Traditional music
Like everywhere else, the musical tradition in Japan has been written throughout history. During the Asuka period (592-628), Buddhism was introduced into the country, and masked ritual dances were associated with it. As a vehicle for the transmission of wisdom, music was then queen and Emperor Mommu (697-707) even established a Ministry of Music: Gagaku-ryō.
During the artistically brilliant Nara period (710-793), not only did Chinese music (of the T'ang dynasty) penetrate massively into the territory, but also that of India, Persia and Central Asia.It was at this time that Gagaku became official in the country. Court music, also practised in the temples, Gagaku rapidly gained the favour of aristocrats and civil servants through the introduction of the Buddhist psalmody shōmyō, originally from India. It is in the shōmyō, song and liturgy, that a fundamental unit is formed: the melodic cell. During the Kamakura era (1185 - 1333), a period of religious revival, the art of biwa (four-stringed lute) was developed along with Buddhist chanting, reinforced by the development of the Shingon and Tendaï sects. The high Middle Ages (11th-16th century) saw the blossoming of so-called "rustic" music (Dengaku, composed mainly of music and dance) and "scattered" music (Sangaku, much more playful with jokes, imitations, hallucinatory effects and puppets). Japanese music was to take off during the Edo period with the arrival of the shamisen (plucked string instrument) in 1562. At the time, a unity of instruments was developing with the koto, the horizontal harp, the biwa lute and the bamboo flute shakuhachi, of Chinese origin. While in the Kyūshū the koto music called sōkyoku develops , in the Kansaï the songs accompanied by the shamisen - the ji-uta- flourish. When the shamisen becomes the accompaniment for the kabuki, it will change its name to nagauta
. From this period, all modern Japanese musical genres have retained elastic tempi. To listen to traditional Japanese music, it is a good idea to go to the albums of the Yoshida brothers (Yoshida Kyōdai), a duo of shamisenists. Very popular in the country, their albums mix traditional tunes and their own compositions (inspired by Japanese folklore). That said, a real opportunity to taste all the flavours of Japanese musical tradition in one go is to attend a matsuri. Rich in music, these popular festivals, often organized around shintō sanctuaries or Buddhist temples, are celebrated all over the country mainly during the summer. In Kyoto, Aoi Matsuri, on May 15, is a festival of roses while Gion Matsuri, throughout the month of July, is inspired by a rite of the 9th to fight against the plague. Absolutely gigantic, with its parades of floats.Classical music
150 years after its introduction in the country, classical music - in the Western sense - still has a perfect love affair with the Japanese. Arriving at the beginning of the Meiji era (1868 - 1912) - a period of modernization and opening up of the country - the genre owes much to Shuji Isawa (1851-1917), an observer sent to the United States to study the teaching, practice and dissemination of music. Upon his return, and under his impetus, the Meiji government made the radical decision to make the teaching of Western music compulsory in primary and secondary schools. Another event that contributed to the spread of classical music in the country was the American occupation after the Second World War (1945 - 1952), which greatly popularized the genre in the country.
Today, from primary school onwards, children learn music, a subject as important as mathematics and history. Most schools have their own orchestra. But what explains the fantastic growth of classical music in Japan is undoubtedly the economic miracle that the country experienced in the 1960s. Since then, the country has been a popular destination for the biggest international names, attracted by the quality of the halls and the generosity of the public. That said, while Japan is still one of the most dynamic markets in the world in the age of streaming, Japanese orchestras - although excellent - are struggling to establish an international reputation and to export themselves.
In addition to Toru Takemitsu, often rightly referred to as the leader of Japanese classical music, the list of composers excelling in the field is long. These include Teizō Matsumura, whose work was influenced by Ravel and Stravinsky, Toshio Hosokawa, who thought of his compositions as "sound calligraphy", and Yasushi Akutagawa, who was close to Dmitri Shostakovich, and Aram Khachaturian, who was the only Japanese composer whose works were officially published in the Soviet Union at the time. The country also has a giant conductor, Seiji Ozawa, leader of the Japanese school and one of the greatest specialists in 20th century French music. In his footsteps, walks Kazushi Ōno, known in France for conducting the orchestra of the Opéra national de Lyon in 2008/09.
