Book Review: Speed Tribes
Karl Taro Greenfield’s Stunning Look at Japanese Sub – Cultures
Sep 8, 2009
Manga, Harajuku girls, CosPlay, and endless videogames have provided insights into aspects of Japanese youth culture. Greenfield’s Speed Tribes – Days and Nights with Japan's Next Generation looks at Japanese youth during the mid-nineties and provides an edgy, in – depth look at the prevailing Japanese sub-cultures that still color Japan today.
Japan’s Underground
Told through a series of first person accounts, Greenfield chronicles the lives of those who were left out of Japan’s economic boom. Japan’s marginalized and individuals unwilling to conform to society’s expectations voice their experiences on living in modern Japan. Motorcycle gangs (Speed tribes), motorcycle thieves, drug abusers, drug dealers, musicians, party girls, Otaku, Yakuza, adult movie stars, hostesses, and right wing militants share their lives as they react to mainstream Japanese culture. Greenfield handles their stories deftly as he draws a thread that displays how each sub – culture reinforces and preys upon the others.
Many of the stories deal with individuals involved on the fringes of criminal activity. Greenfield captures the mixture of teenage angst and hope as small time drug dealers and thieves try to navigate their way through the world. Many stories have a sense of tragedy while others provide insights into the workings of Japan. The reader receives an insider’s look at the Japanese music industry, adult movie industry, and illegal economy of Japan.
Japanese culture is also examined throughout the stories. Both the family life and expectations of Japan’s working class as well as the mores of Japan’s new wealthy that play on the fringes of Japan’s underground without exposure to its consequences are analyzed. The story of a party girl that attends arranged marriage appointments with her parents while enjoying the excesses of club life demonstrates the tension between tradition and the new cultures that are rising in Japan.
The book is strongest when Greenfield directly quotes his story tellers which provide the reader with a sense of their identities. Some stories end at their climax leaving the reader wanting to know more about these individuals. The narratives often take place behind closed doors leaving the reader to believe that perhaps some interviewees may have embellished their stories; accuracy is not a given in this non-fiction work. Despite this, Greenfield has chronicled their stories as the story-tellers would tell them, and this leaves a lasting impression on the reader.
Japan’s Future
Two chapters provide particular insights in Japan’s future. One story about a student at Japan’s premier school, Tokyo University, describes the apathy and apolitical nature of today’s youth. Many of the stories demonstrate concern for day to day gain or material accomplishment. Another chapter, on the technology obsessed Otaku, describes the decline in social relationships in favor of interacting with machines. While these are disheartening, Greenfield states late in the book “There is no one reality. Instead you take your choice of what reality suits you.” Although this can lead to a fractured and disconnected society, it is also one in which individualism and sub – cultures may prosper.
Speed Tribes – Days and Nights with Japan's Next Generation by Karl Taro Greenfield was published in 1995 by Harper Perennial (ISBN 0-06-092665-1).
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