1.
Music
Of
Japan

2.
• The music of
Japan includes a wide
array of performers in
distinct styles both
traditional and
modern.

3.
•The word
for music in Japanese is
(ongaku), combining the
kanji ("on" sound) with the
kanji ("gaku" music).

4.
• Local music often
appears
at karaoke venues,
which is on lease from
the record labels.

5.
•Traditional Japanese music is
quite different from Western
Music and is based on the
intervals of human breathing
rather than mathematical
timing.

6.
Vocal Music
Kumeuta
Kagurauta
Azumaasobi
Saibara
Rōei

7.
Instrumental Music
Kangen - basically, a Chinese form of
music.
Bugaku- influenced byTang Dynasty
China and Balhae.

8.
MUSICAL ENSEMBLES
Kumoi Jishi
"Kumoi" means sky, although in literary
usage the term implies a reference to the
palace, or to court circles. In this piece it
seems likely that the term refers to one
of the koto tunings, a not infrequent case
of influence between genres.

9.
MUSICAL ENSEMBLES
Kumoi Jishi
Jishi" refers to a lion dance, so many
diverse pieces include that word in their
title that the connection is probably even
more tenuous than that of an 18th-
centuryWestern dance suite to actual
dancing.

10.
Ozatsuma
This is one of two solo shamisen excerpts from
Nagauta - the most important musical portion of
Kabuki theater. Both excerpts typify the
occasional interludes without voice, in which the
shamisen is played in a most virtuosic manner.
These interludes tend to come at the peak of
dramatic tension; often several players perform in
perfect unison ensemble. Ozatsuma is the name
of the shamisen technique exemplified here.

11.
Ogi no Mato
The Folding Fan as aTarget
This famous piece for voice and biwa is based on a
complex legend similar to that ofWilliamTell, in
which a folding fan,
instead of the famous Swiss apple, serves as the
target. Most biwa music is quite ancient.Voice and
instrument in the narrative chants tend to
complement each other as inWestern recitative; the
large ornamental leaps for the voice are
characteristic of the genre.

12.
Edo Komoriuta
The original melody of this piece
is a lullaby from the Edo period
(Edo was the name forTokyo
before it became the capital of
Japan).

13.
Edo Komoriuta
Although similar to the melodic
construction of other types of music
from the same period, its simple
phrases reveal a folk origin.This
arrangement for six players is by the
Ensemble's artistic director, Minoru
Miki.

14.
Godan Ginuta
A frequently performed koto duet
from the mid-19th century, this
formally constructed work features
angular rhythms that derive from
the sound of the kinuta (a set of
wooden blocks for beating silk).
"Godan" means "five variations."

15.
Godan Ginuta
The Japanese variation technique was
developed in the 17th century, originating
With the famous piece Rokudan no
Shirabe; it includes not only modifications
and decorations of the basic theme, but
also compression and expansion of
thematic materials.

16.
Godan Ginuta
The last variation of Godan ginuta
betrays its debt to the earlier
Rokudan by including the entire first
section of Rokudan in the second
koto part, not unlike a cantus firmus
in a Renaissance choral work.

17.
Esashi Oiwake
This is one of several solo shakuhachi
works that differ widely from one
performer to the next because of the
absence of a tradition of written notation.
It is also one of the small number of
shakuhachi pieces that are not religious in
orientation; here, the melodic line shows a
close connection to folk material.

18.
 Mushi no Aikata
In this second of the Nagauta excerpts for
shamisen solo, the wide range of musical
devices poses an interpretative challenge to
the performer.Although some of the
techniques heard here (such as repetition of
motives, extreme range, and glissandi) are
typical of the solo interludes, the dramatic
pauses and frequent shifts of tempo are more
often associated with the vocal sections.

19.
 Azuma Jishi
 Azuma Lion Dance
This is an excerpt from a late- 18th-century
composition that lasts 25 minutes in its entirety
Composed originally for voice and koto, it is
heard here in a version that also includes
shamisen and shakuhachi; the three instruments
represent one of the most popular instrumental
combinations in Japanese music.

20.
 Azuma Jishi
 Azuma Lion Dance
This work also makes use of a somewhat
modified form of the first variation of
Rokudan - heard at the first entrance of the
shakuhachi, which plays from the shakuhachi
transcription of Rokudan, rather than the
original koto version.

21.
Japanese
Musical
instrument

22.
BIWA
is a Japanese short-necked
fretted lute, often used in narrative
storytelling.The biwa is the chosen
instrument of Benten, goddess of
music, eloquence, poetry, and
education in Japanese Shinto.

23.
HYŌSHIGI
consisting of two pieces
of hardwood or bamboo that are
connected by a thin ornamental rope.
They are used in traditional theaters in
Japan to announce the beginning of a
performance.

24.
KANE
is a type of bell from Japan. a dish-
shaped bell. it is often hung on a
bar, and the player holds the bell in
place with one hand, and beats the
Kane with a specialized mallet with
the other.

25.
KOKYŪ
It is a traditional
Japanese string
instrument, the only one
played with a bow.

26.
KOTO
is a traditional Japanese stringed musical
instrument, similar to the Chinese zheng, and
theVietnamese đàn tranh.The koto is the
national instrument of Japan. Koto are about
180 centimeters length, and made
from kiri wood.They have 13 strings that are
strung over 13 movable bridges along the width
of the instrument

27.
FUE
is the Japanese word for flute, and refers to
a class of flutes native to Japan. Fue come
in many varieties, but are generally high-
pitched and made of a
bamboo called shinobue. The most popular
of the fue is the shakuhachi.

