Terre Thaemlitz has commented on the changes to Japan’s controversial Fuueihou law via a statement on her website. The post responds to the “Declaration On the Future Of Japan’s Club Culture”, signed by 40 Japanese DJs on the same day that the 67-year-old law was officially changed by the Japanese government. She argues that it has “no purpose other than to comfort members of those reactionary political forces that have historically suppressed Japan’s club cultures,” and goes so far as to “pledge the future of Japan’s club cultures to the service of conservative social ideals.” She adds that “the larger issue at hand is not simply the ‘right to dance’, but the policing of our bodies and their movements”. The law was passed in 1948 in the post-war years to combat the lawlessness found in most dancing establishments. You can read the piece in full on her website Comatonse.
You can read an in-depth conversation with Thaemlitz on politics within the context of club culture in our current issue!
