(Enka, possibly) Edo Relics

[Pete B]

Hi all,

This is a song about one aspect of Japanese culture: the competing claims of social harmony and personal expression. But don't let that put you off! I've reimxed it and mastered it, for want of a less professional phrase.



Thanks for any listens and feedback.

Pete

[jappe]

Hi all,

This is a song about one aspect of Japanese culture: the competing claims of social harmony and personal expression. But don't let that put you off! I've reimxed it and mastered it, for want of a less professional phrase.

https://soundcloud.com/peter-branscombe/edo-relics

Thanks for any listens and feedback.

Pete

A nice song; when I listen to the nice vocals there's something that made Alan Parsons project pop up in my mind

About competing claims of social harmony and personal expression...is that about any cultural clash between social rules and extrovert behavior?

I remember reading a forum post about challenges for westeners to melt into the japanese society and get japanese true friends.

[Pete B]

A nice song; when I listen to the nice vocals there's something that made Alan Parsons project pop up in my mind

About competing claims of social harmony and personal expression...is that about any cultural clash between social rules and extrovert behavior?

I remember reading a forum post about challenges for westeners to melt into the japanese society and get japanese true friends.

Hi Jappe, thanks for the kind comments. All I know about the Alan Parsons Project is that Colin Blunstone of the Zombies sang with them for a bit, and I love the Zombies (well, some of their songs from the 60s rather than their current stuff).

The personal expression / social harmony thing is not really a cultural clash, but something I've observed about Japanese culture - people tend to keep quiet rather than cause offence by speaking out. So it's self-censorship. And it has arguments in favour and against. I could write a book about it if I had time! But it's very different to the stereotypical Western way, and I think it is one aspect of the differences in friendships that Westerners form and the friendships that Japanese people appear to form. I think Western friendships are often quite confessional (you know, you can tell your best friend anything) but I don't think that's necessarily how Japanese are, so perhaps people from the different cultures have different expectations of friends. At the risk of starting my book here ...

On the other hand, it's all in my song!

Pete