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Music of Japan
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The modern Japanese music scene includes a wide array of performers in distinct styles both traditional and modern, ranging from rock, electro, punk, folk, metal, reggae, salsa, and tango to country music and hip hop. Local music often appears at karaoke venues, which is on lease from the record labels. The old Japanese music has no specific beat, and is calm. The music is improvised most of the time.
The word for music in Japanese is ?? (ongaku), combining the kanji ? ("on" sound) with the kanji ? ("gaku" fun, comfort).
of the oldest forms of traditional Japanese music are shomyo, or Buddhist chanting, and gagaku, or orchestral court music, both of which date to the Nara and Heian periods.
Gagaku is a type of classical music that has been performed at the Imperial court since the Heian period.
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The modern Japanese music scene includes a wide array of performers in distinct styles both traditional and modern, ranging from rock, electro, punk, folk, metal, reggae, salsa, and tango to country music and hip hop. Local music often appears at karaoke venues, which is on lease from the record labels. The old Japanese music has no specific beat, and is calm. The music is improvised most of the time.
The word for music in Japanese is ?? (ongaku), combining the kanji ? ("on" sound) with the kanji ? ("gaku" fun, comfort).
Traditional Japanese music
Two of the oldest forms of traditional Japanese music are shomyo, or Buddhist chanting, and gagaku, or orchestral court music, both of which date to the Nara and Heian periods.
Gagaku is a type of classical music that has been performed at the Imperial court since the Heian period. Kagurauta, Azumaasobi(??) and Yamatouta are relatively indigenous repertories. Togaku and komagaku originated from the Chinese Tang dynasty via the Korean peninsula. In addition, gagaku is divided into kangen (instrumental music) and bugaku (dance accompanied by gagaku).
Originating as early as the 19th century are honkyoku ("original pieces"). These are solo shakuhachi pieces played by mendicant Fuke sect priests of Zen buddhism. These priests, called komuso ("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 musical activities, in their practices of enriching their lives and understanding.
Musical theater also developed in Japan from an early age. Noh or no arose out of various more popular traditions and by the 14th century had developed into a highly refined art. It was brought to its peak by Kan'ami (1333-1384) and Zeami (1363?-1443). In particular Zeami provided the core of the Noh repertory and authored many treatises on the secrets of the Noh tradition (until the modern era these were not widely read).
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 especially during Chonin in the Edo period (1600-1868). It is usually accompanied by recitation (various styles of joruri) accompanied by shamisen music.
During the Edo period actors (after 1652 only male adults) performed the lively and popular kabuki theater. Kabuki, which could feature anything from historical plays to dance plays, was often accompanied by nagauta style of singing and shamisen performance.
Biwa hoshi, Heike biwa, moso, and goze
The biwa, a form of short-necked lute, was played by a group of itinerant performers (biwa hoshi) who used it to accompany stories. The most famous of these stories is The Tale of the Heike, a 19th century history of the triumph of the Minamoto clan over the Taira. Biwa hoshi began to organize themselves into a guild-like association (todo) 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 moso (blind monk) 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. The biwa that they played was considerably smaller than the Heike biwa played by the biwa hoshi.
Lafcadio Hearn related in his book Kwaidan: Stories and Studies of Strange Things "Mimi-nashi Hoichi" (Hoichi the Earless), a Japanese ghost story about a blind biwa hoshi who performs "The Tale of the Heike"
Blind women, known as goze, 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. Goze organizations sprung up throughout the land, and existed until recently in what is today Niigata prefecture.
Taiko
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 sketched out as far back as the 6th and 7th centuries, when a clay figure of a drummer indicates its existence. China 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 Shinto. 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.
Modern ensemble taiko is said to have been invented by Daihachi Oguchi in 1951. A jazz drummer, Oguchi incorporated his musical background into large ensembles, which he had also designed. His energetic style made his group popular throughout Japan, and made the Hokuriku region a center for taiko music. Musicians to arise from this wave of popularity included Sukeroku Daiko and his bandmate Seido Kobayashi. 1969 saw a group called Za Ondekoza founded by Tagayasu Den; Za Ondekoza gathered together young performers who innovated a new roots revival version of taiko, which was used as a way of life in communal lifestyles. During the 1970s, the Japanese government allocated funds to preserve Japanese culture, and many community taiko groups were formed. Later in the century, taiko groups spread across the world, especially to the United States. The video game Taiko Drum Master is based around taiko. One example of a modern Taiko band is GOCOO.
its a court music
Min'yo folk music
Japanese folk songs (min'yo) can be grouped and classified in many ways but it is often convenient to think of four main categories: work songs, religious songs (such as sato kagura, a form of Shintoist music), songs used for gatherings such as weddings, funerals, and festivals (matsuri, especially Obon), and children's songs (warabe uta).
