Make Believe Bonus: Rock And/Or Roll

The Fender Flagship Store In Harajuku And RADWIMPS At Zepp Haneda

I’m staring up at Flea and Bruno Mars. They are just two of a constellation of musicians clutching Fender guitars — sometimes in mid-shread, other times posed — featured in blown-up pictures dotting the stairwell of the brand’s newly opened flagship store in Harajuku. It’s like staring upwards at some saint-lined cathedral, except with assorted visual-kei guys and classic rock staples demanding attention.

It makes perfect sense for the California-born guitar maker to have opened their first ever flagship store — a four-floor fortress to all things Fender, doors swung open at the end of June — in Japan. In other countries, rock music inspires hemming and hawing from writers, fans and industry types alike over its vitality. Is rock dead???? Wait, is it alive???? Why is everyone writing about midwest emo all of a sudden???? It’s never a question in this country though. Rock remains the foundation of Japanese music in the 21st century, even as other genres and styles grow in the nation. Yet for all changes, rock ‘n’ roll remains the center.