Abstract
This paper examines the musical and critical responses to the War on Terror in the aftermath of 9/11 in the U.S. and Japan by drawing from newspaper and magazine articles, published interviews of musicians, and recordings. It analyzes the backlash against an American country music trio who voiced anti-war sentiments while country musicians largely supported the war. It highlights how Japanese critics used the language of democracy and freedom to interpret the controversy. The study also examines Japanese musicians’ opposition to the Iraq War, focusing on the anti-war activism of a popular rock artist who published a poem and composed a song about the futility of war. While American and Japanese artists received similar criticism, their approaches to anti-war expressions differed. The paper identifies an anti-war rhetoric in Japan that emphasizes the image of children as innocent victims, a theme deeply rooted in post-WWII Japanese memory.
Author Information
Mikiko Tachi, Chiba University, Japan
Paper Information
Conference: IICAH2025
Stream: History/Historiography
This paper is part of the IICAH2025 Conference Proceedings (View)
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To cite this article:
Tachi M. (2025) Musical Activism in the U.S. and Japan in the Post-9/11 Era ISSN: 2432-4604 – The IAFOR International Conference on Arts & Humanities – Hawaii 2025 Official Conference Proceedings (pp. 327-336) https://doi.org/10.22492/issn.2432-4604.2025.28
To link to this article: https://doi.org/10.22492/issn.2432-4604.2025.28
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