Musical Trip to Japan!

For this musical trip, I chose to explore the beautiful country of Japan. This was an incredibly easy choice because Japan has been on the top of my bucket list visits since forever.

                                   The Last Rose of Summer- Tokiko Kimura- 2020- JapanTo

 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P6YV76CnsKM 

Upon first listening to this clip of Tokiko Kimura performing, the first word that came to mind was unique. With more research, I have found that is a trait that nearly all Japanese music has in common. The overall organisation and composition is incredibly different from that of western music. As noted by Birtanica, "The structural intents of Japanese music are as varied as those of the West, but one of special interest is the frequent application of a three-part division of a melody, a section of a piece, or an entire composition". Simply, Both at the formation and execution level of music, Japan has a different way of doing anything. With that, as a listener I find that fact very intriguing and wanting for more!

    Tsugaru Jongara Bushi- Shamisen Girls- 2017- Japan

                                             https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RcqO0z

When watching the Shamisen girls perform, I couldn't help but notice a stark difference between them and how a western artist would perform. By that, I mean there was little to no engagement with audience/camera. Their music was beautiful and I did not think that this fact took away anything from that beauty, but the difference is quite noticeable. As explained by Word press, in Japan, performances are very riuatlized, "Japanese music performances are often highly ritualized, similar to other Japanese art forms like calligraphy and the tea ceremony". In other words, Japanese artist do not feel a need for listener engagement the same way that other artist might. This causes a sense of intensity within the music that I happen to enjoy and appreciate. 

 

Citations:

Pell, N. (2019a, October 25). Toward a performance-based analysis for the shō. Performance and Analysis Interest Group (PAIG). https://smtpaig.wordpress.com/2019/10/25/toward-a-performance-based-analysis-for-the-sho/ 

Malm, W. P. (2023, August 11). Japanese music. Encyclopedia Britannica. https://www.britannica.com/art/Japanese-music



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