps improving."

With the jiggy era came the attendant backlash and revanchist desire to return to the four elements. Rawkus Records reigned on the East Coast. Jurassic 5, Dilated Peoples, and The Beat Junkies held sway in the West. From the DMV, tapes began circulating of B-Boys battling house dancers. The revival soon spread to the Tri-State area. VHS cassettes were hawked in underground hip-hop and graffiti mags. Scribble Jam became a thing. If you were there, you remember it with bittersweet memories. If you weren't, you wonder how so many scraggly-bearded white bros deluded themselves into thinking Jansports, Fidel Caps, and cargo shorts looked "ill."

Due to its sheer size, raw talent, and history, America still churns out some of the world's top breakdancing talents. Out the 16 dancers assembled in Nagoya, two hail from the United States: Ben Stacks of Las Vegas and the defending champion, 22-year old Victor Montalvo, who was raised in Orlando and taught to dance by his father and uncle, both of whom were B-Boys in their native Mexico. At 33, Stacks is almost considered ancient by competitive breakdancing standards. After a hiatus from competitive dancing, he's returned as the the last man standing from the second wave of US B-Boying, here for one last attempt to snatch the BC One crown.

"In the US, everything changes so fast. Whether it's the dab or the milli rock, people do whatever the next hot thing is," Stacks tells me the afternoon before the competition. "You don't have to practice. There's not much technique. You can just see it and be like I wanna' be a part of that moment, and then you're doing the mannequin challenge. To me, B-Boying to me was the coolest thing I ever saw when I was young. Now I'm a father of two kids and they don't look at it the way I did. It's just not the cool thing to do."

This BC One Tournament commemorates Taisuke's 20th year as a competitive dancer. Ever since he was a six-year old following his sister to her dance class, the West Japan native has been hailed as a phenom. For most of the last two decades, he's been a constant fixture on nationally televised dance shows and B-Boy competitions-both solo and with his crew, The Floorriorz.

"Japanese people really respect hip-hop culture," Taisuke says, when we speak the day before the competition. He's short but muscular, tough but kindly, wearing a black jacket, spiked hair, light goatee, and a glinting diamond stud in his left ear-looking pretty much identical to what you'd imagine you'd get in a casting call for people who look like "cool Japanese breakdancers."

With the advent of YouTube, many old school stalwarts currently lament the demise of regional styles. B-Boying has entered a new international phase, requiring equal fluency in all forms. Few have ever matched the virtuosity of Taisuke, quicksilver swift on the floor but boasting the strength and flexibility of a gold medal gymnast.

What separates the B-Boy's is individual style-their ability to translate acrobatic spins into a singular form of attitude. It's what Raymond Chandler said: style is a projection of personality. In Taisuke, the Japanese found a stylistic vanguard, the rare alchemy of distiller and originator. Not only did he boast the crossover velocity of Allen Iverson, but also had the brash cockiness and cool to step over Tyronn Lue.

Just like Iverson, Taisuke's all-world run has left him without a title. This is his seventh BC One competition, a run that stretches back over a decade and includes two runner-up finishes. He's already announced his retirement in individual battles after tonight-though he'll keep participating in group competitions.

"In sports, if people don't know the rules, you can't play," Taisuke says. "In Japanese breakdancing, we say the same thing, if you don't know B-Boy culture and B-Boy history, you can't dance."

It's hard not to root for him in the same way that everyone outside of Green Bay wanted John Elway to win that first Super Bowl at the end of his career. Except this time, there are no trophies or impromptu green tea Gatorade baths. He pulls out every stop: licking his lips, moonwalking like Michael Jackson in the "Smooth Criminal" video, spinning on his head like a Dreidel, and landing perfectly every time. But still, Taisuke falls to Hong 10 of South Korea, by a narrow 3-2 vote. And just like that, a generation ends.

"Just luck," he says. That's usually a sign of false humility. Great athletes know they're great. It's not just luck. He obviously had maniacal perseverance, preposterous athleticism, and a sense of rhythm rivaling Damo Suzuki of Can. I know that he knows this, but he's so humble that I actually believe him.

