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Japanese ska isska music made inJapan. It is, along with its counterparts elsewhere in the world, part of what has been called the "third wave of ska [that] combines the traditionalJamaicanClub sound withmetal,punk,folk,funk, and/orcountry."[1][2]
Having been formed in the 1980s and enjoying international success (including extensive touring in theUnited States andEurope), the groupTokyo Ska Paradise Orchestra is arguably the original and best-known Japanese ska ensemble.[3][4]
175R,Beat Crusaders,The Boom,Kemuri,Kojima,Lisa,Mongol800,Tsu Shi Ma Mi Re,Shaka Labbits,Gelugugu,Potshot,Yum!Yum!Orange,Yukihiro Takahashi,Ska Ska Club, Kasutera andOreskaband are other Japanese artists that have performed ska (though not all exclusively).
Japan has had a proliferation of album-making ska bands. Besides those mentioned elsewhere in this article, one source lists theClippers,Coke Head Hipsters,the Drops,Duck Missile,Fruity,Gelugugu,La Ppisch,Life Bal,Mustang AKA,Nicotine,Oi-Skall Mates,Piala,Rude Bones,Shoulder Hopper,Scafull King,Skatroits,Sprocket Wheel, Dallax,The Rollings,Step by Step,Sk@ymate's,Skapontas,Tropical Gorilla,midnightPumpkin,SPYZZ, andYoung Punch.[5]
According to onemusic critic, Japanese ska "music translates well, as they have fully embraced theWesternhorned-based skaidiom".[6] Another remarks "from traditional ska toska-punk, Japan has a thriving scene that is ready to invade America.[7]
A source atMIT describes:
Although far less popular thanJ-pop, J-rock (Japanese rock), orelectronica, ska music has a definite presence in Japan. Emerging about a decade ago with forerunner bandsSka-Flames and Tokyo Ska Paradise Orchestra, the Japanese ska scene saw a huge popular surge in 1997 (mirroring the burst of popularity in the United States) which quickly died out. However, many Japanese ska bands continue to persist despite a lack of mainstream support.The Determinations,The Side Burns, andBlue Beat Players are Japanese ska bands popular among fans of the genre.[8]
In Japan, both Japanese and traditional Jamaican ska enjoy some popularity. An article inJamaica Observer quoted a Japanese music seller as saying:
Ska is very big in Japan and we have about five Japanese ska bands in my city. We just hadPrince Buster performing there [...] Japanese people love Ska [...] in fact, they love every period of music from Jamaica.[9]
A Japanese pop authority remarked that some see:
...similarities between the highly stylized "skanking" dance style associated with ska music and Japanese "bon odori"festival dances. (Ska music and ska-punk have long been favorites in Japan, and today there are countless Japanese ska and ska-punk bands.) Andreggae’ssyncopated rhythms are echoed in the rhythm ofOkinawan music -- so much so that Okinawa music is sometimes called "Japanese reggae."[10]
Although the Japanese ska scene is centered inTokyo there are ska venues elsewhere in Japan, even in smaller cities such asKisarazu inChiba Prefecture.[11]
While some sources (such as one of the quotes above) discern Japanese ska fromJapanese pop, other sources lump them together. While this classification is contrary to the fact that ska andpunk music are rarely, if ever, classified aspop music in most of the world, it is congruous with the practice of considering Japanese pop to encompass othergenres which are often regarded as separate from pop music in the United States andEurope, among them rock,urban andelectronic dance music.
The consideration of Japanese ska as a subgenre of Japanese pop may be due, at least in part, to bands typically considered ska releasing songs with a definitepop music sound. Sometimes, this genre-spanning occurs within a single song. For example,Snail Ramp (a "typical ska punk" band fromTokyo) has a song called "Hotaru no Hikari" featuringAir. For the most part, this is a ska punk version of "Auld Lang Syne" with Japanese lyrics. Sections of the song, however, divert from this musical form and instead have a sound akin toboy band music.[7][nb 1][nb 2][12]
According to the filing scheme used atTower Records in Tokyo, all Japanese ska is classified ashardcore, even that with the laid-back sound that typifies early Jamaican ska music from the early1960s.[13]
