I came to listen to Soul Flower Union in a very indirect way. Originally my interest in music extended only to Western pop, rock and folk/rock. Coming to live in Japan didn't change anything - especially after listening to some of the sub-standard Japanese rockers who played poor versions of Western music. This all changed about seven or eight years ago when I discovered a tape of Okinawan music which mixed east and west, minyo, reggae and pop. It was by Kina Shoukichi and Champloose. Since then I listened almost exclusively to their music and to other Okinawans, and after that discovered some of the other good music in Japan and other parts of Asia.
Soul Flower Union were first encountered by me on Kina's 'Rainbow Movement' album when they - along with several other young Japanese guest artists - appeared in a small supporting role. It was not until they took to the streets of Kobe with their chindon line-up after the earthquake that I really became very interested in them. I had originally met SFU leader Nakagawa Takashi backstage after their appearance at a 'One Korea' festival in Osaka. He impressed me with his good-natured humour and musical and social determination. I later interviewed him for an article in the KTO.
I have to say that on balance I prefer the chindon style of Soul Flower Mononoke Summit to the rock style of Soul Flower Union. Having said that I do think that the rock version is improving all the time and I hope that they can take their young Japanese followers with them. I think that some of their songs, notably 'Repun Kamuy' and 'Mangetsu no Ube' are as good as anything I've heard for a very long time from any rock band - Japanese or Western. It will be difficult for them to change things politically or socially in Japan. How much can any musicians do? But they are on the right track and every time that they sing or talk about the plight of minorities and the situation in Japan they are bound to make some people think rather more critically than they otherwise would have done.
John Potter
1996.10
Soul Flower Union, who appear at Osaka's Coke Step Hall on the 10th of this month, are perhaps the most exciting band in Japan at the moment. They haven't yet reached the mega-status of fellow adventurers The Boom but in some ways are even more interesting. It hasn't come quickly for them either.
(...) After this year's Ryukyu Festival in Tokyo, Nakagawa was given a stern warning by a government official to "watch his lyrics". If nothing else this should be reason enough to catch them in Osaka this month.John Potter from Kansai Time Out Nov. 1996
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