Boom box the latest retro musical fad in Japan as millennials embrace 1970s portable players
Portable transistor radio-cassette players are making a comeback in digital music age thanks to nostalgic older generations and curious millennials
Along with vinyl’s recent resurgence, another throwback from the 1970s that is gaining in popularity in the digital age is the boom box portable music player.
While radio-cassette players are viewed with nostalgia among older generations, they represent something new and fresh for young people, even if the machines themselves are considered dinosaurs.
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At a “big radio-cassette player” exhibition held at Tokyo’s Seibu Shibuya department store in August, 24-year-old Takuya Gomi’s eyes sparkle with excitement as he checks out the clunky, unsophisticated music players lining the shelves.
“They’re big, heavy and awkward, but that’s why they’re unique,” says Gomi, who bought a boom box about a year ago. Gomi, an office worker who plays guitar as a hobby, says he enjoys the sound of cassettes when he practises. “You can also record the atmosphere of the occasion,” he says.
The fascination with records and other analogue goods is spreading.
In Japan, manufacturers of household electric appliances began producing radio-cassette recorders in the 1960s. According to the Japan Audio Society, the portability of the machines made it possible to listen to music outdoors, leading to their widespread use. But the advent of the internet changed how people consumed music, and the boom box all but faded into the shadows.