Karasu-zoku “Crow tribe” What does the color black mean to you?

Since my childhood, my favorite color has been black. Most parents dress their children in pastel color clothing or gender-appropriate colors, blue for boys, red for girls.
This was especially true in my generation, my school backpack in elementary school was red. A child cannot easily express his or her feelings of discomfort or dislike. Children in particular go through their days with a vague acceptance that being like with others is a good thing, so they accept what parents and schools decide.

In middle school the bags were black for all students. Since that was the case I thought my sportswear bag should be the same, so I made that bag black, too. On weekends, when I hung out with friends in Shibuya, a cool place for young people, I wore black. My father and mother allowed me to do whatever I wanted. However! There was one nagging uncle, my mother's brother, he called my mother and said, “I heard your daughter wore black. Be careful. What if she becomes a delinquent, you would be in trouble.” I didn't listen to him and wore black even when I was in high school. 

Karasu-zoku subculture emerged as a rebellion against Japan’s 80’s fashion trends. Karasu-zoku literally means ‘crow tribe’ and is used to describe youth wearing all black attire. Influenced by Goth, Punk, and rock music, as well as designers like
Yoji Yamamoto and Rei Kawakubo, karasu-zoku embraced a darker aesthetic, symbolizing youth rebellion. And as a teenager I became a Karasu-zoku after all.

I recently read this article in The New York Times, Why Do So Many People Wear All Black? A fashion critic explains the reasons for its popularity saying that wearing black creates an idea or a social reaction to it.

In August, the principal of a middle school in El Paso, Texas, sent out a missive to families announcing that students were no longer allowed to wear black from top to bottom. The thinking was that black was more associated with “depression and mental health issues and/or criminality than with happy and healthy kids ready to learn.”

The principal is somewhat like my uncle. As a rule, she considers wearing black as
a color that leads to depression, mental problems, and my uncle, as a color that leads
to crime from rebellion and treason. I guess both want to protect vulnerability
and want children to be healthy people.

What if we were to force children to tie themselves up to keep out the potentially dangerous? Isn’t it better if they make it their responsibility to be aware of the many choices and be prepared for the reactions it may cause? I think with the experience gained from this responsibility they will grow up to be strong
and healthy human beings.

In the same Times article, the fashion designer, Yoji Yamamoto, interpreted black as follows, “Black is modest and arrogant at the same time. Black is lazy and easy, but mysterious. But above all, black says this: I don’t bother you, don’t bother me.”

There is a painter, I follow, Maulwurf, Raquel who paints in black. She deals with the wreckage and destruction of war, and more recently she has been depicting the forces of nature and ecological disasters. The detailed depictions in black charcoal are impressively detailed when seen up close in person, and the black intertwined depth of darkness and shadows. I feel that her works create something evocative and beautiful out of a horrific incident by eroding people's minds with all black
and leaving only the essence of the event.

Black to me is serenity, depth, and solitude. I always feel at peace within this color.

I looked at the night sky. A single point of light in the jet-black night sky, how far away are the stars? The black darkness aroused my imagination.

For those under the sky, illuminated not by starlight but by the light of bombs,
it must be despair and fear. The black darkness must be terrifying.

We are tiny creatures in the stars, living only a very short time and soon to disappear. So why can't we be at peace?

The Times article concludes. Black may be basic, but it rarely seems to be neutral.

I don't know about that. In my philosophy, I try to be neutral, but I love black.

Let's leave it to that person who chose black.

Thank you for reading my newsletter-October 2024

-Yuh Okano
Oct 14th 2024