About This Item
For years, Takuro Okada has carried a quiet question how can a Japanese musician honor the music of African Americans without simply borrowing it? That search shapes his new album Konoma, a work guided by the idea of InchAfro Mingei.Inch The Tokyo guitarist, producer, and bandleader has lived inside this tension since childhood, drawn to blues, jazz, and funk records that nourished him, yet hesitant in the face of the histories they hold. The concept of Afro Mingei, which Okada first encountered in an exhibition by artist Theaster Gates, gave him a way forward. Gates connected Black aesthetics with Japanese folk craft, both rooted in resistance - InchBlack is BeautifulInch defying racism, the Mingei movement preserving everyday beauty against industrial erasure. That kinship became the compass for Konoma, a record attuned to echoes across cultures and time. Album Tracks 1. Mahidere Birhan 2. Sunrise 3. Nefertite 4. Galaxy 5. November Owens Valley 6. Portrait of Yanagi 7. Love 8. Acute Angle Black Button
