It¡¯s official: You can¡¯t escape politics in America. On a recent trip to Seattle, everyone I spoke to wanted to talk about President Donald Trump. Fittingly, the 2017 edition of the Museum of Pop Culture¡¯s Pop Conference, which I was invited to speak at, took on a political theme with ¡°Sign O¡¯ The Times: Music and Politics.¡±
I spoke about music in post-Fukushima Japan, which mostly meant focusing on a handful of artists who protested nuclear energy in the wake of the meltdowns at the Fukushima No. 1 nuclear plant following the Great East Japan Earthquake in 2011. The prefecture¡¯s own hardcore scene kicked back at the idea that people from the area were ¡°contaminated,¡± with bands such as The Friday proudly declaring ¡°F¡ª- You, We¡¯re From Fukushima.¡±
Other protests happened on the streets of Tokyo, on the internet, at music festivals and via independently released dance tracks, while many mainstream acts reacted with positive come-together songs. (If you¡¯re interested on more about the topic, check out Noriko Manabe¡¯s fantastic book, ¡°The Revolution Will Not Be Televised: Protest Music After Fukushima.¡°)
With your current subscription plan you can comment on stories. However, before writing your first comment, please create a display name in the Profile section of your subscriber account page.