"The people that I've met along the way have been really nice and helpful to me," he says through his translator. "But really, it's just good luck."

Inside the octagon, Issei transforms entirely. It's a stretch to call him a savage. He's too sweet not to politely smile, even as he's harpooning an opponent. But he has the laser focus of holy lunatics and high achievers. And just when it seems like Hong 10 has him on the ropes, he snaps back with furious adrenaline.

The fatigue has stripped him of his explosiveness, but the comeback prayers of the crowd revive him. He alights into a blitz of whirling kicks, headstands, statuesque elbow freezes, and more technical moves that would send you to a B-Boy glossary or medical encyclopedia.

As the fourth round ends, he detonates into a head spin so long that you could recite the entire Bushido Code, then he bounces off the floor as though his backbone was pure rubber, somehow landing completely upright, with just the slightest trace of shock on his face. It's not a Michael Jordan shrug but it's as close as we're going to get.

The crowd surges, sending an undulating belt of energy that could seem terrifying if they weren't mostly sober. Then once more, let it rip..."MURASAN!!!!" In that last round, Issei plays to the crowd, raising his arms, vogueing, unleashing a torrent of fancy footwork, pelvic thrusts, and hip sways. He's got them chanting "GO!" and moving like a young aerodynamic Elvis.

I could describe the minutiae for you, but this is 2017. You can just watch it here. One final hyperkinetic slur of flips, freezes, slides, and spins. The potential of the human form unlocked into esoteric positions and absurd funk. Somehow, after Hong 10 vainly tries to match him, they both end up shirtless, flexing before the hysterical crowd.

I don't know what's going on and I don't think anyone else in here does either. But when the final judge holds up Issei's name, giving him a harrowing 3-2 victory, making him the first-ever Japanese individual champion, the walls of the arena start to convulse and shudder. Issei collapses to the crowd, mobbed by friends and fans. As polite as pandemonium gets. Then two young girls in pink floral silken kimonos hand him a championship belt.

Back in the pressroom, a mob of local and foreign journalists batter Issei with mostly banal questions. He's beaming in slight disbelief, clutching his championship belt like a rosary. He answers with single sentence efficiency-mentioning the pressure he felt and attributing his victory to the roar of the fans.

"Too happy," he says, completely out of adjectives when someone asks how he feels. It's bizarre for an American to see a champion like this. We've been raised on Kobe and Kanye, 50 Cent and LeBron. A country that has spent a half century valuing narcissism as a supreme good, a necessary component to achieve. Issei seems to exist in a different era, one beholden to an atavistic set of values and codes of conduct.

As the publicists wave their arms and tell the media, "one more question," someone blurts out an obvious "What are you going to celebrate?"

Issei pauses for a second, carefully deliberates and answers, "The Onsen Hot Springs," he answers, referring to that most ancient and traditional mode of national relaxation. "I would like to go there with my family and friends."

Jeff Weiss is a writer based in Los Angeles who likes to dance. Follow him on Twitter. Photos courtesy of Red Bull.

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A few days in Japan at the Red Bull BC One Championship, the individual B-Boy equivalent of the World Cup. I've been in Japan for the last 72 hours and no one has inasmuch raised a voice above a steady meditative keel until now.

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This group known as Soul'd out is known for imitating African-American clothing style and culture very heavily.

SOUL'd OUT, TOKYO通信, オフィシャル チャンネル 2018, Youtube Video 5:41
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lTCJAeThD1o

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SOUL'd OUT - TOKYO通信 ～Urbs Communication～ live

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His lyrics discuss many socioeconomic problems in Japan

Unknown author "K Dub Shine", Sync Music Japan 2011

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K Dub Shine is known as an MC who has helped transform the Japanese Hip Hop scene. His inspiration comes from some of the best that ever did it. He has the rhyme poetry of Rakim. His political messages provoke the audience like KRS ONE. His live performance rocks crowds as Run DMC did (R.I.P.