(NWM) Music of Japan Lesson

Music of Japan Lesson 

The music of Japan includes a wide array of performers in distinct styles both traditional and modern. The word for music in Japanese is (ongaku). Japan is the largest music market in the world and most of the market is dominated by Japanese artists.

Local music often appears at karaoke venues, which is on lease from the record labels. Traditional Japanese music is quite different from Western Music and is based on the intervals of human breathing rather than mathematical timing. In 1873, a British traveler claimed that Japanese music, "exasperate[s] beyond all endurance the European breast."

The oldest forms of traditional Japanese music are shōmyō. Buddhist chanting, and gagaku, orchestral court music, both of which date back several thousands of years..

Gagaku is a type of classical music that has been performed at the Imperial court since the Heian period. In addition, gagaku is divided into kangen (instrumental music) and bugaku (dance accompanied by gagaku).

Originating as early as the 13th century are honkyoku ("original pieces"). These are single (solo) pieces played by mendicant Fuke sect priests of Zen Buddhism. These priests, called komusō ("emptiness monk"), played honkyoku for alms and enlightenment. The Fuke sect ceased to exist in the 19th century, but a verbal and written lineage of many honkyoku continues today, though this music is now often practiced in a concert or performance setting.

The samurai often listened to and performed in these music activities, in their practices of enriching their lives and understanding.

Another form of Japanese theater is the puppet theater, often known as bunraku. This traditional puppet theater also has roots in popular traditions and flourished between (1600-1868). It is usually accompanied by recitation accompanied by shamisen music.

 

Folk Music

The biwa, a form of short-necked lute, was played by a group of itinerant performers who used it to accompany stories. The most famous of these stories is The Tale of the Heike, a 12th century history of the triumph of the Minamoto clan over the Taira. Biwa hōshi began organizing themselves into a guild-like association for visually impaired men as early as the thirteenth century. This guild eventually controlled a large portion of the musical culture of Japan.

In addition, numerous smaller groups of itinerant blind musicians were formed especially in the Kyushu area. These musicians, known as mōsō toured their local areas and performed a variety of religious and semi-religious texts to purify households and bring about good health and good luck. They also maintained a repertory of secular genres.

Blind women also toured the land since the medieval era, singing songs and playing accompanying music on a lap drum. From the seventeenth century they often played the koto or the shamisen.  

The taiko is a Japanese drum that comes in various sizes and is used to play a variety of musical genres. It has become particularly popular in recent years as the central instrument of percussion ensembles whose repertory is based on a variety of folk and festival music of the past. Such taiko music is played by large drum ensembles called kumi-daiko. Its origins are uncertain, but can be stretched out as far back as the 7th century, when a clay figure of a drummer indicates its existence. Chinese influences followed, but the instrument and its music remained uniquely Japanese. Taiko drums during this period were used during battle to intimidate the enemy and to communicate commands. Taiko continue to be used in the religious music of Buddhism and Shintō. In the past players were holy men, who played only at special occasions and in small groups, but in time secular men (rarely women) also played the taiko in semi-religious festivals such as the bon dance.

The koto is one of the most important instruments of Japan. It has thirteen strings that are stretched over a 6 foot long sound board.

 

Japanese folk songs can be grouped and classified in many ways, but it is often convenient to think of four main categories: work songs, religious, songs used for gatherings such as weddings, funerals, and festivals, and children's songs.

 

 

In min'yō, singers are typically accompanied by the three-stringed lute known as the shamisen, taiko drums, and a bamboo flute called shakuhachi. Other instruments that could accompany are a transverse flute known as the shinobue, a bell known as kane, a hand drum called the tsuzumi, and/or a 13-stringed zither known as the koto. In Okinawa, the main instrument is the sanshin. These are traditional Japanese instruments, but modern instrumentation, such as electric guitars and synthesizers, is also used in this day and age, when enka singers cover traditional min'yō song.

Terms often heard when speaking about min'yō are ondo, bushi, bon uta, and komori uta. An ondo generally describes any folk song with a distinctive swing that may be heard as 2/4 time rhythm (though performers usually do not group beats). The typical folk song heard at Obon festival dances will most likely be an ondo. A fushi is a song with a distinctive melody. Its very name, which is pronounced "bushi" in compounds, means "melody" or "rhythm." The word is rarely used on its own, but is usually prefixed by a term referring to occupation, location, personal name or the like. Bon uta, as the name describes, are songs for Obon, the lantern festival of the dead. Komori uta are children's lullabies. The names of min'yo songs often include descriptive term, usually at the end. For example: Tokyo Ondo, Kushimoto Bushi, Hokkai Bon Uta, and Itsuki no Komoriuta.

Many of these songs include extra stress on certain syllables as well as pitched shouts (kakegoe). Kakegoe are generally shouts of cheer but in min'yō, they are often included as parts of choruses. There are many kakegoe, though they vary from region to region. In Okinawa Min'yō, for example, one will hear the common "ha iya sasa!" In mainland Japan, however, one will be more likely to hear "a yoisho!," "sate!," or "a sore!" Others are "a donto koi!," and "dokoisho!"

 

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