In min'yo, 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'yo songs (Enka being a Japanese music genre all its own).
Terms often heard when speaking about min'yo 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'yo, they are often included as parts of choruses. There are many kakegoe, though they vary from region to region. In Okinawa Min'yo, 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!"
Recently a guild-based system known as the iemoto system has been applied to some forms of min'yo; it is called. This system was originally developed for transmitting classical genres such as nagauta, shakuhachi, or koto music, but since it proved profitable to teachers and was supported by students who wished to obtain certificates of proficiency and artist's names continues to spread to genres such as min'yo, Tsugaru-jamisen and other forms of music that were traditionally transmitted more informally. Today some min'yo are passed on in such pseudo-family organizations and long apprenticeships are common.
See also Ainu music of north Japan.
Okinawan folk music
Umui, religious songs, shima uta, dance songs, and, especially katcharsee, lively celebratory music, were all popular.
Okinawan folk music varies from mainland Japanese folk music in several ways.
First, Okinawan folk music is often accompanied by the sanshin whereas in mainland Japan, the shamisen accompanies instead. Other Okinawan instruments include the Sanba (which produce a clicking sound similar to that of castanets) and a sharp bird whistle.
Second, tonality. A pentatonic scale, which coincides with the major pentatonic scale of Western musical disciplines, is often heard in min'yo from the main islands of Japan. In this pentatonic scale the subdominant and leading tone (scale degrees 4 and 7 of the Western major scale) are omitted, resulting in a musical scale with no half-steps between each note. (Do, Re, Mi, So, La in solfeggio, or scale degrees 1, 2, 3, 5, and 6) Okinawan min'yo, however, is characterized by scales that include the half-steps omitted in the aforementioned pentatonic scale, when analyzed in the Western discipline of music. In fact, the most common scale used in Okinawan min'yo includes scale degrees 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, and 7.
Traditional instruments
Arrival of Western music
After the Meiji Restoration introduced Western musical instruction, a bureaucrat named Izawa Shuji compiled songs like "Auld Lang Syne" and commissioned songs using a pentatonic melody. Western music, especially military marches, soon became popular in Japan. Two major forms of music that developed during this period were shoka, which was composed to bring western music to schools, and gunka, which are military marches with some Japanese elements.
As Japan moved towards representative democracy in the late 19th century, leaders hired singers to sell copies of songs that aired their messages, since the leaders themselves were usually prohibited from speaking in public. After ryukoka made waves across the country, this developed into a form of ballad called enka, which became quite popular in the postwar period, though its popularity has waned since the 1970s and enjoys little favour with contemporary youth. Famous enka singers include Hibari Misora and Ikuzo Yoshi. Also at the end of the 19th century, an Osakan form of streetcorner singing became popular; this was called rokyoku. This included the first two Japanese stars, Yoshida Naramaru and Tochuken Kumoemon.
Westernized pop music is called kayokyoku, which is said to have and first appeared in a dramatization of Resurrection by Tolstoy, sung by Sumako Matsui. The song became a hit among enka singers, and was one of the first major best-selling records in Japan. Kayokyoku became a major industry, especially after the arrival of superstar Misora Hibari.
Later, in the 1950s, tango and other kinds of Latin music, especially Cuban music, became very popular in Japan. A distinctively Japanese form of tango called dodompa also developed. Kayokyoku became associated entirely with traditional Japanese structures, while more Western-style music was called Japanese pops. In the 1960s, Japanese bands imitated The Beatles, Bob Dylan and the Rolling Stones, along with other Appalachian folk music, psychedelic rock, mod and similar genres; this was called Group Sounds. John Lennon became one of most favourite Western musicians in Japan.
