| Music in Japan is called ongaku, which when | | | | musicians Shirakawa Gunpachiro and Takahashi |
| directly translated can be taken to mean as | | | | Chikuzan is the tsugaru-jamisen where there |
| sound for comfort. Although mostly identified | | | | is more free improvisation and flashy |
| nowadays by the outside world for its pop, | | | | fingerwork on the instrument. |
| "bubblegum" type of songs, Japanese music is | | | | |
| essentially an eclectic combination of | | | | Another instrument most often used in |
| musical influences from all over the world. | | | | Japanese music is the taiko, or the Japanese |
| Much as it is steeped in local tradition and | | | | drum. This percussion instrument dates as far |
| history, the scales, instruments and styles | | | | back as the 6th and 7th centuries, and during |
| however were borrowed and loosely adapted | | | | periods of war was used mainly to keep the |
| from neighboring countries such as China, | | | | enemies at bay and to communicate commands to |
| Korea and Indonesia and has evolved to | | | | the warriors. The taiko comes in various |
| integrate Western musical styles such as | | | | sizes and is usually an integral part of the |
| jazz, rock, ska and reggae. | | | | musical ensembles especially during |
| | | | festivals. There are other traditional |
| There is a definitive emphasis on words | | | | Japanese instruments like the biwa, a |
| rather than the instrumentation and one East | | | | short-necked fretted lute; the ryuteki, a |
| Asian musical scholar has attributed this to | | | | flute made of bamboo and used in gagaku which |
| the Japanese "love for storytelling and | | | | is the style of music associated to the |
| preoccupation with ritual." Some examples of | | | | Japanese Imperial Court; the kokyu, a string |
| this would be the shomyo, or Buddhist | | | | instrument played with a bow which has a |
| chanting and the Japanese folk songs or | | | | shape, sound and fabrication unique to Japan |
| min'yo. There are all sorts of min'yo but can | | | | unlike the shamisen. The kokyu has even |
| be generally categorized according to | | | | figured in non-traditional genres such as |
| occasions when they are sung. There are work | | | | Japanese jazz and blues. |
| songs, religious songs, songs used during | | | | |
| special gatherings like weddings, funerals | | | | Developments in the late 19th and early 20th |
| and celebrations and songs for children or | | | | centuries opened the ears of the Japanese |
| lullabies. These songs are most often passed | | | | people to new genres such as the enka, the |
| or transmitted through family generations. | | | | Japanese version of American melodramatic |
| One old form of traditional music coming from | | | | country ballads, Western pop or kayokyoku. |
| the Ainu people in northern Japan would be | | | | Kayokyoku later on evolved to J-pop or |
| the yukar, or mimicry - a form of epic poetry | | | | Japanese pop - a style with a more definitive |
| or epics in songs. | | | | Western influence. With rock and roll |
| | | | sweeping the whole world in the 1960s and |
| Most Japanese music genres even up to the | | | | 1970s, J-rock or Japanese rock invaded the |
| present make use of the shamisen, or a | | | | Japanese music scene as well. More noteworthy |
| three-stringed musical instrument most | | | | however is how Western classical music and |
| commonly referred to as the Japanese guitar. | | | | jazz has flourished in Japan to the point |
| In kouta, or short songs typically sung by | | | | where the country has produced several famous |
| geisha and nagauta or long songs as those | | | | musicians like Sadao Watanabe for jazz, |
| performed in Japanese theatres noh and | | | | composer Toru Takemitsu and conductor Seiji |
| kabuki, the shamisen provides the backbone | | | | Ozawa. Japan is also identified as one of the |
| for instrumentation. An evolution from the | | | | most important markets for these types of |
| jiuta or the earthy, classical style of | | | | music. |
| shamisen music and developed by blind | | | | |