### Shuji Terayama The Power of Words and the Landscape of Shadows: Intersection of Dialect and Yokoji (early 1970s)

### Shuji Terayama The Power of Words and the Landscape of Shadows: Intersection of Dialect and Yokoji (early 1970s)

In the early 1970s, Japan was in the final stages of its rapid economic growth, and the struggle between urban and regional cultures was becoming clear. While the standard Japanese language was considered the "correct language," dialects were often neglected, and cities were inundated with yokoji, symbols of intelligence and progress. Shuji Terayama bitterly criticized this situation, saying that words themselves are ambiguous, and that it is social relationships and power that underpin credibility. He humorously points out that even if "ikuiku" is described as "kuru-kuru" in other countries, the Kansai dialect is acceptable because of Osaka's economic power and the influence of the Yamaguchigumi. In other words, the efficacy of words is guaranteed by the social power behind them, and mere manipulation of symbols ends in empty words.

Terayama also resisted the trend toward standardization, finding cultural value in dialects and regional subdivisions of language. He explains that names such as "Choujouan lunch" and "Houkan," which are only understood by locals, create encounters between people and nurture new relationships. Homogenization of language risks losing diversity and diminishing the vitality of society. For him, the ideal was an existence that maintained "one's own language" in the midst of diverse encounters. Terayama's gaze was a sharp and poetic demonstration of the value of regional and personal languages in an age swallowed up by standardized language and side letters, and his critique continues to resonate even in today's age of globalization and social networking.