In Japan, something similar happened a few hundred years ago. It was called ええじゃないか or “Why not?” and it’s kind of hard to explain.

Changing Times

ええじゃないか started out innocently enough: people were dancing at different celebrations (as people in Japan were known to do) for things like seasonal festivals.

But then people kept finding more and more reasons to keep on dancing until regular, everyday life was completely gone and Japanese villagers were swept up into this weird frenzy.

People danced, chanted, sang, dressed up, dressed down, and just generally went kinda crazy. ええじゃないか got more and more insane until it turned into violence and just sort of petered out.

Why did ええじゃないか happen? There are a few theories.

During the mid-1800^s when ええじゃないか took place, there was a huge cultural shift happening in Japan. The Shogunate that had ruled over Japan for the last couple hundred years was crumbling, and a new society was starting to take shape. The Meiji Restoration was coming.

With social changes as big as the Meiji Restoration, there are always people who are displaced financially, socially, or culturally. Sometimes, all of the above.

Some people think that ええじゃないか was a sort of outlet to deal with the stress of all of being displaced. The movie ええじゃないか subscribed to that theory:

Other people think that ええじゃないか happened for no real reason. I mean, why not? There weren’t any leaders nor organization to ええじゃないか, no plans, stated goals, or message. It just sort of happened, then stopped happening.

It all could have just been a sort of spontaneous social phenomenon that nobody can really explain, like the Harlem Shake.

It’s fun to imagine different theories about ええじゃないか, since we’ll never really know for sure what exactly spurred it all.

The Social Movement-Turned Roller Coaster

Nowadays, people in Japan don’t go on days-long dancing sprees unless they’re high on LSD, listening to trance. Still, ええじゃないか lives on in Japan as a roller coaster at the incredible Fuji Q Highland amusement park that bears the same name:

Does it have anything to do with the dancing mania of old Japan? Not really — any connection between the two would be a pretty big stretch. But you know what they say: ええじゃないか？

Sneaking Out

First of all, we weren’t supposed to stay out all night with any of our language partners because apparently the program directors thought that was a no-no. If we did stay out all night, we had to fill out overnight forms saying where we were going to be and what we were doing. One of the cooler language partners encouraged us to make up a story about where we were going, and then just go clubbing with her and her friends the whole night instead.

So, me and my good friend Hunter, being the responsible young gentlemen that we are, filled out an overnight form saying that we’d be overnight at a manga cafe or some nonsense like that. Then, around midnight, Hunter and I left the dorm and took a train to meet up with our Japanese friend and her group of friends before heading out to the clubs.

Staying Up All Night

In America at least, people would normally go out between like 10 and 12, then stay out until they got tired or until the bars and clubs close at like 2:30am. In Japan, though – people go out at like midnight, get to the club at like 1am and then stay out all night until morning when the trains start running again at like 5am or so. It was crazy. Coming out of a dark club woozy with alcohol into the bright morning sun is a surreal experience.

Staying out all night was really fun, but it certainly made for a rough next day. Getting back to the dorm at like 6 or 7 in the morning didn’t leave a lot of time for sleep before any activities, and I even ended up skipping out on one of the group activities because I just didn’t have the energy.

In the Club

The first night we went out was definitely the most hilarious. Upon arriving at the club, the Japanese girls showed their IDs and paid their cover and got one drink ticket. These drink tickets were redeemable at the bar for drinks, but more on that later. When Hunter and I got up to the doorman and showed our passports, the guy gave us each two drink tickets just because we were Americans. The Japanese girls thought this was unfair. Hunter and I thought it was awesome.

Anyway, at this club they had a drink ticket vending machine off to the side, and there you bought drink tickets and then took those drink tickets over to the bar and exchanged them for various drinks. The cost of drinks ranged from one ticket to a few, and I’m not sure how efficient a system this way, but it was interesting nonetheless.

As far as atmosphere inside the club goes, it was pretty similar to what I’d gotten used to back home, just with a bunch of Japanese people instead of college age white kids. The only bad part was that people were smoking indoors, and smoke really bothers me, but most of the smokers stayed around the outer perimeter of the venue so it wasn’t too terrible.

