Big Blog 2 - Music of Japan

For my last big blog entry, we're going to be learning about the music of Japan! 

To start, a little bit of history about Japan and Japanese music. In around 300 b.c., in Japan there was the invention of the pottery wheel, and the use of rice cultivation, in what is now known as Tokyo. Also, the religion Shinto began developing (Shinto is Japan's oldest religion) (Japanese History). Shinto is basically the belief in spirits called kami that can influence the quality of a person's life, so shrines are used to pay respects to those spirits in order to have a good quality of life. Shinto also believes that humans are inherently good. The word Shinto is derived from the Chinese words "Shen" and "Tao." Shen means spirit and tao means the way, and put together, Shinto means the way of the spirits (BBC, 2011). To the Japanese people, Shinto is also not technically a religion (there's also no scriptures associated with it either), it's more of a philosophy that they incorporate into their everyday life as a part of their culture. Another common religion in Japan is Buddhism.  We learned a little bit about Buddhism in class when learning about Hinduism, and essentially Buddhism is the path to enlightenment and finding inner peace. There are three main regional types of Buddhism that are practiced around the world and the one practiced in China, Japan, and Korea is called Mahayana Buddhism (History, July 2020). 

Going on to the history of music and Japan, a lot of Chinese traditions (and Buddhist music) were implemented in Japanese music. Before Buddhist music spread through Japan, a lot of the songs that they had were to do with the rituals of the Shinto religion (Restaurants Guide to Tokyo). The first song I'm going to share is a Kagura, which is a dance that honors the Shinto spirits. During the Kagura there are two things happening, one is the maikata, which are the dancers who wear the costumes and makeup to tell stories about the spirits through dance. The second is the hayashikata, which are the people who play the instruments and music. Another type of ceremonial dance/music practice the Shinto religion uses is called Mikagura, which was performed by priests in the courts of Japan (Japanese Garden, 2017). 

 

The next type of music of Japan that we're going to talk about is called heikyoku, which began in the 1200s as a way to honor and tell stories about samurai and war. These songs were performed by blind monks of the Todo guild (Restaurants Guide to Tokyo), and they used some of the instruments that we're going to talk about in a second. The first instrument we're going to talk about is called a koto, which is a chordophone that originated in China. It has 13 strings and is a plucked instrument. This is a piece that I found that is played on the koto and after hearing the first few seconds of it, I had to include it and share it. In this video, you can see her playing with these picks on her fingers, and how her other hand isn't plucking the strings but is still being used to help play by dampening. Also, notice how she bows before playing - respect is something that is very big in Japan, and bowing is a way to show respect to people and, I'm assuming the instrument and/or song that she's about to play. You can also see her wearing a traditional kimono. 

The next instrument that we're going to talk about is called the shamisen, which is another chordophone that is neither bowed nor plucked. It's actually struck with these handheld, triangular objects. I guess it could be considered as a giant guitar pick. It has three strings and was brought to Japan in the 1500s. Eventually, the shamisen was used to accompany puppet plays. In this video, you can see that it's like the guitar in some sense, but it also has a really unique sound of its own. It's also amazing to watch their fingerstyle on the other hand. It reminds me of an electric guitar solo. The other instrument in the second video is called the biwa, and it's similar to the shamisen but older, and it's also a lot bigger and is kind of like if you took a lute, or oud, and turned it upright to play it. In this video she's also singing, what I assume is a traditional song that would be played on the biwa. 

The final traditional instrument we're going to talk about is the shakuhachi, which was originally brought over from China like many of the traditions and instruments mentioned previously. The shakuhachi was an aerophone used in the 1700s by monks who had once been samurai and can be used to accompany the koto and shamisen. It can also be used to accompany poetry, which I thought was very cool. Listening to the shakuhachi being played in this video made me really glad that I chose to write about the music of Japan because it's such a beautiful instrument that says a lot about their unique and beautiful culture. Below this video is the main three instruments playing together (koto, shamisen, and shakuhachi). 

As well as these instruments, there is also the popular taiko, or wadaiko drum, which is important to Japanese culture. This video shows the taiko drum and the shamisen playing together. 

Also in Japan in the 1800s, the art of Kabuki became popular. Kabuki is the art of theater in Japan that would be accompanied by large music orchestral groups. In this video, you can see how it starts off with the playing of the shamisen, and then the Kabuki dancers come out dressed in traditional clothing and makeup. Through their dancing, you can kind of get an idea of the story that is being told here, with the woman and the samurai. There is also a style of dance that is used in the Japanese courts called Gagaku, which is music and dance involving kigaku (instrumental music), and seigaku (vocal music). 

Finally, there are so many aspects of Japanese pop-culture that I didn't even get into, but I hope that I've been able to successfully share more about the traditional instruments and some of the musical history of Japan. The last thing that I wanted to share is kind of a modernized version of some of these classical instruments and I thought it was really cool! The song is sung by Yoko Nagayama, a former J-pop star, and in some of her music, it's interesting to hear the fusion of different styles. 

The last thing I want to share this Japanese folk song/lullaby that I found because it's just so pretty. 

- Works Cited - 

"An Introduction to Kabuki Theater," Khan Academy, https://www.khanacademy.org/humanities/art-asia/art-japan/edo-period/a/an-introduction-to-kabuki-theater

"The History of Japanese Traditional Music," Tokyo Restaurants Guide, https://restaurants-guide.tokyo/column/the-history-of-japanese-traditional-music/ 

"Shakuhachi," Met Museum, https://www.metmuseum.org/art/collection/search/503039

"The Sacred Music of Mikagura: A Brief Look at an Ancient Ritual," Japanese Garden, July 24, 2017, https://japanesegarden.org/2017/07/25/sacred-music-mikagura-brief-look-ancient-ritual/ 

"What is Kagura," Kids Love Japan, https://web-japan.org/kidsweb/meet/kagura/kagura01.html 

"Traditional Japanese Music," Kids Love Japan, https://web-japan.org/kidsweb/virtual/koto/koto01.html

"Buddhism," History, 2020, https://www.history.com/topics/religion/buddhism 

"Religions: Shinto at a glance," BBC, 2011, https://www.bbc.co.uk/religion/religions/shinto/ataglance/glance.shtml 

"Japanese History," Asia Society, https://asiasociety.org/education/japanese-history