Bōsōzoku

Bōsōzoku driver group (2013)

Bōsōzoku ( Japanese 暴走族 ; literally 'brutally running tribe') are a Japanese subculture that resemble Western tuning clubs : groups of mostly young men who share a common interest in modifying their cars and motorcycles (often without permission ). The changes to the vehicles often include the removal of sound-absorbing parts so that the engine noise can be better heard.

Social background

The criminologist Joachim Kersten describes the Bosozoku phenomenon as a subculture of Japanese youth with a tendency towards deviant social behavior. Also Ikuya Sato , who himself of such a group in Kyoto belonged for several years and examined the environment in systematic observations and numerous interviews, speaks of a subculture as they meet in similar form in other countries. The “lifestyle” form of the Bosozoku, which is typical for Japan, spread rapidly in the country since the 1950s and initially mainly included young men between the ages of 15 and 21, primarily socially disadvantaged social classes. In the slide into deviant behavior and criminal group rituals, socio-politically based social problems are revealed for Sato. In addition, according to his vision, there is the rebellious resolution of a generation conflict , the protest behavior of a youth who consciously wants to set themselves apart in their goals and norms from those imposed on them by the adult side: the name bososoku means 'tribe of wild drivers' or 'tribe out of control', and this name corresponds to the character image that both gang members and outsiders make of the participants in the so-called races, the most important activities of this group.

In contrast to the European road races, which are largely unprotected in the form of individual driver duels, the Japanese Bosozoku drivers race in larger groups through the nocturnal city centers. You are subject to strict rules that are also relevant to safety. The top machine, which dictates the (variable) route, must not be overtaken. Accompanying cars stop the procession by intimidation of other road users by means of Hupgetöse, engine noise and glare headlights releases the web. A rear guard with ketsumakuri (wagging tails ) prevents police vehicles from penetrating the race over the entire width of the street. In addition, the Bosozoku is characterized by artistic interludes such as a flying driver change ( raidaa chenji ), sparks from stripping the pavement or the curbs with the machine ( hanabi ) or artful zigzag driving ( vonshasen kama ).

activities

The Bosozoku also undertake exits with risky driving styles, such as switching back and forth from one side of the street to the other, ignoring red lights, even without wearing a helmet. The police in Japan call them maru-so (police code: マル走).

One of their activities is the so-called shinai bōsō (das 暴走), the conscious violation of the speed limit . It is not a real race as it is typically held for the thrill , not the elevation of a fastest man.

In the case of a large number of cars (or motorcycles) involved, the leading one is manned by the sentōsha (先頭車), the leader who is responsible for the event. Nobody is allowed to overtake him. Other drivers look out for vehicles from behind or from the side.

Although Bosozoku also race, some groups prefer the mere bōsō , "brutal" driving. The groups tune their exhaust systems to be particularly loud and drive through suburbs at speeds of between five and ten miles per hour, waving Imperial Japanese flags and loudly uttering profanity. Occasionally it has also happened that members of the groups threw incendiary bottles and carried swords / spears with them, thereby provoking onlookers.

Bōsōzoku members tend to be viewed as criminals and outsiders, and it is commonly said of Bosozoku groups that they are the Yakuza recruiting field . Only a few Bosozoku members are older than twenty because they are then considered adults under Japanese law and risk being entered in the criminal record, and they are also viewed as immature and childish.

The groups first appeared in the 1950s , when Japanese youth were increasingly able to afford cars and motorcycles. The first Bōsozōku were known as kaminari-zoku (雷族, "thunder gangs").

There are Bōsōzoku clubs all over Japan, even female motorcycle clubs who identify through fashion and customized motorcycles. Members participate in mass rallies and have gang wars among themselves. As a fashion and youth subculture, Bōsōzoku are a target of increasing state and police pressure.

Motivational situation

According to Sato, the most frequent attempts at interpretation in the Japanese publications indicate an urge to express one's frustration. The gang behavior, generally rejected as criminal , is seen as an outlet to act out negative feelings. Sato quotes the psychologist Kaneto: They are aware that they are outside of society and are now trying to satisfy their need for recognition and positive self-esteem, which remains unsatisfied in school or at work, through running. (Kaneto, 1981 after Sato p. 212). However, he already points out that these statements on the problem are mere 'conjectures' that lack empirical studies and reliable evidence.