Do I Recommend It?

If you enjoy clubbing in your home country, chances are you’ll enjoy clubbing in Japan. My only advice is, don’t go alone, and go with someone who knows good places to go. If you go by yourself or with people who are equally as out of their element as you are, you’ll be less likely to have as awesome a time I think.

As far as language skills go, you don’t really need to know much Japanese to have a good time at the club. Most all drink orders sound the same in each language, but besides that, it’s usually too loud for you to have a conversation anyway. It’s hard enough trying to have a conversation with a new person who doesn’t know your level of language skill, let alone having that conversation in a noisy and crowded nightclub. The real fun comes from just going out and enjoying the whole experience.

It was really nice having someone let us know where to go and when to go and all that stuff. I definitely don’t regret going out while I was in Japan and I feel bad for some of my American friends who passed up the opportunity because it sure was a lot of fun. If you enjoy the club scene and you have the chance to go out in Japan, I wholeheartedly recommend it.

So tell me, have any of you gone out clubbing in Japan? How was your experience? For those who haven’t had the chance to, is it something that interests you? Let us know in the comments!

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Kawaii Overloooooad

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Over the weekend, 141 brave souls dressed up as mascots from 25 prefectures across Japan and made history. They gathered in Sasebo, Nagasaki Prefecture, to break all the records and become the largest group of mascots to do the same dance together. Truly, so impressive a feat will not again be seen in our lifetime.

The song they’re dancing to in the video above is called “The Beard Dance”. A Japanese comedy band known as The Drifters is responsible for this monstrosity. Unfortunately for the mascots and everyone involved, the song is incredibly repetitive and annoying. Be prepared to go insane if you listen to it for the full 5 minutes.

To break the record, the mascots couldn’t just flop around as they pleased for 5 minutes. They had to be in the zone, man – in the zone! They had to like, dance in synchronized unison and stuff. If more than 5% of the mascots screwed up, they’d be denied the world record and bring endless amounts of shame upon themselves and their mascot families.

Fortunately they were allowed multiple tries because they failed twice before finally getting it right. After they nailed it on the third try, “We Are the Champions” started blaring and all the mascots went berserk. They were more excited than any mascot had ever been before. If only their faces could convey emotion.

[yframe url='http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yk-Ey9LBDto']

And for those of you who want to view one of their mind numbingly repetitive performances in its entirety, check the video above. I dunno about you, but that one girl mascot at the end dancing all by herself with no music really creeps me out. She gives me the willies.

Also, I realize that the people are in big, cumbersome mascot suits, but I was really hoping to see a bit more action out of this synchronized “dance”. Sure, they may have cinched the record in the end, but they certainly did not do it with enough pizzazz and style to impress me! Maybe next time they can include some cartwheels and back flips.

Mascots, Mascots Everywhere

As many of you probably know by now, it’s not surprising that there are enough mascots in Japan to put together a feat like this. Everything from recycling promotions to city governments has mascots. They’re responsible for just about everything. Promoting tourism, teaching kids to recycle, discovering cures for cancer, you name it – there’s a Japanese mascot on the case.

To learn more about these lovable mascots, or yuru kyara (gentle characters) as they’re known, you can check out Hashi’s full write up on them and a handful of the wackiest town mascots Japan has to offer in his post about them here.

And since Hashi loves Japanese mascots more than the rest of the Tofugu team combined (that’s a lot!), he also wrote a post about Kumamon, the cuddly black bear that sings him lullabies each night and makes him waffles every morning. Okay, so maybe Kumamon doesn’t actually do that. Hashi just wishes he did. One day, my friend – one day.

So tell me, what do you think about this record breaking event? Which one of the 141 mascots busting a move was your favorite? Let us know in the comments!

Sources:
RocketNews24

Believe it or not, this flurry of police activity has been about dancing. That’s right, if you dance past a certain hour in Japan, you might find yourself at best, asked to stop; and at worst, arrested.

