All over the world music is very much part of a country’s history and culture. One country where music has been a huge part of society is Japan. Throughout most of Japan's history, it has been very secluded to the rest of the world unwilling to open up to any foreigners. In 1854 Commodore Matthew Perry forced Japan to stop its isolation. After that Japan strived to become a superpower in the world, which it is today. Japan is also known for their distinct style in both modern and traditional music. The second largest music market in the world, with a total retail value of 4,422.0 million dollars in 2012, and 46 of the top 50 best selling singles in 2013 is Japan.
One distinct style of music that Japan is known for is their traditional music. The three types of traditional music in Japan are instrumental, theatrical, and court music. A type of traditional court music is Gagaku, ancient court music which is actually from China and Korea. Gagaku is the oldest type of Japanese traditional music. Biwagaku is a type of traditional Japanese music that is played with the biwa. The biwa is a short-necked fretted lute. Some types of traditional instrumental Japanese music are Sokyoku, Shakuhachi, and Shamisenongaku. Sokyoku is music played with the koto and is very similar to Shakuhachi and Shamisen. A koto is a type of zither with thirteen strings. Shakuhachi is music played with the instrument shakuhachi, a bamboo flute that is about 55 cm long. Shamisenongaku is music played with the shamisen with is a kind of guitar with only three strings. The Shamisen is also commonly used to accompany Kabuki and Bunraku performances. Kabuki is a classical Japanese dance-drama, known for the stylization of its drama and for the elaborate make-up worn by some of its performers. Bunraku is a form of traditional Japanese puppet theatre. In Bunraku performances other than the shamsien player there is a singer as well, both providing background music. Most times in Bunraku performances rather than a singer there is a chanter called a tayu. Another theatrical type of Japanese music is Nohgaku. It is music played during Noh performances. Nohgaku normally consists of a chorus, the hayashi flute, and the tsuzumi drum along with other instruments. Another genre of traditional Japanese music is called Minyo, which is folk music. Originally most of these folk songs were sung unaccompanied. Later on sometimes there was accompaniment on shamisen, shakuhachi, and/or shinobue. Other instruments that may be used in traditional Japanese music are the ichigenkin, sanshin, yamatogoto, kokyu, hocchiku, nohkna, ryuteki, hichiriki, sho, yu, horagai, kakko, taiko, otsuzumi, kotsuzumi, shime-daiko, hyoshigi, and shoko.
Another distinctive style of Japanese music is their modern music. Japan is very famous for their popular music, abbreviated to simply J-Pop. J-Pop is basically music that is mainstream in Japan. Modern J-Pop’s roots are in 1960s pop and rock music, such as The Beatles. From the 1920s to the 1980s most used the term kayoku rather than J-Pop. Japanese girl groups and boy bands regularly top the singles chart making Japanese idol musical artists a significant part of the music market. Huge influences on J-Pop are hip hop music and contemporary R&B.Another genre of modern music is Japanese rock. Japanese rock is very similar to western rock music. Artists such as Happy End, a Japanese folk rock band, are considered to have practically created the genre themselves. In the 1990s Japanese rock was often used in films, anime, television advertisement, and dramatic programming. Because of this they became some of the best-selling forms of music in Japan.
In conclusion, Japan has a varied musical influence. The two main branches of Japanese music is traditional and modern music. Japanese traditional music branches off further into the categories of instrumental, theatrical, and court music. Some instrumental genres of traditional Japanese music are Sokyoku, Shakuhachi, and Shamisenongaku. Nohgaku is an example of traditional theatrical music genre. Two other types of Japanese theatre with strong musical influence are Kabuki and Bunraku. Minyo is the folk music genre of traditional Japanese music. Modern Japanese music consists of mainly J-Pop and Japanese rock.
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