, ''Nihon min'yō'', Japanese ''min'yō'' or Japanese folk music is a genre of traditional
Japanese music
In Japan, music includes a wide array of distinct genres, both traditional and modern. The word for "music" in Japanese is 音楽 (''ongaku''), combining the kanji 音 ''on'' (sound) with the kanji 楽 ''gaku'' (music, comfort). Japan is the world ...
.
Characteristics
Styles
Many ''min'yō'' are connected to forms of work or to specific trades and were originally sung between work or for specific jobs. Other ''min'yō'' function simply as entertainment, as
dance
Dance is a performing art form consisting of sequences of movement, either improvised or purposefully selected. This movement has aesthetic and often symbolic value. Dance can be categorized and described by its choreography, by its repertoir ...
accompaniment, or as a components of religious
ritual
A ritual is a sequence of activities involving gestures, words, actions, or objects, performed according to a set sequence. Rituals may be prescribed by the traditions of a community, including a religious community. Rituals are characterized, b ...
s.
''Min'yō'' are also distinct depending on the area of
Japan
Japan ( ja, 日本, or , and formally , ''Nihonkoku'') is an island country in East Asia. It is situated in the northwest Pacific Ocean, and is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan, while extending from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north ...
, with each area boasting its own favorite songs and styles. The songs found in the far northern island of
Hokkaidō
is Japan's second largest island and comprises the largest and northernmost prefecture, making up its own region. The Tsugaru Strait separates Hokkaidō from Honshu; the two islands are connected by the undersea railway Seikan Tunnel.
The la ...
and sung by the
Ainu people
The Ainu are the indigenous people of the lands surrounding the Sea of Okhotsk, including Hokkaido Island, Northeast Honshu Island, Sakhalin Island, the Kuril Islands, the Kamchatka Peninsula and Khabarovsk Krai, before the arrival of the Y ...
are usually excluded from the category of min'yō. In the far south, (especially
Okinawa
is a prefecture of Japan. Okinawa Prefecture is the southernmost and westernmost prefecture of Japan, has a population of 1,457,162 (as of 2 February 2020) and a geographic area of 2,281 km2 (880 sq mi).
Naha is the capital and largest city ...
) distinct genres of min'yō, differing in scale structure, language and textual forms, have developed as well.
Instruments
Most Japanese folk songs related to work were originally sung unaccompanied, either solo, or by groups (heterophonically). Some songs exhibit the same sort of "
call and response
Call and response is a form of interaction between a speaker and an audience in which the speaker's statements ("calls") are punctuated by responses from the listeners. This form is also used in music, where it falls under the general category of ...
" chant often seen in the Southern Black music of the
United States
The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...
. During the
Edo period
The or is the period between 1603 and 1867 in the history of Japan, when Japan was under the rule of the Tokugawa shogunate and the country's 300 regional '' daimyo''. Emerging from the chaos of the Sengoku period, the Edo period was characteriz ...
, however, and sometimes later as well, accompaniment on
shamisen
The , also known as the or
(all meaning "three strings"), is a three-stringed traditional Japanese musical instrument derived from the Chinese instrument . It is played with a plectrum called a bachi.
The Japanese pronunciation is usual ...
,
shakuhachi
A is a Japanese and ancient Chinese longitudinal, end-blown flute that is made of bamboo.
The bamboo end-blown flute now known as the was developed in Japan in the 16th century and is called the . and/or
shinobue
The ''shinobue'' (kanji: 篠笛; also called ''takebue'' (kanji: 竹笛) in the context of Japanese traditional arts) is a Japanese transverse flute or fue that has a high-pitched sound. It is found in hayashi and nagauta ensembles, and plays ...
was added to ''min'yō'' melodies. Percussion instruments, especially drums, are also often featured in ''min'yō'' accompaniment, especially when such songs are used in dances or religious ceremonies. Some of these accompaniments, in turn, have become independent, spawning solo instrumental genres such as ''
Tsugaru-jamisen
or refers to both the Japanese genre of music originating from Tsugaru Peninsula in present-day Aomori Prefecture and the instrument it is performed with. It is performed throughout Japan, though associations with the Tsugaru remain strong. ...
''. ''
Enka
is a Japanese music genre considered to resemble traditional Japanese music stylistically. Modern ''enka'', however, is a relatively recent musical form, which adopts a more traditional musical style in its vocalism than ''ryūkōka'' music, p ...
'' and many other popular genres are also rooted in ''min'yō''.
In contemporary Japan
During the 20th century many songs have been altered to become highly virtuosic melodies that can only be negotiated with much time and effort. Indeed, ''min'yō'' is now in effect a form of art music, often studied under professional teachers who may grant their leading students licenses and professional names.
At the same time, in contrast to the "stage ''min'yō''" of such professionals, many hundreds of "preservation societies" (''hozonkai'') have been established to help songs survive in their more traditional forms. Thus work songs may be sung unaccompanied, perhaps while imitating or enacting the original actions of the work. Most of these Preservation Societies "preserve" only one local song.
There are also hundreds of ''min'yō'' contests, both national and local, again often for only one song.