It’s like Footloose, but without the whole “Jesus” angle or Kevin Bacon.

Japan’s Anti-Dancing Law

You can thank all of these dance-related arrests to a 1948 law, the Entertainment Business Control Law.

In the years immediately following World War II, Japan was a mess. The country had been leveled during the war and the central government had all but collapsed. Lawlessness ran amok throughout the country.

The Japanese government tried to crack down on some illegal activities like prostitution and gambling by passing the Entertainment Business Control Law. Unfortunately, this had unforeseen consequences. The strict law not only affects prostitution and gambling, but it also impacts nightclubs too.

Dance music 60 years ago

Dancing after a certain time at night is banned, unless you have a special permit. The permit, which is separate from the numerous other permits that night clubs have to apply for, requires the club to have at least 710 ft² (66 m²) of space for dancers to get down.

This restriction might have made sense 60 years ago, but it certainly doesn’t any more.

Think about what dancing was like during the 40s compared to what it’s like now. People danced more formally, and to swing and big band music. In the 60+ years since the law, dance and dance music have changed dramatically.

Nowadays you don’t need enough room for a big band or a giant dance hall; a small dance floor and a DJ with a laptop is good enough for most people.

Recent Crackdowns

This law has been in effect for over 60 years, but hasn’t really been enforced by police until the last year or so.

In cities like Osaka, Fukuoka, and even Tokyo, police have raided clubs to stop dancing, close down the club for the night or, in some cases, arrest the owner and shut down the club for good.

Club owners are doing what they can to stem the tide of police activity. They’re put tables out in the dance floor to get in the way, posting signs around the club, and just flat-out asking people to stop dancing.

Why Now?

The main question on everybody’s mind seems to be “why now?” Most people are able to see where the law comes from and why it’s there, but if this law has been on the books for over 60 years, why is it only really being enforced now?

Some people speculate that police have only started cracking down recently because of club owners have been blatantly breaking the law for years. Japanese police can look the other way if a few clubs here and there stay open too late, but as more and more clubs keep on dancing into the night, it becomes impossible for the police to ignore.

Dance music today.

Ultimately, it’s hard to say just why dancers have only been prosecuted recently. When asked, Japanese police have been mum on why they’ve ratcheted up enforcement.

One thing’s for sure though: if you go out dancing in Japan, you’d best be on your toes.

Read more: On Getting Arrested for Dancing in Japan, If you go down to the club tonight, you’re sure of a big surprise

Thanks to Henry for emailing this story in!

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Sony Xperia Promos

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If I’m not mistaken, the live performance came first and then Sony asked them to be part of a commercial to promote their new Xperia phone. That’s understandable given how cool the act is. I’d never even thought of doing something like this. I’ve never really been too big on dance groups, but this just takes things to a whole other level.

You can do so much more with implementing this technology and it really makes the show all that more interesting to watch. There are different special effects one can emulate, eye tricks, and just tons of colors and patterns sparkling across the stage. It’s really entertaining.

[yframe url='http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xoLFdL3nj1g']

Like I said before, these guys have been featured in a CM (commercial message) for Sony’s new Xperia phone. The above video is the 60 second version the below is 30 seconds.

[yframe url='http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9wTnd6TfEMk']

Pretty cool, huh? I think I like the live performance video more though. Even if the video quality is lower and there aren’t any fancy edits, I think you just really need a couple of minutes to get the full effect. I wish they had more lighted dance numbers I could watch.

[yframe url='http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y233PDhBkGY']

And here’s another video that shows how the commercial was made. It gives a bit more insight into all of the work and preparation that must be done in order to create these performances. I wonder how many times they had to shoot the CM before they got it just right. Not only does the performance depend on the dancers, but also the light crew and sound technicians making sure everything syncs up correctly.

Wreck In The Floor 2011

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As I mentioned before, Wrecking Crew Orchestra is a pretty popular dance crew from Japan. Here I’ve included two videos from one of their more recent performances available on YouTube.

