Kickflips and Kickstands
A podcast where skateboarding and motorcycle cultures combine. We hang out with all sorts of characters and find out when, where, how and why they love either or both of these things.
Kickflips and Kickstands
S3E4: BOSOZOKU: The Violent Running Tribe
This week we travel far east and do a lil shallow dive into the history of Japans post war biker counter culture, The Bosozoku. Enjoy!
Thank you, welcome back to Kang Flips and Kickstands Podcast, season 3, episode 3,. Technically, there you are. Episode three, hello, hey, I'm your host. As always, danny Infante, with me in the stew, as always is also.
Speaker 2:Grayson, conner Grayson.
Speaker 1:Conner's here everyone. That's the wrong button, but I like it, so welcome back. Today is a kind of an impromptu episode. My dude, you were in town.
Speaker 2:Why were you in town today? You know we're exploring our options. Maybe you might want to get out of the old ATX and move to the old LTX.
Speaker 1:There you go. I don't think anyone calls it that.
Speaker 2:I'm going to start that when I get here.
Speaker 1:Please don't ever do that again.
Speaker 2:Yeah, it's cheaper to live here and better to live here, because, austin, I love you it kind of sucks now. Yeah, yeah, it's kind of hard to live there, so trying to get out of there.
Speaker 1:So yeah, we've been out here a few months and I mean I'm not mad at it at all and I don't see it like painting or me getting tired of it so and it's going to pay in dividends in the next few years and you'll be putting money into your own pocket instead of some landlords.
Speaker 2:So, yes, renting sucks.
Speaker 1:Yeah, get it, gotta do it sometimes, but for sure, yeah, I hate when people are like you're just throwing money away renting and like I gotta live somewhere, my guy god, what do you want me to do? Yeah, yeah, but I don't I don't want to be homeless right now yeah, like I've explored some options and if I can keep that one from being it and I'm good.
Speaker 1:So, yeah, you were in town, so I figured, fuck it. Why not try and jam out an episode? Sure? Uh, I whipped up a little. This is basically the rough draft of the script that you guys are getting yeah but this episode kind of just happened without having to really schedule anything.
Speaker 2:So love that. Why not um peace?
Speaker 1:so do you know what we're talking about?
Speaker 2:I think I you briefly told me, but the the words you used mean nothing to me.
Speaker 1:So on. Today listener I am. Grayson. Today we're going to be talking about Bozo Zuko motorcycles. It's a subculture that Fuck, I mean let's just get into. I'll read you what I wrote.
Speaker 2:Okay.
Speaker 1:We're diving deep into the captivating history of both as other motorcycles, a subculture that left an indelible mark on Japan's motorcycling heritage and bled into car and Western cultures too. Um, to truly understand the Bozozoku phenomenon, we have to steep, we have Okay. We have to step back to post world war two, japan. The country was experiencing rapid economic growth and social change, and we've talked about this in previous episodes too. Like before a war, there's some kind of downturn. Wars usually cap off some kind of economic downturn.
Speaker 1:I was going to say After a war, there's a lot of—so the reason—and before we get into the episode as a listener and you, Grayson, and before we get into the episode as a listener and you, Grayson, this is kind of a mirror episode, or not just a mirror episode. We're going to spoiler. There's another episode coming from this the butterfly effect of World War Two or the same. Like what happened over here with motorcycles, happened over there with motorcycles.
Speaker 2:Yeah, like makes sense.
Speaker 1:And almost there's a lot of parallels. So it's and these are just really rad looking fucking motorcycles. So I feel like they have to be talked about. Um, but it's kind of a taboo thing because you're talking about, like the other side, like I know you've heard about world war ii. Let's talk about what japan was doing well, the first one.
Speaker 2:I don't know if I've seen the second one.
Speaker 1:The World Wars. Yeah, oh, okay.
Speaker 2:Loved the first one.