For many Japanese, ''min'yō'' evokes, or is said to evoke, a
nostalgia
Nostalgia is a sentimentality for the past, typically for a period or place with happy personal associations. The word ''nostalgia'' is a learned formation of a Greek language, Greek compound, consisting of (''nóstos''), meaning "homecoming", ...
for real or imagined
home
A home, or domicile, is a space used as a permanent or semi-permanent residence for one or many humans, and sometimes various companion animals. It is a fully or semi sheltered space and can have both interior and exterior aspects to it. H ...
towns and family; hence the saying common among practitioners and fans of the genre: "Folk song is the heart's home town" / ''"Min'yō wa kokoro no furusato''".
Min'yō, traditional Japanese folk song, must be distinguished from what the Japanese call ''fōku songu'', from the English phrase 'folk song'. These are Western-style songs, often guitar-accompanied and generally recently composed, of the type associated with Bob Dylan, Peter, Paul and Mary and the like, and popular in Japan since the 1960s. There is surprisingly little contact between these two worlds, ''min'yō'' and ''fōku songu''.
Etymology
The word ''min'yō'' is a
compound word
In linguistics, a compound is a lexeme (less precisely, a word or sign) that consists of more than one stem. Compounding, composition or nominal composition is the process of word formation that creates compound lexemes. Compounding occurs when ...
of and ''.'' In
East Asia
East Asia is the eastern region of Asia, which is defined in both geographical and ethno-cultural terms. The modern states of East Asia include China, Japan, Mongolia, North Korea, South Korea, and Taiwan. China, North Korea, South Korea and ...
, the word is found in Chinese sources since the fifth century. In Japan, the first record of its usage is found in
901 AD. However, the word had only one incidence until 1890. For that reason, ''min'yō'' is considered a
calque
In linguistics, a calque () or loan translation is a word or phrase borrowed from another language by literal word-for-word or root-for-root translation. When used as a verb, "to calque" means to borrow a word or phrase from another language wh ...
of the German word ''Volkslied'' (folk song), after the
Meiji Restoration
The , referred to at the time as the , and also known as the Meiji Renovation, Revolution, Regeneration, Reform, or Renewal, was a political event that restored practical imperial rule to Japan in 1868 under Emperor Meiji. Although there were ...
followed by the ''
Westernization
Westernization (or Westernisation), also Europeanisation or occidentalization (from the ''Occident''), is a process whereby societies come under or adopt Western culture in areas such as industry, technology, science, education, politics, economi ...
'' of the music. ''Min'yō'' replaced the word, ''riyō,'' that was widely used before the
Second World War
World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...
and means 'songs of the local people'.
Japanese traditional designations referring to more or less the same genre include ''inaka bushi'' ("country song") ''inaka buri'' ("country tune"), ''hina uta'' ("rural song") and the like, but for most of the people who sang such songs they were simply ''uta'' (song).
The term ''min'yō'' is now sometimes also used to refer to traditional songs of other countries, though a preceding adjective is needed: ''Furansu min'yō'' = French folk song; for this reason, many sources in Japanese also feel the need to preface the term with "Nihon": ''Nihon min'yō'' = Japanese
raditionalfolk song.
Recordings
In Japan, different efforts have done to register and preserve Japanese folk music. Between 1944 to 1989,
Machida Kashō edited a thirteen-volume of Japanese ''min'yō'' called ''Nihon min'yō taikan'', which remained for several years as the most complete study of the genre.
In the 1970s, the Ministry of Culture of Japan planned a survey of Japanese folk music that results in the collection called "Emergency Folk Song Survey" (''Min'yō'' ''kinky''ū ''chōsa'').
The project was funded by prefectural and national levels of government. In 1994, the collection had been recorded more than 50 000 songs and variants.
See also
*
Chindon'ya
, also known as Japanese marching bands, and known historically as or are a type of elaborately-costumed street musicians in Japan who advertise for shops and other establishments. , both historically and in the present day, advertise the open ...
*
Kokyū
The is a traditional Japanese string instrument, the only one played with a bow. A variant of the instrument also exists in Okinawa, called in Okinawan.
The , like the , has its origins in Okinawa. Although it is similar to Chinese , it a ...
*
Minyo Crusaders, a Japanese musical group
*
Shakuhachi
A is a Japanese and ancient Chinese longitudinal, end-blown flute that is made of bamboo.
The bamboo end-blown flute now known as the was developed in Japan in the 16th century and is called the .
*
Shamisen
The , also known as the or
(all meaning "three strings"), is a three-stringed traditional Japanese musical instrument derived from the Chinese instrument . It is played with a plectrum called a bachi.
The Japanese pronunciation is usual ...
*
Tsugaru-jamisen
or refers to both the Japanese genre of music originating from Tsugaru Peninsula in present-day Aomori Prefecture and the instrument it is performed with. It is performed throughout Japan, though associations with the Tsugaru remain strong. ...
*
Tumbura
Tumbura, sometimes spelled Tambora or Tambura, is a town in South Sudan.
Location
The town is located in Tambura County, Western Equatoria, in the western part of South Sudan, near the International borders with the Democratic Republic of the Con ...
, an Indian musical instrument
*
Warabe uta
are traditional Japanese songs, similar to nursery rhymes. They are often sung as part of traditional children's games. They are described as a form of min'yo: traditional Japanese songs, usually sung without accompanying instruments.
The cen ...
, traditional Japanese children rhythms. A form of Min'yō.
References
External links
The Sakura Ensemble (Paris), Min'yō songs and dances from Japan
{{DEFAULTSORT:Min'yo
Japanese folk music