• Filmstill: Tokyo Idols (Kyoko Miyake, Japan 2017)
    Short Essay
    In the Japanese «aidoru bunka» (idol culture), grown men kneel down to mimic their infantile stars. When watching Kyoko Miyake's film Toyko Idols, musicologist Oliver Seibt sees a strong connection between this ritual and the sacred – which has a potential to create a sense of belonging.
  • Distraught Overlord live at Japan Expo Paris (photo: Georges Seguin (Okki), 2007)
    Essay
    Ethnomusicologists used to travel to exotic islands to research local music. Today, their fieldtrips lead to scattered urban place. German scholar Oliver Seibt conducted three months of research in the Tokyo visual-kei scene, and stood out of the crowd.