Rockabilly boogie : Japan is all about it

Rockabilly arrived in Japan around 1958, just after the trauma of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. At that time, the country was still recovering from the effects of the atomic bomb. Today, it’s exploding.

Country music was already popular in Japan, mainly due to the US soldiers occupying the country. Rockabilly was an immediate hit thanks to its much more energetic rhythm.

The first rockabilly-themed events took place in Tokyo cafes.

Young Japanese people at the time found a way to express themselves through this new music. They appropriated the codes of rockabilly and grafted them onto Japanese culture. It was a way to rebel against the rigid rules of society. This movement gave them a feeling of freedom.

In the heart of Tokyo, every Sunday, Yoyogi Park is the meeting place for sunglasses, combs, and leather jackets!

Roller-Zoku

The Roller-Zoku movement was born in the 1970s and corresponds to the Japanese Rockabilly culture.

The term Zoku, which means clan or tribe in Japanese, is very often used to refer to subcultures in the Land of the Rising Sun. Roller-Zoku enthusiasts are recognizable by their leather jackets, their John Travolta-style pompadour hairstyles, and their motorcycles.

As in the United States, rockabilly unfortunately eventually lost its popularity. And, as in the West, the « oldies » experienced a revival in the 1970s that continued into the 1980s, then the 1990s, and at the beginning of the 21st century, rockabilly itself has seen a major resurgence. Not only in the music, but also in fashion reinterpretations!

Among the first groups to bring rockabilly back to success in Japan were Carol and the Cools. Dressed in black leather jackets, black leather gloves, and black leather boots, the group sported slicked-back hair and performed on stage with motorcycles.

Music and Dance Galore

Just as it would be difficult to imagine the hip-hop scene without breakdancing, it’s impossible to ignore the acrobatic and spectacular dance of the Japanese rockabilly scene.

Both impressive and spectacular, it’s something you have to see to believe. The Tokyo Rockabilly Club is renowned throughout the country, where groups of spry men swing their hips, legs, and arms like mad.

And don’t laugh, in the land of ninjas, you could almost sometimes mistake the spectacle for a rock and roll capoeira move.