00:01Pinche Loca.
00:02You're going to get Pinche Loca. Right there?
00:05Yes.
00:06Super crazy.
00:08Like f***ing crazy?
00:10Are you nervous about people who know what Pinche Loca actually means, sees that tattoo?
00:32It's burrito night at the California Social Club.
00:36A night to kick back with Coronas and scope out fashion.
00:39There's bandanas, rosaries, and lowriders.
00:43It's blowing my mind.
00:45Because the thing is, I'm not in California.
00:50This is Nagoya, an industrial city on the coast of Japan.
00:59I was invited to a barbecue.
01:01I don't know if it's going to be Japanese food or Mexican food, but I brought Connie food.
01:05Chips!
01:06Anybody loves chips, right?
01:10Hi!
01:11Oh my God! I've never had burritos in Japan before.
01:16I feel like I've stepped into bizarro world.
01:20Never in my life have I seen a subculture styled as people from another race.
01:28I don't know if it's my favorite character.
01:33I've been looking for my makeup on the internet.
01:40I don't know if it's my favorite character.
01:43I don't know if it's my favorite character.
01:44I don't know if it's my favorite character.
01:46Yeah.
01:52If you feel a knee-jerk reaction seeing Japanese women posing as Latinas,
01:56thank pop culture.
01:58Selena Gomez in Ibindi.
02:00Kylie Jenner in Corn Rose.
02:02America is locked in a virtual shouting match right now around cultural appropriation.
02:08That's when you take something that's meaningful to another culture and wear it just because it makes you look good.
02:14This debate can spark a wildfire.
02:17So, take a deep breath.
02:20We're about to dive in.
02:22What is the line between celebrating another culture and stealing it?
02:31I'm hoping Ayaka can give me some insight.
02:34I'm hoping Ayaka can give me some insight.
02:37I'm hoping Ayaka can give me some insight.
02:43Every morning, Ayaka transforms her face to look like a Chicana, an American of Mexican descent.
03:14Ayaka felt drawn to the power she saw in Chicanas from 90s movies, like
03:18Nivida Loca and Selena, where bandanas, dark lips, and Nike Cortez sneakers channeled stories
03:26of romance and resilience.
03:28Take a look in the mirror, Will.
03:30These movies were huge hits in the States, but they also became international cult classics.
03:36So this is your closet?
03:37Mm-hmm.
03:39Okay.
03:41A woven poncho.
03:43I think I had one of those in high school.
03:46Oh, sports jerseys?
03:48Does it matter what team?
03:55As an American who lives around real Chicanas, my spidey sense is tingling.
04:02Ayaka's clothes look in line with 90s Cholas style, but where is the substance?
04:10Oh, this is a costume for a prison inmate.
04:16I have some Mexican-American friends who might see what you're doing and be like, there's
04:22a red flag here.
04:23Because some of the elements of the style that you have are what they consider to be the worst
04:29stereotypes about the community.
04:54In my experience, playing up stereotypes is a big no-no.
04:58But I see that Ayaka feels a real kinship to the idea of Chicanas.
05:03I feel conflicted.
05:05So I check in with Denise Sandoval.
05:08She's an expert in Chicano studies at California State University, Northridge.
05:12Do you think that what Japanese women are doing in regards to Chola style is cultural appropriation?
05:18Yeah, I do.
05:20But they're making their own meaning from it.
05:22They see it as they're honoring, right, and they're respecting Chicana, Chicano culture.
05:27But I think on the other side, they have freedom from the life and death politics of this style
05:32in the streets of L.A.
05:34Denise tells me that there are political roots to that rebellious look Chicanas are famous for.
05:42Chicano identity is tied to the civil rights movement, the Chicano movement of the 1960s and 1970s.
05:48You're refusing to split. You're both Mexican and American.
05:52And now it's that style of resistance, of women empowering themselves.
05:57Tough, right? You don't want to mess with these women.
06:01What is it about Chicano, Chicana culture that might be so appealing to Japanese communities?
06:06I think for Japanese people, there's a lot of things happening, right?
06:09I think what they appreciate is the diversity that exists here in the United States.
06:16You have to understand the culture of Japan, how it's very traditional.
06:20There's something in Japanese culture that they're not connecting to.
06:24That's the fascinating part, right? That they're finding liberation and freedom in other cultures.
06:31In Japan, all the women's fashion I've seen seems to strive toward a single ideal.
