by Kevin Tanouye (京都府)
Hello hello! My name is Kevin Takashi Tanouye and I am one of the reps for Block 6. I currently live in Yamashina, Kyoto but am originally from San Francisco, California. I graduated from the University of California, Berkeley in December of 2012 with a major in Environmental Economics and Policy and a minor in Asian American Studies. One of the reasons I came to Japan on the JET program was to train and further my skills as a “bboy” or “break boy.” For those of you who don’t know, “bboy” or “break boy” are the actual terms for a “breakdancer.”
Japan has an incredible scene for this art form and I am currently dancing whenever I have time and whenever my body allows it (I have many dance related injuries – herniated disc, neck pain, rotator cuff pain, etc.). It has been wonderful training in Japan with Japanese bboys and bgirls because the level is much higher than in my hometown. This has inspired me to train harder and smarter because…losing terribly at competitions is not so much fun. Japan’s scene is also very different from that of America and other countries. Japan’s scene, to put it bluntly, is much more polite. Bboying in America is often very confrontational, especially during battles, yet that same attitude is not very present in Japan
It is very interesting to see how each culture finds its own way of bboying. I hope to bring you more stories about the bboying scene in Japan! Thank you! ◆
Asian Pacific Islander AJET 