Japanese Traditional Music: Songs of People at Work and Play by Kokusai Bunka Shinkokai

Abstract

Reviewed by: Japanese Traditional Music: Songs of People at Work and Play by Kokusai Bunka Shinkokai Justin R. Hunter (bio) Japanese Traditional Music: Songs of People at Work and Play. Kokusai Bunka Shinkokai (1941). Text and translation by Naoko Terauchi. World Arbiter, 2016. One CD (77 minutes). 19 pages of notes (English), 16 pages of notes (Japanese). (CD) $15.95. Japanese Traditional Music: Songs of People at Work and Play is a compilation of music not likely heard outside of academic archives for some 80 years. In the pre– and immediate post–World War II era, many Japanese musicologists documented musics from throughout Japan in order to capture sounds thought to be in decline during those changing times. Equally important, these musicologists sought to present the unique qualities of Japanese traditional genres to the outside world. But much of this recorded material was lost or rests in archives, largely inaccessible to the general public. This CD compilation by Naoko Terauchi is a restoration project of recordings made during the 1940s, focusing on regional folk songs. As Terauchi writes, “Each song conveys a rich musical and lyrical expression closely related to local livelihoods and life styles” (7) from all over Japan. This is an extensive project compiling information and audio from the original recordings and from various archives. These recordings allow listeners to hear music of “unique historical importance and culturally valuable as a document of musical practices in traditional Japanese genres during wartime” (5). Indeed, Terauchi’s album highlights the music of commoners, not the elite musics or high art forms of urban centers, which were less at risk of loss. The folk tunes of the countryside reflect a time when the world had particular views about a militaristic nation gearing up for aggression and seeking to solidify a homogeneous and elevated position on the world stage. Terauchi’s compilation draws on the efforts of the Kokusai Bunka Shinkō- kai (KBS, International Organization for the Promotion of Culture), begun in the late 1930s. Forerunner of what is now the Japan Foundation, the KBS was created to promote cultural exchange between Japan and foreign countries. KBS produced Nihon Ongaku- shu (Album of Japanese music) as a compilation of various music genres recorded between 1941–42. Released as a 60- disc (120 sides) sound anthology arranged in five volumes, the set was intended to demonstrate the richness of Japan’s cultural practices. As Terauchi notes, [End Page 158] it is remarkable that this project was completed at all during such a turbulent time. Ethnomusicologists Tanabe Hisao (1883–1984) and Machida Kashō (1888–81)1 were part of the original project and played a major part in selecting the music included in Nihon Ongaku- shu. The original anthology included gagaku, koto, shamisen, and other elite genres as well as folk songs. The present CD, Japanese Traditional Music: Songs of People at Work and Play, includes 24 tracks of folk songs from the original Nihon Ongaku- shu that represent nearly every region of Japan. The original anthology included only Japanese music—I suppose appropriately, albeit unjustly—and omitted music of Okinawans, the Ainu, and other minority groups. Each track is provided with a detailed description in the liner notes, published in English by World Arbiter but available in Japanese on arbiterrecords.org. The notes in both English and Japanese resonate with the KBS original intent to make Japan’s culture more accessible to the world. As sources for the notes, Terauchi draws on the KBS compilation and from a few subsequent collections, including the major project by Nippon Hōsō Kyōkai (NHK), and from the collections of ethnomusicologists Tanabe and Machida. Terauchi’s rich liner notes are full of regional information and historical accounts. In a few instances she comments on the present. The source material for the liner notes, as Terauchi notes, is a compilation in itself. Track 13, Nishiryō no uta is a group of three songs from Hokkaido. It is related to herring fishing practices in the port town of Otaru and includes the song Okiage ondo, which today is widely known as Sōran- bushi. The interrelations of each track, most containing more than one song, presents a truly...