was a

Japanese Japanese may refer to: * Something from or related to Japan, an island country in East Asia * Japanese language, spoken mainly in Japan * Japanese people, the ethnic group that identifies with Japan through ancestry or culture ** Japanese diaspor ...

musicologist Musicology (from Greek μουσική ''mousikē'' 'music' and -λογια ''-logia'', 'domain of study') is the scholarly analysis and research-based study of music. Musicology departments traditionally belong to the humanities, although some m ...

responsible for initiating the study of Asian music in Japan.

Career

Heisao was learning the principles of musicology from a French missionary when he began his studies in 1920, researching the musical traditions of the Imperial House of Japan. In April 1921, he visited Korea and played an important role in rescuing the threatened music tradition of the Joseon court. Though the Japanese government had dissolved Korea's Royal Music Institute, forcing it to rely on private sponsorship, he successfully argued that "traditional music and dance like aak will be lost forever if it is not supported" by the Japanese government.Park, S. “1910-1911: YEARS THAT CHANGED SEOUL’S MUSIC” in Key Papers on Korea: Essays Celebrating 25 Years of the Centre of Korean Studies, SOAS, University of London. November 28, 2013. Ed. Jackson, A.D. He took film and audio recordings, and published a widely circulated report extolling Korea's court music and comparing it to Japanese court practice. Later in 1921, he invented a new type of

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 ...

for playing high notes. In 1981, he was honored as a Person of Cultural Merit. The Tanabe Hisao Prize was named in his honor.

References

Japanese ethnomusicologists Japanese centenarians Men centenarians 1883 births 1984 deaths 20th-century musicologists {{ethnomusicologist-stub