The Japanese B-Girls: For the Love of Black Culture

When Hina said “Black people look so great and stylish,” her black ancestors would have praised her for her acceptance and love of black culture. But Hina is not black: She is Japanese, a Japanese b-girl. And because the praise comes from a foreign source, it makes the compliment more glorious than the truth it proclaims.

So what is a Japanese b-girl and, by extension, a Japanese b-boy? They are young Japanese who in mood and tone adore black culture, who in style and grace imitate black culture and who in eroticism and intensity mirror black culture.

Specifically, Japanese b-girls and b-boys are passionately in love with hip hop and the hip-hop way of life. They love hip-hop fashion, they admire hip-hop hairstyles, they cherish hip-hop dance and they revere hip-hop slang. Rapping, clubbing and break dancing are as exciting to them as it is to black school girls in the hallways of any high school, black clubbers on the dance floor of any night club and black rappers on the street corners of any city.

Hina, for example, goes to a tanning salon once a week to darken her skin; styles her hair in corn rows and braids; reads black beauty magazines for the latest fads on skin lotion and lip gloss, wears skirts and blouses similar to those worn by Beyonce and Ciara; listens to rap, reggae and R&B; dances at black-oriented clubs where Japanese rap and R&B bands perform; and spends time with Japanese b-boys, such as DJ Time.

But as far as we know, Hina, and some other Japanese b-girls and b-boys, have never met a black rapper. Some have never danced at a black-owned night club or kissed a black man or black woman. Never, as far as we know, have they talked to a black on the street, chatted with a black at a clothing store or whispered to a black in the parking lot beneath the flashing neon lights of a seductive restaurant.

So where did this love for black culture come from? By looking at black music videos, reading black magazines and viewing black websites.

Obviously, knowledge gained from videos, magazines and the internet do not provide a clear and real knowledge of people and their culture. In fact, some blacks might damn this imitation of the black lifestyle as blackface with a Japanese twist. Maybe it is; but more than likely, it isn’t.

Indeed, why would those, whose admiration for black culture is higher than the skies, descend to the underworld of insult and mockery to satisfy a desire? Besides, if personal contact were always vital for a valid experience, we might as well stop eating Philly cheesesteaks at a pizza shop in Arizona merely because they weren’t made at a burger joint in Philadelphia. Our curiosity should be more profound than that.

Why, we should ask, would the Japanese young gravitate toward black culture, rather than, say, Malaysian culture or Brazilian culture or Arabic culture or French culture or Russian culture? Partially, for reasons dictated by Japanese culture. Partially, because black culture has qualities as fragrant as an ocean of perfume.

Whereas Japanese kids are required to wear uniforms to school and Japanese men wear ties and white shirts to work, hip-hop non-conformity allows boys to wear wrinkled baggy jeans and, if they want, wear them low around the butt. And Japanese girls? Well, they are encouraged to wear their skirts high, especially in public.

Japanese tradition demands that Japanese men and women keep their hair naturally black as a sign of their acceptance of what is natural over what is artificial. But hip-hop rebellion yells “Screw that! It’s OK for girls and boys to dye their hair brown or red or blue or blond. And they probably look better with a different hair color anyway.”

As for Japanese custom, well, it places a lot of emphasis on discipline, as seen in the martial arts and sumo wrestling. Hip hop spontaneity, on the other hand, argues that rap music and break dancing are more refreshing, more challenging, more in your face.

And who has ever seen a geisha dress or walk or conduct a tea ceremony improperly or without proper decorum? Not many. However, in hip hop, impropriety is a temptress, with a meow as sensual as thighs hidden in black fish-net stockings. She tempts you to yell in someone’s face, to style your hair nappy or straight and to walk down the street with you sneakers unlaced.

These differences do not mean that black culture is better or worse than Japanese culture. They just confirm that, as with all human beings, tastes change as we move from infancy to childhood, from childhood to adulthood, from adulthood to old age and from old age to death.

In this sense, and beyond, the evolution of black culture road a similar railroad of emancipation as the Japanese infatuation with black culture. As white slave owners enslaved black freedom, blacks inspired spirituals and the blues to soothe their sadness. And as white music producers stole black music—usurping jazz as if it were their own, promoting R&B as if it were their creation—so black entrepreneurs like Barry Gordy, Russell Simmons and Jay Z formed their own music production companies to combat the theft of a timeless black heritage.

And so, we should not condemn Japanese b-girls and b-boys. We should commend them, because they have seen what we have seen. They have seen an enormous, unrelenting truth: A culture is as royal as its influence, if it is not dishonored by that influence.

Hence, we should raise our heads above the clouds and smile as we peer down on the world and see societies drunk on the beauty that is black culture.