Kanazawa Su-bayashi
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Kanazawa Su-bayashi |
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In addition to the Kaga clan's support for cultural affairs, Kanzawa kabuki and Chayamachi (geisha districts) helped flourish Japanese music and dances in the region. In Japanese music, there are utaimono, or songs of nagauta, utazawa, kouta, hauta, and katarimono, or story telling of kiyomoto, a school of joruri and biwa. For insturmental music, there are sokyoku, shakuhachi and subayashi. Japanese dances have come to the summit of performing art in Kabuki plays. After the Meiji period, many schools of dances derived and each school competed one another. In Ishikawa Prefecture, masters who studied in Tokyo taught the locals and high levels of performances are maintained. In 1955, Ishikawa Prefecture Japanese Music and Japanese Dance Association was formed across all the schools. Once a year association holds united performances. It also puts efforts together for the development of traditional music and dances. |
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(Nagauta) Nagauta is a kind of shamisen music and was born as accompanying music of Kabuki dance. The music accompanies hoso-zao shamisen and other instruments of ozutsumi (big drum), kozutsumi (small drum), fue (flute) and taiko (drum). The music incorporates a variety of other musical methods, such as yokyoku, kyogen, jiuta, joruri, hayari-uta and folk songs. It can be said that nagauta is an essence of Japanese traditional music. In Ishikawa Prefecture, there are Kineya, Ki-ne-ya and Matsunaga schools of nagauta. 
(Utazawa) Utazawa is a kind of shamisen music. It is Edo hauta sung in a particular style of heavy and clear tone. The artful singing is characteristic. There is Shiba school in Ishikawa Prefecture. 
(Kouta) Kouta derived from Edo hauta accompanied by shamisen. It is a vocal music and each piece is played for 3 to 4 minutes. It was in the later term of the Meiji period when the style was completed. Shamisen is played by fingers. There are Hori, Chikushi and Hanabishi schools in Ishikawa Prefecture. 
(Hauta) Hauta was played as home music and became very popular from the later term of the Edo period until the Meiji period. Each piece is short and sung for 1 to 3 minutes. Edo hauta which became popular as short artistic songs at the later terms of the Edo period were the origin of utazawa and kouta. There is Chimoto school in Ishikawa Prefecture. 
(Kiyomoto) Kiyomoto is a school of joruri but it also developed as accompanying music for kabuki dances. Kiyomoto is characteristic for the sophisticated, delicate and sad artistic tone. Kiyomoto is also a requirement of geisha. There are Ume school and Takanawa school in Ishikawa Prefecture. 
(Biwa) There are Satsuma school and Chikuzen school in Ishikawa Prefecture. 
(Shokyoku) There are Yamada school and Ikuta school. 
(Shakuhachi) There are Tozan school and Kinko school. 
(Su-bayashi) There are 4 categories in hayashi. They are noh bayashi, kabuki bayashi, matsuri bayashi and kagura bayashi. The one played in Ishikawa Prefecture is kabuki bayashi. This does not accompany plays and dances, thus it is called Kanazawa su-bayashi. Singers and shamisen players take places on the upper row and hayashikata, or percussionists take places on the lower row. In Ishikawa Prefecture, there are 3 schools of Mochizuki school, Katada school and Tosha school. In 1978, Kanazawa Su-bayashi Preservation Association was formed. The association was designated as intangible property of Kanazawa City, and in 1984 the Cultural Department awarded the association for its devoted efforts for the development of local culture. 
(Japanese Dances) There are 6 schools of dances in Ishikawa Prefecture. They are Fujima school, Fujikage school, Wakayagi school, Izumi school, Hanayagi school and Nishikawa school. |