Japan History and Culture

Japanese Carp Streamers song (Koinobori song)

All over Japan you will see this carp streamers (koinobori) flying in the wind, sometimes as early as from March until the 5th day of the 5th month. The 5th of May is called Children’s Day (kodomo no hi) in Japan.

This is a famous short Koinobori Song often sung by kids and their families.

Japanese:

屋根(やね)より高(たか)い鯉幟(こいのぼり)

大(おお)きな真鯉(まこい)はお父さん

小(ちい)さな緋鯉(ひごい)は子供(こども)たち

面白(おもしろ)そうに泳(およ)いでる

Romaji:

Yane yori takai koi-nobori

Ōki na magoi wa o-tō-san

Chiisa na higoi wa kodomo-tachi

Omoshirosō ni oyoideru

Translation:

Higher than the roof-tops are the koinobori.

The large Black Carp is the father.

The smaller Golden Carp are the children.

They seem to be having fun swimming.

A three-stringed (Shamisen or samisen)

The shamisen is still a very popular musical instrument in Japan and now even outside the country. It’s a three-stringed traditional Japanese musical instrument. It is similar in length to a guitar, but its neck is much slimmer and without frets. It has a very long neck and is about 30 inches (one meter) long. It played with a plectrum called a bachi.

Its body is made out of wood and covered with cat or dog skin. The three strings are traditionally made of silk, but nowadays are generally nylon. The lowest string passes over a small hump at the top end, producing a buzzing sound which is characteristic of the instrument. Today it can be heard accompanying Kabuki, Bunraku and Joruri performances as well as traditional dances and folk songs.

Though many people believe that the Shamisen is originally Japanese, in fact the instrument came to Japan from China by way of the Ryukyu Islands (Okinawa) in the mid 16th century. The instrument gradually spread northward through the Japanese archipelago. Along the way it became important to the BiwaHoshi, a type of monk. The instrument evolved as it came into wider use, with various animal skins replacing the original materials used for the body of the instrument. Through the course of this evolution the instrument was adapted to traditional Japanese music, eventually becoming the instrument that we know today.

Bamboo Flute  (Shakuhachi)

The shakuhachi is certainly Japan’s most well-known woodwind instrument. A vertically-held bamboo flute, it is made from the root of a bamboo tree about 55 cm long. a five-note scale and has an oblique blowing surface. Bamboo is hollow except for this nodes which are spaced at Intervals along the pipe. These nodes are knocked out to form the complete hollow length of the pipe. Four fingerholes are put on the front of the instrument and a thumbhole on the back. The mouthpiece is the open top of the pipe itself with the front side cut at a slight and angle to facilitate blowing the instrument.

Although the placement of holes and tuning of the instrument is a very delicate process, the instrument itself is of a basically simple construction. It is this very fact, however, which allows for very complex techniques in playing the instrument such as the use of the breath with changes in the blowing angle for great or minute changes in sound quality, or partial-holding of fingerholes to make delicate pitch changes.

The name shakuhachi is derived from the term “isshaku hassun” which means one shaku and eight sun (1.8 Japanese feet). Even though the term shakuhachi refers to the standard size instrument (54.5 cm in length), it can refer to many different sizes ranging from 1.3 shaku (39.4 cm) to 2.5 shaku (75.7 cm) and longer. The shakuhachi is made from the root portion of a thick-walled bamboo called madake in Japanese. Though simple in appearance, the shakuhachi is very difficult to play; its magical quality is revealed to the listener by the purity of its tone.

Musical instrument

In traditional Japanese music, there are three general types of instruments – percussion instruments, stringed instruments and wind instruments, mostly flutes. There is a huge range of instruments beyond the scope of this page, ranging from bells used in Buddhist ceremonies to various kinds of drums used in gagaku (Imperial court music).

 A thirteen-string harp (Koto)
The koto is a long, hollow instrument, The length of koto is about six feet (180cm) and 14 inches (25 cm) wide. it is made from Paulownia wood(kiri). The Paulownia Crest is the Imperial Crest of Japan, and the instrument is the official national instrument.  The shape of the koto is said to resemble that of the dragon (ryu), and the names of various parts of the koto correspond to various parts of the dragon. Underneath the body are two sound holes, one at each end.

The 13 strings stretched lengthwise over bridges and tied at each end of the body. The strings are the same size and same tension. The strings are very tight. They were once made from silk, but nowadays most players use a synthetic material that sounds almost exactly like silk and is much cheaper and more durable. Each string has a white bridge placed under it. The bridges are called “ji”. The position of each bridge along the string determines the pitch. During performance the bridges can also be moved for different tunings. If the ji is placed far away from the player, the string will have a low sound. If it is placed hear the player, it will have a high sound.

One of the challenging yet appealing aspects of the koto is the flexibility this type of tuning allows. The wide variety of tunings that can be created, from traditional Japanese pentatonic scales, to European classical scales and improvised jazz tunings. This is one aspect that has helped to keep the instrument alive and well; the ability to adjust to various musical and cultural settings across time and place.