Paper short abstract:

This paper explores the lives of street musicians looking for a career in Koenji in central Tokyo. In particular I discuss how these individuals reinterpret their dreams after moving to the capital city, as the odds of success become increasingly stacked against them.

Paper long abstract:

This paper explores the ways precariousness is experienced by those who migrate to the larger cities in Japan in search of "their dream". My fieldwork focuses on street musicians who perform at Koenji Station in central Tokyo. Moving to Tokyo and going to Koenji is part of a larger aspiration to realise a self-determined life as a musician in a neighbourhood celebrated for its musical community. However, the daily realities of playing street music have forced many performers to reinterpret their dreams into a series of DIY methods for getting by and achieving the emotional satisfaction from public music-making that they envisioned before arriving in the city. Why is it so important to them to keep the dream alive, and at what cost?

Street musicians rely on the regular rhythms of Tokyo's railway system in order gain access to large numbers of people, which leaves them at the mercy of associated authorities with the power to permit or deny performances. While an understanding of the implicit rules of the street is essential in securing a regular gig, popularity often depends upon the ability of musicians to build affective bonds with strangers in fleeting moments, eliciting a form of social engagement that generates both fellowship and hostility. In addition, street musicians' lives are heavily dictated by the the seasons, with languid summers giving way to the winter blues. In the colder, quieter times of the year many performers experience loneliness on the streets, causing their desire to connect with others to become entangled with a personal sense of well-being.

My fieldwork illustrates how diversely insecurity is felt and coped with by a group coming to terms with the risks involved in their life and work choices. My informants' attitudes toward and engagement in the social environment of the neighbourhood raises questions about the meaning of belonging in modern large cities, adding to current literature on place-making and alternative forms of social participation in Japan, as well as offering a detailed ethnographic account of urban street life after dark.