Sato's own analyzes , based on interviews with 1224 young people, showed that the terms spiido (speed) and suriri (excitement) kept appearing in the interviews , and he concluded that running was an asobi (game), an intrinsically enjoyable activity is experienced. In contrast, the terms “frustration” and “inferiority complexes” are attributed to the Bosozoku members as motives only by outsiders. According to Sato, the races of the Bosozoku, which follow strict rules, are not only sought and experienced as a thrill , but are also used as an opportunity to experience a higher state of consciousness and a stronger self-confidence.

The gameplay character of the Bosozoku rituals is also seen as the main motif by the risk researcher Siegbert A. Warwitz . He notices a number of parallels, but also differences, to the German “crash kids” and the English “speedboys” and their street races, which he specifically examined, and speaks of a “flow experience” that is repeatedly recognizable in the statements of the respondents become: Dazed by the thundering and roaring of the machines and the exhaust gases of the engines, they get into a state of intoxication. They see themselves as devils with a desire for risk and danger management. According to Warwitz, however, their focus is not on looking for danger. The physical and socio-criminal threats are not hidden. They are present and part of the adventure game . However, they are only seen as a necessary 'vehicle' to challenge one's own abilities and to test personal problem management. The awareness of competence, ability and control is sought, which gives self-confidence and feelings of happiness. Certain security measures are built in and the risk of being overwhelmed and being handed over to an unpredictable fate is limited:

“What appears to the superficial observer as a primitive search for physical risk, as an addiction to the kick, as living out an inferior addiction to validity, as irrational audacity, as a wanton danger to life, [...] deciphered to the serious investigator on closer analysis as a typical youth Method of finding identity, as an attempt by adolescents to sound out themselves and friends in their potential and limits. [...] The risk seems necessary in order to be able to challenge and prove one's own ability. [...] The awareness of the danger plays a subordinate role compared to the feeling of ability, competence and control of the situation that causes the flow. ""

- Siegbert A. Warwitz : When risk turns into wellbeing

The pleasurable adventure game of being chased by the police and outsmarting the omnipotence of society that they represent under the protection of the group is part of the pleasure that makes you happy. The experience of being able to live out a certain feeling of productivity and self-confidence in a community of like-minded people and to be comfortably cared for in a kind of collective intoxication gives a feeling of elation that certainly desires attention from outside, but which mainly requires immediate confirmation in the Peer group enjoys and is largely absorbed in the self-rewarding autotelic experience . It is a creative form, through artistic ability and group discipline as well as a shared intoxication experience, at least temporarily, a heightened sense of self, a kind of heroic self-image, to build up and experience of oneself.

Stereotypes and representation in the media

stereotypical representation as cosplay

The stereotypical Bōsōzoku elevator is often portrayed and caricatured in some Japanese media (for example anime , manga and film ).

The image that the media reproduced shows the Bōsōzoku members often in a uniform of overalls or a tokko-fuku (特攻服), a military overcoat with sayings in Kanji characters, which is usually worn openly and without a shirt underneath the view is clear of bandaged torsos and baggy trousers tucked into large boots.

Tokko-Fuku means “special attack uniform”, based on the uniform of the kamikaze pilots. The uniforms are often decorated with military slogans, patches of the “rising sun”, ancient Chinese characters or even manji swastikas . The members of the group often wear a tasuki , a sash that is tied around the torso in an X, inspired by Japanese World War II pilots. Leather jackets are often adorned with club / gang logos, and even whole full leather suits feature as elements of the Bosozoku look.

Among other things, bosozoku clothing also includes round or all-round sunglasses, long Hachimaki headbands with battle slogans and a pompadour-like hair style that most closely resembles that of the “ greaser ” / “ rocker ” and is also associated with yakuza mobsters. The “punch perm” hairstyle, a type of permanent wave, is considered a common Bosozoku hair style. Respiratory masks are also popular, with the effect that they conceal the identity of their wearer and do not attract attention in Japan (such masks are also worn by allergy sufferers, especially in autumn). Female members are dressed similarly, but more feminine, with long, often colored hair, high-heeled boots, and extensive make-up.