Speaker 1:The first one was great in that one video game, yeah. So yeah, the country was experiencing rapid economic growth, as it goes after a war, and social change. As Japan moved toward industrialization and urbanization, young people found themselves caught between tradition and modernity. The Bozozoku movement emerged as a manifestation of this conflict. So, again, this is post-World War II and we're talking about the youth, and when we say that, we mean some of the people, if not mostly the people that are coming back from this war. I think we talked about it in the episode of the history, if not mostly the people that are coming back from this war. Yeah, um, we, I think we talked about it in the history of episode, the history of Harley Davidson, um, where it there was no PTSD back then, it was shell shock.
Speaker 1:And um, we've talked about the ramifications of war on a soldier psyche before, but I can't stress enough that this movement and this whole counterculture came um, uh, there's a question that, like I think they did in a donut video way back when. But um, he basically says like what if I told you that at the end of world war two there were kamikaze pilots that were told to go home?
Speaker 1:Right Like yeah, so this whole movement came from kamikaze pilots. They were trained to fly their fuck. I mean, we all know what those are. I don't think we need to do sure a history on that. They were trained to fly their fucking planes. Again, you have to peel back some layers because there's a lot of pride out there yeah, it's complex it's yeah, it's like we're talking about at the time the enemy.
Speaker 1:But if you peel back the layers of what the war is about, why the war? Like if you just are for supporting the troops, just that statement, sure, just remember that every country has the troops and in every country's mind they're fighting the fight that needs to be fought for that country. That's all I'm going to say. I'm not going to get too polycharged, because I also know that people's people.
Speaker 1:You know, I look at analytics and probably 95% of our audience probably wants to hear our side of the story and we'll get to that. We are going to get to that, um, but no, these dudes were like kill yourself for your country. And they were like, I'm sure, at the beginning of the train you're like I don't know dude like that's a big ask, are you sure?
Speaker 1:Yeah, yeah, why don't I just go over there? I get out of there. They're not making their guys so I can fly into shit, but they fucking zip the tea. Whatever you want, whatever you want to call it.
Speaker 2:And we're on board Like bomb money or like what happened.
Speaker 1:You know like kind of our people invented fireworks. We could just like drop it like a barrel of so many options for this and this is what you want me to do um, so yeah, they were the war ends and I guess the dudes that were in the barracks that were getting ready and they're like all right, tomorrow's the day someone comes in and they're like hey, go home.
Speaker 2:Hey, yeah, rain check uh, thank you yeah hey cool, I just prepared for my demise.
Speaker 1:Yeah, so I'll just go have a future I want to thank you so much for what you agreed to do for us due to company cutback.
Speaker 2:All these things we don't need you anymore.
Speaker 1:Yeah, we, we didn't win the company softball match, so just go home. So those dudes go home, and that's where the bozo zoco movement wow kind of comes from. Let's see the term. Oh well, I was just gonna say I feel like, if that's that's your situation, bozo Zoco movement kind of comes from. Let's see the term.
Speaker 2:Well, I was just going to say I feel like, if that's your situation, you were supposed to die by your job description and you don't Like. You feel like everything else is bonus at that point. Right, so you're going to do some like risky high speed behavior.
Speaker 1:Sure, and like it's kind of fuck with your mental. Yeah, Like oh, I Sure. And like it's got to fuck with your mental, yeah, Like oh you're going to kill yourself. Don't yeah. Okay, I just won't yeah. Instead, go work an office job. You can buy a bitching house right now. Sure, the term bozozoku translates to violent speed tribes, so on brand.
Speaker 2:How fucking cool is that Makes sense, if I was ever part of a violent speed tribe you know we're going to go do some fucking crazy shit.
Speaker 1:Cause this sounds really cool these rebellious youth for motorcycle gangs, dying iconic black leather jackets, pompadour hairstyles and writing heavily modified motorcycles that belched out deafening roars. The Bozo Zoku's unmistakable style became synonymous with defiance and a rejection of societal norms. Again, we're going to paint this picture. The other side of this coin episode is going to sound very similar to this episode, but I feel like we have to tell this story before we tell ours.
Speaker 2:Yeah.
