LINER NOTES: AESTHETICS OF CAPITALISM AND RESISTANCE IN CONTEMPORARY JAPANESE MUSIC A Dissertation Presented to the Faculty of the Graduate School of Cornell University In Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy by Jillian Marshall December 2018 © 2018, Jillian Marshall LINER NOTES: AESTHETICS OF CAPITALISM AND RESISTANCE IN CONTEMPORARY JAPANESE MUSIC Jillian Marshall, Ph.D. Cornell University 2018 This dissertation hypothesizes that capitalism can be understood as an aesthetic through an examination and comparison of three music life worlds in contemporary Japan: traditional, popular, and underground. Through ethnographic fieldwork-based immersion in each musical world for nearly four years, the research presented here concludes that capitalism’s alienating aesthetic is naturally counteracted by aesthetics of community-based resistance, which blur and re-organize the generic boundaries typically associated with these three musics. By conceptualizing capitalism -- and socio-economics on whole – as an aesthetic, this dissertation ultimately claims an activist stance, showing by way of these rather dramatic case studies the self-destructive nature of capitalistic enterprise, and its effects on musical styles and performance, as well as community and identity in Japan and beyond. BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH Prior to undertaking doctoral studies in Musicology at Cornell in 2011, Jillian Marshall studied East Asian Languages and Civilizations at the University of Chicago, where she graduated with double honors. Jillian has also studied with other institutions, notably Princeton University through the Princeton in Beijing Program (PiB, 2007), and Columbia University through the Kyoto Consortium of Japanese Studies at Doshisha University (KCJS, 2012). Her interest in the music of Japan was piqued during her initial two-year tenure in the country, when she worked as a middle school English teacher in a rural fishing village. Other research interests include Marxism, activist scholarship, and the broader relationship between music and society, particularly in societies of drastic upheaval (such as China, the former USSR, and Mexico). In addition to teaching, Jillian is a dancer, musician, and writer, with aspirations to cultivate these vocational possibilities to their fullest potential. She also has been happily working as a waitress since her time at Cornell. iii For Mayuko Ogawa 3 Table of Contents Acknowledgements 5 Notes on the Text 11 Introduction 21 Hate/Love 62 Section I: Aesthetics of Capitalism 82 Chapter 1: Popular Music 85 3/11 146 Amerika the Beautiful 157 Section II: Aesthetics of Resistance (Part I) Akita-ben 166 Chapter 2: Traditional Music 172 The Dance Teacher 216 Section II: Aesthetics of Resistance (Part II) Last Train/First Train 232 Chapter 3: Underground Music 236 Peripheral Encounters 303 Hatsu DJ no Taiken 318 The Matsuyama Tour 322 The Celebrity 334 Epilogue 340 Bibliography 345 4 5 Acknowledgements, OR a stream of consciousness ish-rant written at 4:30 am on cold leftover coffee from Temple of Zeus about everyone who contributed to this project in any way To blatantly rip off a brilliant quip by my sister – who always has been, and always will be, the coolest, smartest, most beautiful, most badass person on the planet1 -- in her master’s thesis, anyone who said they wrote their dissertation alone is a liar. So, Brooke… we’ve long retired our one-for-one competitiveness, but if it weren’t for that, would we have done any of the crazy shit we’ve pulled off over the years? Look, driving the 18-wheeler was really next level, and with that bold play you truly BLEW UP THE GAME. It’s safe to say I’ll never do that-- and the world is better off for it. I recall you saying the same thing about getting a PhD – that it was a quixotic commitment beyond anything you’d want to do at this point in your life. No offense—cuz getting a PhD definitely ain’t for everyone – but something tells me it might be better for the world that you opted out of this track, too, haha.2 Potato potahto, right? Anyway, thanks for pushing me to be the best version of myself, way back to when we were kids on the Ridge playing all of our wacky games and weird competitions with each other. I was in it to win it, you know, and whenever I actually did it brought such satisfaction because you are, objectively, the best. Now that we’re older it’s nice that we’re not keeping score anymore, but in any case I still think you’re the best. And I definitely could not have written this thing if it 1 After completing