Dear Peter Miller,

I'm webmaster of the internet site: "Internationale WWWeb":

I am writing from Tokyo Japan, to express my joy after I listened to WFMU radio internet archive of the show on the song Internationale. http://www.wfmu.org/playlists/shows/950
Once I received e-mail from you on Jamaican reggae version but missed replying because of my PC system-down and loss of your address.

I was so glad again to have listened to your talk on this song. Also nice many versions which were new to me. Filipino version was something which I waited for long time ! 20 years ago I participated in sort-of-Leftist/Christian-led pan-Asian youth meeting in India, and one Filipino taught me Tagalog lyric. We sang Internationale in support of Filipino revolutionary struggle, in each own languages, represented from more than 30 countries. That was my ever-most emotional "Internationale".

I personally collected historical resources of Japanese versions of Internationale and found I may have small contribution to add to your knowledge. You and radio personality talked about "singing International in Okinawa has been quite revolutionary and needed courage." and "Internationale might have been banned in Japan, such a nationalistic society."

The song (and any other leftist songs) WAS banned during pre-WWII "Imperial" Japan regime. As a matter of fact, Internationale was brought to Japan as the song of Comintern, and first planned to be sung in Tokyo at Nov. 1923. Takamaru Sasaki has translated the lyric into Japanese and secretly practiced with CP-J colleagues in preparation. But at rally, police has interrupted every speeches in public and he could just sing only a few lines before arrest. (according to T. Sasaki in the book "Kaihou no Utagoe" Ongaku Center 1972, Japanese)

The first "height" of this song in Japanese history sung by mass was right after the WWII. Under US occupation from 1945 to 1952, labor movement has expanded, mass rallies were organized, the song became really popular. This period in Japan may be comparative to 1930s US in terms of its popularity as the "labor union song". Especially during a few years after the war, Japanese people were so poor, unemployed and filled with anti-US feelings. Communist- led anti-US struggle could get strong mass support. The song was not banned legally in this period.

Then it comes the age of economic prosperity in 1960s, lost mass support to leftist movement. Second height of mass singing Internationale came with sort-of coalition of "new leftist" and folk singers. Comparative to US anti-Vietnam generation folk singers. In early 1970s Shinjuku railroad station in Tokyo became regular mass folk festival site singing Internationale and calling peace for Vietnam. In Universities, new leftist students led student unions and loved to sing Internationale.

No more "height" followed after 1980s, which is my generation... The song remained the theme song of the "concientized" activists but lost popularity among the mass. Nevertheless, this song HAD continued to have its power to many people who continued the struggle for justice today. My experience in India 1983 was one of the case.

I found different new "height" of the song in South Korean situation. In late 1980s, I traveled South Korea and found this song was translated in Korean lyric without openly referring to "Internationale". South Korea was under control of sever military dictatorship then. Singing songs critical to the government could led to imprisonment of more than 10 years under Anti-Communist Act / National Security Act. So the lyric was "Towards the Way of Justice and peace" (translation). And few year later, there has been students and workers actually sentenced to inprisonent because of singing Internationale.

Then in 1997, after democratization, I visited mayday rally in Korea and now found new version Internationale was sunged with red flags. Lyric went back to the one of original French meaning and said "March under the Flag of Internationale !" (translation). Korea has been in recent years one of the countries where labor movement has strong mass support. Mass singing Internationale in post Marxist-era labor situation. This could be something !

You can see 1991 Mayday rally video here about how the song is used in Korea.
http://real.jinbo.net:7073/ramgen/cham/access/video/mayday-1.rm?start=14:50

Back to Japanese history, there has been attempts to "revive" the song in the new contexts. One is challenge from Okinawa.

Okinawa has been a controversial issue for Japan for many years. The land was once independent Kingdom, and was colonized by Japan, sacrificed as the battle field of WWII, and "sold out" to USA in 1945 for military bases. It became Japanese territory again only in 1973. The land has been exploited so many times by super powers. This history makes Okinawans to think of their own identity. 1989 movie "Untama Giru", fiction story under US era, sent strong messages, by the actors talking in Okinawan language only through entire story, which cannot be understood by ordinary Japanese (nor young Okinawans). It is dubbed with Japanese.

I guess film maker Go Takamine said "needed courage to sing it in Okinawan" because this asserts Okinawan identity, challenging Japanese leftists who always talked Okinawan issues in Japanese terms. The fiction group in the movie singing Internationale is armed "Okinawa Independent Party", and "Independent Okinawa" is the idea which has been very controversial even among Okinawa itself.

Another example of reviving the song is Soul Flower Mononoke Summit, Japanese rock band. They perform among daily-paid workers unions. Their new version Internationale was actually born in Kobe City after 1995 great earthquake. The band went to Kobe to perform pre-war old folk songs and labor songs in rock-styles to cheer up old people and workers under depression then. They also put new verses to traditional lyrics, which goes:

(translation)
Today we break the chains of silence
Drum bands' sound in square
Drumming Chang-Go (Korean drums)
and everybody begin to dance
Let us dance now !
Let us sing now !
International festival begins !

Every year at daily-paid workers union summer festival (Osaka and Yokohama), you can see hundreds of people, 60-70-years- old workers and youngsters in their 20s are together in dancing like crazy with Mononoke Summit's Internationale played at out- door street stage. This is also "something" in contemporary Japan.

The song continues to be vital to me, and somehow so to our society as well.

Thank you very much for your reading with patience my long letter not in accurate English.

I hope I can write in English webpage versions of some of the stories from Asia about how Internationale has been sung in various contexts. Your movie has very much inspired and challenged me for that. BTW, I translated scripts from your movie, and put it up at my website so that more Japanese people who does not know English can also buy and enjoy the movie.

Sincerely yours,

"Internationale-ist"