~外国特派員協会での会見を生中継&アーカイブス~
Meet the Uniform Improvment Committee, Japan's Pop Group Protesters
Mika Hashimoto, Yuria Saito, Noa Saito,
Kana Kinashi & Rina Nishino
Tuesday, July 28, 2015, 15:00 - 16:00
制服向上委員会
橋本美香、齋藤優里彩、齋藤乃愛、木梨夏菜、西野莉奈
7月28日(火)15:00-16:30
In a nation in which the young are notably nonpolitical, when an exception comes along it turns a lot of heads. That is certainly the case with the girls' pop band "Seifuku Kojo Iinkai," a name that translates into English as "Uniform Improvement Committee."
Seifuku Kojo Iinkai gained their first taste of notoriety in 2012 when their catchy anti-nuclear song "Da! Da! Datsugenpatsu!" (translated, perhaps, as "Get! Get! Get Rid of Nuclear Energy!") became a popular chant at major anti-nuclear rallies.
More recently, the young ladies have been back in the headlines when their performance of a song calling for the overthrow of the Shinzo Abe administration horrified the straight-laced officials of the city of Yamato to such a degree that they withdrew municipal support for an event on protecting the Constitution at a local health and welfare center.
The connection between popular music and political protest may be a strong one in most democratic countries. Come to the FCCJ and find out why Japan is having so much trouble accepting that same reality.
And, as an added bonus, we hear that the Seifuku Kojo Iinkai will perform one of their protest songs for our members!