J-Pop!
Monday, August 2, 2010 5:18 AM
"Hey guys!
Joslyn here.
Anyway, I've just realized that we've been talking a lot about tradiational music, but not on today's culture on... J-pop! (ok, the title spoils the surprise...). Yes! Random fact here; did you know that Japan is the has the second largest and most popular music industries for pop music? That's so cool. But then again, it's no surprise since Japan has super talented artistes, especially from this music agency called Johnny's Entertainment (J.E)
So a little about Jpop would be the fact that it started to gain popularity after the WWII. Of course, Emperor Showa was still in reign at that time and even though he no longer had as much power and influence anymore, the whole idea of anti-Western ideas was still pretty much present. Then came along a few pioneers that established various recodring agencies around the '50s to the '60s. Most of these founders were either overseas educated or they had lived there.
Fast forwarding to the 80's and 90's, there was a sudden demand for Jpop artistes. I mean, that was not a surprise as it was during and post bubble era where Japan began to accept new ideas. Soon, bands like Southern All Stars and SMAP began to imerge. This caused a sudden trend and popularity of boy bands and "pretty boys", which kinda pretty much continues until today.
Upon entering the 21st century, many boy bands had their debuts. They were also getting younger and younger. As for the female artistes such as Ayumi Hamasaki and Utada Hikaru, they began expending their career towards the U.S market, much like a lot of K-pop bands are doing right now. At J.E boys could have their singing debut as a band as early as the age of 13 (which was very young...in 2000). In 2007, the youngest unit, from JE as well, notably Hey! sAY! BEST, became the youngest ever to reach No.1 on the Japanese music charts. They were only about 12-15 then. Also, since 2003, the Japanese have been producing really HUGE bands like AKB48 (48 members), Morning Musume (8 members) and Hey! Say! JUMP (10 members). Not that they are all that unpopular. :)
In terms of style, J-pop is very much like normal English pop. However, they have a standard list of words that are included in the majority of songs (well, seemingly). Thiis includes stuff like "smile (or smiling face", "running with hope", "the infinite blue sky" etc. Presently, more artists are putting in Enlgish lyrics in. Acceoting ideas indeed. Japanese people really want to learn English, so I think that's kinda cool for them to try something new like that. Une style nouveau :) Most songs are very poetic and carry acertain meaning, usually concernng love or life encouragements. Which is why Jpop has been keeping me anti depressed for the past 4 years. LOL.
Some notable J-pop artistes/bands include the following:
-Ayumi Hamasaki,
- Arashi,
- NEWS
- Hey! Say! JUMP
- KAT-TUN,
- SMAP,
- BoA
- Utada Hikaru
- AKB48
- Yuya Matsushita
- SCANDAL
- Girl Next Door,
- GReeeeN,
- YUI
...and many more.
J-pop artistes are very talented. Mainly, all of them can sing, dance and act really well. An excellent example will be Arashi, a JE band. They are well-known for their stage plays and TV dramas, great TV hosts, dancers, singers and movie stars (Ninomiya Kazunari acted in Letters From Iwo Jima). If you go and search their debut song, A.RA.SHI on youtube, I would seriously like to see Justin Bieber perform as well as they can. They were only about 16-18 when they sang it. So awesonme!!!
Overall, I LOVE J-pop. I live and breathe it (even though somethings are just so ridiculous, I cant help but poke fun at). But it's too bad that Singapore doesnt have much of their stuff around, unless you're willing to pay a bomb for shipping fees online. Which is a wonder why how I managed to get to know about J-pop. Anyway, Singapore says that we're being more open to the Asian music market, but hello? Whatever happened to Japan? Why are the stuff so expensive as compared to KPOP? *frowns* Oh well. It will change someday :)
Love, Joslyn
Sources:
- www.wikipedia.com
- www.google.com
- www.johnnys-net.jp
- www.youtube.com
- off the top of my head
- Yamashita Tomohisa's Facebook Fan Group
- Yuya Matsushita's Facebook Fan Group
- J-storm website"
Religious Traditional Music
Thursday, July 22, 2010 5:43 PM
Ohaiyogozaimasu!
I'm Stella, and it's greaaat to meet you again! I'm sorry if the posts are a bit messy, but I can guarantee that the posts are in order. Yeah!
In this post, I'm gonna talk about the Ancient Japanese Music, and the Music in the Medieval Period.
So let me start with the Ancient japanese Music! I feel so old now, like really really super old. =.="'
Shomyo 声明 (Buddhist Chant)
Buddhism in the Nara and Heian periods was mostly for the state and for the elite. A strong emphasis was placed on the elaborate ritual and it was soooo elaborate that only highly trained professionals could perform it.
