This past semester, I chose to investigate a story specific to Tokyo that interested me personally and I could lend perspective to. In my first few weeks in the city, I spent time attending different events in search of a story; anything interesting I could come across. As a hip-hop fan and musician, I thought it would be nice to find something on Tokyo’s hip-hop subculture. There have been many academic texts written on this subculture, as it is one that is so uniquely ironic within the normative realms of Japanese culture. With my perspective as a Western hip-hop fan, I wanted to explore the unique qualities of this subculture- but where was I to begin?
I came across a flyer from an independent label I was familiar with called Jazzy Sport. The flyer promoted a show with a group called Nubian Lady. The name itself struck me as rather odd and I began to wonder how much African-American culture was appropriated into Japanese urban music. From there, I researched the group and discovered that they were a production and DJ team comprised of three women. That fact struck me as even more intriguing and I set out to discover more about them at the show promoted on the flyer.
At the event, I was greeted by a young woman who liked the sweat shirt I was wearing. She told me her name was Coma-Chi and she was a rapper. A rapper? Without making a huge generalization, she appeared as unsuspecting as a other young Japanese woman at the party. Yet, I’m sure she shared that same sentiment when I relayed to her that I produced and wrote music as well.
That night I saw Coma-Chi perform and was impressed by her stage presence and command of the crowd. We talked more after the party and she became interested in my project. While I never set out to document just her, it soon became important to me to investigate her, who she was, and how she became a part of a subculture that seemed to welcome her warmly, while my impression of female rappers from the States was not so positive. From that point, I let her know up front that I was working on a documentary and wanted to know more about her. I asked Coma-Chi to let me know when she would be working on projects or attending events.
I was not sure if she would take me seriously. Here I am- out of nowhere asking to tag along with her on her routine. But, she was nice about everything and made accomodations for me.
In retrospect, I think she wanted to learn about me as much as I wanted to learn about her. Over time we have shared many stories, favorite songs, and situations that brought us to a the deeper reality that we have much in common in regards to lifestyle choices. We are both young women that enjoy a similar set of musicians, were brought up (hip-hop-wise) on many of the same albums, are affiliated with record labels who have ironically done business with one another, are most importantly, are working to become sucessful from our talents.
Though there are major dissimilarities in culture and language barriers, Coma-Chi’s knowledge of legendary hip-hop gave her a vantage point to understand the oral history of African-American struggle in the United States. Her appreciaton worked so much so that we could converse about Black leaders and historic events in African-American culture with her having very valuable input.
This special relationship we cultivated helped the documentary to exist. While I was learning more about Tokyo culture through her, I in turn was learning more about my own culture through Coma-Chi’s synthesis of African-Americans. As I further investigated hip-hop in Tokyo, I had a complete retrospective of hip-hop as it once was in the United States, namely on the east coast.
This is why I feel that my project is part of a Topical history, for I am documenting a specific part of Tokyo hip-hop. Coma-Chi is one of the single-most well-respected female emcees in Tokyo, and in is important that people note how this could impact the future of Japanese hip-hop. Whether in the future, more women are included, or taken out of Japanese hip-hop all-together would have significant sociological impact on the subculture.
My technique to producing 33 Queen was to present factual information to help the audience make their own infrences on the state of what hip-hop as I presented it. I attempted to keep the knowledge straight-forward so as not exclude non-Hip-Hop fans. Rather, through use of archival video and images, create a fluid piece that offered up questions that would interest any one into any music subculture.
In the end, I believe that one of my toughest challenges was having too much first-hand footage to choose from to fit all into my short editing time. I tried to story board as much as I could with this limited time. This lead to me adding much archivial footage to more clearly explain the story that I wanted to touch on.
Yet in the end, I am happy with what I have produced. I feel that when I, I say when because I plan to, expand on the project I will re-vamp it a bit as far as video quality and sound EQ. I also plan to expand the topic range to bring more insight into Coma-Chi as an artist, getting into details of her day to day and a more personal portrait of her as a person.
I realize with a piece like this, I am in many ways beginning to cover uncharted territory. I would like to do more research, first-hand and second-hand to make sure all my bases are covered in that respect. Lastly, I just hope to bring attention to a culturally significant situation that deserves to be explored more.

