Boomers Ready To Rock Again

Tickets went on sale last month for a joint outdoor concert featuring folk music veterans Takuro Yoshida and Kaguyahime. It will take place in September at Tsumagoi Field in Shizuoka prefecture, south of Tokyo.

The festival-like event will recreate a famous concert featuring the same two artists that took place in the same location in 1975 and drew a record 70,000 people.

Organizers expect to sell 50,000 tickets priced at 15,000 yen (about $130) apiece. Most of the tickets will likely be purchased by people in their late 50s who grew up listening to the two artists, which may explain why each ticket comes with a seat cushion.

The event highlights the increased level of attention that so-called “dankai no sedai” – the “mass generation” – has attracted recently.

Though often referred to as “boomers,” this demographic is narrower than its American counterpart. The DS generation was born between 1947 and 1949, after which the Japanese government actively tried to limit the birthrate because of continuing hardships in the aftermath of World War II.

As its name indicated, this is a huge group. More importantly, it was the first generation of Japanese to embrace American-style consumerism.

Music remains the most prominent identifier among DS boomers, who will begin retiring in 2007. In one questionnaire survey conducted by advertising giant Hakuhodo, the top three answers to the question: Which term best describes “dankai no sedai?” were “group sounds” (Japanese rock groups of the mid-’60s), “folk music,” and “The Beatles.”

Evidence of a resurgence in music-related interest is the growth of “folk taverns,” bars where DS boomers go after work to sing and play folk music from their youth.

Oyaji Band Competitions have also become popular. “Oyaji” is Japanese slang for middle-aged men, and the competitions have directly fed the increase in electric guitar sales.

Analysts say the generation’s idealism was nipped in the bud by the reality of joining a company and starting a family. They say that with retirement, the DS boomers intend to pick up exactly where they left off.

– Philip Brasor