Finding The Meaning Of Success, Deep Within Tokyo's Musical Underground

June 15, 2018 11:07 PM

Through the process of translating his book about Japan's robust independent music scene into the country's native language, its author finds himself reckoning with where he's really at. - From NPR by Ian Martin

For a Japanese audience, the English title is simple enough that it might have been okay on its own. However, Noda spotted that there was a fondly remembered TV show in the '90s called Bando Yarouze! ("Let's Start a Band!") that we could pun off of. So the title began life as a Japanese song lyric, was adapted by me into an English book title, and was then re-adapted by Noda into a punny reference of an old Japanese rock TV show, where it ended up striking a dryly cynical (which in Japan seems to be considered distinctly British), yet nostalgic, note with a whole generation of people I'd never even considered trying to reach, because I wouldn't have known how to.

posted by hippybear (4 comments total)

Thanks, this is great! I actually have a Mechaniphone CD and I think I have probably read some of the author’s Japan Times stuff in my quest to find more music, but I didn’t know there was a book!
posted by freecellwizard at 3:57 AM on June 16, 2018

Reading this reminded me of the Japanese film Fish Story.

I watched it years ago on Amazon Prime streaming or Netflix, I can't remember which. However, it isn't available to stream anywhere now...
posted by Tiny Lee at 8:39 AM on June 16, 2018

I loved this article—honest and rueful and insightful. Getting the book immediately. Thanks, hippybear!
posted by The Baffled King at 9:06 AM on June 16, 2018

MetaFilter: impeccable taste but miserable sales figures
posted by Harvey Kilobit at 8:36 PM on June 16, 2018