I have done the first edit of the video, 33 Queen: The Rise Of Japanese Female Voice. You can download it here!
http://www.megaupload.com/?d=U2TY81F0

Tonight I'm in editing video and get an e-mail from Coma-Chi. She has sent me the link to the video I was on set for (and have a small cameo) Name Tag. I will have her translated lyrics for this song for the exhibition.

Being a female rapper, with the image that Japanese people have of them, no one would listen to you. So our clothing and our look cannot be too aggressive. We have to take the edge off.
Female Japanese rapper Jewels, who along with her sister Rum, got their start in the U.S. With four albums to their name, the sisters had to change their style when they returned to Japan. Record companies told them they had to perform in Japanese, otherwise people wouldn't be able to sing it at karaoke. (Metropolis)

and then I found this video.




and then I found this website. (1/2 of the Heartsdales)

and now I am fervently researching.

Hello New World,

I recently got the chance to meet one of the most interesting people in my semester so far. Her name is Coma-Chi. She is an emcee from Tokyo and will be releasing a major album early next year.

I originally went to an album release party in hopes of meeting these women, an all female production group called Nubian Lady. But as fate has it, Coma-Chi introduced herself to me and was super friendly. She also introduced me to some of Tokyo's heavy-hitting hip-hop producers like DJ Mitsu Beats. I gave her one of my cds and we said we would keep in touch.

That night, I became intrigued with Coma-Chi and felt that she tied into what I wanted to explore in my documentary about developing identity and "ethnic" consciousness. I found a lot of videos of her on Youtube that made me feel like she would be the perfect person for me to document.

Here are some of her videos:


Coma-Chi | Michibata



DJ Yas feat. Coma-Chi | Strange Voyage (MTV Video)


Coma-Chi | Name Tag

"Lotteria is your beverage center, but also eat hamburgers with us".

Translated from Japanese, this is a phrase on the site of the Lotteria chain, where I did my observation each evening. A friend and I found this spot by complete accident after being denied from an English Pub due to a private party being held. On the outside, it looked like a total McDonalds rip, but once inside we were pleasantly surprised.

Day 1
On the first day, I decided to get some food and simply watch who came in. Since I am now a liberal vegetarian, I ordered a shrimp burger, fries and strawberry shake. First of all, that was the best meal I've had since I've been in Japan, mostly due to the fact that it felt like solid food. Moreover, the shrimp burger was so excellent with actual shrimp pieces in it. I took notes on the things I saw around, just trying to figure out what kind of place this was.

People
-2 girl friends
- 2 school girls
- Couple with baby
-Overweight girl reading Manga

Notes
- American Blues music is playing in the background.
- A slim, well-dressed woman stands outside for about five minutes debating whether she should venture in for a burger. She looks around to see if anyone is looking at her. She ultimately walks away.
- A guy comes in and shows the employees something on his phone and they ring up his order instantly.
- Another slim well-dressed woman storms in and places an order. It is a big hamburger. She demolishes it in 10 minutes.
- All the people in the smoking room eat alone.
-The open smoking room is makes the whole place smell like cigarettes.
- The 2 friends finish eating and check themselves in their mirrors for about 20 minutes, seemingly going back and forth about their looks.

Random Observations
- Lotteria's tag line is "Straight Burger".
- You have to pay extra for honey mustard or bbq sauce for your fries. The condiments are actually pictured on the menu as extra- ie. plain fries or fries AND bbq sauce. That's kind of funny, it's like selling it as a whole new thing.
- The fact that they played good music there kept me a little longer. They played Jorge Ben and some old Blues records too. That's when it kind of dawned on me that, unlike clinically bright and impersonal McDonalds, Lotteria wants you there. It is a cafe in nature, with tasty burgers added in.





Day 2
More friends. More students studying. More traffic. The friends were the cutest though. There are a LOT of women that come here. It seems more women than men.



Again, I purchased a shrimp burger and fry. Today I tried the green tea shake. In the future, I will not be purchasing the green tea shake.


Day 3
Shrimp burger. Fries. Strawberry shake. I am a creature of habit. Super bad Japanese attempt. Here is an interview with Ayaka, or Erika? I like Ayaka better. I just tried to ask her some relatable questions so I wouldn't weird her out.



Conclusion
I love Lotteria. I would hang out with my friends there any day. I love the shrimp burger. I ironically may gain 10 pounds while I'm here in the land of rice.