Bōsōzoku are known to modify their motorcycles in peculiar, striking ways. A typical modified Bosozoku motorcycle was originally an average Japanese street motorcycle that combined elements of the American choppers with those of the British cafe racers : For example, full fairings, as seen in "cafe racers", meet raised handles, as they have choppers. Bright paintwork with motifs such as flames or the rising sun in the kamikaze style are common.

Often the vehicles are decorated with stickers or flags showing the gang logo or symbol.

There are regional peculiarities: Ibaraki- Bosozoku are known, for example, for making their motorcycles brightly colored (for example bright yellow or pink). Often they have three or four cladding shells arranged in a tower-like manner. There are also decorations that resemble Christmas lights.

The second means of transportation for the groups are cars, which are modified in a similar way. Four-door sedans are usually preferred, among which two types of body styling are the most common: the VIP style (a lot of metal, widened, with a duck tail spoiler and lower suspension, extravagantly styled interior) and the Group 5 style (wide body extension similar to its 1970s counterparts the racing scene).

Bōsōzoku in pop culture

God Speed You! Black Emperor - a 1976 documentary about a group Bōsōzoku.
Bukkomi no Taku - A manga from the early 1990s about Taku, a would-be Bosozoku who eventually gained prominence among Yokohama's rival groups.
Akira - includes Bōsōzoku acting in a cyberpunk scenario. An accident on a freeway during a high-speed ride is the starting point for the whole plot.
Shonan Jun'ai Gumi! - A manga about two Bōsōzoku members, Eikichi Onizuka and Ryuji Danma, who try to leave their lifestyle behind in order to have more opportunities with the opposite sex.
Great Teacher Onizuka - successor to "Shōnan Jun'ai Gumi!". Eikichi becomes a teacher at a high school and uses his knowledge from earlier days to tame unruly students in the schoolhouse or to help young people who are in trouble.
Shimotsuma Monogatari - A film / manga based on a novel about two girls of very different origins; one of them a member of a Bōsōzoku gang.
Fruits Basket - Kyoko Honda was once the leader of a Bōsōzoku group and known as "The Red Butterfly", while Arisa Uotani was part of another group called "The Ladies."
The Kunio-kun video game series includes a group called "Yokohama Funky" led by Shinji in the first arcade game, Nekketsu Kouha Kunio-kun (known as Renegade in the US and Europe). He has his comeback in other games, Kunio Tachi no Banka (for Super Famicom / SNES) and Kunio no Nekketsu Tōkyū (also "Dodgeball") Densetsu (for Neo Geo). Bōsōzoku bullies are also opponents of the player in other parts of the series.
Black Rain - Includes a gang of Bōsōzoku on dirt bikes whose leader, Sato, works for a Japanese crime syndicate. Possibly the first American film to feature Bosozoku.
Crazy Thunder Road (狂い咲きサンダーロード) - A Japanese "B-Movie" from 1980 (director: Sōgo Ishii ) about Bōsōzoku against a post-apocalyptic background.
Yokusuka Jump Squadron, a faction in Kaiju Big Battel
Weezer's video for the single " Dope Nose " (2002) shows Bōsōzoku.
Kishidan (氣志團), Japanese rock band, occasionally wears the Bōsōzoku look
The Fast and the Furious: Tokyo Drift also shows a Bōsōzoku gang, led by DK ("Drift King", the main antagonist).
Guitar Wolf , a Japanese punk rock band.

literature

Joachim Kersten: Bososoku and Yakuza: Subculture Education and Social Reaction in Japan , Crime & Delinquency, Vol. 39, 3, 1993. pp. 277–295.
Ikuya Sato: Flow in Japanese motorcycle gangs , In: M. u. IS Csikszentmihalyi (Ed.): The extraordinary experience in everyday life. The psychology of the flow experience , Klett-Cotta, Stuttgart 1991. pp. 111-139.
Ikuya Sato: Kamikaze Biker: Parody and Anomy in Affluent Japan , University of Chicago, Chicago 1998.
Siegbert A. Warwitz: When risk turns into wellbeing , In: Ders .: Search for meaning in risk. Life in growing rings. Explanatory models for cross-border behavior. 2nd edition, Schneider, Baltmannsweiler 2016, ISBN 978-3-8340-1620-1 . Pp. 207-226.
Masayuki Yoshinaga: Bosozoku . Trolley Publishers, ISBN 0-9542648-3-5
Karl Taro Greenfeld: Speed Tribes . HarperCollins, ISBN 0-06-092665-1
Story-Sasaki Hiroto Manga-Tokoro Jewzo "Bukkomi no Taku: Kaze Densetsu" (特攻の拓). Shonen Magazine Comics, ISBN 4-06-312449-5
Fujisawa Toru: Shonan Jyun Ai Gumi! (湘南純愛組!). Shonen Magazine Comics, ISBN 4-06-312257-3

