ABSTRACT
This book argues that sound – as it is created, transmitted, and perceived – plays a key role in the constitution of space and community in contemporary Japan. The book examines how sonic practices reflect politics, aesthetics, and ethics, with transformative effects on human relations. From right-wing sound trucks to left-wing protests, from early 20th century jazz cafes to contemporary avant-garde art forms, from the sounds of U.S. military presence to exuberant performances organized in opposition, the book, rich in ethnographic detail, contributes to sensory anthropology and the anthropology of contemporary Japan.
TABLE OF CONTENTS
chapter 2|17 pages
Publics that scream, publics that slumber
Sound and the tactics of publicity in the Buraku liberation movement
chapter 3|20 pages
Facing the nation
Sound, fury, and public oratory among Japanese right-wing groups
chapter 6|19 pages
Sounding imaginative empathy
Chindon-ya's Affective Economies On the Streets of Osaka
chapter 7|19 pages
The Swinging Phonograph in a Hot Teahouse
Sound Technology and the Emergence of the Jazz Community in Prewar Japan
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