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In observing these images it is apparent that influences of the 1970s
and ‘80s are thriving in Japan; one can note the historicist elements of New
Romanticism, the appropriation of Rococo, Directoire, Empire and Regency
fashions; inspiration from McLaren and Westwood, Bowie, Sylvian, Adam
and the Ants, Duran Duran and Spandau Ballet, not to mention post-Punk and
New-wave bands that would come to be labelled by many as Goth, such as
Siouxsie and the Banshees and The Cure. There is also a strong element of
Victorian Gothic as well as the darkness of Baroque.
However, just as there are Western aspects, there is as much a deep
sense of Japaneseness embedded in this movement, especially in terms of
Japan’s own theatre history. Just as the medieval art of kabuki had
influenced Glam, its essence is also represented here. As Buckley highlighted
in his discussion on Bowie, kabuki is “by its very nature… a ‘gender-
bending’ theatrical form… [whereby] all parts, both men and women, are
played by men”. 33 It is important to note in this regard that all the band
members pictured in this section, except for Moon Kana and the
RazorBladeKisses girls (Figs 53 & 55), are men. This element signifies a point
of difference from the West: many Japanese musicians of the Visual-kei
movement choose to dress as women as well as dandified effeminised
aristocrats, yet the maleness of the men who represent themselves as female
is almost undetectable. This demonstrates that, for the Japanese, it is not so
much about androgyny as it might be for Western musicians of a similar
genre.
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