Web links

Individual evidence

↑ Joachim Kersten: Bososoku and Yakuza: Subculture Formation and Societal Reaction in Japan , Crime & Delinquency, Vol. 39, 3, 1993. pp. 277–295
↑ Ikuya Sato: Kamikaze Biker: Parody and Anomy in Affluent Japan , University of Chicago, Chicago 1998.
↑ Ikuya Sato: Flow in Japanese motorcycle gangs , In: M. u. IS Csikszentmihalyi (Ed.): The extraordinary experience in everyday life. The psychology of the flow experience , Klett-Cotta, Stuttgart 1991. p. 111.
↑ Ikuya Sato: Flow in Japanese motorcycle gangs , In: M. u. IS Csikszentmihalyi (Ed.): The extraordinary experience in everyday life. The psychology of the flow experience , Klett-Cotta, Stuttgart 1991. p. 116.
^ ^A ^b ^c Siegbert A. Warwitz: When risk turns into well-being , In: Ders .: Search for meaning in risk. Life in growing rings. Explanatory models for cross-border behavior. 2nd edition, Schneider, Baltmannsweiler 2016, p. 211.
↑ ^a ^b Ikuya Sato: Flow in Japanese motorcycle gangs , In: M. u. IS Csikszentmihalyi (Ed.): The extraordinary experience in everyday life. The psychology of the flow experience , Klett-Cotta, Stuttgart 1991. p. 112
↑ Ikuya Sato: Flow in Japanese motorcycle gangs , In: M. u. IS Csikszentmihalyi (Ed.): The extraordinary experience in everyday life. The psychology of the flow experience , Klett-Cotta, Stuttgart 1991. p. 126.
^ Siegbert A. Warwitz: When risk turns into well-being , In: Ders .: Search for meaning in risk. Life in growing rings. Explanatory models for cross-border behavior. 2nd edition, Schneider, Baltmannsweiler 2016, p. 212.

[1] Joachim Kersten: Bososoku and Yakuza: Subculture Formation and Societal Reaction in Japan , Crime & Delinquency, Vol. 39, 3, 1993. pp. 277–295

[2] Ikuya Sato: Kamikaze Biker: Parody and Anomy in Affluent Japan , University of Chicago, Chicago 1998.

[3] Ikuya Sato: Flow in Japanese motorcycle gangs , In: M. u. IS Csikszentmihalyi (Ed.): The extraordinary experience in everyday life. The psychology of the flow experience , Klett-Cotta, Stuttgart 1991. p. 111.

[4] Ikuya Sato: Flow in Japanese motorcycle gangs , In: M. u. IS Csikszentmihalyi (Ed.): The extraordinary experience in everyday life. The psychology of the flow experience , Klett-Cotta, Stuttgart 1991. p. 116.

[Warwitz-5] A ^b ^c Siegbert A. Warwitz: When risk turns into well-being , In: Ders .: Search for meaning in risk. Life in growing rings. Explanatory models for cross-border behavior. 2nd edition, Schneider, Baltmannsweiler 2016, p. 211.

[Sato-6] Ikuya Sato: Flow in Japanese motorcycle gangs , In: M. u. IS Csikszentmihalyi (Ed.): The extraordinary experience in everyday life. The psychology of the flow experience , Klett-Cotta, Stuttgart 1991. p. 112

[7] Ikuya Sato: Flow in Japanese motorcycle gangs , In: M. u. IS Csikszentmihalyi (Ed.): The extraordinary experience in everyday life. The psychology of the flow experience , Klett-Cotta, Stuttgart 1991. p. 126.

[8] Siegbert A. Warwitz: When risk turns into well-being , In: Ders .: Search for meaning in risk. Life in growing rings. Explanatory models for cross-border behavior. 2nd edition, Schneider, Baltmannsweiler 2016, p. 212.