In his introduction to Tokyo Boogie-Woogie, Hiromu Nagahara quotes from the autobiography of Kikkawa Chõkichi, who, in 1883, became one of the first Japanese to graduate from Harvard University.
“We had in those days the old Japanese notion that singing was vulgar,” Chõkichi wrote, explaining why he was excused from choir practice.
Nagahara also records the famed Japanese author Fukuzawa Yukichi’s reaction to westerners dancing when he arrived in San Francisco in 1860 as part of a pioneering diplomatic mission to the United States. “I found it extremely difficult to suppress my laughter at the sight of men and women jumping around the room in a strange manner,” Yukichi recalled.
Such curious examples highlight the cultural gulf that still existed between East and West even as the Edo period of Japanese history (1603-1868) gave way to the Meiji period (1868-1912). It was the latter era, though, which resulted in Japan leaving behind its isolated feudal society past and transforming into the modern, industrialised country we know today.
Fascinatingly, Tokyo Boogie-Woogie – the book is named after a 1947 hit which bore the stamp of Japan's Americanistation under wartime occupation – views this transformation through the lens of popular song. But in this context, the author stresses, the term "popular song", or Ryukoka, is not some distant ancestor of J-Pop. Rather, it simply denotes any song that was popular in Japan between (roughly) 1925-1960, and has no specific connotation regarding any such song's musical style.
Early in the book, Nagahara, a professor of history at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, sketches the musical landscape of pre-modern Japan. It’s gobsmacking to read Nagahara explain (as upheld by musicologist Shuhei Hosokawa) that “the notion of music as a universal, cultural phenomenon simply did not exist [in Japan] before Japan’s encounter with the West”.
What the avant-garde composer Yoshikazu Ishikawa called the “massification” of music consumption was aided by factors such as the founding of the Japan-America Phonograph Manufacturing Company in 1907, the arrival of western record companies Columbia and Victor in the 1920s, and the flowering of Tokyo’s urban consumer culture after 1923’s Great Kant Earthquake.
As an indigenous music industry got its backbone, popular song, aided by its still relatively new-fangled allies radio and cinema, became a desirable symbol of what Japan’s rapidly-growing throng of middle-class city dwellers called the modan (modern).
These popular songs largely stemmed from record companies funded by western cash and given that they were "immediately associated with contemporary trends such as the perceived Americanisation and eroticisation of Japanese culture", it was inevitable that various elite cultural commentators would line-up to critique and disparage them. Nagahara quotes extensively from those who thought popular songs such as 1929's Tokyo March, 1932's Love Fulfilled In Heaven, and 1936's Don't You Forget Me either vulgar, lowbrow or corrupting. But he also gives voice to those for whom such songs were totems of joy; valued expressions of freedom and change. With its strings and woodwind, Don't You Forget Me – sung by Watanabe Hamako, one of the most celebrated female singers in the early to mid-Showa era – sounds perfectly innocent today. It was banned by the censor for being too suggestive, however, and its growing popularity – and that of several copycat songs – greatly concerned officials.
Yet then, as now, banning songs sometimes lent them an appealing taboo. And by quoting from the German philosopher Theodor Adorno's 1941 essay On Popular Music, the author shows why elite critics opposed to the ever-growing consumption of popular song in Japan were ultimately on a hiding to nothing. "To dislike the song is no longer an expression of personal taste but rather a rebellion against the wisdom of a public utility and disagreement with the millions of people who are assumed to support what the agencies are giving them," wrote Adorno. "Resistance is regarded as the mark of bad citizenship, as inability to have fun, as highbrow insincerity."
The book’s account of censorship in Japan is fascinating and we learn that the stereotypical image of censors as joyless individuals prone to kneejerk reactions and inflexible opinions was a poor fit for celebrated home ministry official, Chikagorõ Ogawa.
A true music fan and an able music critic, Ogawa was in charge of censoring phonograph records from 1934 to 1942, and often “expressed his appreciation for the songs that were the very objects of his censorship”.
With record companies required to submit two copies of each new record to the home ministry three days prior to release, Ogawa was sometimes tasked with listening to scores of records each day, but he did so diligently and enthusiastically. He also banned surprisingly few records: only 20 between 1934-1937.
It's hard to imagine Nagahara's dense but always stimulating book being any more thorough in its exploration of the popular song era and its cultural and political ramifications. He writes that, on December 8, 1941, the day after Japan's attack on Pearl Harbor, the Osaka Mainichi and Tokyo Nichinichi newspapers invited readers to write lyrics for a war-effort release entitled The Song of the Final Battle in Greater East Asia, and both Columbia and Victor released the winning effort using the slogan: "Slaughter the Americans and the British! They are our enemy!"
