Resonances of Chindon-Ya: Sound, Space, and Social Difference in Contemporary Japan
Resonances of Chindon-ya: Sound, Space, and Social Difference in Contemporary Japan By Marié Abe A dissertation submitted in partial satisfaction of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in Music in the Graduate Division of the University of California, Berkeley Committee in charge: Professor Jocelyne Guilbault, Co-chair Professor Bonnie Wade, Co-chair Professor Alan Tansman Professor Gillian Hart Fall 2010 Resonances of Chindon-ya: Sound, Space, and Social Difference in Contemporary Japan © 2010 by Marié Abe Abstract Resonances of Chindon-ya: Sound, Space, and Social Difference in Contemporary Japan by Marié Abe Doctor of Philosophy in Music University of California, Berkeley Professor Jocelyne Guilbault, Co-chair Professor Bonnie Wade, Co-chair This dissertation examines the intersection of sound, public space, and social difference in contemporary Japanese urban life through ethnographic analysis of a Japanese street musical practice called chindon-ya. Chindon-ya, which dates back to the 1850s, refers to groups of outlandishly costumed street musicians in Japan who are hired to advertise an employer’s business. After decades of inactivity, chindon-ya has been undergoing a resurgence since the early 1990s. Despite being labeled as anachronistic and obscure, some chindon-ya troupes today have achieved financial success generating up to one million dollars in annual income, while chindon-ya aesthetics has been taken up by rock, jazz, and experimental musicians and refashioned into hybridized musical practices. In the context of long-term economic downturn, growing socioeconomic gaps, and visually and sonically saturated urban streets, I ask how such an “outdated” means of advertisement has not only proven itself to be financially viable, but has also enabled widely varying sentiments, musical styles, translocal relations, forms of business enterprise, and political aspirations to articulate with one another.
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