Inside Japan’s Chicano Subculture | NYT

0:06 Hi, hi, everyone, me llamo Mona, a .k .s. And I'm Walter, your host. If you grew up in LA like I did, then you kind of understand just how big of a deal Chicana and Chicana culture is out here. And it's a way for people like myself to both honor the lives that we have here and the lives our parents left behind in Mexico. When I first heard that there were people copying Chicana culture in Japan, it seemed surreal. I really had no idea that this world could exist outside of LA. So I decided to go and find out how this spread so far away and why. Our first stop, the lowrider scene in Nagoya.

0:51 Lowriders are iconic to the Chicano community in Los Angeles and were created in the 1940s They came to represent rebellion, resilience, and beauty. And so I'm curious about how these cars got here. That's Junichi, he's one of the godfathers of the Japanese lowrider scene and founded one of the oldest car clubs in Nagoya. Junichi has been in this role for more than 30 years. For questions about lowrider culture and Chicana culture, he's someone who people in Japan really look up to. I

1:38 so -called like I was in a car called the Music in the Cruising. For me, it is the one that I like was a friend. I don't even know when I just love this car. I just love myself. If you are so ambitious, it's more and more and more than 5 -year -old. I feel like I'm in the car. I feel like I got to work with my friends. I am in the car. I feel like you're just looking for the car. My first introduction to lowriders were actually people in my neighborhood. My best friend and I growing up, we used to build these little lowrider model cars. All we wanted to do in life was just own these lowrider cars. Being here has me thinking about all of the cultures Japan has taken on at different points. So it's not surprising that there are thousands of

2:25 people here that are into Chicano culture. For our next stop, we're heading to Osaka, the cultural capital for Chicano fashion and art. Mickey Stiles. is a DJ and he runs a shop called La Puerta that imports clothes from L .A. What's your most popular shirt? DJ. Why do you think people love this shirt so much? I don't think it's a gay shirt. Mickey Stiles reminds me of someone who I went to middle school with. You know, like shaved head, baggy pants, baggy T -shirt. He goes to L .A. He buys clothes and he buys gear. And he brings it back to Japan and has a thriving business. So when I thought about cultural appropriation and how oftentimes there's money being made from

3:13 a certain culture and a certain community, he potentially fit into that. Even though Mickey says he respects the culture, it was weird seeing so much of the ally Chicano gangsting represented in his store. So I wanted to meet Night Defunsta, an artist based in Osaka whose artwork focuses on the positive aspects of Chicano culture.

4:01 I want to be able to write something like that. Mona aka Sad Girl is one of Japan's most popular Chicano style rappers. She's released four albums and her international fanbase has taken her to perform in places like LA and San Diego. She's Mousy, Saya, Maiko, Uera. Which one of these women still dress like this? Nobody.

4:48 Just you. Just me. And what do you think is the future of Chicano fashion and culture here in Japan? I think she's gone. She has become a young young people. Because she knows the new generation of Chicano. But these girls were telling me to prove that they were the real Chicano's lifestyle. She's not the only one I have ever had in Japan in Japan. Two, two, two, one, two. Check one, two. I don't know the meaning of their own Chicano in Japan. But I don't know the meaning of the Chicano is born in Japan. But I knew that my family was

5:35 important to me, and I knew that I was saved by my family, and I knew that I was saved by my family, and I knew that I was saved by my family. great. This story attracted me because it was asking a question about belonging. Here you had a group of people really committed to copying Chicano culture, but

6:25 also deeply Japanese. And so for them, it wasn't a question of either or, but more so and.