Kohei Japan

Kohei Japan is a Japanese hip hop emcee and a member of the Japanese rap group, Mellow Yellow. Born in Yokohama, Japan, he discovered rap and hip hop while working as a chef.{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=CH8Nj_bBxWoC&q=Kohei+Japan&pg=PA14|title=Hip-Hop Japan: Rap and the Paths of Cultural Globalization|isbn=0822338920|last1=Condry|first1=Ian|date=November 2006}}

Many of his songs illustrate the contrasts between his Japanese culture and Western hip hop influences. In his song "Hungry Strut",{{cite web |url=http://web.mit.edu/condry/www/jhh/ |title=Japanese Hip-Hop, by Ian Condry (MIT) |website=web.mit.edu |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20030430144943/http://web.mit.edu/condry/www/jhh/ |archive-date=2003-04-30}} he proclaims that he eats "rice, not bread, and fish, not meat", thereby asserting that while he is a member of the hip hop culture, he remains Japanese. He shows his attachment to Japanese culture by wearing a traditional kimono in many of his appearances. On his album "The adventures of Kohei Japan", he appears on the cover as a kabuki character in a woodblock print.Ian Condry, "Hip-hop Japan: Rap and the Paths of Cultural Globalization", 2006 On the album cover, his hands make the universal "funk" sign, showing the contrast between traditional Japan and hip hop culture.