Prompt is simple: "Want to become a research student in the Japanese University of your choice? Write a research proposal and we'll see what we can do!" The only guidelines I was given was make it short and sweet and specific.
It's been through many drafts. Please provide some final critical commentary. Thank you very much!
No Title Just Yet
MEXT Scholar Post-Graduate Research Proposal by Princess E. Small
INTRODUCTION
Jero's is a typical musical success story: Growing up to the melodramatic crooning of his grandmother's vinyl records, Jero came to love and respect enka, Japan's post-war love ballad. He went to school, earned a degree and got a job, but dreams of singing enka moved him to audition on numerous karaoke contests, catching the attention of JVC Music. After the release of his debut single "Umiyuki" in February 2008, an unexpected 3,000 fans showed up to his first public appearance. Like other entertainers, the Japanese public continues to speculate, but not simply about Jero's talent: "He sings enka but he doesn't look Japanese!" or "He's really good even though he's not Japanese!" Indeed, Jero is Jerome Charles White, Jr, a 27-year-old black Pennsylvanian.
Bob "The Beast" Sapp, Crystal Kay and Samuel Nfor Ngwa are just a few of the many entertainers of color who have made a name for themselves in the Land of the Rising Sun. Attaining celebrity status is difficult for the Japanese alone, but for this particular group of minorities, calling the odds "stacked against them" is an understatement. The few popular images available to blacks ("Accessory", "Playboy", "Criminal") are not a far cry from the stereotypes black people have in the West. Though Japan has had exposure to Africans through the centuries, it has not only been extremely limited, but limited to Africans in low positions.
However, the negative stereotypes one encounters today in Japan were imported and circulated by racist white Americans in the early 20th century, during the post-WWII occupation, and then cultivated by Japan's isolation, and thus are not a result of conflict nurtured through centuries of intimacy. Still, it would be irresponsible to ignore the fact that a few Africans and blacks, such as Bobby Ologun, contribute to the marginalization of dark-skinned people by capitalizing on unseemly racial imagery. Regardless, as more Japanese come in contact with black people in music venues, watch them in dramas, and even meet them in their child's school or supermarket aisle, it's necessary to evaluate celebrity image development as it relates to the racial imagery of this group. This process can help us to reassess, as a whole, the prevailing imagery of Africans and blacks perpetuated by Japanese media, and its effect on the daily black/Japanese discourse.
LITERATURE REVIEW
Scholarly literature on the black/Japanese discourse is limited and often not too flattering for either party; there is even less information concerning the entertainment world. Hip-Hop Japan by Ian Condry explores Japanese hip-hop subculture, from the pivotal public showing of "Wild Style" in Tokyo 1983 to its present symbol of political subversiveness, but the subjects are the Japanese, not blacks. Literature that provides valuable background on black imagery in Japan would be Sherick Hughes's The Convenient Scapegoating of Blacks in Postwar Japan, which discusses former and existing negative images of blacks in Japan that served the purpose of strengthening collective identity without insulting powerful (white) America. Also, John G. Russell wrote a book called Japanese Perception of Blacks: The Problem is More Than Little Black Sambo which discusses the "commodification of blackness" for Japanese consumption, how the Japanese contextualize black male sexuality and how black icons have fostered the "Black Culture Boom".
A crippling result of the negative imagery glorified in the past that we can observe easily today is illustrated in an article entitled "Negative Black American Stereotypes and their Impact on Japanese Mindset and Behaviors" by Duchess Harris. She criticizes Japan's propensity to adopt racist American beliefs while depoliticizing and de-contextualizing blackness, impossible to maintain because of the growing socio-political clout held by blacks. Finally, Emi "Amy" Yamada is a fiction author known for her provocative approach to black men/Japanese women affairs.
FOCUS and SIGNIFICANCE
This study will cover two main issues but involves and contributes to a number of anthropological topics. Social production and consumption of racial imagery is at the fore. There are several essays on racial imagery, and I seek to expand upon these in two ways: first, to uncover the consequences of using an artist's (non-Japanese) image as a key marketing strategy in Japan. Is the visual/cultural 'otherness' played up or down, and either way, does illustrating a contrast - such as, Japanese lyrics versus a dark face - demonstrate harmonization or differentiation? Second, I will split hairs by comparing the experiences of Africans (immigrants directly from Africa) and blacks (people of African descent, but from America or Europe); why, how and to what extent are these two groups differently showcased and consumed in Japan, and how does this affect the entertainer's success and happiness?
Because the subjects of my study are entertainers, the construction of celebrity will also be discussed in terms of how the artist constructs her own (racial) identity. Is she contributing to or rebutting the popular racial image? More specifically, I want to answer the question of how these non-Japanese artists, who usually have an intense bond with Japan, define themselves within a society which stubbornly defines itself as homogeneous. My subjects may have been born in Africa, America or Europe, but self-identification is an introspective process and not simply politically driven. I want to delve into the internal and external reconciliation of the public star and private human images.
METHOD, LIMITATIONS and TIME-LINE
The nature of the study requires intimate and focused communication with entertainers from various backgrounds. Methods of information gathering include in-depth interviewing, consultant interviews, informal conversations, surveys, direct observation and possibly focus groups. These methods will be in the context of case studies concerning individual artists who gained fame in Japan and not yet in the West/home country, are not of Japanese descent and are musicians or actors.
Investigations will begin by examining the public image marketed by record labels, fans and other purveyors of image by use of magazines, radio and TV advertisements. Next, contact with people closely involved in creating an entertainer's public image will be made, wherein the consequences and meaning of racial imagery can be discussed as it relates to celebrity construction and consumption. Finally, direct communication with the artist will bring the research full circle, as she will critique the racial imagery understood by the public and relate it to her personal definition and expressions of racial identity.
Even after intensive language courses and immersion, it's possible that communicating efficiently with consultants will be difficult. Limited access to subjects may be a barrier because entertainers keep a busy schedule, are closely watched and can be very cautious of the press. My goal is not an exposé and I would work with my advisor to ensure that all necessary ethical procedures are followed. However, I believe that entertainers of color would be interested in contributing because not only do the issues researched directly affect their livelihood, but it would bring active voices of relevance to the black/Japanese discourse.