[yframe url='http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kg6Dpopcmak']

There are quite a few of their dance routines available for watching online, but these two are definitely of higher video quality than most of the others. So how did you like their dancing? I think it’s pretty good, but after watching them perform in those TRON suits, anything else just kinda pales in comparison.

Dr. Popeye’s Crazy Lights

[yframe url='http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4iWHcAGC_5U']

Minoru Fujimoto is an engineering Ph.D candidate at Kobe University, enjoys dancing on his spare time, and has even won multiple awards for his lighting choreography works. Sounds like a pretty cool guy to me. Just look at him go!

[yframe url='http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B7ET8hSuNbc']

I’m pretty sure that Minoru Fujimoto is the same guy as Dr. Popeye, but in the credits of some of his videos it has his name listed as the dancer and then Dr. Popeye listed as the lighting choreographer.

[yframe url='http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J77-euN2OVw']

I really like this last video a lot. I think it’s really cool with the dynamics between the two dancers. All the timing involved with getting the movements to sync up with the lighting effects is pretty impressive. Which video is your favorite?

And for those of you interested, you can check out some of his other videos over on his official YouTube page.

So, have these videos inspired you to rethink your path in life and aspire to become a light up fashion dancer? Which performance did you like best? Let us know in the comments!

Saturday Timewaster is a weekly post that features Japanese videos, music, images, or games that will certainly waste your time (some weeks more than others). We hope you enjoy!

In The Red Corner… Genki Sudo!

Genki Sudo was, at one time, a martial artist. He did mixed martial arts and kickboxing and competed in multiple tournaments and organizations. Unsurprisingly (since he’s doing dance stuff now), he was particularly known for his flashy entrances to the fighting stage. According to Wikipedia, one time he did the robot and operating levers that released a column of smoke from the top of his head while wearing a Kentucky Fried Chicken bucket as a hat and a white plastic mask, in an homage to the musician Buckethead.

Sounds awesome, right? Well, he put all that awesomeness into music videos that will seriously blow your mind.

Genki Sudo’s World Order Music & Videos

In retirement, he’s been working with six awesome dancers, pushing the boundaries of dance and entertainment. I’m normally bored to tears when I have to watch music, dancing, or a combination of the two – but Sudo’s stuff captivated me. I watched video after video after video until they were done, then immediately started writing this post. I hope you like the videos too.

The best part about these, I think, is the first of all the dancing, but secondly the people watching them dance. They just go out in public areas for the most part, do their thing, and then leave. People walk by, look at them all confused, take video/pictures, ignore them completely, and all kinds of other hilarious things if you pay close enough attention. Try to watch and you’ll see some entertaining reactions.

World Order In New York

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World Order’s Mindshift

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World Order Live In Tokyo & Osaka

[yframe url='http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lF5lTwG-qvI']

Dell Streak Man Project

[yframe url='http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=348uOSMrDdo']

World Order’s Machine Civilization

[yframe url='http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r-qhj3sJ5qs']

Live at the WPC

[yframe url='http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W9VtIdUVLt0']

World Order’s “Boy Meets Girl”

[yframe url='http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=35hCo_grAqw']

Dell Streak Campaign

[yframe url='http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nv2suydVdj4']

World Order 2012

[yframe url='http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zlK5abIJRyM']

I think that’s all of them! After watching these, I for one am ready to welcome my benevolent dancing overlords. For some reason I feel inspired when I watch them – maybe it’s the simplicity of the dancing… but a simplicity that’s impossible to achieve without tons and tons of practice. It’s easy to make something complex, but very difficult to make something really, really simple. Their’s a beauty in simplicity. I think that’s Genki Sudo’s Buddhism shining through, right there.

So what do you think? Incredible? Not so much? Be sure to let me know in the comments and share other things you think might be better. If you find me something that will blow me away more than World Order, you get a gold star. Let the challenge begin! …though I’m not sure if it can be done.

In the meantime, let’s all hope that Mike Tyson decides to take advantage of his retirement from fighting too in the same way as Genki Sudo, am I right?

P.S. To stay up to date with the comings and goings of World Order, you can find them on their website, Twitter, and/or their Google+ Pages!