28.
SHAKUHACHI
One of the most
popular and oldest
of the Japanese fue.

29.
HICHIRIKI
A unique fue in that it
is a double
reed instrument. used
as one of two main
melodic instruments in
Japanese gagaku
music

30.
Shinobue
Also called the bamboo flute, it is used for nagauta,
the background music used in kabuki theatre.

31.
Ryu`teki
Used in Japanese music
seeming to have a
Chinese origin. Its
sound is said to
represent the ascension
of dragons

32.
Noh and Kyogen
 Noh "Hagoromo" (YAMAITsunao)
 Noh and Kyogen are two inextricably linked performing
arts referred to collectively in Japanese as Nogaku. Noh
is the oldest surviving theatrical art in Japan, going back
six hundred years. It has evolved somewhat over time,
and took on its present form in the mid-Edo period (the
Edo period as a whole lasting from 1603 to 1867). Noh
was perfected by the feudal warrior class, the daimyo
and the samurai, and is the embodiment of the spirit
and aesthetic outlook of the warrior.

33.
Bunraku
Bunraku is the name currently applied to the tradition of
puppet theater that has been performed in Osaka,
combining spoken and sung narration
(joruri),shamisen musical accompaniment, and puppets
(ningyo). Bunraku puppets are manipulated by three
puppeteers, while a narrator, or tayu, seated on a small
revolving platform to the right of the stage delivers the
text of the drama, accompanied by a shamisen player
seated next to him.

34.
The ningyo joruri, as this form of puppet theater was
originally known, that appeared in Osaka underwent a
rapid burst of development in the Genroku era (1688-
1704) of the Edo period (1603-1867). At that time, the
playwright Chikamatsu Monzaemon and the narrator
Takemoto Gidayu joined forces to create a sophisticated
form of puppet theater that was the precursor of today's
Bunraku.

35.
It is due to them that puppet theater in Osaka
became a professional dramatic art with the highest
level of music, drama, and techniques of puppet
manipulation, distinguishing it from the various
amateur and folk puppet traditions existing
elsewhere in Japan. It is no exaggeration to say that
Bunraku is the most highly developed puppet
theater in the world.

36.
Kabuki
Kabuki is a theatrical art form of sophisticated and
stylized beauty, from the performances and music to
its stage sets and costumes. Fostered in the
flourishing culture of the townspeople and the
merchant class of the Edo period (1603-1867), Kabuki
is a constantly evolving art form that has responded
with great sensitivity to the changing times, taking
on new challenges as it grows and develops
continuously. Many of the new directions or
adaptations of the previous generation are then
passed on to the subsequent one, during which they
become, over time, a part of Kabuki.

37.
Gagaku refers to a genre of music and dance systematized in
Japan in the mid-Heian period (784-1185). Many different
kinds of music and dance are actually included in this single
term. Hearing the word "Gagaku", even most Japanese
think of the two kinds of music known as togaku("Tang
Music") and komagaku ("Korean Music"), but actually
Gagaku is a much broader category of music and
dance. Togaku refers to music introduced to Japan from
China and the Asian continent, while komagaku is music
introduced from the Korean Peninsula. Both of these were
so extensively adapted by the Japanese aristocracy of the
Heian period that, for all intents and purposes, they are
Japanese music.

38.
kagura
Though all Japanese have heard of Kagura, most
don't actually know much about it.Written with
the characters forkami ("god") and music, it is,
literally, entertainment for the native Japanese
gods, or kami, and consists of dances and music
performed as part of Shinto ritual. Kagura can be
divided into two main categories,mikagura,
which is performed as a kind of Gagaku in the
imperial court, and kagura, which was
transmitted among the Japanese people.We will
discuss the latter in this section.

39.
Shomyo
is the name for the style of chanting employed by the monks
of certain Buddhist schools when they recite the Buddhist
scriptures in a half-singing, half-spoken intonation. It
resembles plainsong in the medieval Christian church.This
style of chanting, along with Buddhism and its texts,
originated in India. It's not known precisely when it was
transmitted to Japan, but it's thought that some early form
of Shomyo was introduced to Japan from the Asian
continent at the same time as Buddhism, in the mid-sixth
century. Shomyo exerted an influence on later narrative
and chanting styles in Japan, such as Noh and the chanting
accompanying puppet plays known as ningyo joruri, and in
many ways it can be regarded as the starting point of vocal
arts in Japan.

40.
 Nihon Buyo refers to a specific form of traditional Japanese
dance.The term buyois a recent coinage. Bu and yo are read
separately as mai and odori, and they refer to two different
styles or categories of Japanese dance. Mai is a dance style
in which the feet rarely if ever leave the floor as the dancer
moves; odori, in contrast, is much less constrained and
focuses on movements, steps, and leaps.
 The mai of Nihon Buyo developed from the tradition of
Kamigata mai practiced as a form of entertainment as
banquets and high-class restaurants mainly in the Kayoto-
Osaka region, which is referred to as Kamigata.The odori of
Nihon Buyo derives from Kabuki dancing. Okinawan dance
and the various folk dances performed throughout Japan
are not considered a part of Nihon Buyo.

41.
Dance of the ainu people
The Ainu are the Indigenous People of Japan. It was
only about 150 years ago that the Ainu inhabited
almost all the land of Hokkaido, Kuril Islands and
the south half of Sakhalin. As the Ainu people
lived off the land, they have developed a unique
relationship with what natural environment
offers - animals, plants, thunder and disease -€
and they considered them as "kamuy" or spirits.
It is thought that the songs and dances of the
Ainu people are born through the relations
between the Ainu and kamuy.