著者

小長谷 英代

出版者

東京大学大学院総合文化研究科附属アメリカ太平洋地域研究センター

雑誌

アメリカ太平洋研究 (ISSN:13462989)

巻号頁・発行日

vol.2, pp.113-127, 2002-03

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This paper argues that representations of taiko in an ethnic context allow Japanese and Japanese American youths to act out a form of resistance against dominant white American society. Their performance implicitly challenges the oppression of engendered relations that have historically represented Japanese or Asian men as inferior, weak, and feminine as opposed to superior, strong, masculine white men. During the rise of student activism in Japan and the Asian American movement in the United States in the 1960's, young Japanese and Japanese Americans redefined the folk tradition of taiko in such a way that it should empower their community as well as create their ethnic identity. In interpreting messages hidden in the guise of performance, this account examines the experience and social context of the individual taiko performer and group, and also the significance of taiko as it has been defined in Japanese and Japanese American history. My interpretation of taiko performance as a form of resistance includes observation of the typical costumes of the taiko performer, its association with the institution of class society in premodern Japan, the effect of modernization to working-class men, and the influences of popular culture. By further comparing the symbolism of taiko with an instance of African American folk expression of resistance, as well as a ritual form in a traditional Japanese community, the paper discusses the process by which Japanese and Japanese Americans construct their masculinity.