Contrastingly, we also hear plenty about Shizuko Kasagi, the free-spirited singer and actress who recorded 1947's Tokyo Boogie-Woogie and 1950's Shopping Boogie, and whose audibly Americanised music became "enshrined in the post-war Japanese memory as an icon of social and cultural liberalisation".
From there, it only remains for Ogawa to explain why the "popular song" era was all but over by the end of the 1950s and he does so with due care and insight. The rise of television and hugely influential shows such NHK's Amateur Singing Contest, and Fuji Television's Hit Parade created a demand for a new kind of music that was produced and consumed in new ways, and after The Beatles arrived in Japan in 1966, Japan's understanding of what constituted pop changed forever.
James McNair writes for Mojo magazine and The Independent.
BORDERLANDS
Starring: Cate Blanchett, Kevin Hart, Jamie Lee Curtis
Director: Eli Roth
Rating: 0/5
Biog
Mr Kandhari is legally authorised to conduct marriages in the gurdwara
He has officiated weddings of Sikhs and people of different faiths from Malaysia, Sri Lanka, Russia, the US and Canada
Father of two sons, grandfather of six
Plays golf once a week
Enjoys trying new holiday destinations with his wife and family
Walks for an hour every morning
Completed a Bachelor of Commerce degree in Loyola College, Chennai, India
2019 is a milestone because he completes 50 years in business
More on animal trafficking
The rules on fostering in the UAE
A foster couple or family must:
- be Muslim, Emirati and be residing in the UAE
- not be younger than 25 years old
- not have been convicted of offences or crimes involving moral turpitude
- be free of infectious diseases or psychological and mental disorders
- have the ability to support its members and the foster child financially
- undertake to treat and raise the child in a proper manner and take care of his or her health and well-being
- A single, divorced or widowed Muslim Emirati female, residing in the UAE may apply to foster a child if she is at least 30 years old and able to support the child financially
List of officials:
Referees: Chris Broad, David Boon, Jeff Crowe, Andy Pycroft, Ranjan Madugalle and Richie Richardson.
Umpires: Aleem Dar, Kumara Dharmasena, Marais Erasmus, Chris Gaffaney, Ian Gould, Richard Illingworth, Richard Kettleborough, Nigel Llong, Bruce Oxenford, Ruchira Palliyaguruge, Sundaram Ravi, Paul Reiffel, Rod Tucker, Michael Gough, Joel Wilson and Paul Wilson.
Mrs%20Chatterjee%20Vs%20Norway
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MATCH INFO
Mainz 0
RB Leipzig 5 (Werner 11', 48', 75', Poulsen 23', Sabitzer 36')
Man of the Match: Timo Werner (RB Leipzig)
Three tips from La Perle's performers
1 The kind of water athletes drink is important. Gwilym Hooson, a 28-year-old British performer who is currently recovering from knee surgery, found that out when the company was still in Studio City, training for 12 hours a day. “The physio team was like: ‘Why is everyone getting cramps?’ And then they realised we had to add salt and sugar to the water,” he says.
2 A little chocolate is a good thing. “It’s emergency energy,” says Craig Paul Smith, La Perle’s head coach and former Cirque du Soleil performer, gesturing to an almost-empty open box of mini chocolate bars on his desk backstage.
3 Take chances, says Young, who has worked all over the world, including most recently at Dragone’s show in China. “Every time we go out of our comfort zone, we learn a lot about ourselves,” she says.
The specs
AT4 Ultimate, as tested
Engine: 6.2-litre V8
Power: 420hp
Torque: 623Nm
Transmission: 10-speed automatic
Price: From Dh330,800 (Elevation: Dh236,400; AT4: Dh286,800; Denali: Dh345,800)
On sale: Now
Jeff Buckley: From Hallelujah To The Last Goodbye
By Dave Lory with Jim Irvin
2025 Fifa Club World Cup groups
Group A: Palmeiras, Porto, Al Ahly, Inter Miami.
Group B: Paris Saint-Germain, Atletico Madrid, Botafogo, Seattle.
Group C: Bayern Munich, Auckland City, Boca Juniors, Benfica.
Group D: Flamengo, ES Tunis, Chelsea, (Leon banned).
Group E: River Plate, Urawa, Monterrey, Inter Milan.
Group F: Fluminense, Borussia Dortmund, Ulsan, Mamelodi Sundowns.
Group G: Manchester City, Wydad, Al Ain, Juventus.
Group H: Real Madrid, Al Hilal, Pachuca, Salzburg.