Speaker 1:Because it's super similar. Throughout the 1960s and 1970s, Bozo's Oka culture continued to evolve, becoming more pronounced and capturing the fascination of both enthusiasts and the general public. Nailed it, the loud modified motorcycles represented a rebellion against a conservative society that was increasingly focused on economic success and conformity. So they're fucking fighting the man and they're like fuck this. I was going to fucking literally die for you, dude. Now I just want to get on this loud ass motorcycle that I made look ridiculous in a way that I love and fucking. They would like swing bats. They would ride around with like two like a dude on the back with like a bat swinging it and fucking hitting cars and shit, and they would just go do fucking donuts and burnouts and intersections and like rev their fucking.
Speaker 1:They'd have like rev competitions revving their bikes and like pinning it and like making beats, basically with their fucking motorcycle engines.
Speaker 2:Yeah, this was no cosplay.
Speaker 1:No, these motorcycling rebels didn't just ride for the thrill. They roared through the streets, often causing disruptions and clashes with authorities. The modified motorcycles, often equipped with extended front forks, elaborate fairings and distinct paint jobs and chrome exhaust, were symbols of individualism and defiance.
Speaker 1:so if you I don't think you've seen this kind of bike before, I showed it to you pictures yeah and as a listener, if you haven't seen this kind of bike I'm assuming a lot of you have there's actually a couple shops that built a couple like sportsters to kind of mimic it. Yeah, but when you hear that on paper, it's like what are you guys doing to these bikes? We're like oh, we're painting them crazy, we're extending the front forks, we're building these crazy like camel hump seats that go like really high up in the back and we're putting like a lot of chrome on them. And you hear that and you're like are you guys building harleys?
Speaker 1:and they're like yeah our bikes, yeah, like japanese bikes, but kind of like that's all like when you listen to that paper, like that's what you do to a chopper same energy, well, and it's the same like you. You what's a chopper like? Right?
Speaker 1:like a 70 style long chopper is like big ass front fork, big old king and queen with a fucking sissy bar to high hell and fucking big old fucking. Except for the only I mean not the only thing different, but one of the things different is that they were putting fairings on the front, but they were even extending the fairing. So like this is like race style fiberglass cowls for like they're made for aerodynamics, like to put on race bikes. Yeah, but they're mounting them on these bikes that are like raked out and they're like they're basically like a wind sail at this point. But you paint it crazy, you fucking. They were hanging, they're hanging flags off of them and there's fucking like four exhausts coming out the back with like air horns hanging off the side.
Speaker 1:Yeah, it's, it's chaos but in a really cool way gives uh spy kids vibes kind of uh, we did that.
Speaker 1:Let's see, the bozosoco subculture was more than just motorcycles. It was a fusion of diverse influences, from american rock and roll to japanese manga and yakuza films. The bozozoku incorporated elements of various pop culture phenomena, creating a unique blend that resonated with the disenchanted youth of japan. So it's like textbook gang kind of cult vibes where they're just like hey, are you mad at the man? Sure, my mom and dad want me to go to school and you give me a motorcycle. I'm like, yeah, come hang out with us.
Speaker 2:Which is interesting in Japan especially. I don't know if our listeners know I lived in Japan for some time, which makes me zero in authority on Japanese culture, but I will in fact speak on it um. Speak for the entire country, white guy as a white man, I will tell you what I think of japan. Uh, the whole subverting authority and like, uh, the general structure of things is is counterintuitive to like their general, the way they do things oh, you know I mean.
Speaker 2:So like they're very, it's a very by the book culture, like it's one thing to be rebellious in. Like western culture, it's a whole nother deal to be rebellious, and in that culture too, because people are probably like what the fuck are they doing? Well, what's crazy is that?
Speaker 1:um, actually this happened to me at jump when they sent me to fucking san francisco to do some training. They basically it was um, like rosy to riveter training that a war, speaking of wars, when the wars broke out, and it was like you have to contribute to the effort or like do nothing.
Speaker 2:I guess, like good luck Cause there's no money, just rest in your shame. Yeah, that's what they did.
Speaker 1:You could just think about how you're a treacherous fucking stumbag.
Speaker 2:every day Just steep in your cowardice.
Speaker 1:But like they trained, like women and I don't know if children is probably probably yeah but they just like it was like it's super focused, hyper quick training on one thing, yep, and you train that person and here's how you make a bolt.
