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| A BRIEF HISTORY OF MUSIC IN JAPAN | |
| Until 6th-c.:
The Period of Indigenous Music Little is known about Japan's earliest, indigenous music except for references existing from 8th-c. archaeological and historical sources. The performing arts were an important part of daily life in the Neolithic and early Bronze periods. Ceremonial Shinto music and dance practiced at that time became the foundation for traditional court music. Musical instruments included the so (koto), fue (flute), tsuzumi (drum) and suzu (bell-tree). Continental styles were exported from China and Korea in the 5th and 6th-centuries. | |
| Asuka (552-645
AD), Nara (710-84/94) Early Heian (794-897) Periods Music was first introduced to Japan from Korea and China and greatly influenced the indigenous Japanese music. Gigaku (Chinese masked dances and pageants) were imported from Korea in Asuka Period, and were followed by Korean and Chinese court music styles. An official government music department was established. Shomyo (Buddhist chant) was introduced into Japan via China. | |
| Late Heian
(897-1185/1192), Kamakura (1185/1192-1333/1338)Muromachi (1333/1338-1573), Late
Heian Periods (897-1185/1192) The samurai warrior class influenced all cultural and political activities, especially court and sacred Buddhist music. New genres were introduced in the Kamakura Period: Heike biwa (unique style of vocal narrative music accompanied on biwa lute), Satsuma and Chikuzen biwa, narrative shamisen styles (gidayu/bunraku puppet theater music). Noh theater began in Muromachi Period. | |
| Momoyama
(1573-1603) and Edo Periods (1603-1867/1868) The aristocracy, samurai and Buddhist priests were the primary supporters for music and art in the Momoyama and Edo Periods. In the latter part of the Edo Period, musical support gradually shifted to urban merchants and artisans. Blind shamisen players established a 13-string koto style, and new shamisen styles developed for kabuki and bunraku puppet theater. Itinerant Zen Buddhist priests developed the shakuhachi, which soon became popular among commoners. The sankyoku chamber music style, an important genre of traditional performance practice, was established in the 19th-c. Gagaku (court music) and Noh drama, which was considered acceptable entertainment for the aristocracy, became institutionalized. | |
| Meiji
(1867/68-1912), Taisho (1912-28), Showa (1928-1989), Heisei Periods
(1989-present) Japan opened its doors to the outside world in the early Meiji era after more than two centuries of cultural isolation. As a measure to preserve Japanese music and culture, efforts were made by the Meiji elite to combine Western classical and popular styles with traditional Japanese music. Popular music became a major genre, and became a major form of entertainment from the 1920-30s. Enka and kayokyoku, forerunners of Japan pop, have continued to be popular for decades. Despite a brief period of cultural isolation and censorship during WWII, foreign classical and popular music styles dominated the postwar music world but began to shift towards the creation of new styles from the early 1960s. As a result, all types of music from indigenous to international styles are accepted and practiced in Japan today. | |
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