Music of Japan

Overview
• Region=East Asia
• Consists of 3,000 islands, capital=Tokyo
• Constitutional monarchy with prime
minister
• History traces back to 660 BC

Emperor Akihito
 Cultural Influences
• China (system of writing; music)
• India, Korea, China (religion: Buddhism)
• Europe and U.S. (Western classical music;
popular culture)
• During Meiji period (1868-1911, Western art music
incorporated into educational system)
 Japanese Isolationism
• Edo/Tokugawa period (1600-1867): period
of extreme isolationism, lead to
consolidation of traditional arts
• Japanese religions:
– Shinto (animist, was state religion until WWII)
– Zen Buddhism (Japanese form of Buddhism,
emphasizing meditation to reach state of
heightened awareness)
 SHINTO
• http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RgQ4e
Cc38dM
 ZEN
• http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_WAi2f
wUqN4
Zen Art Forms
 Japanese Ethos
• Complex simplicity
• Emphasis on process
• Silence is just as important as sound

Arts important tool for spiritual development

 THE MUSIC OF JAPAN
Traditional Japanese music genres have
long histories but have changed little in
hundreds of years. In a modern world, it
could be perceived as stagnation, but it is in
fact the reflection of the Japanese value of
stability. The music is primarily pentatonic
with auxiliary pitches.
• Performances are uniform with great
decorum. Music types include court music,
musical drama, chamber music, and
chant. Traditional Japanese music is
performed today in recital halls inside
great department stores in the Ginza area
of Tokyo.
 Hogaku (Japanese Traditional
Music)
• PITCH AND SCALES:
• Octave divided into 12 intervals (NOT tempered)
and not the same depending upon instrument
• Pentatonic scales common
• Scales=collection of intervals around “nuclear”
tones located a fourth apart (emphasis on fourths)
 Timbre and Melody
• Use of variety of • Emphasis on melody,
timbres, including not harmony
unpitched sounds • Use of short motifs
• Sparse textures • Open-ended pieces
• Singing tonal • Varied repetitions
quality=tense, narrow
 Rhythm and Form
• Use of flexible or • Most common form:
“beatless” rhythm jo-ha-kyu (based on
• Percussion rhythm tempo changes)
may be different from • Jo = slow introduction
melody rhythm • Ha=breaking apart
(“sliding door effect”) (tempo builds)
• Kyu=rushing, tempo
reaches peak, then
slows to end
Hichiriki
Instruments
Shakuhachi

