TRACK 9 Dragon Ash and the Reinterpretation of Hip Hop On the Notion of Rhyme in Japanese Hip Hop NATSUKO TSUJIMURA AND STUART DAVIS

Japan has an active and diverse Hip Hop scene with widespread popularity among the younger generation. This is reflected in recent figures cited by Manabe (2006, pp. 3-4) who notes that 15% of all singles classified as gold or above in the first half of 2005 were rap-oriented al}d that rap is an integrai•wrt of the Japanese music scene. The history of Hip Hop in Japan has been delineated in a series of articles by Condry (2000, 2001a, 2001b) and in his 2006 book, Hip-Hop Japan. Condry (2001a, p. 228) traces the beginnings of Hip Hop in Japan to the mid1980s with the release of the film Wild Style, a low-budget film featuringthe first generation of U.S. rappers, DJs, and b13!akdancers, and the subsequept releas'e of the film Breakdance in 1985 .which latmched the first of several breakdance booms in Japan. A club called Hip Hop opened in 1986 in the Shibuy.a district of Tokyo, the district that is the center for fashion, entertainment, and youth culture in Japan. Condry notes that in the period from 1988 to 1992 there was a growing number of clubs sponsoring rappers, D J s, and breakdancers. Specialty magazines began covering the Hip Hop scene in detail from the midto late 1980s. The first produced million-selling rap hits in Japan appeared in 1994 and 1995 and the term !-rap was coined to represent this new genre (Condry, 2001a, p. 233). In the midto late 1990s, Condry divides the J-rap scene into two camps: party rap and underground Hip Hop. According to Condry (2000, p. 177), "Party rap tends to have light, funny lyrics that speak to themes from everyday life (e.g., video games, dating, teenage love songs) .... In contrast, underground hip-hop tends to be more abstract, darker, and at times in opposition to mainstream