REVIEW

Music of Japan
Japan
• Nihon or Nippon which means "Land of the
rising sun"
• 6,852 islands
Instrumental Music of Japan
• Traditional Japanese Music is meditative in
character.

• Japanese chamber and solo music have slow

meditative pace
Traditional Japanese Music
 Music

Two main modes:

• Yo-sen Mode – male scale
• In-sen Mode – female scale
• The history of traditional music in Japan is rich
and varied.
• Many musical forms were imported from China
more than a thousand years ago, but over the
years, they were reshaped into distinctively
Japanese styles of expression.
• Instruments were adapted and newly created to
meet local needs, and the most important of
these were the shamisen, shakuhachi, and koto.
Sakura
-“cherry blossoms” traditional Japanese folk song
depicting spring, the season of cherry blossoms
Sakura Lyrics
• Sakura Sakura
• Yayoi nosorawa
• Mi-watasukagiri
• Kasumika Kumoka
• Nioizo Izuru
• Izaya zaya
• Mini yukan
Kimigayo
 National Anthem

Gagaku
 ancient imperial court music and dance
 Japanese classical music that has been performed at
the Imperial Court in Kyoto
 Musical
Instruments
 Percussion
Instruments
Odaiko - can refer to a large drum of any style, but usually is reserved for drums of the nagado
style.
Tsuzumi
 is a Japanese hand drum of Japanese origin
 It consists of a wooden body shaped like an hourglass,
and it is taut, with two drum heads with cords that can
be squeezed or released to increase or decrease the
tension of the heads respectively.
Tsuridaiko
 a large hanging barrel drum
Taiko
 any of various Japanese forms of barrel-shaped
drums with lashed or tacked heads, usually played
with sticks (bachi).
 String
Instruments
Koto
 is a 13-string zither
 2 meters long and made from wood
Shamisen
 is a plucked stringed instrument
 the neck of shamisen is fretless and slim
Biwa
 is a Japanese short necked fretted lute
 used in narrative storytelling
 Wind
Instruments
Shakuhachi
 it has 4 or 5 finger holes on the front face and a thumbhole
on the rear face
 it was imported from China for gagaku
Nokan
 a parallel bamboo flute (fue)
 the only melodic instrument
 no specific pitch
Hichiriki
 is a double reed Japanese flute (fue)
 used as one of two main melodic instruments in
Japanese gagaku music
Ryuteki
 literally “dragon flute”
 Japanese transverse fue made of bamboo
Sho
 Japanese free reed musical instrument
 was introduced from China during the Nara period
Shinobue
 also called takebue
 Japanese transverse flute that has a high pitched sound
Learning Task # 2
Based on the Sakura song, answer the following questions:
1. What did you feel upon listening to the song?
2. What significant message does the song convey?
3. Which elements of music were used in the Sakura song?
4. How do the musical elements used in Sakura reflect the
Japanese culture?

Note:
Use 1 – 3 sentences only. 5 – point each item.