Paper short abstract

This paper analyzes how Let's go karaoke! by Wayama Yama rework yakuza narratives through parody and non-hegemonic masculinities. Drawing on media and gender studies, it shows how the author subvert established codes of masculinity while reworking familiar aesthetics.

Paper long abstract

From its earliest stages, cinema has drawn on figures associated with organized crime, first the bakuto and, from the 1950s and 1960s onward, the yakuza, giving rise to a distinct cinematic subgenre that later expanded into a transnational dimension, most notably with Kill Bill (Coates 2020). Over time, directors have explored the yakuza from different perspectives, contributing to a narrative tradition centered on values such as honor, loyalty, and masculinity – sometimes articulated by yakuza members themselves (Jacob 2021). These representations have helped construct a romanticized and idealized aesthetic of the yakuza.

This aesthetic has also been reinforced through manga and video games, as seen in works such as Shirato Sanpei’s Yōjinbō, Sanctuary by Fumimura Shō and Ikegami Ryōichi, and Koroshiya Ichi by Yamamoto Hideo. At the same time, other narratives have adopted more ambivalent or openly parodic approaches such as Stop!! Hibari-kun! by Eguchi Hisashi and Gokusen by Morimoto Kozueko, among others.

This paper analyzes Karaoke Iko! by Wayama Yama (2020), a successful title published in general-interest magazines for adult audiences and later adapted into both anime and live-action formats. Through close textual and visual analysis informed by Gender Studies, the paper examines how this work challenge the masculinity values traditionally associated with the yakuza.

Despite the historical and social decline of the yakuza, their traditional aesthetic continues to provide a powerful imaginary that contemporary authors actively draw upon. However, this imaginary is radically subverted through representations of non-hegemonic masculinities, in which parody, emotional vulnerability, and relational intimacy replace ninkyō, violence, and hypermasculine codes. These work thus reveal how yakuza narratives can be re-signified to question normative gender models while remaining deeply embedded in a recognizable cultural framework.