One form of Buddhist music is called "Shomyo." This is a style that entered Japan in the Nara period and early Heian period and consists of reciting sutras (Scripture) by adding a melody.
There are three styles, one called "Bonsan" which uses Sanskrit (ancient Indian language), one called "Kansan" which uses Chinese, and one called "Wasan" which uses Japanese.
There are two main streams of Shomyo based in different branches of Buddhism. These are Tendai Shomyo and Shingon Shomyo.
Imayo
The form called Imayo appeared and became popular in the late Heian period. The word "imayo" means "modern" and seems to have begun with shortened forms of the Wasan shomyo using Japanese.
Eventually the form stabilized as four lines, each with units of seven plus five syllables. This was a popular form that originated with the common people.
Then, toward the end of the Heian period, Imayo was taken up by imperial court aristocrats and became very popular. Incidentally, the original music for Imayo soon disappeared, but in the early Kamakura period, a method of singing the texts of Imayo to the melody of the famous Gagaku piece "Etenraku" was developed, which has left traces in Japanese folk song even today.
Joruri
Next, heading on to the quite modern music, we have, Joruri! :) It's actually a Katarimono Narrative Shamisen Music.
Katarimono means narrative music, thus emphasizing on the words and storytelling. The rhythm is determined by the way the words are said. The music of the accompaniment was originally very simple, in some cases just the use of a fan to beat out the rhythm.
Joruri consists of many styles of other types of music, such as Tokiwazu that is used in the Kabuki theater for dances and dance plays, and Kiyomoto which is a part of Tokiwazu.
Utaimono
Part of the Traditional Japanese Music consists of Utaimono, and this form is actually quite old considering the fact that it is already present in the Edo Period. Utaimono consists of many other types of music that is already present during the Edo period.
Nagauta
"Nagauta" means "long song" and began as several short songs strung together. Because it developed the most within the Kabuki theater in Edo, it is often called "Edo Nagauta." In its purest form, Nagauta is a lyrical form with texts that are poetic and allusive. They describe a character's feelings indirectly, through poetic images and mood. Melody and rhythm are also very important.
Kokyoku
"Kokyoku" means "old pieces" and refers to older styles of Edo period music that are preserved and performed today.
Kouta
"Kouta" means "little song," and in a sense, there have always been many different kinds of little popular songs and folk songs in Japan. But usually the term refers to short, light songs from the late Edo period.
:D Enjoyed it?
I bet you did!
But anyway, her is the website I took it from!
Japanese Folk Music!
5:33 PM
Heys Everybody! Nice to meet you again! Heys Sorry to Joslyn, I've only posted 1 post while you posted 3 already... (Run to one corner and start crying)
Did you know that there are 4 different kinds of Japanese Folk music - min'yō (みにょ) ? Betcha didn't know! :)))
They are:
- work songs
- religious songs (such as sato kagura, a form of Shintoist music)
- songs used for gatherings such as weddings, funerals, and festivals (matsuri, especially Obon)
- children's songs (warabe uta)
In min'yō, singers are typically accompanied by the 3 stringed lute known as the shamisen, taiko drums, and a bamboo flute called shakuhachi.
Other instruments that could accompany are a transverse flute known as the shinobue, a bell known as kane, a hand drum called the tsuzumi, and/or a 13 stringed zither known as the koto.
In Okinawa, the main instrument is the sanshin. These are traditional Japanese instruments, but modern instrumentation, such as electric guitars and synthesizers is, also used in this day and age.
Terms often heard when speaking about min'yō are ondo, bushi, bon uta, and komori uta. An ondo generally describes any folk song with a distinctive swung 2/2 time rhythm.
The typical folk song heard at Obon festival dances will most likely be an ondo. A bushi is a song with a distinctive rhythm. In fact, its very name means "rhythm" or "time," and describes the ostinato pattern played throughout the song.
Bon uta, as the name describes, are songs for Obon, the lantern festival of the dead. Komori uta are children's lullabies.
Many of these songs include extra stress on certain syllables, as well as pitched shouts (kakegoe).
Kakegoe are generally shouts of cheer, but in min'yō they are often included as parts of choruses.
There are many kakegoe, though they vary from region to region.
In Okinawa Min'yō, for example, one will hear the common "ha iya sasa!" In mainland Japan, however, one will be more likely to hear "a yoisho!," "sate!," or "a sore!"
Others are "a donto koi!," and "dokoisho!"
Noh Theatre!
5:32 PM
O genki desu ka? :)
Just researched a little about music being incoporated with theatre in Japan. An example would be Noh. Noh dates back to over 600 years! This art form is also called the art of walking because of the style in which the actors move is very unique and different.
A little bit about Noh:
- A chorus of musicians with three to four different types of musical instruments such as the shamisen and tsuzumi drum with about six to eight people "singing"
- Very little props and backdrops are used. In fact, the standard backdrop is only a single wall with a pine tree and small pebbles on it. Props are very minimal, but they play an important role in Noh plays.
- Usually, there are only about two main actors, and the progress of the play is determined by the position of them
- The personality and the characteristics of the main actor is potrayed through his or her costumes and masks the actor wears. By the way, the actors must wear at least 5 layers of clothing. Honestly, don't their shoulders crush under all that weight?
- Although the masks only show one type of emotion, through actions, the actor is able to present various feelings and emotions.
- Noh plays are very lonnnnnngggggggggg, but there are short intervals with a half an hour kyogen performance. Goodness! How long is one full Noh play??? What if you have to get up to stretch your legs halfway?? I can't even last that long in the cinema!! LOL.
- Music in Noh is usually very simple with steady drum beats and melodies. Like Chinese opera, in a way :)
- There is not much sound effect change in Noh, unlike Kabuki. Most of the time, the music and sounds are repeatitive and quite slow.
- Also, unlike Kabuki, Noh does not include too many instruments in the musical chorus because it focuses mainly on the actors, not really as much on the music,
- however, the music plays a really important role as well because the singing is the equilvalent of speech and the emotions presented by the actors and vocal chorus.
- The singing is slow, and quite melancholy, but in some Noh plays, it can be seemingly comical
- Some of the plays are adapted from selected literature prose into a "musical". But some of these stories are very deep and quite difficult to understand.
- Noh plays, like several other traditional Japanese performing art forms, include the following characters: gods, warriors, beautiful women, and various other figures (often crazy women or modern figures)
- One of the most popular Noh play would be Lady Aoi, which is based on the 11th century story of the Tale of (Prince) Genji.
- Random fact: Noh plays were often presented to the shoguns by their favorite concubines. The plays usually durated for 3 hours and some, even a whole day! Shoguns really knew how to live their lives huh! :)
I watched an extract of a Noh play, Tamura, on Youtube. It was very good, because of the movement of the actors' feet. It gave an illusion as though they were walking very gracefully or floating. However, what was the down side of it was the fact that the masks were kinda creepy, but after a while, I got quite used to the appearances of it. The music and singing was a bit hard to appreciate and adapt to too, but I guess it takes time. No offence, but the singing gave me slight chills on my back! LOL.
Despite all of that, after watching the following video and saw how the young novices were trained, I understood why Noh was so appreciated (especially by the royal court) in Japan. The young actors had to practice really hard and go through hours and hours of instructions and go into various poses and Noh positions, with perfection to the angle. Amazing.
I would never have such patience and determination! LOL.
Here's about Noh theatre, in the nutshell:
More about Kabuki soon. :)
Sources for this entry:
Joslyn :)
Labels: art, history, japan, music, noh, theatre, timeline, tradition
Japanese Music Types
7:28 AM
Konbanwa!Joslyn desu! :)A quick entry today on different music types. Because there are so many in Japan, considering it's rich history that dates back till... well, who knows, I won't be going into too much detail about them. Except for J-pop from post-war Showa period to present, which I will be explaining more about soon. For now, here are the TRADITIONAL music types.In Japanese music, there are three main types: instrumental, theatrical and court music. Instrumental music include different types such as Biwagaku, which is played with the biwa; Sokyaku, played by the koto (which looks a little like the Chinese guzheng or zither). In Sokyaku, in the later years of its development, it was accompanied by the shamisen and shakuhachi instruments which are a string and wind instrument respectively. The shakuhachi also has a music type of its own. For theatrical music, as mentioned in my previous post earlier on, include the likes of Noh, Kabuki and the Bunraku. Noh has its own musical type- Nohgaku, literally translated as Noh music. It is played during Noh performances and the musical chorus inclue the Tsuzumi drum and Hayashi flute. The shamisen intrument plays an important part in Kabuki and Bunraku as it is one of the base instruments of the musical part of the theatre type.Court music include Gagaku and Minyo. Minyo are folk songs that were soon popularized and were more common amongst the commoners very quickly. As for Gagaku however, it is an ancient type of court music with origins from China and Korea. It is also the OLDEST form of traditional music in Japan and was exclusive only to those of the court.Yup, that's all for now. My eyes are drooping and my typing speed is getting slower. LOL.Oyasumi!Joslyn
Japanese Folk Music!