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This past semester, I chose to investigate a story specific to Tokyo that interested me personally and I could lend perspective to. In my first few weeks in the city, I spent time attending different events in search of a story; anything interesting I could come across. As a hip-hop fan and musician, I thought it would be nice to find something on Tokyo’s hip-hop subculture. There have been many academic texts written on this subculture, as it is one that is so uniquely ironic within the normative realms of Japanese culture. With my perspective as a Western hip-hop fan, I wanted to explore the unique qualities of this subculture- but where was I to begin?
I came across a flyer from an independent label I was familiar with called Jazzy Sport. The flyer promoted a show with a group called Nubian Lady. The name itself struck me as rather odd and I began to wonder how much African-American culture was appropriated into Japanese urban music. From there, I researched the group and discovered that they were a production and DJ team comprised of three women. That fact struck me as even more intriguing and I set out to discover more about them at the show promoted on the flyer.
At the event, I was greeted by a young woman who liked the sweat shirt I was wearing. She told me her name was Coma-Chi and she was a rapper. A rapper? Without making a huge generalization, she appeared as unsuspecting as a other young Japanese woman at the party. Yet, I’m sure she shared that same sentiment when I relayed to her that I produced and wrote music as well.
That night I saw Coma-Chi perform and was impressed by her stage presence and command of the crowd. We talked more after the party and she became interested in my project. While I never set out to document just her, it soon became important to me to investigate her, who she was, and how she became a part of a subculture that seemed to welcome her warmly, while my impression of female rappers from the States was not so positive. From that point, I let her know up front that I was working on a documentary and wanted to know more about her. I asked Coma-Chi to let me know when she would be working on projects or attending events.
I was not sure if she would take me seriously. Here I am- out of nowhere asking to tag along with her on her routine. But, she was nice about everything and made accomodations for me.
In retrospect, I think she wanted to learn about me as much as I wanted to learn about her. Over time we have shared many stories, favorite songs, and situations that brought us to a the deeper reality that we have much in common in regards to lifestyle choices. We are both young women that enjoy a similar set of musicians, were brought up (hip-hop-wise) on many of the same albums, are affiliated with record labels who have ironically done business with one another, are most importantly, are working to become sucessful from our talents.
Though there are major dissimilarities in culture and language barriers, Coma-Chi’s knowledge of legendary hip-hop gave her a vantage point to understand the oral history of African-American struggle in the United States. Her appreciaton worked so much so that we could converse about Black leaders and historic events in African-American culture with her having very valuable input.
This special relationship we cultivated helped the documentary to exist. While I was learning more about Tokyo culture through her, I in turn was learning more about my own culture through Coma-Chi’s synthesis of African-Americans. As I further investigated hip-hop in Tokyo, I had a complete retrospective of hip-hop as it once was in the United States, namely on the east coast.
This is why I feel that my project is part of a Topical history, for I am documenting a specific part of Tokyo hip-hop. Coma-Chi is one of the single-most well-respected female emcees in Tokyo, and in is important that people note how this could impact the future of Japanese hip-hop. Whether in the future, more women are included, or taken out of Japanese hip-hop all-together would have significant sociological impact on the subculture.
My technique to producing 33 Queen was to present factual information to help the audience make their own infrences on the state of what hip-hop as I presented it. I attempted to keep the knowledge straight-forward so as not exclude non-Hip-Hop fans. Rather, through use of archival video and images, create a fluid piece that offered up questions that would interest any one into any music subculture.
In the end, I believe that one of my toughest challenges was having too much first-hand footage to choose from to fit all into my short editing time. I tried to story board as much as I could with this limited time. This lead to me adding much archivial footage to more clearly explain the story that I wanted to touch on.
Yet in the end, I am happy with what I have produced. I feel that when I, I say when because I plan to, expand on the project I will re-vamp it a bit as far as video quality and sound EQ. I also plan to expand the topic range to bring more insight into Coma-Chi as an artist, getting into details of her day to day and a more personal portrait of her as a person.
I realize with a piece like this, I am in many ways beginning to cover uncharted territory. I would like to do more research, first-hand and second-hand to make sure all my bases are covered in that respect. Lastly, I just hope to bring attention to a culturally significant situation that deserves to be explored more.