Formula Middle East Calendar (Formula Regional and Formula 4)
Round 1: January 17-19, Yas Marina Circuit – Abu Dhabi
Round 2: January 22-23, Yas Marina Circuit – Abu Dhabi
Round 3: February 7-9, Dubai Autodrome – Dubai
Round 4: February 14-16, Yas Marina Circuit – Abu Dhabi
Round 5: February 25-27, Jeddah Corniche Circuit – Saudi Arabia
The bio
Academics: Phd in strategic management in University of Wales
Number one caps: His best-seller caps are in shades of grey, blue, black and yellow
Reading: Is immersed in books on colours to understand more about the usage of different shades
Sport: Started playing polo two years ago. Helps him relax, plus he enjoys the speed and focus
Cars: Loves exotic cars and currently drives a Bentley Bentayga
Holiday: Favourite travel destinations are London and St Tropez
Ms Yang's top tips for parents new to the UAE
- Join parent networks
- Look beyond school fees
- Keep an open mind
Mercer, the investment consulting arm of US services company Marsh & McLennan, expects its wealth division to at least double its assets under management (AUM) in the Middle East as wealth in the region continues to grow despite economic headwinds, a company official said.
Mercer Wealth, which globally has $160 billion in AUM, plans to boost its AUM in the region to $2-$3bn in the next 2-3 years from the present $1bn, said Yasir AbuShaban, a Dubai-based principal with Mercer Wealth.
“Within the next two to three years, we are looking at reaching $2 to $3 billion as a conservative estimate and we do see an opportunity to do so,” said Mr AbuShaban.
Mercer does not directly make investments, but allocates clients’ money they have discretion to, to professional asset managers. They also provide advice to clients.
“We have buying power. We can negotiate on their (client’s) behalf with asset managers to provide them lower fees than they otherwise would have to get on their own,” he added.
Mercer Wealth’s clients include sovereign wealth funds, family offices, and insurance companies among others.
From its office in Dubai, Mercer also looks after Africa, India and Turkey, where they also see opportunity for growth.
Wealth creation in Middle East and Africa (MEA) grew 8.5 per cent to $8.1 trillion last year from $7.5tn in 2015, higher than last year’s global average of 6 per cent and the second-highest growth in a region after Asia-Pacific which grew 9.9 per cent, according to consultancy Boston Consulting Group (BCG). In the region, where wealth grew just 1.9 per cent in 2015 compared with 2014, a pickup in oil prices has helped in wealth generation.
BCG is forecasting MEA wealth will rise to $12tn by 2021, growing at an annual average of 8 per cent.
Drivers of wealth generation in the region will be split evenly between new wealth creation and growth of performance of existing assets, according to BCG.
Another general trend in the region is clients’ looking for a comprehensive approach to investing, according to Mr AbuShaban.
“Institutional investors or some of the families are seeing a slowdown in the available capital they have to invest and in that sense they are looking at optimizing the way they manage their portfolios and making sure they are not investing haphazardly and different parts of their investment are working together,” said Mr AbuShaban.
Some clients also have a higher appetite for risk, given the low interest-rate environment that does not provide enough yield for some institutional investors. These clients are keen to invest in illiquid assets, such as private equity and infrastructure.
“What we have seen is a desire for higher returns in what has been a low-return environment specifically in various fixed income or bonds,” he said.
“In this environment, we have seen a de facto increase in the risk that clients are taking in things like illiquid investments, private equity investments, infrastructure and private debt, those kind of investments were higher illiquidity results in incrementally higher returns.”
The Abu Dhabi Investment Authority, one of the largest sovereign wealth funds, said in its 2016 report that has gradually increased its exposure in direct private equity and private credit transactions, mainly in Asian markets and especially in China and India. The authority’s private equity department focused on structured equities owing to “their defensive characteristics.”
Ads on social media can 'normalise' drugs
A UK report on youth social media habits commissioned by advocacy group Volteface found a quarter of young people were exposed to illegal drug dealers on social media.
The poll of 2,006 people aged 16-24 assessed their exposure to drug dealers online in a nationally representative survey.
Of those admitting to seeing drugs for sale online, 56 per cent saw them advertised on Snapchat, 55 per cent on Instagram and 47 per cent on Facebook.
Cannabis was the drug most pushed by online dealers, with 63 per cent of survey respondents claiming to have seen adverts on social media for the drug, followed by cocaine (26 per cent) and MDMA/ecstasy, with 24 per cent of people.
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UPI facts
More than 2.2 million Indian tourists arrived in UAE in 2023
More than 3.5 million Indians reside in UAE
Indian tourists can make purchases in UAE using rupee accounts in India through QR-code-based UPI real-time payment systems
Indian residents in UAE can use their non-resident NRO and NRE accounts held in Indian banks linked to a UAE mobile number for UPI transactions