When you love, you don't count. And the country loves classical music so much that it has no less than thirty-three professional orchestras and five large halls with more than 2,000 seats. And if quality is everywhere, each hall offers perfect acoustics, some institutions stand out from the crowd. This is notably the case of Festival Hall, the home of the Osaka Philharmonic Orchestra.J-Pop
In the land of the Rising Sun, today, all modern western styles seem to have found their translation. Rap, rock, pop, variety... Japanese music has assimilated many genres to the codes of the country. Japanese music is often confused with J-pop, a musical genre that became dominant at the end of the 1990s and refers to the large number of girls and boy bands performing in Japan. It follows on from the city pop of the 1980s, a mix of typically Japanese disco-funk and the shibuya-kei of the 1990s, a kitschy fusion of Western sixties pop (Beach Boys, Phil Spector and Serge Gainsbourg) and local variety. Today, the genre is invariably a gold mine, carried by groups such as AKB48, a collective of 130 members (!) who have sold more than sixty million albums in Japan or Kyary Pamyu Pamyu, a local Lady Gaga intimately linked to the kawaii aesthetic.
Dance and theatre
Music, dance and theatre are often one in the Japanese tradition, with each art playing an important role in the other. All in all, Japanese theatre refers to the great myths shintō and age-old legends. This is particularly visible in kagura, the oldest form of theatrical dance (and danced ritual) in Japan. Kagura can be translated and understood as the "sacred ritualization of a place" and is often performed on the occasion of matsuri or seasonal rites. They stage myths or historical events, and each shrine, local or national, has its own variant. There are imperial kagura, or mid-kagura, dating from the 9th century, sweetened dances of temple maidservants, known as miko-kagura or miko-mai, and rustic dances called sato-kagura or ta-mai
, imitating agrarian work. On the whole, kaguras are propitiatory and purification dance rituals. They are performed to ward off epidemics and fire and to ensure good harvests.The gigaku
may have been introduced to Japan in the 7th century, during the Asuka period. Originally accompanying the Buddhist rites, it consists of a parade of dancers wearing huge masks during ritual dances performed in the temple, and is sometimes accompanied by mimes to entertain the public.Although nō
has kept distant links with the Buddhist religion and rites shintō, it is above all a secular dance. If some voices claim that the roots of this dance are to be found in Tibet or China, it seems that it comes from the kagura. A costumed and masked lyrical drama dating from the 14th and 15th centuries, nō is characterized by its minimalist, codified and all-too-symbolic interplay, not telling a plot, but expressing an emotion or an atmosphere. A very singular form of dramatic art, nō was one of the first to be inscribed in 2008 on the UNESCO list of intangible cultural heritage of humanity. The repertoire currently includes some 250 plays.Interludes that draw the spectator out of the still trance into which nō has plunged him or her, the kyōgen (buffoonery or farce
) are often denigrated and placed in the register of minor arts. And yet. Interpreted with great talent, these kinds of little sketches serve to highlight the burlesque situations of everyday life.Kabuki, meaning "exuberant and marginal", probably originally meant avant-garde theatre. An epic form of traditional dramaturgy, kabuki illustrates historical events or moral conflicts. The actors express themselves in monotone voices and are accompanied by traditional instruments such as the shamisen. Kabuki is the most popular form of traditional theatre today (audience level). The actors are very well known and often appear in films or on television.
The last very popular form of Japanese theatre, bunraku
is performed with large puppets, manipulated on sight by three people while a single reciter plays all the roles. In Kyoto, the very touristy Gion Corner Theatre offers, from March to November, a real potpourri of traditional arts in 50 minutes, both ikebana and tea ceremony, kyōmai (dance from Kyōto) or kyōgen, bunraku and gagaku. Less authentic but very panoramic.
