Yoko Songs: Joseijoi Banzai (女性上位ばんざい)
Single – Japan 1973
By Madeline Bocaro ©
This is an excerpt from my Yoko Ono biography…
An all-embracing look at Yoko’s life and work in stunning detail.
Read all about the book, see the reviews and
Order here:
https://madelinex.com/2021/12/19/my-new-book/
This very cool song with a funky bass line was commissioned by Japanese feminist Yoko Sasaki. The lyrics translate as ‘Female-on-top (position) Banzai’ or ‘Hooray to female higher position’. There is a play on words when Yoko says ‘jokon’. In Japanese it has two meanings: woman/soul or male/root which combined means ‘penis’. ‘Joriki’ is Yoko’s way of saying ‘Woman Power’.
Joseijoi Banzai is also the title of an essay in the book, Just Me (a compilation of Yoko’s autobiography, essays and interviews in Japanese by Takahiko Iimura) in 1986.
‘Joseijoi Banzai’ was recorded with the Plastic Ono Elephant’s Memory Band in January 1973 and released only in Japan on May 5. An version of the same song was on the B-Side with Yoko vocalizing and repeating the song’s title. At the end of the B-side rendition, you can hear John say, ‘Yes dear.’ Yoko’s follow-up single, ‘Yume O Motou’ was recorded on July 3, 1974 and released in Japan on September 20. Neither of these songs appear on Yoko’s studio albums. They were performed live during her Yume O Motou (Let’s Have A Dream) tour of Japan in the summer of 1974.
To coincide with the John & Yoko Double Fantasy Tokyo Exhibition in November 2020, the 7-inch single has been reissued exclusively in Japan (on white vinyl) for the first time in 47 years!
A limited quantity white vinyl reissue of the 1973 Japan-only single “Joseijoi Banzai”. Yoko sings in Japanese in response to the “women’s liberation” movement in Japan at the time, calling for women’s emancipation. A Japan-only reissue on white vinyl with a red Japanese flag on the label.
(See photos below)
Joseijoi Banzai
女性上位ばんざい
One thousand years of male society
Smoke-filled land of the rising sun
History indicates that they’re good for nothing
Time has come for all male retirement
It’s time for women to show her true self
With woman soul and power
Female-Up position banzai!
Female-Up position banzai!
Two thousand years of male society
Violence-controlled land of the rising sun
History shows that they’re good for nothing
Time has come for women’s solidarity
It’s time for women to sing her true song
With women soul and power let’s create a new era
Female-up, position banzai
Female-up, position banzai
Yoko performs the song live on TV – Flipside 1973:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3JGIS_ht0uU
Japanese Single:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MkIIJ_H-3PU
Onobox version:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2OQEbSZefSo
See Yoko’s 1974 Tokyo gig at Nakano Sun Plaza here:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_lJi5x3h8hk&t=84s
Live in Japan 2009
http://www.dailymotion.com/video/xoexsn
Kyoko Koizumi covered ‘Joseijoi Banzai’
And here is another nice cover version from 1993
http://www.ikoo8.com/video_play/XNTkzNDA4Njg0.htmlhttp://www.ikoo8.com/video_play/XNTkzNDA4Njg0.html
Yoko performs Joseijoi Banzai live on Japanese TV in 2009
(at 5 minutes – after part 1 of the interview)
Phonographic Copyright (p) – Apple Records, Inc.
Copyright (c) – Apple Records, Inc.
Published By – Ono Music, Inc.
Manufactured By – Toshiba Musical Industries Ltd.
Mastered By – John Dent
Written-By, Producer – Yoko Ono
Manufactured by Toshiba Musical Industries Ltd.
Japan-only exclusive single release
Barcode and Other Identifiers
Matrix / Runout (Label Side A): EAR-10344-A
Matrix / Runout (Label Side B): EAR-10344-B
Matrix / Runout (Runout Side A, stamped): EAR-10344-A 1S2 〄JD
Matrix / Runout (Runout Side B, stamped): EAR-10344-B 1S2 〄
Rights Society: JASRA
This is an excerpt from my Yoko Ono biography
In Your Mind – The Infinite Universe of Yoko Ono
An all-embracing look at Yoko Ono’s life, music and art – in stunning detail.
Read all about the book, see the reviews and
Order here:
https://madelinex.com/2021/12/19/my-new-book/
HARD COVER books are only available at…
Conceptual Books
Contact: conceptualbooks@icloud.com
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