Speaker 1:Yeah, like here's how you well, it was like here, here's how you turn the series of bolts to like make sure that this wing on this thing stays on, and then it goes down the line and someone else does another, very focused, like yeah, but like you employ thousands doing that, and but that came from a japanese, that came from the japanese, like america, studied their factories and I was like how do we fucking like yeah, how do we crank out like 100 planes a day?
Speaker 1:yeah, so it's kind of crazy that there's now that we're talking about it more, there's more than one parallel in this war between these two countries.
Speaker 1:Well, there's other people involved, but sure, um the world. While the bozos echo were often associated with rebellion and chaos, it's essential to understand oh, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, nope, nope, nope, I don't. I'm probably going to say that after every little bit. Yeah, um, back to where I started before. While the Bozo Zoku were often associated with a belly and chaos, it's essential to understand the socioeconomic factors that shape the movement. The economic hardships and limited employment opportunities for young people played a significant role in fostering a sense of alienation and unrest. So it's like that's textbook, fucking gang shit, where they're just like hey, kids, yeah, do you not know what the fuck to do in life?
Speaker 2:Yeah.
Speaker 1:Here's a motorcycle and some friendship, Like what else are you going to do?
Speaker 2:Go work at a factory Feeling disenfranchised. Yeah, I have the answers.
Speaker 1:The motorcycle offered an avenue for both expression and rebellion. As a result, many young people turned to Bosozoku gangs, seeking a sense of belonging and empowerment in a world that was rapidly changing around them. Like all cultural movements, the Bosozoku phenomenon experienced periods of evolution and decline. As Japan entered the 1980s and shifted towards a more stable and prosperous society, bosozoku subculture began to wane. Stricter laws and enforcement against reckless driving and public disturbances also took a toll on the movement.
Speaker 2:The fucking that's the man, dude, the man cracking down dude. That's some fucking pigs. We can't ban a certain people, but we can make laws around it to make them not effective.
Speaker 1:Okay, so the lowrider subculture in LA and all that shit that came from laws that were put in place to fucking like kind of slow down blacks and latinos. Yeah, in this I think like the 70s don't cut me on the decade but like the reason why it's not just low rider laws, the reason why everyone's always like california has such strict fucking vehicle laws. A lot of those shits were put in place around the same time because people started fucking riding the low lows and fucking scraping corners and the cops were like we can't come out and say I want to pull you over because you're different, but we can make a whole bunch of fucking trivial laws I have noticed the cars you drive.
Speaker 2:Yeah, yeah, it's just the general vibe with law. It seems to be like hey, it seems like they have ulterior motives. Even I don't like you as a person and I can't say that.
Speaker 1:No but I'm gonna come up with a couple ways to like really drive the point home yeah and give me probable cause. The minute someone uttered the term probable cause yeah, police everywhere were like what?
Speaker 2:what is that they're like? I can arrest you Probable.
Speaker 1:Prejudice.
Speaker 2:We're splitting hairs here.
Speaker 1:The decline of Bosozoku culture marked a shift in Japanese society, as the focus shifted from rebellion to more societal, accepted forms of expression. However, the legacy of the Bosozoku endures throughout, its impact on motorcycle customization and street fashion which, to this day, like I just said it, in the past few years we've seen some people build up some sportsters to look like Japanese Bosozoku, with like a little healthy mixture of both, which when we, if you want to go back to pilling those layers back, like you're designing a American-made motorcycle to look like a beneathment from post world war ii, it's like. There's my favorite quote in all of archer. There's a scene in archer, if none of you have watched it, where he lands. He like crash lands a plane in the jungle in like japan and he runs into some dude who thinks I think the dude thinks he's been there since the war, which is based on a real thing. But yeah, yeah and arch, he's like archer finds that out and he says like cool, honda scrambler japan or pearl harbor japan, oh, my god, it's so good.
Speaker 1:And it's john benjamin's voice saying that when you think that, like world war ii and honda started Like a cool Honda Scrambler From Japan being sold in the States Was probably being sold In the like, for sure Not probably the early 70s, late 60s, early 70s, so this is Earlier than our lifespan Big time. It's like hey, remember that thing that we did? Yeah, we're gonna come over and sell Like we do too, yeah, Buy our shit.
