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This chapter discusses the sound trucks and drum corps of antinuclear demonstrations since the Fukushima disaster and conflicting philosophies behind them. Adopting Thomas Turino (2008)’s categorization of presentational vs. participatory performance, the chapter traces the shift in performance style on sound trucks from primarily presentational in Shirōto no Ran’s demonstrations in 2011, where rappers, reggae singers, and bands performed prepared pieces, to more participatory in the Metropolitan Coalition Against Nukes’ demonstrations of 2012, where the majority of performance time was spent on calls and responses of Sprechchor (slogans) between rappers and protesters, in time to the beats. This shift in style coincided with a change in emphasis within the antinuclear movement from the diagnostic frame of informing the population, to the motivational one of encouraging citizens to make their views heard. It reflects Charles Tilly (2008)’s theory that contentious repertoires change incrementally with shifts in political opportunities and personal connections.

Drawn from analyses by Hayashi and McKnight, Mōri, and Noiz, and personal interviews with activists ECD, Oda Masanori, Matsumoto Hajime of Shirōto no Ran, and others, this chapter recounts the prehistory of vehicular sound systems in protests in the 1990s, the original reclaim-the-streets rebellion in 2003, conflicts with the police, ECD’s protest anthem, and the subsequent adoption of the format for precariat (precarious proletariat)/freeter (temporary worker) rights and anti-globalization movements. Several of the central characters became involved with antinuclear demonstrations, carrying over some practices.

This chapter considers the ways in which the urban landscape impacts performance in street demonstrations. As Parkinson (2012) and Sand (2013) have noted, Tokyo is short on open public space, forcing protest organizers to choose between direct claims making in government districts and public visibility in shopping districts. The chapter explains how elements of the urban landscape, as categorized by Kevin Lynch (1960) and Quentin Stevens (2007)—districts, paths, nodes, boundaries, and landmarks—enter into the planning of protests and affect the performance of protests. It discusses the factors affecting the urban soundscape, as inferred by the acoustic experiments of Kang (2000, 2001, 2006) and others. It considers how the urban landscape and soundscape, as determined by these elements, affect the performance and reception of antinuclear demonstrations, by walking through two demonstrations in Shibuya—TwitNoNukes, with drums only, and No Nukes More Hearts, with sound trucks.

This chapter addresses music in demonstrations from two primary considerations: drivers of change in protest tactics and the impact of the urban landscape on the protesters’ performance and reception. This introduction describes the large variety of musics at one demonstration sponsored by Datsu Genpatsu Suginami in western Tokyo in February 2012. Organized by local citizens with the cooperation of Shirōto no Ran founder Matsumoto Hajime, the carnivalesque demonstration featured reggae sound systems, DJs, chindon bands, drum corps, ambulatory guitarists, dance groups, karaoke, clowns, and more.