06:37Cute, soft, and submissive.
06:41I have to know, what is it from their own culture these women are rebelling against?
06:46There's someone I've been wanting to meet.
06:49The rapper who inspired Ayaka's style.
06:51She goes by Mona, AKA Sad Girl.
06:54She goes by Mona, she's like a star.
06:59When I'm in a hard time, she's what I wanted.
07:07I just wanna fly high.
07:09I wanna be a flower.
07:10I wanna be a flower.
07:10That's what time you got.
07:12I want to know that people are in the middle of the world.
07:17I really like this culture, and I really like this culture.
07:24Say what you will about Mona's Chicana cred.
07:27This diva has done her research.
07:29Her songs are packed with English and Spanish lyrics.
07:32Her room looks like a shrine to retro swag from the barrio.
07:37This case is so full of stuff.
07:39It's all important, but it's a宝物, JV.
07:45JV?
07:46Yes, I started singing with her.
07:49This magazine is so important.
07:52How many times have you read this magazine then?
07:55Countless.
07:56Infinity.
07:59What do Chicana women have that you wish you saw more here with Japanese women?
08:03I think it's important to think about it.
08:07I think it's important to think about the difference between people and people.
08:12I can't think about it until the world.
08:16I can't think about it until the Japanese people.
08:17I can't think about it, but I can't think about it.
08:24Many people in America believe that if it's not a culture you were born with, it's not a culture you
08:30should participate in.
08:43I see Mona's point.
08:47Every culture appropriate.
08:50I see Mona's point.
08:59Every culture appropriate.
09:00some way.
09:02It's how we share ideas and hobbies.
09:05In fact, that's how this whole fad started.
09:09When some Japanese autoworkers took a trip to LA.
09:16And fell hard for the cars.
09:29We learned the car building and the car styling technique from the California car guys.
09:36So I really respect them.
09:44Welcome to Paradise Road.
09:46A hobby shop run by Junichi.
09:48One of the original Japanese Chicanos.
09:51I stay reppin' the city of angels.
09:56Wow.
09:57So car guys candy store.
09:59This is a car guys candy store?
10:01Yeah.
10:01There's so much to look at.
10:07Car manufacturing is Nagoya's top industry.
10:10Here, car culture is an integral part of the city.
10:13Just like it is in LA.
10:15It led Nagoyans and Angelinos to share skills and become friends.
10:20Japanese mechanics began building lowriders as a passion project.
10:24But until recently, it was a man's game.
10:28But what we've talked about was a bit different.
10:30It's not a person of the Chanel car.
10:31So who I'm not really different here?
10:35But I don't care about the other characters.
10:40But I don't care about what other girls have.
10:42It's not very different.
10:43Sumire is not your average auto mechanic.
10:53How many other women work here?
11:01Sumire's fashioned herself after the sort of fierce woman Mona sings about.
11:06She's learning how to pair eyeliner with coveralls,
11:08and teaching herself how to lower her own car frames.
11:13Oh my god, this is your car?
11:16I love it!
11:20My baby, my baby.
11:29It's heavy when I cut it,
11:32but it's really cool.
11:35It's like a chain steering wheel.
11:39Oh my god, it's so cute!
11:42The bandana is surrounded by my favorite things,
11:47so it's really fun.
11:49Are you Catholic yourself?
11:50You're not?
11:52You just like the look.
12:06It must feel good for a female mechanic to know that somewhere in this world,
12:11getting your hands dirty on car engines carries some serious sex appeal.
12:23If Sumire can get that kind of confidence from someone else's culture,
12:27who am I to say that she doesn't appreciate it?
12:34Once a month, Japan's greater cholo scene convenes to show off what it does best.
12:39Low-rider car.
12:42Yeah!
12:44Lavish, loud, and low.
12:53What I've learned is,
12:55Chicano culture has provided a source of inspiration,
12:59that there's more than one way to be a Japanese woman.
13:01And if you ask me,
13:03that's reason enough to put on a pair of dickies.
13:16We're staying out past my bedtime before?
13:21I have to admit,
13:23this cultural appropriation makes sense to me.
13:26There's respect.
13:28And it actually leads to a deeper understanding of other people.
13:33Maybe this is what the future looks like.
13:36A world where culture isn't only where you come from,
13:39but also where you fit in.
13:42So, for now,
13:43I'm rolling with it.
