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Pro-Constitution Revision Rappers and Protectionist Kansai Obaasan

Posted on 10. May, 2007 @ 11:37 pm by harvey in Culture, Society Views: 485

A TV special recently featured some Japanese Rappers who hope that the constitution will be revised to allow Japan to support an army, and some comedian (漫才) old women (obaasan) who want to preserve the constitution as-is.

The Obaasan

The obaasan (my translation is “grandmotherly woman, with respect”) are against revising the constitution so that they can protect their lifestyle. They send their message through the Japanese stand-up comedy form known as Manzai.

(Click to watch video on YouTube)

Part 2 of the video is available on YouTube as well.

Some of their key concerns are that the current constitution states Article 9 as, “…力海空軍その他の戦力はこれを保持しない。” which means that Japan will not hold air, sea, or land forces, or any other war potential. However the liberal democratic party has proposed that Article 9 be revised to state that “自衛軍を保持する。” which means that Japan will have an army for self-defense… Which I guess would be kinda like the Japan Self-Defense force is now… only… official-er. Yeah…

The Obaasan worry that if Article 9 is revised to officially allow a standing army then in the future a draft may be established. If a spouse dies in war the pension that goes to the survivor can is cut in half. It’s already an issue that Japan may not have enough money to properly pay pension for its increasingly aging population… This would only make things worse.

They also jokingly discuss the proposed 「国民責任」”Citizens Responsibility” Article which states 「常に公益及び公の秩序に反しないように」and roughly translated means, “(Citizens have the responsibility to) always be sure not to act against public welfare and public order”. They joke that when they are wondering what train ticket to purchase while standing in front of the ticket machine that it could be considered disturbing the peace and they could get into trouble.

On the other side of the constitution revision debate we have…

The Rappers

Now we have the Rappers, known as Arei Raise 「英霊ライズ」.「英霊来世」.

「英霊」translates to “spirits of the war dead”, and 「来世」is a Japanese term with the nuance of “next world”,  “the future” or “prosperity”. The main rappers name is ムック(mukku), and the groups lyrics carry the message that Japan needs to stand up for itself, and that Japan cannot protect anything with the current Article 9.

When watching Koizumi’s visit to Yasukuni Shrine in 2005 in which he performed a simple bow to honor the war dead, Mukku said “ちゃんと二礼二拍一礼やればいいのに”, which roughly translates into, “It would be better if he would do the formal 2 bows, 2 claps, 1 bow.” “Why does Japan have to be so week?… Is this alright?”

Word.

Mukku’s opinion is that even though Japan has Article 9, the fact of the matter is that Japanese citizens are being abducted by North Korean, and the rogue nations missiles are flying overhead as well. Even if Japan has abolished war in their constitution, this means nothing to the countries that mean to do them harm.

I feel ya.

“今の現状見るとミサイル飛んでくるし”

“Look at the situation now, missiles be flyin’ at us and stuff.” (Harvey Hip-Hop translation)

One of their songs is called 「守るべき物」which translates to, “the things we should protect”. It contains lyrics such as “仲間や恋人、愛する家族、自分の故郷は自分で守る” which translates to, “your friends and lovers, the family that you love, protect your country yourself.”

Come on now.

An interesting thing about this TV show that featured them is that they actually sat the rappers who are pro-revision with the grandma comedians who are anti-revision and let them talk. They also got watched each others acts. It turned out to be a good natured event where ideas and laughs were exchanged over a Japanese hot pot meal.

The entire clip is available on YouTube (links at top of entry), and you can find out more on AreiRaise official blog (Japanese Only) and their official group website (Japanese Only).

Peace. I’m out.

- Harvey