Koto

Shamisen
 The Shakuhachi
• End-blown bamboo flute (4 holes in front,
1 in back)
• Wide range of timbres from “pure” to wide
• Flourished during Tokugawa period
• Associated with samurai/priest class, used
as “spiritual tool”
• Music tends to be unmetered, phrases
follow breaths
“Tsuru no sugomori”
(Cranes are Nesting)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M1XguDd43gc
 The Koto
• Zither with hollow sound board, 13 strings,
and movable bridges.
• Originally used by elite as “spiritual tool”,
later played by low/merchant class
• Famous piece for koto: Rokudan (“Six
Sections”). Each dan has 104 beats,
repeated with variations.
• http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r6ALjvj
mjHg
 The Shamisen
• 3-string long-necked lute, wooden body
with skin back and face.
• Includes “buzzing” string.
• Associated with dramatic music, used in
bunraku, kabuki.
• Associated with geishas performing in tea
houses.
 SHAMISEN
• http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qWJrM
A3zJ5o
 Hichiriki and Shou
• http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CYdCt9
XbA8w
 Nohkahn
• http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YvK79-
1G6xk
 Kabuki Theater
• Degatari –– the onstage musicians in
kabuki
• Geza –– the offstage orchestra in kabuki
who produce the sound effects
• Chobo –– the pair of onstage musicians,
one who narrates and the second who
accompanies him on the shamisen
• Debayashi –– literally “coming-out
orchestra”; a music group in kabuki that
comes out onstage to accompany a
specific scene
• Nagauta –– a lyric genre of shamisen
music, also sung in unison chorus in
kabuki
• Kyogenkata –– the man who plays the
woodblocks (hyoshigi) in accelerated
beats to announce the rise of the curtain in
kabuki
 Kabuki / Dojoji
• http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Axcbh9
2iC6U
 Noh
• Noh was transformed into a serious
Buddhist art by Kannami Kiyotsugu (1333-
1384) by combining folk dances, theatrics,
religious, and courtly entertainment
• Zeami Motokiyo (1363-1444) –– the son of
Kannami Kiyotsugu. He transformed noh
into a refined court form.
• Uta - songs
• Hayashi – an ensemble of nokhan (flute)
and three drums used in noh
• Ko-tsuzumi and o-tsuzumi –hourglass-
shaped drums struck with the fingers, of
hayashi
• Taiko – shallow barrel drum struck with
two thick sticks of hayashi
• Kakegoe – calls shouted by the drummers
in noh drumming
• Yokyoku – the vocal part of noh sung by
actors and onstage chorus. There are two
basic styles.
• http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zUhtCL
KFMx0
 Bunraku (puppet theater)
• Patronized by artisan and merchant classes
(Tokugawa period)
• Requires two musicians: singer/narrator (tayu)
and shamisen player (in past, served as
apprentices for many years)
• Uses large, elaborate puppets, some requiring
several puppeteers
• Plots highly emotional, like today’s soap operas
• Requires intense training and discipline
• http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UV938f
46Wpg
 Buddhist Chant
• Shomyo –– Buddhist chant, including
syllabic and melismatic, in free rhythm
• The Nara period (553-794) and the Heian
period (794-1185), with capitals
respectively at Nara and Kyoto, where
periods when the ruling clans adopted
Mahayana Buddhism.
• Mahayana Buddhism - the theology that
salvation from suffering and death was
open to all
• http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ebpyu4r
E7XE
 Gagaku
• In the ninth century, during the Heian
period, a standard gagaku orchestra was
created under the order of the emperor,
and a repertory of two main categories
became standardized: togaku (music of
Chinese and Indian origin) and komagaku
(music of Korean and Manchurian origin).
• Jo-ha-kyu –– aesthetic scheme of
exposition in gagaku. Jo is the netori, the
slow beginning. Ha is the regular rhythmic
section. Kyu is the rushing to the end.
• http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bm8Xp
WidUac
 Karaoke
• (Ka-ra-oh-kay) “Empty orchestra”
• Technology designed to support and
enhance amateur voices.
• Used to reinforce traditional Japanese
custom of group singing, considered vital
for good group dynamics.
• Scoring based on accuracy of
reproduction, but also “personal
expressiveness”
Discussion of Different Cultural
Values:
• In Japan, maintaining tradition is
important. In pedagogy and performance,
the emphasis is on playing music
traditionally, without innovation.
 Music and Theater and social
class structure
• Musical/theatrical genres tell us about
Japanese history and social values.
Genres are linked to social class and
historical epochs. For example, gagaku
remains a symbol of the authority of the
Imperial court while noh, the art of the
samurai, emphasizes simplicity and
personal enlightenment through self-
understanding and self-reliance. Kabuki
and bunraku illustrate the fondness of the
 Gender Issues:
• The koto is believed to originally have
been a court musical instrument played by
men; the shamisen was originally an
instrument played by banished samurai
who became wandering Buddhist monks
who utilized the shakuhachi as a weapon
when needed.
• women have come to play these
instruments during the Edo period in
sankyoku, an ensemble music that has
been associated with the geisha. The term
geisha literally means “arts person,”
whereby most Westerners mistakenly
think the term refers to prostitutes.
 Layers of Activity in Ensemble
Music:
• In ensemble music, certain instruments
play the melody heterophonically, while
others mark time in regular recurring ways
(see gagaku)
 Sensitivity to Sound Quality:
• Although ensemble textures are largely
monophonic and/or heterophonic, great
emphasis is placed on subtle
differentiations of timbre and
ornamentation.
 Sensitivity to Tempo:
• Relatively slow tempos with constant,
subtle fluctuations in basic pulse. Jo-ha-
kyu aesthetic ideal is pervasive in both
large and small forms: slow introductory
exposition (jo); faster, more rhythmically
regular middle section (ha); and still faster,
more intense drive toward the end (kyu);
often with a sudden slowing down at the
end of a piece.
 Discussion Questions
• Generally, in comparison to Japan, how
does our culture regard the performance
and listening of music 1,000, or even 500-
years-old?
• In what ways may we compare Gregorian
chant with Buddhist chant, and thus
contrast it with Shinto music?
• May we find equivalents to court music in
the West? Why or why not?
 Next Lecture
• Music of Indonesia
• Pages 162-195