I’m a lifelong jazz admirer. My parents instilled in me a passion for music, and their interest in jazz (my siblings are named after jazz artists, and I grew up hearing it played around the house) sparked my journey to research further into the genre. One of my favorite things I found in this is the many fusion subgenres, especially the Japanese ones. The influence of the American jazz tradition on geographically disconnected regions drew me in and made me question the other ways the U.S. has influenced the wider world. The U.S. is often characterized as a summation of worldwide influences, creating the “melting pot” optic, but the way that culmination has manifested itself as an entity of influence feels under-discussed. In doing this project, I hope that I can educate myself and ultimately others on the broader implications of something as unassuming as a musical sub-genre.