, ''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.ref> The word for "music" in Japanese language, Japanese is 音楽 (''ongaku''), combining the kanji 音 ''on'' (sound) with the kanji 楽 ''gaku'' (music, comf ...
.
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 an The arts, art form, consisting of sequences of body movements with aesthetic and often Symbol, symbolic value, either improvised or purposefully selected. Dance can be categorized and described by its choreography, by its repertoir ...
accompaniment, or as a components of religious
ritual
A ritual is a repeated, structured sequence of actions or behaviors that alters the internal or external state of an individual, group, or environment, regardless of conscious understanding, emotional context, or symbolic meaning. Traditionally ...
s.
''Min'yō'' are also distinct depending on the area of
Japan
Japan is an island country in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean off the northeast coast of the Asia, Asian mainland, it is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan and extends from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea ...
, with each area boasting its own favorite songs and styles. The songs found in the far northern island of
Hokkaidō
is the second-largest island of Japan 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 railway via the Seikan Tunnel.
The ...
and sung by the
Ainu people
The Ainu are an Indigenous peoples, indigenous ethnic group who reside in northern Japan and southeastern Russia, including Hokkaido and the Tōhoku region of Honshu, as well as the land surrounding the Sea of Okhotsk, such as Sakhalin, the Ku ...
are usually excluded from the category of min'yō. In the far south, (especially
Okinawa
most commonly refers to:
* Okinawa Prefecture, Japan's southernmost prefecture
* Okinawa Island, the largest island of Okinawa Prefecture
* Okinawa Islands, an island group including Okinawa itself
* Okinawa (city), the second largest city in th ...
) 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). During the
Edo period
The , also known as the , is the period between 1600 or 1603 and 1868 in the history of Japan, when the country was under the rule of the Tokugawa shogunate and some 300 regional ''daimyo'', or feudal lords. Emerging from the chaos of the Sengok ...
, however, and sometimes later as well, accompaniment on
shamisen
The , also known as 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 usually b ...
,
shakuhachi
A is a Japanese 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.
Usage
It is found in hayashi and nagauta ensemb ...
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, pop ...
'' 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 neoclassical compound derived from Greek language, Greek, consisting of (''nóstos''), a Homeric word me ...
for real or imagined
home
A home, or domicile, is a space used as a permanent or semi-permanent residence for one or more human occupants, and sometimes various companion animals. Homes provide sheltered spaces, for instance rooms, where domestic activity can be p ...
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
Peter, Paul and Mary were an American Contemporary folk music, folk group formed in New York City in 1961 during the American folk music revival. The trio consisted of Peter Yarrow (guitar, tenor vocals), Paul Stookey (guitar, baritone vocals), ...
and the like, and popular in Japan since the 1960s. There is 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 language, sign) that consists of more than one Word stem, stem. Compounding, composition or nominal composition is the process of word formation that creates compound lexemes. C ...
of and ''.'' In
East Asia
East Asia is a geocultural region of Asia. It includes China, Japan, Mongolia, North Korea, South Korea, and Taiwan, plus two special administrative regions of China, Hong Kong and Macau. The economies of Economy of China, China, Economy of Ja ...
, 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 ...
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 Imperial House of Japan, imperial rule to Japan in 1868 under Emperor Meiji. Althoug ...
followed by the ''
Westernization
Westernization (or Westernisation, see spelling differences), also Europeanisation or occidentalization (from the ''Occident''), is a process whereby societies come under or adopt what is considered to be Western culture, in areas such as industr ...
'' 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 (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...
and means 'songs of the local people'.
[Kokusai Bunka Shinkōkai. ]
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 and 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
*
Kokyū
The is the only traditional Japanese string instrument played with a bow (music), bow. A variant of the instrument also exists in Okinawa Prefecture, Okinawa, called () in Okinawan language, Okinawan.
The , like the , has its origins in Oki ...
*
Minyo Crusaders
Minyo Crusaders () is a Japanese musical group that reworks traditional Japanese folk songs (min'yō) with arrangements inspired by various international music genres, including Caribbean, Latin
Latin ( or ) is a classical language belo ...
, a Japanese musical group
*
Shakuhachi
A is a Japanese 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 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 usually b ...
*
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, an Indian musical instrument
*
Warabe uta, 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