Origin of Rising Sun graphic on J/C guitars?

[Bobby8]

So, this has been puzzling me for some time now. Maybe not just the origin of that graphic but all the 80's hype about Japan. Can somebody please explain this to me? We've seen it a thousand times, Rising Sun painted on the guitars, bandanas, band members wearing t'-shirts with the Rising Sun etc. I can understand 80's animal prints, and typical "metal" moments like skulls, flames, dragons and so forth. So I would really like to know is there a story behind this or some graphic designer/artist was just on drugs and everybody else thought that was cool? I mean, why not a Swedish flag instead, if you know what I'm sayin'. You guys can also discuss any other graphic you've seen on guitars with similar questions or comments, whatever.

[pickford1625]

"wok and woll crazy nights"?, i blame loudness....

[z1n]

you are the hero's tonight!

[Big Al]

M - Z - A (dunt du don don) M - Z - A .....never knew what MZA stood for, I remember reading it in the Loudness lyrics.

Cannot answer your question but I do know the 80's were a confusing time for budding metalheads. We did not know what was cool to wear, except for leather but that shit gets hot...and yes, I did wear a rising sun headband.

[Frigo89]

M - Z - A (dunt du don don) M - Z - A .....never knew what MZA stood for, I remember reading it in the Loudness lyrics.

Cannot answer your question but I do know the 80's were a confusing time for budding metalheads. We did not know what was cool to wear, except for leather but that shit gets hot...and yes, I did wear a rising sun headband.

my understanding is that MZA doesn't actually stand for anything, they just thought it sounded cool. hahaha

[Vass]

Japan appeared to be poised to become the dominant economic player in the world. They were buying up tons of US real estate as a means to spend all the dollars they got selling cars and such.

We nuked them in 44 and then essentially rebuilt them. It took until the 70s for them to get going, so it was really the first time we dealt with them on an equal footing- not at war but also not paternalistic.

Also remember the rising sun is not their national flag. It's their battle flag. After the war they were forbidden to fly it, and have only begun doing so again recently. This pisses off China, Korea, and American veterans.

So a lot of it was being rebellious I guess.

[shreddermon]

Yeah, I always assumed it was a Japanese warbird-like theme.

[BayRocker]

I read this thread as I'm about to begin the wetsanding of the the clear coat on my Kelly with Rising Sun graphic....lol. I just always thought it looked good on a guitar. There have been plenty of American Flags and British Flags on guitars too...I wouldn't say the Rising Sun has the market cornered. Perhaps it represents the Kamikaze spirit in which guitar players feel they are going for it all the time, or you're on the edge.

My dad and I always watched a ton of war movies back when I was a kid, so I guess the Rising Sun just stuck with me...

[jacksonkellyfreak]

simple answer? because its cool. Japan is always on the leading edge of tech stuff, and the rising sun came about from the bushido. Pointy guitars resemble pointy swords. however, one of the major things that really helped bring it into the main stream was none other than Miami Vice. In the very first episode (aired Sept. 15 1984) the cuban kids were wearing the rising sun and kanji shirts, and throughout the series Lt. Castillo references the bushido code, and all sorts of Japanese/Thai/Vietnamese culture. Plus if you remember that was THE show. everybody emulated everything about it. There was even a beard trimmer designed to leave stubble called the Miami Device. Remember everybody sporting Armani jackets with pastel t shirts? sockless deck loafers? same deal there. it exploded after the show, and then gained more popularity elsewhere because it wasnt directly tied to MV like the pastels and stuff.

[Jack Napalm]

Karate Kid

[Zedder]

For some reason Vinnie Vincent is always wearing a japan theme shirt in 80´s non makeup Kiss pics, here are few examples:

http://cdn.mos.musicradar.com/images/magblogs/guitarist/Images/Artists/Vinnie_Friday-460-85.jpg

http://files.myopera.com/AijixMaya/albums/5167692/thumbs/025V.Vinncent.jpg_thumb.jpg

Why did he think Japan was so cool then, I have no idea. His Jacksons were and are cool anyway, of course.

[Big Al]

Because it was an easy graphic to paint!

[vector]

Graphically, it's a powerful image. Symbolically, it imbues the essence of bushido- victory or death, no surrender, no retreat, etc which the fanatical mindset that perhaps a lot of 80's metal-ers wanted to project. Historically, it's a period piece from Japan's meteoric rise as a war time power and as a sobering symbol of the empire's defeat. My decision to use it is based on the first 2. YMMV.

[charvel750]

George Lynch visited Japan in the early 80's with Dokken and was impressed with the culture he had the Kamikaze graphics variations. Jake E Lee is part Japanese, he was wearing Japanese stuff since before Ozzy. Marty Friedman loved Japan so much he moved there. So a lot of 80's era rockers were into the Japanese culture.

[RacerX]

We nuked them in 44

1945