I have done the first edit of the video, 33 Queen: The Rise Of Japanese Female Voice. You can download it here!
http://www.megaupload.com/?d=U2TY81F0

Tonight I'm in editing video and get an e-mail from Coma-Chi. She has sent me the link to the video I was on set for (and have a small cameo) Name Tag. I will have her translated lyrics for this song for the exhibition.

Being a female rapper, with the image that Japanese people have of them, no one would listen to you. So our clothing and our look cannot be too aggressive. We have to take the edge off.
Female Japanese rapper Jewels, who along with her sister Rum, got their start in the U.S. With four albums to their name, the sisters had to change their style when they returned to Japan. Record companies told them they had to perform in Japanese, otherwise people wouldn't be able to sing it at karaoke. (Metropolis)

and then I found this video.




and then I found this website. (1/2 of the Heartsdales)

and now I am fervently researching.

Hello New World,

I recently got the chance to meet one of the most interesting people in my semester so far. Her name is Coma-Chi. She is an emcee from Tokyo and will be releasing a major album early next year.

I originally went to an album release party in hopes of meeting these women, an all female production group called Nubian Lady. But as fate has it, Coma-Chi introduced herself to me and was super friendly. She also introduced me to some of Tokyo's heavy-hitting hip-hop producers like DJ Mitsu Beats. I gave her one of my cds and we said we would keep in touch.

That night, I became intrigued with Coma-Chi and felt that she tied into what I wanted to explore in my documentary about developing identity and "ethnic" consciousness. I found a lot of videos of her on Youtube that made me feel like she would be the perfect person for me to document.

Here are some of her videos:


Coma-Chi | Michibata



DJ Yas feat. Coma-Chi | Strange Voyage (MTV Video)


Coma-Chi | Name Tag

"Lotteria is your beverage center, but also eat hamburgers with us".

Translated from Japanese, this is a phrase on the site of the Lotteria chain, where I did my observation each evening. A friend and I found this spot by complete accident after being denied from an English Pub due to a private party being held. On the outside, it looked like a total McDonalds rip, but once inside we were pleasantly surprised.

Day 1
On the first day, I decided to get some food and simply watch who came in. Since I am now a liberal vegetarian, I ordered a shrimp burger, fries and strawberry shake. First of all, that was the best meal I've had since I've been in Japan, mostly due to the fact that it felt like solid food. Moreover, the shrimp burger was so excellent with actual shrimp pieces in it. I took notes on the things I saw around, just trying to figure out what kind of place this was.

People
-2 girl friends
- 2 school girls
- Couple with baby
-Overweight girl reading Manga

Notes
- American Blues music is playing in the background.
- A slim, well-dressed woman stands outside for about five minutes debating whether she should venture in for a burger. She looks around to see if anyone is looking at her. She ultimately walks away.
- A guy comes in and shows the employees something on his phone and they ring up his order instantly.
- Another slim well-dressed woman storms in and places an order. It is a big hamburger. She demolishes it in 10 minutes.
- All the people in the smoking room eat alone.
-The open smoking room is makes the whole place smell like cigarettes.
- The 2 friends finish eating and check themselves in their mirrors for about 20 minutes, seemingly going back and forth about their looks.

Random Observations
- Lotteria's tag line is "Straight Burger".
- You have to pay extra for honey mustard or bbq sauce for your fries. The condiments are actually pictured on the menu as extra- ie. plain fries or fries AND bbq sauce. That's kind of funny, it's like selling it as a whole new thing.
- The fact that they played good music there kept me a little longer. They played Jorge Ben and some old Blues records too. That's when it kind of dawned on me that, unlike clinically bright and impersonal McDonalds, Lotteria wants you there. It is a cafe in nature, with tasty burgers added in.





Day 2
More friends. More students studying. More traffic. The friends were the cutest though. There are a LOT of women that come here. It seems more women than men.



Again, I purchased a shrimp burger and fry. Today I tried the green tea shake. In the future, I will not be purchasing the green tea shake.


Day 3
Shrimp burger. Fries. Strawberry shake. I am a creature of habit. Super bad Japanese attempt. Here is an interview with Ayaka, or Erika? I like Ayaka better. I just tried to ask her some relatable questions so I wouldn't weird her out.



Conclusion
I love Lotteria. I would hang out with my friends there any day. I love the shrimp burger. I ironically may gain 10 pounds while I'm here in the land of rice.