Japcore: Punk from the Land of the Rising Sun

Snow Delay At The Frankfurt School Presents: 

Japcore: Punk from the Land of the Rising Sun

It would be safe to say that the history of extreme music wouldn't be the same without Japanese punk. Japan offered up some of the nastiest, noisiest, and down right despicable music to infect this god forsaken world during the 80s. Considering that the likes of GISM, GAI, Confuse, Sieg Heil and a host of others spewed out their anarchic noise-mongering during this time, it's no surprise how bands like Napalm Death, Extreme Noise Terror, and Satanic Malfunctions got the inspiration to craft their noisy abandon.

Fucked By Noise made a good point on their post on early 80s Jap punk.
"I could attempt to give a history lesson or rave for hours about how Japanese punk is really awesome, but that's been done about a million times already so I don't see much of a point. Plus, I feel as if a lot of people who do that seem to fetishize Japan in the same way that weeaboos do."

It's hard to disagree that outsiders of Japan (read: scumbag Brits, Eurotrash and Septic Tanks)
fetishize Japan. If you think about it, there were plenty of obscure bands that operated in towns and cities close to where YOU live NOW. And that those bands, if they ever recorded, probably wont ever be unearthed or get the credit they are due. Why? Well it's just luck of the draw really, isn't it?
You don't need to be inventive, talented, proactive, or good to be historicised. Being the first surely helps, and being the coolest guys in a bustling scene assures a place in history. But if you fall out of these lines you may be damned to obscurity.

All these mega obscure Japanese bands were probably victims of this same fate.They either didn't push themselves, weren't too inventive, didn't want to be known, or were just unlucky. However, due to the fetishization of Japanese culture these 'gems' resurface. Why this happens is a question to itself. Maybe members of the bands recognize the interest and uncover their past works, maybe some the tape traders of the 80s were kind enough to share the music they loved back in the day (Cocobat covering Gastunk, Napalm Death covering SOB, anyone?) Or maybe the music was so isolated in Japan, that when transnational connections (i.e: the internet) made the distribution of music easier, these records could be available to share.

Behold! The infamous flexi disc. The format that most Japcore was printed on. What's the difference to vinyl? The fuck I know!

So is fetishization a bad thing? Personally, if these are the results, I'd say not really. And really, it's nice to have that mystery behind the music. While 70s rockstars like Kiss were mysterious in a pre-internet age. That can't be said for nowadays. Just look at Slipknot, it didn't take too long for their identities to be leaked. Japan is strange to us outsiders as it is. A particular collection of scenes in a particular time frame, in a language we can't understand, brings the mystery back to the music.

And let's not forget. The Japanese probably fetishized Britain of all places! You only need to look at Jap punk fashion to realize this.

Nice 'hawks, bruh!

Let's face it. There is nothing wrong with finding another culture facinating. Especially if that culture is so different to your own. Hell, Japan seems like the antithesis of the West. For starters, Japan, as well as many Asian countries, has that stereotype of being very committed and disciplined. How many anime's do you need to see the protagonist getting the living shit kicked out of them, only for this character to visualize their friends and family in trouble, ultimately sparking their motivation to reach their goal? or the constant repetition of working out/training to reach their desired goal? This discipline and commitment can be traced far back in Japanese cultural history.

Goku on the infernal 'Snake Way'. How many episodes did it take for him to complete this? But at least we all learnt that with patience and determination, anything is possible!....yeeesh

Aside from this. At least to this Brit, Japan seems fucking cool with it's rich cultural heritage; which includes Samurai, Imperial leaders, the coolest looking weapons, and brutal violence; one of the most well known mafia's out there (Yakuza), their technological excellence/creativity, and in recent times, eccentric imagery that pervades their popular culture.

But with all this said. There's plenty of weird stuff when it comes to Japan as well...of which i'd rather not think about, to be honest!

With that out the way, let's talk music...
Japanese punk, Japcore, Japanoise, Japafuckingwhatever, is typically known for being either; extreme and noisy, or eccentric with its extravagant guitar histrionics, weird punk-styles mish-mashing and
amazing chameleon abilities. Plenty of Noise music, as in the genre Noise, had developed from the punk scene. Notable performers being Hanatarash as early as 1986. And many crazy experimentation
that we see in newer Jap punk, metal, or just alternative music is derived from this music as well. Just listen to Gastunk!

Over the course of this month i'll be posting Japanese punk gems, mostly, from the 80s. There are plenty of other records, some i have, many i don't. That i'll leave for another month somewhere down the line.