Japanese Music Essay

The Japanese culture was widely affected and highly related to its nearby nations like China and Korea. As such, it is a logical for us to look at the Japanese music as a collaboration of the different music from the other Asian nations. The flourishing of the Japanese music can be seen as they have adapted their personal styles to the influences that surround them. Their music has its origin in poetry and songs, although there have been misleading artifacts about the distinction of the two. The confusion started with the acknowledgement that indeed, the Japanese word â€Å"uta† can both be understood as to mean poetry or songs. The evidence and remains of the ancients’ music of Japan can be reflected on the songs in Kojiki that was recorded as traditional songs in the imperial court. The ancient Japanese music was also preserve in legends, rituals and prose specifically in an ancient story of Genji Monogatari. This story was composed of poetic dialogues about a lover in the imperial court. The presentation of this in a play was interpreted through Gagaku dances, accompanied mostly by flutes and the famous string instrument, â€Å"koto†. The Gagaku dances and music have been very famous in courts. Its music is composed of wind and string instruments that go together with drums and gongs. It also go along with sho,(a harmonica like instrument) and â€Å"nasal hichiriki† which is the reason why it posses a different sound. The Gagaku is further divided in to two categories, the To-gaku and the Rimpa-gaku. These two differs from the culture in which it belongs. In such manner those that came mainly under the influence of China was called To-gaku while those that came from Vietnam were rendered as Rimpa-gaku. Due to the advent of imported music that was a by-product of the trade industry. It is but inevitable for the native people to become awe with the new kind of music that they have been listening and so, they tend to imitate their ways of thinking. Japanese Music in the Face of Modern Influences The reproduction of this music produces an inclination to the instrumental music. However even though there had been an emerging culture of Americanization, still there are many Japanese mode of music that remained the same. Kagura, for instance, or what was commonly known to be â€Å"Mi-Kagura† which was preserved by some of the people in the imperial court. Fuzoku in relation to the folk songs that was numerous in the provinces. Also with Azuma-Asobi, this is also a type of folk song that was predominant on the eastern part of the country. Saibara was also believed to be composed of traces of folk songs as well. Since all of these music where sung in courts, it is incorporated with Gagaku music. A Brief Introduction on Jo-Ha-Kyu tradition According to the Japanese culture, the â€Å"Jo-Ha-kyo† music can be traced to have influences of the Gagaku traditions. The term was generally referred to the way the music and the dances were done in the play, â€Å"Jo† was associated with being slow and more peaceful, it is the primary or the introductory part. â€Å"Ha† was the start of the conflict , it is not slow but more of a moderate version, it is associated with the journey. While lastly, â€Å"Kyu† was regarded as the final or the ultimate. Thus, the form â€Å"Jo-Ha-Kyu is actually a way of presenting ideas and capturing the minds of the readers. Buddhist Chants and Other Influences Another trend of music came to Japan on the time of Nara and Heian periods. This was comprised of Buddhist Chants, which is performed by narrating a certain sutra with the addition of rhythmical melodies. Accordingly, there are three known styles that were used in accordance to the language used by the countries who have participated or who are the founding authors of the Chants. The style which uses the â€Å"Sankrit† language was called â€Å"Bonsan†. Chinese speakers were called â€Å"Kansan† while plain Japanese were called â€Å"Wasan†. During the late Heian period, there had been another popular music trend which is now called as â€Å"Imayo† There is also the development of Heike Biwa or Heikyuko which is according to some, is the narrative music played by the blind priest-thus they were now called as Blind Prince. Another form of dance and music was the Noh, which is a classical Japanese drama that was either a Dengaku Noh or Sarugaku Noh. Dengaku Noh are those which portrays rituals and traditions that is done in the rice-fields. Sarugaku, on the other hand was more focus on acrobatic performances.