Since then, J-pop have become some of the best-selling forms of music, and are often used in films, Japanese animation, television advertisement and dramatic programming. The rise of disposable pop has been linked with the popularity of karaoke, leading to much criticism that it is consumerist and shallow. For example, Kazufumi Miyazawa of The Boom, claims "I hate that buy, listen, and throw away and sing at a karaoke bar mentality."
Electronic pop music in Japan became a successful commodity with the Technopop craze of the late 70s and 80s, beginning with Yellow Magic Orchestra and solo albums of Ryuichi Sakamoto and Haruomi Hosono in 1978 before hitting popularity in 79/80. Influenced by disco, impressionistic and 20th century classical composition, jazz/fusion pop, new wave and technopop artists such as Kraftwerk and Telex, these artists were commercial yet uncompromising; Ryuichi Sakamoto claims that "to me, making pop music is not a compromise because I enjoy doing it". The artists that fall under the banner of technopop in Japan are as loose as those that do so in the West, thus new wave bands such as P-Model and The Plastics fall under the category alongside the symphonic techno arrangements of Yellow Magic Orchestra. The popularity of this music meant that many popular artists of the 70s that previously were known for acoustic music turned to techno production, such as Taeko Onuki and Akiko Yano, and idol producers began employing electronic arrangements for new singers in the 80s. Today, newer artists such as Polysics pay explicit homage to this era of Japanese popular (and in some cases underground or difficult to obtain) music.
The late 90's brought the arrival of many new artists and groups, including Hikaru Utada, Kumi Koda, Every Little Thing, Ayumi Hamasaki, and Morning Musume. Hikaru Utada's debut album, "First Love", went on to be the highest-selling album in Japan with over 7 million copies sold, whereas Ayumi Hamasaki became Japan's top selling female and solo artist, and Morning Musume remains one of the most well-known girl groups in the Japanese pop music industry.
Western classical music
Western classical music has a strong presence in Japan and the country is one of the most important markets for this music tradition, with Toru Takemitsu (famous as well for his avant-garde works and movie scoring) being the best known. Also famous is the conductor Seiji Ozawa. Since 1999 the pianist Fujiko Hemming, who plays Liszt and Chopin, has been famous and her CDs have sold millions of copies. Japan is also home to the world's leading wind band, the Tokyo Kosei Wind Orchestra, and the largest music competition of any kind, the All-Japan Band Association national contest.
Jazz
From the 1930s on (except during World War II, when it was repressed as music of the enemy), jazz has had a strong presence in Japan. The country is an important market for the music, and it is common that recordings no longer available in the United States are available in Japan. A number of Japanese jazz musicians have achieved popularity abroad as well as at home. Musicians such as June (born in Japan) and Dan (third generation American born, of Hiroshima fame), and Sadao Watanabe have a large fan base outside their native country.
Lately, club jazz or nu-jazz has become popular with a growing number of young Japanese. Native DJs such as (Jazztronik), the two brothers Okino Shuya and Okino Yoshihiro of Kyoto Jazz Massive, (former member of the United Future Organization) and creator of the popular monthly DJ event, in Beppu, Japan as well as nu-jazz artists, , , and Soil & "Pimp" Sessions have brought great change to the traditional notions of jazz in Japan.
Today, some of the newer and very interesting bands include Ego-Wrappin' and Sakerock.
Rock music
Group Sounds (G.S.) is a genre of Japanese rock music that was popular in the mid to late 1960s. The Tigers was the most popular G.S. bands in the era. Later, some of the members of The Tigers, The Tempters and The Spiders formed the first Japanese supergroup Pyg.
Homegrown Japanese country rock had developed by the late 1960s. Artists like Happy End are considered to have virtually developed the genre. During the 1970s, it grew more popular. The Okinawan band Champloose, along with Carol, RC Succession and Shinji Harada were especially famous and helped define the genre's sound.
In the 1980s, the Bořwy inspired alternative rock bands like Shonen Knife, Boredoms, The Pillows and Tama & Little Creatures as well as more mainstream bands as Glay. Most influentially, the 1980s spawned Yellow Magic Orchestra, which was inspired by developing electronic music, led by Haruomi Hosono. In 1980, Huruoma and Ry Cooder, an American musician, collaborated on a rock album with Shoukichi Kina, driving force behind the aforementioned Okinawan band Champloose. They were followed by Sandii & the Sunsetz, who further mixed Japanese and Okinawan influences. Also during the 80's, Japanese rock bands gave birth to the movement known as visual kei, represented during its history by bands like Buck-Tick, X Japan, Luna Sea, Malice Mizer and many others, some of which experienced success in the recent years.
In the 90's rock bands such as Glay, Luna Sea and L'Arc-en-Ciel, which are often considered visual kei or related to this genre, as well as bands like B'z and Mr. Children achieved great commercial success, some of them establishing marks in Japanese music history. While B'z is the #1 best selling act in Japanese music since Oricon started to count, followed by Mr. Children, Glay was arguably the most massively popular band in the '90s. In 1999 the band played for a crowd of 200,000, the most attended single concert ever held in Japan. Though the rock scene in the 2000s is not as strong, newer bands as Bump of Chicken, Remioromen, Uverworld and Orange Range, which are considered rock bands, although the latter also does hip hop, have achieved success. Established bands as Glay, L'Arc-en-Ciel, B'z and Mr. Children, also continue to top charts, though B'z and Mr. Children are the only bands to maintain a high standards of their sales along the years.
Japanese rock has a vibrant underground rock scene, best known internationally for noise rock bands such as Boredoms and Melt Banana, as well as stoner rock bands such as Boris and alternative acts such as Shonen Knife (who were championed in the West by musicians such as Kurt Cobain), Pizzicato Five and The Pillows (who gained massive international attention in 1999 for soundtracking the anime FLCL). More conventional indie rock artists such as Eastern Youth, The Band Apart and Number Girl have found some mainstream success in Japan, but relatively little recognition outside of their home country.
Punk rock / alternative
Early examples of punk rock / no wave in Japan include The SS, The Star Club, The Stalin, INU, Gaseneta, Lizard (who were produced by the Stranglers) and Friction (whose guitarist Reck had previously played with Teenage Jesus and the Jerks before returning to Tokyo) and The Blue Hearts. The early punk scene was immortalised on film by Sogo Ishii, who directed the 1982 film Burst City featuring a cast of punk bands/musicians and also filmed videos for The Stalin. In the 80s, hardcore bands such as G.I.S.M, Gauze, Confuse, Lip Cream and Systematic Death began appearing, some incorporating crossover elements. The independent scene also included a diverse number of alternative / post-punk / new wave artists such as Aburadako, P-Model, Uchoten, Auto-Mod, Buck-Tick, La-ppisch, Guernica and Yapoos (both of which featured Jun Togawa), G-Schmitt, Totsuzen Danball and Jagatara, along with noise/industrial bands such as Hijokaidan and Hanatarashi.
During the late nineties and early 2000s bands like Hi-Standard, Hawaiian6, Snail Ramp, Garlic Boys, Dir en grey, Husking Bee, Nicotine and Going Steady brought Japanese punk to new heights.
Later examples of Japanese alternative bands are Ellegarden, Thee Michelle Gun Elephant, Asian Kung-Fu Generation and Maximum the Hormone.
Another subgenre is characterized by highly technical, yet dissonant, instrumentals. The vocal style runs the gamut from J-Pop style, to incoherent screeching, to traditional Japanese style singing. Lyrics may be generally nonsensical and random. Their visual style also reflects this and may run to the extremes in Visual Kei bands. This style seems to be a conscious rejection of the old Japanese proverb, "The nail that sticks out will be hammered down." When their culture prides itself on conformity and harmony, these artists strive to create dissonance and attract the wrong kind of attention. This is relatively new genre, starting in the late 1990s and just now getting its voice heard. Notable bands in this subgenre include: Mucc and Dir en grey.
Heavy metal
Japan is known for being a successful area for metal bands touring around the world and as a result, many live albums are recorded in Japan. Notable examples are Judas Priest's Unleashed in the East and Deep Purple's Made in Japan.
The most popular genres of metal in Japan are Neo-classical metal and Power metal. Bands such as Angra, Sonata Arctica and Skylark have had major success in Japan. Japanese Neo-classical bands also had success among international Neo-classical fans with Concerto Moon and Ark Storm being the leading bands.
Speed metal, Melodic death metal and Doom metal also have followings. Many older Japanese metal bands (1980's to 1990's) are speed metal due to the success of X Japan. Extreme metal is usually treated as an underground form of music in Japan. Notable acts are Sabbat and Sigh.
Loudness is the most successful Japanese heavy metal band outside of Japan. Their 6th album, Lightning Strikes peaked at #64 on the Billboard 200.
Japanese Hip-Hop
Hip-hop is a newer form of music on the Japanese music scene. Many felt it was a trend that would immediately pass. However, the genre has lasted for many years and is still thriving. In fact, rappers in Japan did not achieve the success of hip-hop artists in other countries until the late 1980s. This was mainly due to the music world's belief that "Japanese sentences were not capable of forming the rhyming effect that was contained in American rappers' songs." There is a certain, well-defined structure to the music industry called "The Pyramid Structure of a Music Scene". As Ian Condry notes, "viewing a music scene in terms of a pyramid provides a more nuanced understanding of how to interpret the significance of different levels and kinds of success." The levels are as follows (from lowest to highest): fans and potential artists, performing artists, recording artists (indies), major label artists, and mega-hit stars. These different levels can be clearly seen at a genba, or nightclub. Different "families" of rappers perform on stage. A family is essentially a collection of rap groups that are usually headed by one of the more famous Tokyo acts, which also include a number of proteges. They are important because they are "the key to understanding stylistic differences between groups." Hip-hop fans in the audience are the ones in control of the night club. They are the judges who determine the winners in rap battles on stage. An example of this can be seen with the battle between rap artists Dabo (a major label artist) and Kan (an indie artist). Kan challenged Dabo to a battle on stage while Dabo was mid-performance. Another important part of night clubs was displayed at this time. It showed "the openness of the scene and the fluidity of boundaries in clubs." Both artists did a cappella freestyle, but in the end, the audience showed their approval for Dabo.
Roots music
In the late 1980s, roots bands like Shang Shang Typhoon and The Boom became popular. Okinawan roots bands like Nenes and Kina were also commercially and critically successful. This led to the second wave of Okinawan music, led by the sudden success of Rinkenband. A new wave of bands followed, including the comebacks of Champluse and Kina, as led by Kikusuimaru Kawachiya; very similar to kawachi ondo is Tadamaru Sakuragawa's goshu ondo.
Latin, Reggae and Ska music
See J-ska
Other forms of music, from Indonesia, Jamaica and elsewhere, were assimilated. African soukous and Latin music was popular as was Jamaican reggae and ska, exemplified by Mute Beat, Home Grown and Ska Flames, Determinations, and Tokyo Ska Paradise Orchestra.
Game music
When the first electronic games were sold, they only had rudimentary sound chips with which to produce music. As the technology advanced. the quality of sound and music these game machines could produce increased dramatically. The first game to take credit for its music was Xevious, also noteworthy for its deeply (at that time) constructed stories. Though many games have had beautiful music to accompany their gameplay, one of the most important games in the history of the video game music is Dragon Quest. Koichi Sugiyama, a composer who was known for his music for various anime and TV shows, including Cyborg 009 and a feature film of Godzilla vs. Biollante, got involved in the project out of the pure curiosity and proved that games can have serious soundtracks. Until his involvement, music and sounds were often neglected in the development of video games and programmers with little musical knowledge were forced to write the soundtracks as well. Undaunted by technological limits, Sugiyama worked with only 8 part polyphony to create a soundtrack that would not tire the player despite hours and hours of gameplay.
Another well-known author of video game music is Nobuo Uematsu of Mistwalker. Even Uematsu's earlier compositions for the game series, Final Fantasy, on Famicom (Nintendo Entertainment System in America) are being arranged for full orchestral score. In 2003, he even took his rock-based tunes from their original MIDI format and created The Black Mages.
Yasunori Mitsuda is a highly known composer of such games as Xenogears, Xenosaga Episode I, Chrono Cross, and Chrono Trigger.
Koji Kondo, the main composer for Nintendo, is also prominent on the Japanese game music scene. He is best-known for the Zelda and Mario themes.
The techno/trance music production group I've Sound has made a name for themselves first by making themes for eroge computer games, and then by breaking into the anime scene by composing themes for them. Unlike others, this group was able to find fans in other parts of the world through their eroge and anime themes.
Today, game soundtracks are sold on CD. Famous singers like Hikaru Utada sometimes sing songs for games as well, and this is also seen as a way for singers to make a names for themselves.
See also
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