Music

Bunraku

Recitation to musical accompaniment developed as an art form with blind balladeers who traveled the countryside telling tales derived from legend and from the history of years of warfare in Japan. Originally the biwa (Japanese Lute) had been used to accompany such narrative, but in the middle of the 16th century a new three-stringed instrument was introduced to Japan from Okinawa. It was soon modified into the instrument now called the samisen and came to be preferred for its greater range of expression that the expanding scope of storytelling demanded.

 *Music allows the viewer to experience the exotic drama of Bunraku, the puppet theater of Japan, and to understand its music.

 * plays are also accompanied by the music of traditional Japanese instruments:

> Ancient court music from China and Korea. It is the oldest type of Japanese, traditional music. > Music played with the Biwa, a kind of guitar with four strings. > Music played during Noh performances. It basically consists of a chorus, the Hayashi flute, the Tsuzumi drum, and other instruments. > Music played with the Koto, a type of zither with 13 strings. Later also accompanied by Shamisen and Shakuhachi. > Music played with the Shakuhachi, a bamboo flute that is about 55 cm long. The name of the flute is its length expressed in //Shaku// an old Japanese unit of length. > Music played with the Shamisen, a kind of guitar with only three strings. Kabuki and Bunraku performances are accompanied by the shamisen. > Japanese folk songs.
 * **Gagaku**:
 * **Biwagaku**:
 * **Nohgaku**:
 * **Sokyoku**:
 * **Shakuhachi**:
 * **Shamisenongaku**:
 * **Minyo**: