Musical Routes: Japan

Literary Route Japan, Past, Present and Future

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Japan, Past, Present and Future

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Immediate consumption pop, sound related to New Age, certain specific successes that can be qualified as extravagant and a bit of traditional music: these are the stereotypes that most westerners know about music made in Japan.

Literary Route

However, such a broad variety of music can be found anywhere else in Asia: from the ancient Buddhist chants and the music of the imperial court to popular songs that talk about the stories of people, going through the urban local and imported styles (kayokyoku, enka or chindon, on the one hand, any form of Anglo-Saxon pop you can imagine, on the other), the most erudite western repertoires (classic, jazzistic) and music with roots from all over the world (from exact copies or from particular revisions).

To face all this creative avalanche is not easy, especially when we can’t forget that the Japanese entertainment industry is one of the most developed ones in the world. This development has allowed them to achieve a high degree of influence and penetration in the rest of countries from the Asian Pacific coast. The model of easy Japanese pop (these idoru kashu that sell thousands of albums that fill stadiums and that mostly disappear with the same speed at which they appear) are successful in China, Taiwan, Thailand and Korea and has turned its media singers into Pan-Asian stars. It seems like a joke of destiny because as if it were like a circle that is closed, Japan gives back music to some of the territories that fed the birth of its traditional styles more than ten centuries ago. Maybe the quid of the question lays here: after a period of coming and going, Japanese musicians have managed to develop enough confidence in their identity to be able to lead, in Asia and other parts of the world, this immersion process in their own traditions as a prior step to create new directions in diverse styles such as Japanese popular music, anime soundtracks or avant-garde electronics. The challenge for our ears is served.

index Japan, Classical Music Japan, Popular Music Japan, Modern Music Japan, Past, Present and Future

Japan, Contemporary Music Japan, compilations

Literary Route

Japan, Past, Present and Future

Japan, Classical Music

To completely understand the development of the different Japanese classical styles we must take into account the specific circumstances that mark the history of this nation.

For this reason, the usual reading of the evolution of Japanese classical music comes from a temporary division of five main stages.

Literary Route

La primera, que abarca desde la prehistoria hasta el siglo VII, nos remonta a unas formas de raíz indígena que mantuvieron contactos de distinta intensidad e influencia con la música continental a partir del The first, which goes from Prehistory to the 7th century, takes us back to indigenous root forms that had contacts of certain intensity and influence with continental music from the 3rd century, with two decisive moments: the arrival of eight Korean musicians in the court in 453 and the introduction of Buddhism in the 7th century. The second stage, which approaches the Nara (710-759) and Heian (794-1185) periods, is characterised by the progressive assimilation of the aesthetic concepts especially from the imperial courts in China and Korea, including gagaku (literally “refined music”), the shomyo (Buddhist liturgical chant) and the instruments that would later lead to the shakuhachi, koto or biwa (three of the four most representative of the Japanese culture). The third stage, which practically coincides with our Middle Age, represents the birth of Japanese classical music that we know nowadays, with the apparition of wasan (the Japanese Buddhist liturgical chant), the nô (theatre form that combines music, singing, dialogue, mimics and dance) and the “Heike-Monogatari” (epic legend that is recited playing the biwa). The fourth stage, which is developed during the Edo Period (1600-1868), involves the birth of a new cultural dynamic linked to cities which generated kabuki theatre or the adding of instruments such as the shamisen. The fifth stage, at the same time there was a westernization of the country led by the Meiji Period (1868-1912), begins with a generalized tendency of contempt towards all this classical music. After the 2nd World War, this situation turns round thanks to the great efforts made by musicians, schools and institutions to preserve and relive the historical and cultural treasure these compositions involve. We invite you to discover them.

Japan, Past, Present and Future

Japan, Classical Music

At first glance, the shakuhachi does not look like an exceptional instrument because it consists of a bamboo flute with five holes (four in the front and one behind) which, like many other flutes from different cultures reveals a soft and delicate sonority.

Katsuya Yokoyama “L’art du shakuhachi” Ocora - Radio France, 1997

However, when we listen to it carefully we discover its capacity to offer a complete range of notes, which are achieved varying the position of the instrument (the interpreters achieve the characteristic vibrato of the shakuhachi with small chin movements and modifying the intensity of the blow (fluctuation called meri-kari). The deepness and purity of its sound also surprises us, a very specific musical aesthetic developed for hundreds of years. According to ethnomusicologists, the origin of the current Japanese shakuhachi lays in a very similar instrument that arrived from China in the 7th century and was part of the gagaku orchestras, the music of the imperial court. After several changes and socio-cultural vicissitudes, in the 7th century the shakuhachi became the instrument which the komusô, tramp monks practicers of Zen Buddhism, travelled with and used to beg. One of their most important masters, Kinko Kurosawa (1710-1771), established a repertoire that recovered pieces of previous periods and included his own compositions. Kurosawa’s work served to definitely consolidate the role of the shakuhachi in Japanese classical music to the point that even today it maintains its validity. In this context of pretext of preservation of an ancestral heritage Katsuya Yokoyama (1934-2010) lays, who is one of the great masters of contemporary shakuhachi. He learned the complex technique of the instrument directly with his father and grandfather, who transmitted the secrets of the school of the aforementioned Kinko Kurosawa. In this album, Yokohama (punctually accompanied by Yoshikazu Iwamoto with a second shakuhachi) synthesizes the two characteristics that define the repertoire of the komusô (musicality and spirituality) interpreting nine representative pieces of the 17th century Japanese music, among which “Kokû” stands out, considered one of the three most ancient pieces of the repertoire of this instrument.

Japan, Past, Present and Future

Japan, Classical Music

With this album, and as it is said colloquially, we kill two birds with one stone (specifically three). In the first place we discover the koto, considered by many the national instrument of Japan. Of a considerable size (180 cm long), always built with imperial paulownia wood (kiri in Japanese) and related to the rest of Asian zithers,

Tadao Sawai “Plays Michio Miyagi” Playa Sound, 1996

It has thirteen strings located on other moveable bridges. The interpreters of koto adjust these bridges before every piece is played, which is managed pinching the strings with three nails (bamboo or ivory) which are placed on the thumb, index and ring fingers of the right hand (the left hand is used to press the strings and slightly modify its tuning).

The second element that gives value to this recording is Michio Miyagi (1894-1956), author of the four pieces that can be listened to in the album and responsible for the renewal of music for koto. Composer, interpreter and master of great fame and talent, Miyagi made revolutionary contributions to the traditional music of his country when he defined new compositions and interpretation techniques. Tired of teaching and playing the same traditional compositions, very soon he will start to write his own pieces but he had to wait until 1919 to present them in concert. From this moment, his fame began to grow until one of his pieces, “Haru no Umi” (composed in 1928 for koto and shakuhachi), became a classical melody to welcome the New Year in Japan. Tadao Sawai (1937-1997) completes this particular trilogy which is a distinguished continuer of Michio Miyagi’s work. We imagine that it might not have been easy to choose these four extensive pieces among the more than 350 works written by the master. Sawai’s talent, acknowledged through many awards after in 1959 he was selected as the best new artist by the Japanese National Radio, brings Miyagi’s compositions to the present, thanks to the power of the improvisation he shows every second and to a dynamic style that renews the spirit of pieces. Without a doubt, we will find few albums better than this one to deepen into the clear sound of the koto strings.

Japan, Past, Present and Future

Japan, Classical Music

Together with wasan (Buddhist chant in Japanese) and nô (the theatre form that mixes music, text, mime and dance), the epic poem of the Heike clan (“Heike-Monogatari”, in Japanese) marks one of the points of inflection of Japanese music.

Junko Ueda “L’épopée des Heike” Disques Vde-Gallo, 1990

The story approaches the short prosperity period enjoyed by the mentioned family, experienced during the 12th century until in 1185 it was destroyed by the Genji clan. Even though many versions have been made and it has been interpreted in different musical styles from its creation at the beginning of the 13th century (date pointed out by the Buddhist monk Kenkô Yoshida in his essay “Tsurezuregusa”, written in 1330), his characteristic recitative mode has hardly varied in all this time and is directly related to the kind of instrumental accompaniment that the biwa allows to do to blind monks that interpreted the epic poem in the streets of Japanese villages for decades. The biwa is a flat lute with a short neck with frets that arrived in Japan from China during the Nara Period (710-759). In fact, it is considered a variation of the traditional Chinese pipe and, like this, it is held vertically. There are six kinds of biwa that are distinguished by the number of strings, the sounds that can been produced, the kind of plectrum used by the interpreter to strum the strings and the style it is classified in. In fact, there is a special biwa for the interpretation of “Heike-Monogatari”, called heykiokubiwa that has four strings and five frets. However, Junko Ueda (Tokyo, Japan, 1969), the star of this album, uses a satsuma-biwa. With its four strings and four trets, this variation was designed and popularised by the warriors of the Satsuma clan during the 16th century. This is why its plectrum is wider than those used in the rest of the biwas (according to the popular belief, the samurais used the plectrum as an arm) and its sound is wider and more virile. In this recording that presents interesting inside notes, Ueda interprets three pieces of the medieval classic epic poem, interweaving the instrumental parts with the story sung. The exercise, materialised by a sober voice and very suggestive musical effects, transmits the epic of a story with these characteristics.

Japan, Past, Present and Future

Japan, Classical Music

Out of the four main instruments of Japanese classical music, the shamisen is the most modern because it was added by the Japanese interpreters in the 16th century. According to all the ethnomusicologist studies, this long neck lute with three strings and a square soundbox comes from the sanshin, an instrument developed in the kingdom of Ryükyü (the current archipelago of Okinawa) from the Chinese sanxian. The most interested in this new instrument were the biwa players, attracted by its capacity to accompany the complex modulations of the classical vocal forms.

Several Artists “Jam session of tsugaru-shamisen” King Record, 2001

As the strings of the sanshin are also strummed with a considerably big plectrum (if we compare it to the pick of a guitar), they modified its original structure in order to create the shamisen. Smaller than the biwa or koto, with the possibility to have a rhythmical and melodic function and without a prior repertoire that links it to a style, celebration or specific ritual, the shamisen was adopted by the middle class of the time, which began to use it quite often. And soon compositions for shamisen solos and duets were created, which were added to the traditional instrumental bands of shakuhachi, koto and biwa or found their place to accompany singers (case of the nagauta) and actors (especially in kabuki and bunraku). In the middle of the 19th century, the shamisen had become the most extended instrument of the country and nowadays we can find it in very different styles, from classical music to theatre, from popular songs to jazz.To discover the sound of this instrument we have chosen an album that recovers the value and power of improvisation.

Integrated in the prestigious collection “Music of Japanese people”, directed by Professor Tomito Kojima, the recording is established (its title already implies it) as an open session, developing a form of classic composition where a small melodic line is repeated on different occasions until, from small modifications carried out in situ by musicians, there is a new line developed the same as the previous. Making the most of this freedom of concept, the different stars of the jam session loosen a creativity and expressivity that continuously surprise us.

Japan, Past, Present and Future

Japan, Classical Music

Considered the most ancient harmonic musical style that currently exists, the gagaku is a form of cult music developed in the imperial courts of China, Korea and Japan, when Europe was hardly beginning to recover from the fall of the Roman Empire. Literally, gagaku means refined, noble or fair music, as an opposition to popular music that was considered vulgar and primitive. And even if the term did not exactly consider the same music style in every one of the three territories, its function was the same: to become the soundtrack of the court, covering the ritual celebrations and the leisure moments.

Several Artists “Gagaku” Ocora - Radio France, 1987

On the other hand, we must add that the adaptation to the aesthetics of every place and the evolution of every culture have caused a division that now does not allow recognising the original relationship that existed between the three repertoires.

In Japan, under the concept of gagaku the music of the Sintoist cult (Mikagura) and the three genres of secular cult music (Kangen, instrumental music, Bugaku, dance music and Uta-mono, vocal music) are grouped, developed during the Nara periods (645-794) and Heian (794-1185) from the assimilation of continental music. From the beginning, a Japanese gagaku group is made up of 16 musicians: three flutes (ryûteki or komabue), three oboes (hichiriki), three mouth organs (shô), two four string lutes (biwa), two thirteen string zithers (koto), a small gong (shôko), a large drum (taiko) and a smaller drum (kakko), which corresponds to the director of the orchestra. Every instrument has a very specific task (to develop the melody, to mark the rhythm, to sustain the harmonization) and they can’t run away from them, turning the hearing of this music into a demanding experience for non skilled ears. For the most daring users of the Media Library, we have selected this album, originally recorded in 1979 and that approaches six compositions (three Kangen and three Bugaku) to us which, in some cases, go back to the 8th century and have hardly changed in this time. The group Ono Gagaku Kaï, one of the best gagaku orchestras from its foundation in 1887, is in charge of the interpretation of a musical tradition that constitutes a fundamental part of the Japanese cultural heritage.

Recommendations

Japan, Classical Music

> Etsuko Chida, “Chants courtois”, Buda Records, 2002 Five extensive pieces, all by known authors and based on classic poems, used by this young koto interpreter to take us to different periods of the Japanese musical history from the 10th and 11th centuries to the Meiji Period (1868-1912). > Gorô Yamaguchi, “L’art de la flûte shakuhachi”, Auvidis, 1988 Instructed by his father and turned into a master at the age of 16,Yamaguchi is one of the great representatives of Japanese classical music of the 20th century. In this album he plays four popular pieces of the musical tradition of Zen Buddhism. > Kakujo Nakamura, “Biwa Hitsuki-no-hibiki”, Studio Pipars, 2005 Recording made during a concert held in Miyazaki, the hometown of Nakamura. It includes the song “Eclipse”, revolutionary piece written in 1966 by the famous composer Toru Takemitsu (1930-1996) for biwa and shakuhachi. > Several Artists, “Rituel Bouddhique Shomyo”, Auvidis / Unesco, 1991 The Buddhist liturgical chant, known as Shomyo, is one of the pillars of Japanese classical music and the fifty minutes of ritual compiled in this album (together with the notes of the booklet) are an excellent introduction to this discipline.

Literary Route

> Several Artists, “Splendeur du shamisen”, Playa Sound, 1993 The four pieces of this album present different styles of music for shamisen: the joy of traditional festivities, the hospitality of the tea rooms, the drama of kabuki and the formal picture of the imperial court.

Japan, Past, Present and Future

Japan, Popular Music

It isn’t easy to approach popular root Japanese music. One of the main reasons is that it has a deep link to its small universe, in the case of a min’yo song that is inspired by a farmer who plants rice and by a deafening percussion of a group of taiko drums by a repertoire of shima uta (literally “songs of the islands”) of the Okinawa archipelago.

Literary Route

This approach seems difficult even for the Japanese themselves, who on many occasions show many prejudices towards this repertoire. But what is true is that Japan offers a rich diversity of musical traditions that are often hidden before our eyes among the austere classical forms and the enthusiastic imitations of the western styles. And precisely, if this third path proposes something it is its proximity to the everyday life of the people and their authenticity as a truly Japanese manifestation. Framed in this jumble of the music of the world, these more or less updated Japanese ethnical rhythms and more or less combined with music from other cultures have also found their place inside and outside Japan.That is where the international success of taiko drums lays, whose bands not only go on tour around the planet, but have also created currents and have added European and North American musicians to their bands. The surprising music from Okinawa also holds an outstanding position, which transmits the particular artistic sensitivity that the inhabitants of the archipelago preserve and cultivate. And we still have the young people that as it happens in other parts of the world place their eyes on a rich past in order to project their culture and personalities towards the future. So forget the first sentence of this text and go for it. Because, as someone once said, “traditional music is able to deepen into all the fields of life, which can explain everything that happens to someone from their birth to their death”. And here all human beings are the same.

Japan, Past, Present and Future

Japan, Popular Music

The Japanese cultural tradition has developed several forms of expression that combine narration and instrumental music. And even if they have evolved in an independent manner they are all brought together under the umbrella of Japanese theatre. Among these different theatre disciplines (no, kyogen, bunraku...), kabuki has always been (and is still) the most popular

Ensemble Nipponia “Kabuki & other traditional music” Nonesuch Records, 1995

Declared Oral and Intangible Heritage of Humanity by Unesco in 2005, kabuki was born in the 17th century as a female dramatic dance style that collected elements of the narrative of no theatre, popular songs and a lighter and accessible instrumental accompaniment for the audience. Its success was practically instantaneous, but the ironical and sexual character of many of its lyrics (in addition, most of the actresses were also prostitutes) caused many scandals and agitation at performances. The authorities decided to take women away from stages in 1629 to protect the public morality (banning that for different reasons turned into tradition and remained until the 20th century) and kabuki became a strictly masculine discipline. At the beginning, kabuki added diverse musical styles to accompany its performances. But from the mid 18th century, nagauta (literally “long song”) became the most used and the one that best integrated with the stage action because as well as accompanying dance, it offered background music for the drama reciting and also moments for instrumentalists to exhibit their virtuosity. This album of the band Ensemble Nipponia, edited for the first time in 1980 (in vinyl of course) devotes the first half of its repertoire to nagauta, interpreting extracts of four very popular dance pieces (in a kabuki representation, these pieces could be extended for more than 20 minutes) and presenting the classical instrumental band (voice, shamisen and several percussions). The second half of the repertoire approaches us to four compositions that belong to very different historical periods, but that are linked by this instrumental narrative that defines Japanese music.

Japan, Past, Present and Future

Japan, Popular Music

Even though every one of the numerous traditional drums have their own name, in the West we identify the word “taiko” with the elements that evolve around the Japanese percussion, the different drums that are used or the instrumental band that brings them together. But, as it usually happens, simplification seems dangerous and hides reality.

Ondekoza “Legend” Tropical Music, 1994

For a start, it is necessary to point out that the Japanese tradition has developed a great variety of percussion instruments (from the spectacular õdaiko of 300 kilos to tiny tambourines) that are used in popular and classical music. If we stick to taiko drums, we can say that on a regular basis and independently from its size, they are instruments that are held on three sticks and have a resonance box closed on both sides. This characteristic seemed definite because taiko drums are classified according to how this closing is done during its construction: a "byou-uchi daiko" has its skin nailed to the body of the drum, whereas a "shime-daiko" has it sewn to iron rings.When a group of taiko drums play a piece, the development normally follows the concept jo-ha-ky?” (which can be translated as “beginning, breaking, fast”) which is also applied at tea ceremonies and certain martial arts. It essentially means that all the actions or efforts must begin slowly, progressively increase its speed and end very fast. This development is explicitly appreciated in the work Ondekoza, the project created in 1969 by Tagayasu Den in the island of Sado and that has become, for his own merits, the taiko group with most international projection in the last forty years (his first US tour was in 1975). With his wise moves and controversy recovering traditional melodies or creating new repertoires, Tagayasu Den’s work transformed the vision of taiko, which stopped being a folkloric music that was only listened to at matsuris (local religious festivals) and became a greatly virtuous style that was presented on a stage. The six songs of “Legend” prove it.

Japan, Past, Present and Future

Japan, Popular Music

For whoever reads these lines, it may seem strange that in a text devoted to a group we begin talking about another one. But this is what history is like and this is how it will be told.

Kodo “Tsutsumi” Sony Music, 1999

The creation of the band Ondekoza in 1969 by Tagayasu Den, following a general current that tried to rediscover the Japanese traditions in the different artistic disciplines, arrived with a very particular decision: the young people selected to develop the project, most lacking musical knowledge (in fact, Tagayasu Den wasn’t a taiko musician either) settled on the Sado Island to work together. The communal life was austere and rigorous, with many hours devoted to the study and practice of taiko, shamisen, koto and traditional dances. Together with all this, Tagayasu Den placed the practice of athletics as a main core of the life of the members of Ondekoza. So the musicians would go out for a run twice a day when they were on the Sado Island and whenever it was possible, they combined their concerts with the participation in some marathon. This situation collapsed in 1981 when the differences between Tagayasu Den and his disciples (who were not as young and docile as in 1969) were unsustainable. After several confrontations, the master left the island taking the name of the group and most of the drums and continued his artistic path from the city of Fuji. The rest of the members remained in Sado and continued working with the name Kodo and held their first concert that year in Berlin. Since then, as well as the extensive tours of the group around the world and the numerous albums and DVDs, the work of Kodo has been distinguished for three moments: the starting up of the the Earth Celebration Festival (1988), the opening of new installations where they can carry out their activities (also in 1988) and the creation of the Kodo Cultural Foundation (1997). At the Media Library you can find several of their albums, but we have selected “Tsutsumi” because it is one that brings us the original sound of the group, which is characterized by transmitting a simple, fluid and happy energy in an effort declared by the group itself of striking its drums with a certain children’s innocence.

Japan, Past, Present and Future

Japan, Popular Music

This volume of the series “Music of Japanese people” approaches us the music of Yaeyama and Miyako, two groups of islands that are part of the prefecture of Okinawa.

Several Artists “Music of Yaeyama and Miyako” King Record, 1991

This archipelago, which integrates hundreds of islands in a chain that goes beyond 1000 kilometres between Kyushu (the most southern of the four main Japanese islands) and Taiwan, known as “the land of music and dance”. Still today it is usual for inhabitants of Okinawa (the ancient kingdom of Ryükyü, independent until the 17th century) to arrive home after work, take an instrument (normally a sanshin) and spend a long time playing and singing old traditional songs that allow them to share their feelings. And what can we say about local festivals, where men and women appreciate and celebrate the goodness of the harvests through the enthusiastic kami uta (literally, “songs of the gods”). Within this generalization, we can find certain specific topics. And this is what happens to the two territories approached with this album. The Islands of Yaeyama, for example, are generally known for their rich folkloric tradition. Their vocal repertoire is divided in two great categories: narrative songs that tell stories of gods and of the harshness of the life of the seas, and the lyrical songs, whose topics are basically related to love. There is also an extensive dance repertoire that makes the most of the musicality of the sanshin to broaden the reach of well known melodies. In Miyako, however, this presence of the sanshin was not obvious until quite recently. For this reason, out of eight pieces included in this album, five are exclusively starred by one vocalist, with no instrumental accompaniment. The kind of repertoire is similar to the neighbouring islands, but this maximum master of the voice conditions a more paused rhythmical and melodic development of compositions. The exception is found in the dance pieces, which obviously seem more energetic. The reading of the inside notes is essential (in Japanese and English), because it includes interesting explanations of the chosen repertoire and of the characteristics of the music of the two represented areas, as well as short annotations about the singers and instrumentalists that take part in the recording.

Japan, Past, Present and Future

Japan, Popular Music

Born in Nakagusuku (district of Nakagami, Okinawa, Japan) in 1952, Takashi Hirayasu is one of the most important artists of Okinawa and one of those pioneers that is contributing fresh and exciting sounds to the scenario of the music of the world.

Takashi Hirayasu and Bob Brozman “Jin Jin / Firefly” World Music Network, 2000

Curiously, Hirayasu began playing blues and rock in the bars and discos that surrounded the US military base of Okinawa.

When he turned 20, he discovered the traditions of his ancestors and decided to change the electric guitar for the sanshin, the three string lute and snake skin body. For a while he was part of Shoukichi Kina & Champloose, a group that approached the popular songs of Okinawa, known as shima uta, under a strong influence of Western rock. In fact, in this group the image of the singer, leader and composer, Shoukichi Kina, stands out with his electric shansin on stage. Shoukichi Kina & Champloose bécame a reference of the Japanese musical scenario and the work of Hirayasu influenced a generation of rock musicians who tried to reconnect to their musical heritage (among others, Soul Flower Union, the most successful Japanese rock root band). And the end of the Champloose period, Hirayasu concentrated on his career as a soloist and gathered all the musical elements of Okinawa in his work. Until one day he came across the US guitarist Bob Brozman, a curious character that traveled around the world with an obsession about deepening into the traditional music of the islands. The impact they had on each other was so big that soon after meeting, they were already making this album. The recording sessions of “Jin Jin / Firefly” were carried out at a small wooden house of Taketomi, the smallest island in Okinawa. In an almost magical environment, Hirayasu and Brozman developed a curious work process that allowed them to record most of the twelve pieces (except three, all traditional) in one or two recordings, playing together, without hardly any effects or changes in the subsequent edition. The result, full of instrumental virtuosity, are songs that go beyond any language and leave us the feeling that all root music belongs to the same tree.

Recommendations

Japan, Popular Music

> Ensemble Nipponia, “Traditional vocal & instrumental music”, Nonesuch Records, 1990 Led by Minoru Miki, this chamber orchestra made up of different masters of the four traditional Japanese instruments (shakuhachi, biwa, koto and shamisen) carries out an inspiring technique exercise that turns into a beautiful sound tapestry that surrounds the listener. > Kodo, “Best of ”, Sony Music, 1994 This compilation that brings together eight pieces recorded between 1988 and 1992 us a perfect entrance to discover the new path begun by the group of the Sado Island and to deepen into the sound of drums that can seem delicate or deafening. > Ondekoza, “Devils on drums”, Tropical Music, 1986 The taiko drums have slowly earned progressive popularity in Japan and in the rest of the planet and it’s the fault of four decades of work of this band because in this album there were many North American and European musicians. > The Shumei Taiko Ensemble, “Earth Songs: Water”, The Shumei Taiko Ensemble, 2004 Founded in 1982, this taiko group especially works of the repertoire of new composition created by Meisho Tosha, its musical director. At the Media Library you can find the DVD with the same title and that complements the listening of this album with images.

Literary Route

> Several Artists, “Les plus beaux contes zen”, Frémeaux & Associés, 2002 Even though the reading is in French, this double album reminds us of the importance of stories in the transmission of the Zen philosophy, especially when the monks that went around the country were addressed to the most humble citizens to transmit the Buddhist thought.

Japan, Past, Present and Future

Japan, Modern Music

In the period of time that goes from the 17th century to the second third of the 20th century, the Japanese society lived from two radically opposite points of view.

Literary Route

During the Edo Period (1600-1868), the Japanese governors limited their contact with foreigners to a maximum level, imposing a social, economic and cultural isolation. This situation changed in 1868 with the arrival of the Meiji Period (1868-1912). The doors to Japan were opened again and the Western culture suddenly went in, shaking a country that in certain aspects had fallen asleep. After three centuries of hardly any movement in only a hundred years, Japanese music experienced an extraordinary transformation also marked by the progressive industrialization of the country and technological advance such as records, radio or cinema. In all this time, however, an important element did not go through any changes: the high technical capacity of Japanese musicians, linked to the difficulty the master of its classical instruments involved (shakuhachi, koto, biwa and shamisen). For this reason it did not seem complicated at all to adopt and adapt musical genres from other countries to their own idiosyncrasy. In this sense, it seems surprising (or maybe not so much) to discover the amount of groups and fans that move around musical styles in Japan and have no relation at all to their cultural tradition, from the most strict copy or from particular evolutions such as the visual kei. From the seventies, having overcome this period of imitation, some Japanese musicians began to work from another perspective and tried to redefine their relation with the foreign influence. In this new context different artists appeared and tried to connect both cultures being more or less aware of the fact that they were their own: the Japanese tradition, preserved and transmitted by their ancestors, and the Western influence, where they grew up and were trained. All this options make up a broad range of proposals among which, without a doubt, you will find more than one surprise.

Japan, Past, Present and Future

Japan, Modern Music

On the cover of this album, together with its title, you can read a surprising sentence: “The Return of Japanese Street Music”. The return of Japanese street music? Yes, yes and yes. Being such a tidy society does not involve a renunciation to excitement and joy on the street even if it is something specific.

Cicala Mvta “Ching Dong” Tropical Music, 1999

This style is known as chindon and far from being an artistic form of uncertain origins, it arouse at the beginning of the 20th century, taking the fanfare that cheered up the streets of New Orleans as an example. In Japanese cities the groups of chindon became very popular, especially used as advertising appeal. When a trader opened a new business, he would hire a chindon group to walk around the neighbourhood and attract the attention of clients to his shop.With the progressive development of television after the 2nd World War, this particular form of communication disappeared. So the chindon died. Until in the eighties young people from all over the country decided to approach their musical heritage and connect it to all kinds of styles. And the influence of chindon was noticed in successful projects such as Soul Flower Union (and its acoustic version, Soul Flower Mononoke Summit) or Compostella. In one way or another, Wataru Ohkuma, clarinetist and leader of the starring group of this text, took part in these three projects before diving into their next adventure: Cicala Mvta. From the work carried out by Masami Shinoda in Compostella (this is, to take chindon to certain forms of experimental jazz), Ohkuma and his colleagues turned to approaching Japanese street music to the styles of fanfares that exist in several cultures of the world. This way, “Ching Dong”, the first album signed by Cicala Mvta, gathers compositions written by Ohkuma, pieces based on the traditional repertoire of kabuki and rakugo, some classics of chindon and elements of music from Nepal, Turkey or the Balkans fro popular metal orchestras. At the Media Library we can also find “Deko-Boko” (Tropical Music, 2002), second work by this peculiar group where we can find a curious definition of its proposal: “simply strange popular music”.

Japan, Past, Present and Future

Japan, Modern Music

The second half of the 19th century involved the beginning of a new path for the Japanese culture. The end of the Edo Period (1603-1868) and the establishment of economic, social and cultural relations with surrounding countries (including the United States, the new power of the region) caused in certain fields a fast Westernisation. Related to this reaction, within this musical context, the Japanese have always stood out for their extraordinary ability to assimilate practically assimilate any style.

Tokyo Ska Paradise Orchestra “Ska me crazy�

Anagram Records, 2005

Moreover, after the 2nd World War, hundreds of musicians focused their activity on sounds such as rockabilly or boogie woogie, reproducing the songs of the great North American artists in albums or on stage. As decades when by, new genres (heavy metal to flamenco) joined this particular concept of the Japanese musical scenario. During the second half of the eighties, the Japanese public began to show interest in the novelty that the music of the world involved. This exhibition also awakened the Japanese genius of assimilation and groups that imitated Latin music orchestras or African rumba bands arouse. The attractive Jamaican rhythms obviously did not run away from this dynamic and became one of the most important actors of the underground scene for many years. As time goes by, things have changed and some of its groups, such as the veteran Tokyo Ska Paradise Orchestra, are authentic mass phenomenon. Known among its fans as Skapara or TSPO, the band was officially made in 1988 as an initiative of the percussionist Asa-Chang and initially brought together around ten veterans of the most alternative musical Tokyo. During these two long decades, the band has developed a personal and successful combination of traditional ska-jazz without borders, has published more than thirty albums (among originals, live recordings and compilations) and has offered around a thousand of its spectacular concerts all around the world. Without a doubt, Tokyo Ska Paradise Orchestra (or Skapara or TSPO: whichever you prefer) is the best Japanese ska band. And this album which gathers fifteen powerful songs published between 1998 and 2004 is an excellent formula to visit its universe.

Japan, Past, Present and Future

Japan, Modern Music

Those who have a certain age might remember a song arrived from Japan at the beginning of the nineties and was very successful in Europe and North America. This particular song was called “Twiggy Twiggy” and was by an unknown group for most of the Western public, called Pizzicato Five (often identified with the initials P5).

Pizzicato Five “Big hits and jet lags, 1994-1997” Nippon Columbia, 1997

Founded in 1984 by five teenage friends, Pizzicato Five was a Japanese pop band that was especially known during a period where after different changes in the band, the duet made up of the vocalist Maki Nomiya and the musician, composer and DJ Yasuharu Konishi (one of its original composers) was placed at the front. Its sound was inspired in happy and free-and-easy pop of the end of the sixties, but it wasn’t limited to an imitation and it added different elements that the technology of the time allowed (scratches, samplers…), as well as arrangements that connected their proposal to acid jazz, hip hop or funk. In fact, Pizzicato Five was considered one of the spearheads of the movement Shibuya kei, one of the families of Japanese pop that was born in the Tokyo district of Shibuya and that was distinguished for being a mixture of jazz, pop and electropop that turned to French aesthetics rather than Anglo-Saxon aesthetics. For its promotional launches, the band coined the slogan “a spectacular new stereophonic sound”, which was an ironic posture and a declaration of principles about the creative concept of the project. After the success of “Twiggy Twiggy”, the music by Pizzicato Five appeared in several films, video game soundtracks and TV programs and series all around the world. Some of these songs, such as "Happy sad", "Superstar", "Baby portable rock" or "It's a beautiful day”, are included in this compilation, which coincides with the fructiferous period led by the aforementioned Nomiya and Konishi. By the way, we are very sorry but “Twiggy Twiggy” does not appear in this compilation because it was included in the album “This Year’s Girl” (Columbia Music, 1991). On the other hand, at the Media Library “Ça et là du Japon” (Columbia Music, 2001) is also available, the album that closed the trajectory of Pizzicato Five after a decade and a half of frenetic activity.

Japan, Past, Present and Future

Japan, Modern Music

Like in the rest of genres of Western pop music, punk also has its own stage in Japan.

The most outstanding group is a female trio that arouse at the end of 1981 in the city of Osaka under the influence of the girl bands of the sixties and the first moments of punk (with the North American quintet Ramones).

Shonen Knife “Universal Hits” Universal Music, 2006

The initiative of the Naoko and Atsuko Yamano sisters and their friend Michie Nakatani was a surprise because at the time a female band that projected that sound was completely unusual. In any case, the girls loosened their energy without worrying about anything or anyone and soon they began to offer concerts where they presented simple songs, based on contagious melodies and simple lyrics in Japanese and in English. In this first band, Naoko Yamano was in charge of the guitar and leading voice, her sister Atsuko was in charge of the drums and second voices and Michie Natakani, as well as being the main voice, played the bass and the keyboard. In the eighties, as the trio polished its sound with every album edited and every concert, its fame grew inside and outside Japan. At the end of this decade, Shonen Knife was a band quoted by the important leaders of Anglo-Saxon alternative rock such as Sonic Youth, Nirvana or Redd Kross, status that is has maintained during this time and that can be visualized with this album. All in all, “Universal Hits” is a juicy compilation that brings together 35 songs in two CDs that present clearly divided contents. Together with a second album which is a collection of oddities, alternative takes of well known pieces of the group and cover versions of other songs that interest their most unconditional fans, the first album allows to go through, in 20 songs, the work by Shonen Knife since 1992 to 2000. This period that goes through albums such as “Let’s Knife” (Mca Victor, 1992), “Rock animals” (Mca Victor, 1993), “Brand new knife” (Big Deal Records, 1997), “Happy hour” (Big Deal Records, 1998) and “Strawberry sound” (Universal Music, 2000), seems decisive to understand why Shonen Knife is part of the history of Japanese pop music.

Japan, Past, Present and Future

Japan, Modern Music

Related to cosplayers (young people who dress as their favourite manga or anime character) and lolitas (young girls who dress up trying to copy the childish aspect of Victorian porcelain dolls), the kei visual is a movement of Japanese pop and it is characterized by the use of elaborate make up, hair style and clothes, even extravagant and that often involves having an androgynous aesthetic. Even though initially most bands moved around glam rock, punk and metal, as years go by the importance of the image artists show has increased and the range of musical styles has been opened.

An Cafe “Gokutama Rock Cafe” Gan-Shin, 2008

The concept of visual kei appeared in the mid eighties, with bands such as X Japan, D’erlanger, Buck-Tick or Color, which for a decade progressively increased their success and influence on their supporters, who attended their concerts dressed as their idols. After the dissolution of bands such as X Japan or Luna, the scenario experienced a decline until a new harvest of bands recovered the torch of the movement. Names such as Versailles, Nightmare or The Gazette have helped visual kei have many supporters. Among the people responsible for this new life you can find the Tokyo quintet An Café (also known as Antikku Kafe or Antic Cafe), which since its beginning in 2003 has published five long CDs, around 20 singles and 9 DVDs. Even though initially An Café was framed in the oshare kei style (the less extreme subgenre of visual kei, whose artists offer a happier and childish appearance), later the boys defined themselves as a Harajuku dance rock band (Harajuku is the commercial most famous part of Tokyo and the Harajuku kei style is linked to the colourful and easygoing fashion that takes place in this neighbourhood). Extremely popular among teenagers, An Café has won the favour of the public thanks to happy songs and, especially, to the energy that is projected in their attractive concerts where, as well as their musical talent, every one of the five members express their unique personality.

Recommendations

Japan, Modern Music

> L’Arc-en-Ciel, “Ark”, Ki/oon, 2006 Special edition of an album published in 1999 (this new version includes a DVD) to celebrate the 15th anniversary of one of the most successful groups of Japanese pop with sales that go beyond 15 million albums. > DMBQ, “The essential sounds from The Far East”, Estrus Records, 2005 Even though the title makes us think about a recording that approaches us to the bases of traditional Japanese music, the reality is that this quartet practices a psychodelic rock like groups such as The Jimi Hendrix Experience, Deep Purple and Led Zeppelin. > Guitar Wolf, “R.R.E.”, Narnack Records, 2004 One of those albums that must be listened to very loudly, there is no other choice. Distorted guitars, fierce bass and drums, a voice always about to break… And everything packed in a hard and dirty sound. It includes a cover version of the classic “Route 66”. > Puffy AmiYumi, “ Hi Hi | Music from the series”, Epic, 2004 Soundtrack of the TV program starred by this fun couple, a mass phenomenon in Japan that fills precincts in Japan with their concerts, marks fashion tendencies without expecting to and has generated many merchandising products.

Literary Route

> The 5.6.7.8’s, “Bomb the rocks”, Sweet Nothing, 2003 The subtitle implies it all (“Early days singles, 1989 to 1996”) and allows us to go through the first stage of this female trio abduced by rockabilly, surf music and garaje rock. Priceless inside photos and make their life slogan more explicit: “the future of rock’n roll arrives from the past”.

Japan, Past, Present and Future

Japan, contemporary music

Working on projects with great personality, placing the value of creativity before any other element, contemporary Japanese musicians have been able to find a new and identifiable musicality. In certain cases even they have managed to return to influence received from the West and to create tendencies that have triumphed all over the planet, especially in electronic music.

Literary Route

We cannot forget the impact caused by Japanese cinema, which is especially noticeable, the case of soundtracks that accompany animation films. However, most artists that star this renewal move around the alternative scenario, far from the massive success of easy pop bands. This is the price avant-garde people have to pay, people who are opening new paths that might be used by many other creators and followers. The process experienced at the time by famous artists such as Ryuichi Sakamoto or Kitaro can also reach avant-garde rock projects such as The Boredoms or Rovo, experimental jazz groups such as Tokyo Chutei Iki or Pascals, proposals that come from dub such as Dry & Heavy o Audio Active... In any case, it is clear that in the 21st century Japanese musicians have finally managed to feel comfortable from their own tradition, whichever their style might be. This way, classical instruments appear in all kinds of bands and young musicians, such as the koto player Michiyo Yagi, who have taken them to unknown extremes through daring collaborations and experiences that collect the baton of those carried out by the master of shakuhachi Hozan Yamamoto for half a century. At the same time other artists such as Agatsuma have recovered and revitalized practically forgotten concepts (in his case the tradition of tsugaru shamisen). And even in the scene of dance music these encounters are carried out with total normality, DJ Krush’s work for example, a studio and live project with shakuhachi players.

Japan, Past, Present and Future

Japan, contemporary music

To talk about Ryuichi Sakamoto is to talk about a very particular musical personality, with success and recognition inside and outside Japan. In the notes in the inside of this compilation we can read: “I would like to break the borders between genres, categories and cultures”.

Ryuichi Sakamoto “moto.tronic” Sony Music, 2003

And it can be achieved. Tokyota in 1952 began his career in the mid seventies and since then his work as a composer, record producer, writer, singer and actor can be followed. His first professional success goes back to 1978, when Yellow Magic Orchestra was created together with Hosono Haruomi and Yukihiro Takahashi. This trio is placed behind the German band Kraftwerk and worked with Haruomi and became one of the pioneer bands of electronic music. Parallelly to the work with Haruomi and Takahashi, Sakamoto began his solo career, which at the beginning already made two interesting albums such as the experimental “The Thousand Knives of Ryuichi Sakamoto” (Denon Records, 1978) and the successful “B-2 Unit” (Cbs Records, 1980) that includes "Riot in Lagos", a classic of electro music. This career acquired speed in 1983 when the tour of Yellow Magic Orchestra ended and Sakamoto made the music of “Merry Christmas, Mr. Lawrence” (Nagisa Oshima, 1983), film where he took part as an actor. From here on, his name became a synonym of success and quality, publishing and producing many albums (his name appeared in a hundred projects, his own or by others), composing the soundtrack for films by Bernardo Bertolucci such as “The Last Emperor” (1987) and “Little Buddha” (1994) or receiving the order of making the music for the opening ceremony of the Olympic Games of Barcelona (1992). Before this varied and dispersed professional activity, this “moto tronic” turns to us, a collection of success that is focused on the work by Sakamoto between the end of the eighties and the beginning of the nineties.

The album includes pieces for cinema, synth-pop style songs, compositions for solo piano and a pair of interesting collaborations (with North American Iggy Pop and the Brazilian couple made up of Paula and Jaques Morelembaum).

An album to check out the versatility of this great Japanese artist.

Japan, Past, Present and Future

Japan, contemporary music

Many bands assure that there is no other band in the planet. But few can present true proof before this affirmation such as this exaggerated big band that is really something more than a musical project.

Shibusashirazu “Shibu-Hata” Smash Records, 2002

The seed of Shibusashirazu Orchestra (it is also quoted like this sometimes) was planted in 1988 when Daisuke Fuwa, a popular Japanese jazz bass player, received the order to compose and interpret the music for a play of the avant-garde theatre company Hakken no Kai. Before this challenge, Fuwa tries to connect the Japanese theatre scene (which has always given a very important role to its particular soundtrack) with the aesthetics of modern music. So he began to gather some of the best instrumentalists of the scene of free jazz. The call had such an enthusiastic response that since then the band has gathered two dozens of musicians that play wind instruments (saxophone, trumpet, flute, clarinet), string instruments (violin, guitar and electric bass), and percussion instruments (drums, conga). The work with the theatre group work so well that they decided to continue with the musical project, adding contemporary and butoh dance people, actors of gesture theatre and different singers to complete the show. All these together gives life to this madness called Shibusashirazu. The band has published around a dozen albums and has performed at many festivals all around the world, highlighting the four consecutive years where it occupied one of the main stages of the popular Fuji Rock Festival and that brought together a big public. A recording, even if it was live like this one, could never move the energy that so many people generate on a stage. To start with, we lose all the visual part projected by dancers and actors. But on this “Shibu-Hata” we can enjoy very interesting moments, like the unstoppable speed of “Hyottoko”, the instrumental developments of “Lion” or the surprising groove of “Mucho de Shogyo”, and discover as the album goes on, the elements of rock, of Japanese enka music, folk, funk and obviously jazz that feed the musical imaginary of a band with nothing the same in the planet.

Japan, Past, Present and Future

Japan, contemporary music

In active since the sixties, always around instrumental music and researching the possibilities of synthesizers, digital keyboards and samplers, Masanori Takahashi (his real name) is one of the most influential and constant artists of what has been called New Age.

Kitaro “Sacred journey of Ku-Kai | volume 2” Domo Records, 2005

After his initial stage in the group Far East Family Band (band with which he went on tours and recordings, even working with Klaus Schulze, from the mythical German band Tangerine Dream) in 1977 Kitaro began a career as a soloist that after two albums turned him into one of the stars of the New Age movement and would soon bring his first great success.

And he received the order to make the soundtrack of “The Silk Road”, documentary series produced by NHK (Japanese Public Radio-Television) that could be seen all over the world at the beginning of the eighties. From this moment, his career has experienced very different moments. One of them was represented by this album, second volume of a series that Kitaro begun after the events of 9/11 in the USA, occurred while the Japanese musician was on his way from Japan to Los Angeles. His plane was diverted to Honolulu, where all the passengers had to stop for 5 days until normality was established in the air traffic. During these days, Kitaro deepened into the peaceful and spiritual message which was already present in this artistic work and decided to carry out a group of compositions that inspired in the pilgrimage of Shikoku, helped people to gather around music. The island of Shikoku placed to the south of the Japanese archipelago has 88 temples that are visited everyday in a long tour that overcomes one thousand kilometers by many motivated pilgrims by ascetic, devout or simple touristic reasons. Everyone of the temples has its own and different bells and Kitaro’s intention is to compose a song for each of these “peace bells” that are on the island (for now he has already published four albums that add 39 compositions), always with the intention to inspire a spiritual awakening and a deep sense of peace in people that listen to this complex and extensive work.

Japan, Past, Present and Future

Japan, contemporary music

Born in Otsu (prefecture of Shiga, Japan) in 1937, Hozan Yamamoto is one of the great living masters of the shakuhachi flute. Interpreter, composer and teacher, he began his relationship with the instrument at the age of 9, initially under the guardianship of his father and later under the legendary Chozan Nakanishi until, in 1958, he graduated in Kyoto.

Hozan Yamamoto “Autumn” Nuba Records, 1998Records, 1998

Since he was young he showed great versatility that has always placed him a step above his contemporaries. Even though he has always preserved his connection with traditional Japanese music (in 1962 he represented his country at the UNESCO’s World Folk Music Festival), his capacity, talent and interest have allowed him take the shakuhachi to new fields. So already in 1964 he recorded, together with Shinichi Yuize’s koto and Tony Scott’s clarinet, the album “Music for Zen meditation” (Verve), to later carry out collaborations with personalities such as Ravi Shankar, Jean-Pierre Rampal, Karl Berger, Chris Hinze or Gary Peacock, among many others. His interesting contributions have been valued with the concession of many awards and honours, including the appointment of the living national treasure by the Japanese Government. Currently he holds an educational position at the National University of Fine Arts and Music of Tokyo and is director of the Hozan-kai Shakuhachi Association. “Autumn”, the album we have chosen to introduce you to Hozan Yamamoto, is a work produced in our country and that placed the Japanese master together with some of the best Spanish jazz musicians. There we come across Chano Domínguez, the double bass player Javier Colina or the percussionist Tino di Geraldo. But without a doubt who best understands Yamamoto is Javier Paxariño, who is in charge of the bass clarinet, the soprano saxophone, the bansuri (Indian flute) and the ti-tze (Chinese flute). His dialogues, about six pieces by Yamamoto, three by Paxariño and one by Domínguez are exquisite and give the recording a character of clear oriental evocation that is enriched by the Latin flavour that marks the double bass. One of those albums that few could have imagine but that is a surprising reality.

Japan, Past, Present and Future

Japan, contemporary music

In the year 2002 the surprise arouse in Berlin. The jury of the famous international film festival that is held every year in the German capital decided to grant its greatest award, the Golden Bear, to a Japanese animation film: “Sen to Chihiro no Kamikakushi” (literally “The spiritual trip of Sen and Chihiro”).

Joe Hisaishi “Le voyage de Chihiro” Studio Ghibli, 2001

Directed by Hayao Miyazaki, in charge together with Isao Takahata of Studio Ghiblio since they both founded it in 1985, the soundtrack of this spectacular anime is Joe Hisaishi’s work, composer and orchestra director born in Nakano (prefecture of Nagano, Japan) in 1950. His name has appeared in more than 100 albums, among film works and personal projects, since he debuted in 1981 with “Mkwaju” (Columbia Japan). His undeniable talent, lively personality and great work capacity have allowed him to develop his own style that has always explored and added different genres to his works, from minimalism or experimental electronics to classical music (Japanese or European). After 20 years of career, “Sen to Chihiro no Kamikakushi” involved one of his greatest hits on an international scale. But it wasn’t his first work for Miyazaki and Takahata. In fact, it could be said that he is another member of the great Ghibli family because his relation with this couple of anime directors, producers and scriptwriters began in 1983 when he was recommended to make the soundtrack for “Kaze no Tani no Naushika”. After this first work, Hisaishi has signed the soundtracks of other films from the famous studio such as “Tonari no Totoro”, “Kurenai no Buta” or “Mononoke Hime” (this soundtrack is also available at the Media Library).

To create the sonorous landscape of the fantastic adventure starred by Chihiro, Hisaishi used the Japanese percussion and appropriated details of the classical Western language (the use of the wind section stands out, combining the grunts of the metals with the kindness of the wood) for, according to the development of the action, to stress the lyricism or pulsation of every piece. Without a doubt a triumph that reinforces the magic of Miyazaki’s images.

Recommendations

Japan, contemporary music

> Cibo Matto, “Viva! La Woman”, Wea, 1996 Debut album by the artistic couple made up of Miho Hatori and Yuka Honda, Japanese origin New Yorkers (at the time).

Ten songs devoted to food, dressed with a sound that mixes hip hop, breakbeat, Afro-Kuban percussions, cool jazz and funk. > Fantastic Plastic Machine, “Les plus”, Columbia Music, 2001 Compilation of the best pieces produced by this discjockey of electronic music, also keen on bossa nova, French pop and lounge. It gathers some of his most famous jingles for television and oddities that, until today, had only been published in vinyl. > Kenji Tozai, “The new sound of Japanese breakbeat cultures”, Blue Flame, 2000 Best known by his works in ambient music, Tozai approaches the environment of drum ‘n bass this time. The album, far from the usual force of the genre, it seems pleasant and even soft as if it also searches for a connection to pop. > Masakazu Yoshizawa, “Kyori (Inner visions)”, Fortuna Records, 1987 An album where the ancestral musical traditions of Japan (the album has shakuhachi and biwa as its stars) are surrounded

by Western influence tonalities. A meeting between cultures that brings a mysterious and attractive message.

Literary Route

> Merzbow, “Sphere”, Tzadik, 2005 Being one of the maximum exponents of noisism, Masami’s Akita (his real name) is not suitable for weak hearts. His proposal is difficult to listen to, but the most daring are able to discover well defined musical structures in them.

Japan, Past, Present and Future

Japan, compilations

In the broad scenario of the music of the world, compilations always play a special role, for neophytes, that try to approach an artist, style or country, as well as for advanced who want to deepen into a field that is beginning to be known. So many things happen in the planet (and even more so in music, an artistic discipline in constant and lucky movement) that it is impossible to know about all of them.

And it is never too mucho to listen to the advice of someone who knows about the field, as we do when we look for the best guide before a trip towards a more or less remote place. But for the musical selection to become a really useful tool we should demand at least two elements that seem essential: certain coherence in the repertoire (not everything can be used) and broad information in the booklets included to attend sources if we decide to go a step ahead. Under this premise, in this section you will find record editions that will allow you to move around easily and with security in the broad waters of the music we present.

Literary Route

Japan, Past, Present and Future

Japan, compilations

Even though any generic compilation is not enough to visualise all the music made in Japan, the 19 pieces included in this album allow to go through most of the styles linked to the Japanese cultural roots (from the characteristic min’yo to the most modern proposals) and to listen to the main instruments of this tradition. In the frenzy of the urban jungle and the calmness of a Buddhist temple there is a broad range of possibilities that take us from the present to the past and from there to the future, practically without even realizing.

Several Artists “The Rough Guide to the music of Japan” World Music Network, 1999

To go on this trip, Paul Fisher (English musical journalist in charge of selecting the repertoire who has made other compilations focused on the music of East Asia and is also in charge of Far Side Music, one of the best references when we search for music from that part of the planet in Internet) stops at the pop music with synthesizers and rhythmboxes by Kawachiya Kikusuimaru with the avant garde combination of biwa and accordion suggested by Yukihiro Goto in the undisputed vocal category shown

by Takio Ito, in the minimalist koto quartet Koto Vortex or in the power of taiko drums developed by great Eitetsu Hayashi.

There is no humour detail missing, starred by the particular version of the popular band The Surf Champlers makes of the main tune of James Bond films or the vindication of the concept of chindon music, through the contemporary proposal make

by Cicala Mvta. The forced visit to Okinawa goes through An-Chang’s project, led on this occasion by the emotive voice of Yasuba Jun, by the delicate wisdom of master Tetsuhiro Daiku or by the contagious joy transmitted by Ayame Band. We will even find an approach to the culture of the ainus, through Oki’s proposal. As it happens in this kind of eclectic albums, every listener will find moments that will awaken their interest and others that will seem dispensable. But the knowledge that Paul Fisher has of the territory, shown in the notes of the booklet, guarantee an interesting path that helps us overcome the stereotyped images that we can have of Japanese music.

Japan, Past, Present and Future

Japan, compilations

Koto and shakuhachi are the two basic instruments of Japanese classical music that everyone interested in the culture of the Japanese country must know. The first one is large zither, whose thirteen strings are clamped with three artificial nails (bamboo or ivory) and that includes mobile bridges that the musician adjusts during its performance. The second is a flute that is made with the bottom part of a bamboo stem.

Several Artists “Lullaby for the moon” Toshiba Emi, 1997

Two years are needed to power the scales and the microtones used to develop this characteristic and different sound to any other wind instrument. To approach them without risking making a mistake, we have this album starred by an outstanding group of excellent interpreters (Hozan Yamamoto among others is one of the best shakuhachi players in the present and who has had a work presented at this musical route devoted to Japan). The compilation gathers contemporary works for koto and shakuhachi, some based on variations of traditional melodies (it is the case of “Chidori”, new piece for koto that was written in the mid 18th century) and others that are new compositions (such as “Toge Hachi-Ri”, creation for two shakuhachis by Inzan Tanaka). On many occasions, the combination of koto and shakuhachi is surprising from its simplicity. Even, mainly due to the distance that separates our respective musical concepts, it is possible that sometimes its melodic developments could worry us, but contributing an inspiring and exciting perspective.

The three pieces by the quoted Tanaka that open the album and manage to give us different images of nature, an abrupt and mountain pass or the fog that hides a pine forest reflect this. Another interesting piece is “Kojo”, Ensho Yamakawa’s variation about this traditional melody that the famous French flutist Jean Pierre Rampal has added to his concert repertoire. Even though we are sorry about the lack of information and referents of the recording, “Lullaby for the moon” is an appropriate album for those who wish to discover more classical Japanese traditional music and for those who already know some of its secrets.

Japan, Past, Present and Future

Japan, compilations

In 2002, the series Festivals of Navarra took quite a few Japanese artists (not only musicians) with the intention to approach us to the culture of a faraway and unknown country for most of us. The challenge was very high because the physical and emotional distance joined the difficulty of summarizing the enormous creative richness, traditional or modern, held by Japan.

Several Artists “Music from Japan” Fnac Spain, 2002

Beyond the activities and concerts programmed during that summer, with the experiences artists and spectators took with them, the festival left this compilation as a witness of it, made by the ubiquitous Paul Fisher. An album with message and concept because as he writes in the inside booklet “it doesn’t highlight hogaku or classical scores from Japan, listening as it does to the modern treatment of its sonorous roots and its mix. It is a musical trip that reflects the peculiarities and contradictions of a nation that projects all its dialectics energy from the past and the present”.

And beyond the musical selection, which includes songs by Takashi Hirayasu, Seijin Noborikawa, Masahiro Nitta or The Sanshin Cafe Orchestra, among other artists, this “Music from Japan” stands out for a concise but juicy text with which Fisher quickly goes through the history of Japanese music, from the Nara period (710-798) until the first babbles of the 21st century, going through enka songs, the modernization of the Meiji period (1868-1912) or rock with roots.

Its reading, while we listen to the thirteen songs of the album, offers us a basic perspective of the history of Japanese music that we can use as the access door to a surprising world. Because as Fisher says “many Japanese musicians left their own musical heritage aside, as rich and diverse as few. [...] But with time the assimilation of the West has moved back in Japan to open doors to originality, inspiration and musical challenges that came from this fusion. Now they have assumed their own sonorous legacy, the Japanese have begun to truly prove their ability to absorb external influences without losing their marks of identity”.

Japan, Past, Present and Future

Japan, compilations

A first and short visit of four days in 2000 was enough for the music producer Guy Blackman, chief of the Australian label Chapter Music (specialised in Indie and Lo-Fi music) to decide that the next time he’d go to Japan it would be to spend a longer period of time.

Several Artists “Songs for Nao” Chapter Music, 2004

That moment arrived in September 2002 when he moved to Tokyo and decided that he would live there for 18 months to deepen into its most alternative musical scene. Many of the bands that awoke the interest of Blackman moved around the label Majikick, managed by the couple Takashi and Saya Ueno, and are part of this compilation that gathers 14 bands from Japan as its subtitle says. “Songs for Nao” discovers a group of bands that work from Lo-Fi elements, the music of the world, psychodelia, folk (from an Eastern and Western perspective) and pop, owning the standards of every genre and making the most of them. It is easy to discover referents such as The Velvet Underground, Shonen Knife or Daniel Johnston, but also evocations of the Indian traditional music from East Europe or Japan. And all of this from a concept close to Lo-Fi amateurism, where the lack of rapport between instrumentalists or the mistakes of vocal tuning do not seem to be important. Out of the different pieces it is important to highlight "Good night" by Pervenche, the most Indie-Pop of all the songs and that is made by a band that is earning a growing reputation outside Japan. We must also pay attention to Nikaidoh Kazumi (whose voice, in “Temperature of Windowside” reminds us of Björk at times), Place Called Space (with the soft and sweet love song “Stars and dinosaurs”), Kinutapan (band that makes an impossible combination of voices and trumpets in “Lilac”) and Nagisa Ni Te (the serene “Stars” is probably the best recorded and interpreted song out of the 14 of them).The album includes simple and useful notes about all the bands and 9 photographs

by Eigo Shimojo (including the one on the cover) that show, in some cases, an anxious and surrealistic version of the Japanese modernity. Without a doubt, a musical document of a very specific style that is very interesting.

Japan, Past, Present and Future

Japan, compilations

The 73 subtropical islands that mae up the archipelago of Okinawa (the ancient kingdom of Ryükyü, independent until the 17th century) is more than 700 kilometres away from Ky?sh? (the furthest south of the four main Japanese islands), practically the same distance that separates them from Taiwan.

Several Artists “The Rough Guide to the music of Okinava” World Music Network, 2001

So it seems easy to imagine that the music from Okinawa has been developed from a unique group of influences, mostly different to the cases that affected the traditions of the rest of the country. Among these influences we find a more pleasant climate and the contact with local traditions with the elements contributed by sailors and traders that went past there. With all these initial clues we can already face the content of this reference to the series “The Rough Guide” devoted to Okinawa. As it is usual in all the volumes of the collection, the chosen repertoire (yes, it is by Paul Fisher again) aims to approach us to the greatest musical diversity, suggested a tour that goes through traditional music, certain approaches to pop and fusion proposals and at the same time it would like to provoke our curiosity to continue with the research by ourselves. The CD is brilliantly begun with three quality pieces, respectively interpreted by Rinsho Kadekaru, known as the godfather of the shima uta (traditional songs), Chieko Iha & Four Sisters, brilliant interpreters of a sweet and melancholic melody and the couple made up of Takashi Hirayasu and Bob Brozman, who respectfully interweave the music of their respective territories. Our legendary musicians that appear in the album are Rinji Kadekaru, current referent of a respected and historical musical lineage, Tetsuhiro Daiku, winner of many awards for his master of sanshin, and Seijin Noborikawa, maybe the last representative of the old school. As a counterpoint we come across the most current suggestions that are by Ryukyu Underground, band settled in electronic experimentation, The Surf Champlers, with their particular and fun surf rock, Shishars, female vocal band with broad musical horizons and The Boom, the band that turned the music of Okinawa into a mass phenomenon with their song called “Shima Uta”.

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