Wednesday, July 21, 2010 4:26 AM
Heys Everybody! Nice to meet you again! Heys Sorry to Joslyn, I've only posted 1 post while you posted 3 already... (Run to one corner and start crying)
Did you know that there are 4 different kinds of Japanese Folk music - min'yō (みにょ) ? Betcha didn't know! :)))
They are:
- work songs
- religious songs (such as sato kagura, a form of Shintoist music)
- songs used for gatherings such as weddings, funerals, and festivals (matsuri, especially Obon)
- children's songs (warabe uta)
In min'yō, singers are typically accompanied by the 3 stringed lute known as the shamisen, taiko drums, and a bamboo flute called shakuhachi.
Shamisen
Taiko Drum
Shakuhachi
Other instruments that could accompany are a transverse flute known as the shinobue, a bell known as kane, a hand drum called the tsuzumi, and/or a 13 stringed zither known as the koto.
Shinobue
Kane
Tsuzumi
Koto
In Okinawa, the main instrument is the sanshin. These are traditional Japanese instruments, but modern instrumentation, such as electric guitars and synthesizers is, also used in this day and age.
Sanshin
Terms often heard when speaking about min'yō are ondo, bushi, bon uta, and komori uta. An ondo generally describes any folk song with a distinctive swung 2/2 time rhythm.
The typical folk song heard at Obon festival dances will most likely be an ondo. A bushi is a song with a distinctive rhythm. In fact, its very name means "rhythm" or "time," and describes the ostinato pattern played throughout the song.
Bon uta, as the name describes, are songs for Obon, the lantern festival of the dead. Komori uta are children's lullabies.
Many of these songs include extra stress on certain syllables, as well as pitched shouts (kakegoe).
Kakegoe are generally shouts of cheer, but in min'yō they are often included as parts of choruses.
There are many kakegoe, though they vary from region to region.
In Okinawa Min'yō, for example, one will hear the common "ha iya sasa!" In mainland Japan, however, one will be more likely to hear "a yoisho!," "sate!," or "a sore!"
Others are "a donto koi!," and "dokoisho!"
*****
The Very End.!
Sources... and Shoguns
Saturday, July 17, 2010 4:24 AM
Hey guys!
Yup, Joslyn here again. In the previous post, I forgot to mention my sources, so here goes:
-
www.japan-guide.com-
www.wikipedia.comfor this post:
-
www.wikipedia.comSo, just FYI, because shoguns played a more important part of governing Japan in the past, I flt that it would be good if we included the more prominent ones here, since there are LOADS of them since the Nara period or something. :) So basically, below are the names ofhe 14 Tokugawa shoguns that maintained the peace and stability of Jan for 200+ years and helped it to prosper despite the whole closed door policy.
*
Tokugawa Ieyasu (徳川家康,
1543–
1616) (Reigned
1603–
1605)
*
Tokugawa Hidetada (徳川秀忠,
1579–
1632) (Reigned
1605–
1623)
*
Tokugawa Iemitsu (徳川家光,
1604–
1651) (Reigned
1623–
1651)
*
Tokugawa Ietsuna (徳川家綱,
1641–
1680) (Reigned
1651–
1680)
*
Tokugawa Tsunayoshi (徳川綱吉,
1646–
1709) (Reigned
1680–
1709)
*
Tokugawa Ienobu (徳川家宣,
1662–
1712) (Reigned
1709–
1712)
*
Tokugawa Ietsugu (徳川家継,
1709–
1716) (Reigned
1713–
1716)
*
Tokugawa Yoshimune (徳川吉宗,
1684–
1751) (Reigned
1716–
1745)
*
Tokugawa Ieshige (徳川家重,
1711–
1761) (Reigned
1745–
1760)
*
Tokugawa Ieharu (徳川家治,
1737–
1786) (Reigned
1760–
1786)
*
Tokugawa Ienari (徳川家斉,
1773–
1841) (Reigned
1787–
1837)
*
Tokugawa Ieyoshi (徳川家慶,
1793–
1853) (Reigned
1837–
1853)
*
Tokugawa Iesada (徳川家定,
1824–
1858) (Reigned
1853–
1858)
*
Tokugawa Iemochi (徳川家茂,
1846–
1866) (Reigned
1859–
1866)
*
Tokugawa Yoshinobu (徳川慶喜,
1837–
1913) (Reigned
1867–
1868)
After the death of Iemochi, since he didnt have a son, Yoshinobu, his relative, took over and managed to usurp his throne... somehow. And that's how the whole samurai class thing was eliminated. Which isso sads, I mean, wouldnt it be cool if there were samurai still? Yamashita Tomohisa would officially be the hottest samurai :)
