Accommodation and resistance in Hokkaido hip hop practitioners: An ethnographic analysis of Generation Resignation in post-growth Japan

Abstract

Drawing on ethnographic fieldwork conducted between October 2013 and October 2017 in Hokkaido, northern Japan, this paper explores the trajectories of individuals engaging in hip hop music. Participant observation and narratives indicate that the majority of individuals work as regular members of society (shakaijin) and only pursue hip hop in their free time. The paper highlights the intricate entanglement of individuals in subordination to mainstream values despite their references to elements of resistance. I contend that in contrast to previous generations of hip hoppers who chose to lead lives of open resistance to mainstream values, contemporary youth who largely belong to the “Generation Resignation” (satori sedai) prefer to engage in practices of resistance that may not be evident rather than overt contestation of societal conventions.