Start abusing your iTunes. Music is integral to the hipster's world view. The most respected form of intelligence in the hipster world is that of musical knowledge and history.
If you want to be in the fold with the hottest music in Japan look no further than the SummerSonic Festival, 2 days of music held in Osaka and Tokyo.
The 2010 lineup includes some international hipster favorites like Pavement, Eels, The Smashing Pumpkins, Passion Pit, Band of Skulls, Delphic, Band of Horses and more.
There is also the Fuji Rock Festival (Japan's largest Music Festival) which showcases a majority of international acts like MUSE, !!!, MGMT and oddly ROXY Music.
However don't be fooled by all the imports, there is an active live music scene in Japan.
Hip-hop is hugely popular in Japan. Ian Condry investigated why in his text Japanese Hiphop and the Globalization of Popular Culture. He believes it's popularity "offers an interesting case study of the way popular culture is becoming increasingly global in scope, while at the same time becoming domesticated to fit with local ideas and desires."
Though Hiphop was introduced in Japan in the 1980's from the American market, today's Hiphop is anything but an imitation. It has been adapted and remixed to create its own unique relevance in Japan. Condry suggests that we must avoid the cultural imperialist's belief that somehow Japanese music is lesser or inferior to that of the West because Hiphop "originated" there.
Live music may be an integral part to the "explicit expression of self- identity" young adults of Japan are subscribing to in order to "depart from traditional Japanese cultural values and social standards" (Liu, 2005) that have been considered constricting and pressuring by the younger generations. (In 2007 the World Health Organization named Japan as one of the highest Suicide rate countries in the world due to factors such as societal pressure, work expectations etc.)
However there can be no definitive list of Japanese "hipster" bands as Stuart Haul argues in Music and Identity in his text (co-written by Paul Du Gray) Culture and Identity: "Music like identity is both performance and story, describes the social and individual...Music making and listening is not a solid representation of the self but the self-in-progress" (pg 109-110)
In lamens terms..? I can show you what is being blogged about, bought or listened to by those deemed Japanese hipsters, but it is an impossibility to definitively identify what kind of music the hipster scene as a whole likes, just as the term hipster itself (like the Japanese music scene) is ever changing.
What I can tell you is this.
Another good place to look is iTunes. Since 2008 Japan has been recognized as having one of the highest penetration rates of iTunes software in the world with Comscore releasing data saying that "roughly 40 percent of the Japanese online population had accessed an “entertainment music site”, of those users, "nearly 25 percent used iTunes, logging the highest penetration of users compared to US, UK, France, and Germany".
There is also MTV Japan which is the same as MTV in any country except that is tailored to the Japanese market.
The only problem with any of these avenues is their commercialism. For true hipster finds log on to the Tokyo Gig Guide and try your luck either by simply attending what looks good by name or getting along to one of the listed live houses (even if it turns out to be an awful gig you can use it to your advantage by trashing it with your carefully accumulated hipster music knowledge).
You can also check out the blogs of:
Smashing Mag For photos of live events and updates on the acts touring Tokyo (perfect for the Shibuya Ward movers and shakers)
CreativeMan A promoter for the Summer Sonic Festival there is a lot more quantity of acts here than quality, but your discerning hipster tastes should guide you on the right path.
Bad News Records an independent label and promoter that deals mainly in the indie/alternative field.
Happy hunting!
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