Music and Diaspora in the Second Metropolis: The Okinawan and Korean Musicians of Interwar Osaka

Abstract

Greater Osaka, a hub of commerce and industrial production during the interwar period, was the site for rapid development of diaspora communities, whose significant contribution to the regional music-culture has been little documented. This article describes three contexts for music-making among the largest ethnic minorities, the Koreans and Okinawans, on the basis of primary textual, oral and musical sources, as well as an emerging body of writings on Okinawan music in Osaka. People from Korea and Okinawa were involved in the broader musical life of the metropolis in diverse ways, as professional performers, and as producers and consumers of recordings. The reception of such 'foreign' music and musicians reflected the status accorded them in the colonial system and its underlying racial ideology.