Speaker 2:It's interesting also like how the fashion thing or what is like considered ubiquitous for like bikers and stuff is like born out of necessity and also around like this time period with like the whole leather jacket thing and all of that stuff. Yeah, it's just like that rebellion thing, because I mean it's really for, like it's, road safety. But then it turned into fashion Like fashion.
Speaker 1:You know what I mean. Yeah, yeah, it's a very practical piece of clothing.
Speaker 2:You need your skin scraped off Sure At breakneck speeds. Yeah.
Speaker 1:And then they're like what if we paint like fucking snakes and dragons?
Speaker 2:on the back of these things and that became like the universal like, like uniform yeah.
Speaker 1:Yeah, that fucking Arnold Schwarzenegger in T1 and 2. Yeah, yeah, he fucking takes that dude's slingshot.
Speaker 2:I'm going to kill you and take your clothes. Somebody wore it first. You know that's what I always think about. Yeah, the first leather jacket guy Dude.
Speaker 1:That was Arthur Fonzarelli. Hey, what's the fucking actor's name? I forget oh.
Speaker 2:Henry Winkler yes, which is the least badass name, the least badass name.
Speaker 1:And Henry Winkler? Now, if you told me this dude played a really cool leather jacket dude.
Speaker 2:He's like an old greaser, that's sweet old grandpa.
Speaker 1:Let's see, even though the heyday of the Bosozoku movement has passed, the influence can still be felt today. The spirit of customization, individualism and breaking free from societal constraints lives on in the hearts of motorcycle enthusiasts worldwide. Very true, very true me. The vibrant history of the Bosozoku movement continues to inspire artists, fashion designers and even filmmakers. Its impact on Japanese popular culture is evident in an enduring fascination with retro aesthetics and the ongoing celebration of the rebellious spirit of the bozozoku. And that's what I got for you. That's the captivating journey through the history of bozozoku motorcycles.
Speaker 2:Well, let me ask you some questions.
Speaker 1:Let me finish this, grayson, please. From its origins as a defiant subculture to its impact on modern culture, the Botozoku movement remains a testament to the power of motorcycles to transcend mere transportation and become symbols of freedom, rebellion and individuality. Questions Questions.
Speaker 2:So why is it not more? It seems like it made waves when it was a thing is it not more? It seems like it made waves when it was a thing. It's petered out, with the exception of like a few, like like relics or replicas or whatever what's the word. I'm trying to look for like carbon copies people just doing homages, sure?
Speaker 2:why is it not more of a? I mean, I guess it is right. It's essentially what chopper culture is now right, would you agree, or am I off base? What? What is like, but where boso?
Speaker 1:say it for me, boso zoku.
Speaker 2:I don't even know if I'm saying it right those goals, uh, where, like what was the did, would you say they even did decline or that they went away, they petered out, kind of thing.
Speaker 1:Oh, yeah, like as far as like, if you see them right yes, yeah, I mean obviously right now. If you go to japan, you probably see more like western style harley choppers why I wouldn't say that.
Speaker 2:Why, I mean, why, would you say. That is even a little bit like what, what, what didn't keep them alive the way, like something like harley, sustained and became timeless um, I mean, I don't know for sure.
Speaker 1:Yeah, but just off the top of my head, harley has lost a lot of its like customer base throughout the years and all this shit. But harley leaned it we've talked about this on the part. Like they leaned in heavy to that image, yes, whereas I'm sure honda and these japanese brands did not. They're like no dude.
Speaker 2:Yeah, absolutely different time and place.
Speaker 1:Yeah, that's not us, we're, which they did. All billionaire corporations do shady shit like sure. There's a whole gentleman's agreement of japan where, like, all the manufacturers sat down and they were making this is like the 80s, so the 80s and 90s, when it's like that prosperous, so I can. They're like hey, just go be a business guy and you'll make a shit ton of money and you can buy a house, multiple cars, feed a family of fucking five or six of just your, your salary Right, and so people are like hell, you know, start a family and we just almost fucking kill ourselves a couple of years ago yeah, the timeline on that is kind of off, but it Same same the manufacturers sat down and were like we can't make super fast cars.
