Event: IASPM Benelux Pop Talk w/ Toshiyuki Ōwada "The Sonic Texture of City Pop – History, Musicians, and Its Representation" (online, 20.3.25, 11.15-12.45)

Pop Talk 17 presented in the context of the City Pop International Workshop organized at Amsterdam University on March, 20th, 11.15-12.45.

Toshiyuki Ōwada (Keio University, JP)
The Sonic Texture of City Pop – History, Musicians, and Its Representation

Registration Link for IASPM Pop Talk 17 https://uva-live.zoom.us/meeting/register/ntcnSyrfTsqkdas9Mz3OZg

The revival of City Pop is often examined in relation to the nostalgia for 1980s Japan and its intersections with internet-based music genres such as vaporwave and future funk. Within this framework, this keynote will focus on the concept of its musicality—or more specifically, the distinctive "sound"—of City Pop. It seeks to identify the key figures who shaped this sound and analyze their significance in the broader historiography of Japanese popular music. In particular, the study will investigate the reevaluation of City Pop through the contributions of session musicians active during the same period. By analyzing the distinctive features of its sonic texture, this presentation aims to explore how the themes of anonymity and nominality, which are central to vaporwave's discourse on Japaneseness, may be applied to the work of session musicians. Additionally, it will assess whether these themes can be linked to broader issues of Japanese cultural representation, including the concept of Orientalism.

Toshiyuki Ōwada is a Professor of American Studies/Popular Music Studies at Keio University, Tokyo. His research interests include Japanese and American popular music, with an emphasis on Afro Asian interactions. He is the author of On American Music: From Minstrel Show, Blues to Hip Hop (Kodansha 2011, in Japanese), awarded the Suntory Prize for Social Sciences and Humanities, and Remapping American Music (Chikuma Shobo 2021, in Japanese), awarded the Music Pen Club Japan Book Award. He has co-authored three books on hip hop (Cultural Studies of Hip Hop, Vol. 1, 2, 3, Artes Publishing, in Japanese) and a book on music in Haruki Murakami’s works (100 Songs of Haruki Murakami, Rittosha 2018, in Japanese) As a Visiting Scholar at Harvard-Yenching Institute (2020-2021), he conducted research on the resurgence of “City Pop” in the West, and is currently working on a monograph on Yellow Magic Orchestra’s eponymous first album.