her master’s thesis in cultural anthropology on the idea of home for long-distance truck drivers – which included fieldwork wherein she DROVE AN 18-WHEELER – Brooke Marshall moved to Sub-Saharan Africa as a Peace Corps Volunteer. Then she thru-hiked the Appalachian Trail, moved to ANTARCTICA, and is currently finishing a cross-country bike tour to visit colleges and advocate for admissions policies that would better serve her former students in rural Malawi. Oh, and she’s moving BACK to Antarctica in August. GodDAMN, hoss. 2 What I wouldn’t give to have been a fly on the wall when Kristie Bledsoe walked in your room to ask if you were OK, LOL. #marshalltough 6 weren’t for your support and understanding—especially during the Padma Days. You blazed the trail, man. But all that aside, I’m truthfully still kind of enraged about those times in Trivial Pursuit when you claimed I cheated for getting the answers right. You were incredulous that I knew who the “poor man’s Norman Rockwell” was. But like, OF COURSE it was Andrew Wyeth… come on, man. I mean, we had that giant print of Christina’s World up; it was just sound logical deduction. Plus, the dude painted all broken down houses and shit. ARG!!! And it was for a pie, too!! Do you promise to not play so nasty now that I’m about to get this frickin’ doctorate??? JK. Love you, sis.3 OK, anyway, speaking about trails and (blue) blazes, to Dad: the man, the myth, the legend. Thank you for supporting my education throughout the years. I wouldn’t have been able to study abroad with Princeton in Beijing back in 2007, and because of you it could happen—and we all know that trip changed my life, so thank you. Same thing with that last $3000 back in October. Clutch. Look Dad, you were tough, and sometimes outrageous and totally out of touch, but in the end it all worked out, right? You’re a raw genius, straight-up Good Will Hunting style—and I stand by my theory that you were a professor in a past life, because you always had just the right questions to ask along the way to make me feel supported, and to help me relax about this whole gig. I love you, Pops. You’re my hero. Plus, Spacey 8’s has got to be some kind of training ground for sheer logical abilities… I swear, getting 3 PS: “… you’re telling me you can’t read any Cyrillic?” So us. 7 good at that game was more educational than some parts of college. The waterfront at Revere, Mass... that’s when you knew, and when the torch was handed down. To Mom: thank you for the endless support, good GOD. Your cute little notes. If it weren’t for your postcards, your care, those packages where you spend 7 dollars to send me a 5 dollar gift card to Subway or Dunkin’ Donuts, and how proud you are of me (and Brooke—I know how you like to keep it fair), I don’t know where I’d be. You always believed we could do anything, and here we are. Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance, man. That shit about Phaedrus and Quality really dragged on, didn’t it? Lol. You’re extremely intelligent, and I’m lucky to have gotten some of your brains. I appreciate that you really wanted to know about the content of my dissertation, like, word-for-word… and I especially appreciated that you finally understood when I explained that it wasn’t personal, but that I just wanted to have fun when we chat and not discuss the ins-and-outs of postmodern theory with you, lol. PARLOR TRICKS, anyone? You’re the best, and I couldn’t have done this without you, your encouragement, and your boundless energy of spring flowers. You’re an inspiration. Lee: Sup hoss? Thanks. Less is more. Love you. Also, sup Stephanie, Ryan, Kristie, Dave, and Olivia? PRECIOUS PATTY!! … hey, Goddrick… And thanks all around for everyone in the family: special shout-outs to Aunt Jo-Ann (and Uncle Dean), who bought us school supplies when we were young, and for everyone else in our crazy, wacky, tiny assemblage. On both sides. Another shout-out to the 86-year-old Gramma Marshall for the following message: “Just make up your mind you r doing nothing, o, nada until 8 you finish that necessary job u have been avoiding. You will feel so free you will wish u had done it ages ago. Get on the stick. Love u.” LOL. Amazing. To Heidi and Ernie Forte (and Alexis!): thank you for inviting us down to Martha’s Vineyard every summer. Although it was intimidating at first with all that Lacoste and Ralph Lauren stuff all those Kennedy-types wore on the ferry, the island soon became a home. Ernie, our late-night political discussions in my early adolescence about capitalism changed the course of my life forever.