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Striking the Right Chord: Japan’s Cold War as represented in song and performance

In many ways, Japan functioned as the lynchpin of postwar American Cold War policy in the Pacific. The U.S. expended considerable effort—political, economic, and cultural—in the quest to have Japan, given its key location, become a geographic and societal barrier between Western nations and the combined influence of the China/Soviet Communist bloc—the last bastion against Communism in East Asia. But what were the ongoing implications for social, cultural, and artistic life in Japan? Against the background of American and Japanese Cold War policies between 1946 and 1991, this course will focus on specific Japanese performers and styles of music—jazz, folk, rock, and more—along with other manifestations of  Japan’s evolving cultural climate and the complex, ambiguous responses U.S. influence evoked in Japan.
Instructor: Scott W. Aalgaard

5 Tuesdays, 6:30–8:30, Oct. 21, 28, Nov. 4, 11, 18, Wasch Center