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neo-trad music double bill: Soul Flower Mononoke Summit w/Oki

By Matthew Ward | Sunday, Jan 18, 2009

Recently, there have been a couple of compilations of Japanese music released internationally: namely, the new edition of The Rough Guide To The Music of Japan and Soundtrip Japan. For expat Westerners living in Japan, these might prove to be a bewildering listen, because the music on these compilations, featuring musical acts like Chanchiki, Soul Flower Mononoke Summit, the Oki Dub Ainu Band, Ryukyu Underground and veteran Okinawan singer Seijin Noborikawa sound nothing like stereotypical J-pop. This music draws heavily on traditional Japanese, Okinawan, Ainu and Asian musics, and adds liberal doses international musics like dub, electronica and jazz. There is a whole bunch of interesting music bubbling under the mainstream dross here in Japan, but the neo-traditional music is some of the very best. For just one fun example, check out Chanchiki's video for “Ee ja nai ka?” on Youtube:

http://jp.youtube.com/watch?v=3pjYHpkZY6A

...and for some more information on these neo-traditional bands:

http://worldmusiccentral.org/article.php/rough_guide_to_the_music_of_japan

Anyway, for those interested in checking out this alternative musical universe, there is an amazing double bill scheduled next month in Kyoto (February 8) and in Tokyo (February 11), namely Osaka's Soul Flower Mononoke Summit playing with Ainu musician Oki. This is a really great chance to hear this completely different side of Japanese music. But, who the heck are Soul Flower Mononoke Summit and Oki anyway?

Soul Flower Mononoke Summit was formed in 1995 after the Great Hanshin Earthquake, when members of Osaka's Soul Flower Union (a completely unique and original band in itself) wanted to play for poor and minority communities that had been devastated by the earthquake. Realizing that they wouldn't be able to plug in, they traded their guitars, keyboards and drums for Okinawan sanshin, wadaiko (Taiko), chango (a Korean percussion instrument) (Taiko), accordian and clarinet. They adopted the musical style known as Chin-Don, which is a kind of traditional Japanese street music, and played played various forms of Minyo (folk songs): Japanese, Okinawan, Chinese, Korean, as well as songs from the Buraku (Japanese untouchable) community.

To many of these songs, they added new, political lyrics dealing with issues of race and justice in Japanese society. Interestingly, though, some of these old minyo tunes already like Kike Bankoku no Rodosha and Wakaranai already had political lyrics before Mononoke started doing then: apparently, there was a lot of protest music in Japan in the early 20th century before the militarists took over. Who woulda thunk?

Anyway, Mononoke's lyrical stance explicitly rejects the idea of Japan as a monocultural society, emphasizing the rights and historical place of the Okinawans, Ainu, Korean, Chinese and Buraku, as well as migrant workers. At one point, after playing the song Fukko-bushi (The Recovery Song), which decries the treatment of minority communities in Kobe after the Great Hanshin Earthquake, singer/lyricist Takeshi Nakagawa was scolded by a government official who told him to “watch the lyrics.”

They've also played in a number of unusual places, including North Korea, East Timor, and Palestinian refugee camps. Recently, they've taken to playing at protest camps trying to stop the construction of a floating US military base in Henoko, Okinawa. No, this is no ordinary J-pop band! Despite the heavily political nature of their lyrics, though, they are a lot of fun live: a colorful, clattering, carnivalesque riot of sound and color.

For those interested, you can see some Japanese TV shows about Mononoke, including clips of them playing in post-earthquake Kobe and East Timor here:

http://jp.youtube.com/results?search_query=soul+flower+mononoke+summit&search_type=

As for Oki, he is a man of mixed Ainu and Japanese ancestry who grew up not knowing that he was part Ainu. Learning about his heritage led him to learn the Ainu language and revive traditional Ainu music. He plays the tonkori, a huge traditional Ainu instrument. His band, the Oki Ainu Dub Band mix Ainu chants with dub rhythms, and are probably one of the best and most startling live bands on the planet: they play with an amazing, wall-flattening power and have become one of the most successful Japanese acts on the international live circuit. They are also highly worth seeing in Japan for the unique experience of hearing Oki get young Japanese to sing along (phonetically) in the endangered Ainu language. Again, not yer typical J-pop act. Youtube videos really don't do these guys justice, but this one, filmed in Portugal, ain't bad:

http://jp.youtube.com/watch?v=Va0MTLoKmpY&feature=related

For this show, Oki is just listed as “Oki,” so I have a feeling that it's just going to be him and his Tonkori, minus his amazing backing band. But, it's still likely to be the best double-bill of the year. For more info, here's the Soul Flower Union/Mononoke Summit home page (scroll down):

http://www.breast.co.jp/soulflower/schedule/live.html

And the Oki page (again, scroll down):

http://www.tonkori.com/schedule/index.php