Speaker 1:They had like a handshake agreement that all like so, like Nissan Skylines, like all these, like coveted 80s and 90s Japanese sports cars were a lot of them were sold marked as only having 276 horsepower, and that wasn't true. It just wasn't true. It just wasn't true. All of the all the fucking corporations honda, toyota, fucking mitsubishi they all had a fucking meeting and were like we just wink and tell them all that these cars are only this fast. And they're not. They're like some of them were being sold like 300, 350 horsepower, but they were just like we'll just tell the fucking yeah, we'll tell the man that they're nice and slow and safe. It's a family car.
Speaker 1:But no, I think just the corporations didn't lean into that bad boy image as much as Harley did. Interesting and it kept up, and now it's like it's so big that over there they're building some of the best.
Speaker 2:They all became about performance rather than like culture and style.
Speaker 1:Right, but like some of the best choppers are in japan now, like some of the best harley choppers the best looking ones are there are built over there because they just like anything that they do.
Speaker 2:They put a lot of fucking chin oh, they're gonna, and they're gonna kill it good work into.
Speaker 1:They're like, oh, I like this, now I'm gonna, I'm gonna figure out how to do it in the the most efficient and best way possible, and they fucking kill it.
Speaker 1:Yeah, interesting, okay, and I didn't touch base, but like the, the bozozoku movement bled in even to like car culture, like you have cars that look fucking wild, that they borrow from, like that, and then they borrow from a couple other, like subcultures in japan. Yeah, and it's just these fucking like lowered square body, four-door Japanese sedans with, like the front bumper, like the body kit, the chin spoiler is like four feet out and it's like super low and they build it. I'll show you a video, the one that like actually sparked this idea, like I already knew about the bikes, but that donut video I watched, which I realize now I'm wearing the hat. Yeah, hey, listener, if you're this far into this episode, this whole season is going to be on YouTube and we're probably just going to backlog and upload a still image with some fucking wavelength over it for our past seasons and put those on the old YouTube yeah, it's there, we made the content.
Speaker 1:Grayson just learned that too.
Speaker 2:Yeah, look at that, I didn't know that.
Speaker 1:You're learning a lot tonight.
Speaker 2:I would have wore a suit if I had known.
Speaker 1:But you know it's cool. Like there's some of my favorite bikes. I shout out to Jesse Bauman, the homie that we did an episode with, that owns and operates Hex Moto over in Lake Worth, florida, old coworker of mine. He's building a Buzzer Zoku bike and he just got a Nissan Skyline. That fucker, that thing is fucking sick.
Speaker 2:Is there anyone in our area building one or have one?
Speaker 1:I don't think so, me and Richard, another previous guest. Listener you're another previous guest from season two. We actually did a lot of motorcycle shops. We almost did exclusively motorcycle shops in season two. When I think about it. Um so a go, support all those local shops, go listen to our episodes and and support us. Um, it's getting easier. I hate plugging shit. If you're listening still. I hate plugging shit, but it's yeah, we have to do it we have to do it how else will you know to go there? Yeah, for sure.
Speaker 2:Yeah.
Speaker 1:Well, I think that's going to do it for this episode. I appreciate y'all for fucking checking in. Grayson, do you have anything coming up? You got any shout outs, any plugs?
Speaker 2:take backs Feel Good Club's dropping an album soon. Tight Fall general fall.
Speaker 1:Okay, I think that's around when we're going to start airing these episodes. Oh, great, soon, because it's hot. I had to shit now, so I'm trying to figure it out.
Speaker 2:Yeah, just more of this and it might be moving. So just take that information and do what you will with it.
Speaker 1:Yeah, closer to me, yeah, closer to you.
Speaker 2:Closer to this, which and such.
Speaker 1:Sure, yeah, yeah.
Speaker 2:Love that.
Speaker 1:Thanks for tuning in. Be sure to check us out at Kickflips and Kickstands podcast. We're on Instagram, we're anywhere you listen to podcasts and we're soon to be on YouTube. If I can have a good day, tell a friend about the podcast and tell that same friend that you care about them. Yeah, that's nice. Why not See? Ya, I'm out.