Japanese Folk Music: National Instruments and Genres

Japanese folk music is a rather distinctive phenomenon due to the isolation of the islands of the Rising Sun and the careful attitude of the people who inhabit them to their culture. Let us first consider some Japanese folk musical instruments, and then the genres characteristic of the musical culture of this country. JAPANESE FOLK MUSICAL INSTRUMENTS Shamisen is one of the most famous musical instruments in Japan, it is one of the analogues of the lute. Shamisen is a plucked three-stringed instrument. It arose from sanshin, which in turn came from Chinese sansyan (both the origin is interesting and the etymology of the names is entertaining). Shamisen is revered today in the Japanese islands: for example, playing this instrument is often used in the traditional Japanese theater – Bunraku and Kabuki. Shamisen training is included in maiko, a program to teach the art of being a geisha. Continue reading →