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The Lolita Complex: - Scholarly Commons Home

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As demonstrated previously, David Bowie was, especially in his earlier<br />

days, very much a Japanophile. David Sylvian, who was a decade younger,<br />

had followed in Bowie’s footsteps, admiring and sharing his obsession with<br />

Japanese culture. His early enamour for the nation is evident in the naming<br />

of Japan in 1974 when he was only sixteen. Japan began its days as a Glam<br />

production, in emulation of Sylvian’s hero Bowie, and in the vein of other<br />

Glam Rock bands like T-Rex and Roxy Music. However, as the group<br />

matured, the music of Sylvian and his band gradually transformed to<br />

represent a Japanesque vibe, shifting from Glam Rock influences to an<br />

adoption of Japanese instrumental sounds. <strong>The</strong>ir two final albums are<br />

remembered for their exquisite melding of the Oriental with the Occidental,<br />

and the traditional with the avant-garde.<br />

Towards the end of Japan’s career, the band members began to work<br />

quite closely with Ryûichi Sakamoto. Before Sakamoto and Sylvian joined<br />

forces on Merry Christmas, Mr Lawrence, for which Sakamoto won a BAFTA<br />

(British Academy of Film and Television Arts) Award, the pair released their<br />

own single, Bamboo Houses, in collaboration with drummer/percussionist<br />

Jansen who had, along with bassist Mick Karn, been prominent in creating<br />

Japan’s innovative Japanesque accents. Sakamoto later went on to win an<br />

Oscar, a Golden Globe, a Grammy and a LAFCA (Los Angeles Film Critics<br />

Award) for the original score of Bernardo Bertolucci’s <strong>The</strong> Last Emperor<br />

(1987), a film which he also starred in as an actor, establishing a prolific and<br />

an illustrious career.<br />

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