showa 33 and Japanese rockabilly:

                                                                                                                           Masaaki Hirao

primary definitions:  

• showa 33 = 1958
• rockabilly = a fusion of black music and country music that was popular in the 1950s; sometimes described as blues with a country beat 
• notable artists include: Early Elvis Presley, Buddy Holly, Carl Perkins, Link Wray and so on...
• troubled authorities in America and Japan
• rokabiri = Japanese adaptation of rockabilly music to their own language and culture

what Japan was like in 1958:

• still recovering from the effects of the atom bombs
• still occupied by some US forces
• teens attempting to block the Treaty of Mutual Cooperation and Security

the roots of rockabilly in Japan:

• country music was popular with the US forces and Japanese country acts would have shows on the bases
• the "faster more rhythmic" rockabilly sound began to develop and rokabiri acts began playing at Tokyo coffee shops (jazz kissa) 
• notable Japanese rokabiri artists: Masaaki Hirao, Keijiro Yamashita, and Mickey Curtis

                                                                                                                           Keijiro Yamashita

                                                                                                       Mickey Curtis

rokabiri's big break:

•  Misa Watanabe (a promoter, daughter of a talent agent, manager of jazz kissa Tennessee) saw marketable potential
• rented the Nihon Gekijyo theater in Tokyo (2000+ capacity) to put on a week long Western Carnival show 
• the sound was huge 
• caught the attention of the youth and started stirring things up 
• teens began dropping out of school and forming rokabirizoku (rockabilly gangs)
• the PTA and the authorities at large began to lay the hammer down and the rokabiri boom was dead by 1960

why did it all happen like this:

• this new sexually charged music provided an outlet for children of the war
• Japan was recovering from large scale nuclear devastation and corresponding US occupation, this gave rise to a certain degree of societal rigidity
• Japan was vulnerable and much of the youth looked up to the American soldiers, inevitably some American culture would be absorbed and integrated
• the youth was experiencing the initial stages of a DaDaistic break from its heritage--the old ways caused the devastation of the war, new ways are in order
• they sought something they could possess of their own making 

why did it end so quickly:

• similarly to DaDa the movement simply couldn't last any longer
• the authorities stepped in and ended any hope of prolonging the dangerous new power
• all rokabiri music was banned from airplay

where is rokabiri today:

• thanks, in large part, to Takashi Yamazaki's 2005 film, Always Sanchōme no Yūhi (Always: Sunset on Third Street), rokabiri has seen a revival in recent years

links: 

Showa 33: the year Japan got all shook up 

Japanese Rockabilly