Even the most innocuous upload can carry political baggage online in 2018. It’s a truth Western users have become used to, where a pancake restaurant’s idiotic rebranding strategy can become a discussion about the appropriation of gang culture. Recent examples show that Japanese netizens are just as interested in dissecting content that in years past would have just been expected.
The story actually starts in the United States with actor Donald Glover’s musical project Childish Gambino and his newest song “This Is America.” That release — and the video accompanying it — are pointedly political. It inspired no shortage of praise and analysis that was both insightful and internet-y in equal measures. It also ushered in memes, parodies and re-imaginings. Attempts at riffing on it were sometimes met positively, but mostly generated controversy, whether it was via “This Is Nigeria” or a “women’s edit” of the clip accused of stripping away the meaning from Glover’s creation.
Unfortunately, Japanese dance crew Alaventa don’t appear to monitor U.S. online controversies closely. The trio typically performs routines to pop songs but, instead, it went and created a video called “This Is Japan” that riffed on Gambino’s release. Collaborating with production team Creators, they posted a short video to Instagram of them dancing in the streets while singing retrofitted lyrics about omotenashi, Instagram poses and youth slang.
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