Why do Japanese people love tango? Starting with this question, which the author, Dr Yuiko Asaba, frequently received while working as a tango violinist in Argentina, Tango in Japan: Cosmopolitanism Beyond the West reveals tango’s history in Japan dating back to the 1910s and its vibrant contemporary dynamics, embedded in the modern transformations of Japan and Argentina. While initially brought to Yokohama by North American tango dancers, tango’s immediate popularity in Japan quickly compelled many Japanese performers and writers to travel to Argentina in search of tango’s “origin” beginning in the 1920s. The first comprehensive work on the Japan-Argentina musical relationship, this book illuminates how Japanese musicians, dancers, aficionados, and the wider public have approached, and continue to engage with, tango as an important vehicle of expression, entertainment, and academic pursuit that take their imaginations beyond the West. This talk will discuss some of the key highlights of the book, including how it relates to other works on Japan-Latin America relations, regulations on tango performance in Japan, historical and contemporary performances by Japanese tango artists, and background anecdotes from the author’s research in Japan and Argentina.

About the contributor

Dr Yuiko Asaba

Dr Yuiko Asaba is a Lecturer in Music at SOAS, University of London. In her research, Yuiko examines aspects of migration, maritime history and globalisation surrounding popular music in and from Japan, with a particular focus on Latin American genres. She is the author of the monograph, Tango in Japan: Cosmopolitanism Beyond the West, and has published articles including in the East Asian Journal of Popular Culture and the Cambridge Companion to Tango. Funded by the European Commission, Yuiko is currently developing her next book on Japanese tango performers in China, 1930s-1940s, and an edited volume on Asia-Latin America musical relations. Holding a PhD in Music from Royal Holloway, University of London, Yuiko is also a tango violinist and has worked as a member of the Orquesta Nacional de Música Argentina “Juan de Dios Filiberto” in Argentina, and Tango Orchestra Astrorico in Japan.

• Website: https://www.soas.ac.uk/about/yuiko-asaba
• Instagram: @yuiko_asaba

Booking Essential | Admission Free