Boogie Down! Japan Lifts 67 Year Old Ban On Dancing

The bad was made into law after World War II in an effort to prevent prostitution that was often found amongst dance halls.

Before now, public dancing was forbidden unless a venue had a license. And even with a license, all boogying was banned after midnight.

Thanks to a recent increase in public backlash against the law, a debate in parliament had led the government to ease up on the ban by Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, who wants to prepare the country for an increase in tourism ahead of the 2020 Tokyo Olympics.

“I think politicians and authorities are feeling pressure as they don’t want Japan to be seen as a boring place by foreign tourists,” said Takahiro Saito, a Tokyo-based lawyer who led a movement against the law called “Let’s Dance.”

The campaign submitted a petition of 150,000 signatures to recall the ban in May 2013.

The petition prompted a group of nonpartisan lawmakers to reevaluate the law. Then, in April, the Osaka District Court exonerated a club owner after he was charged for violating the boogie ban, creating legal precedent.

Rueters reports: “Because the law was often used as a pretext to act against or investigate separate problems such as rowdy clubgoers, illegal drugs or suspected gangster involvement, changing the law may not end police intrusions into clubland.”

Saito stated that “if they cut the part referring to dance out of the law then at the very least they won’t stop people dancing any more. But the police may strengthen their efforts to target problems such as noise and other nuisances to the neighborhood.” He continues, “For conservative parliament members, there is still a strong image of clubs being a place where young people cause trouble.”

And so, friends, I leave you with this:

“And most of these laws, I can see, as a parent, how they make sense to you. But my right to dance… when I want, where I want, and how I want is a right that you cannot take away! It is mine. See, we don’t have that much time left. All us teenagers, pretty soon we’re gonna be just like you. We’re gonna have jobs, and bills, and families. And we’re gonna have to worry about our own children, because that is the job of a parent. To worry. I get that. But ours, as teenagers, is to live! To play our music way too loud and to act like idiots! And to make mistakes.” -Ren McCormack, Footloose