Page 43 - e-magazine391R

1st Edition - October, 2018
Western in uence in

modern Japanese music

The beauty of
Article written by
Zakir Virani
fusion between
History musical cultures

For two centuries during its Edo period One beautiful aspect of music is that it
(between 1603 and 1868), Japan under connects very closely with our emotions
the Tokugawa Shogunate had closed off and sense of place. We as individuals
the country to outside in uence in regard born into culture have a cultural musical
to the movement of goods and people for ear which connections emotion with the
advantages in power retention. tone of musical notes. For example, a
Geographically, Japan is extremely far major scale sounds happy and cheerful as
from Europe by ship and historically did the minor scale sounds a bit more
not receive any classical musical mellow and sad. Due to western
in uences. They did not go through the in uences, Japan incorporated their own
Baroque, Classical, Early Romantic and scale into their musical genres such as
Romantic eras of music which the rest of folk music, new forms of jazz, blues,
the industrial world was experiencing, rock, popular music, and even hip-hop.
rather Japan had the unique experience This created a combination of scales,
of developing their distinct musical scale but more importantly, emotions and
as well as astounding art and culture, feelings never heard or felt before.
beloved today by the western world, and
the globe in general. Famous Japanese Jazz Pianist:
Ryo Fukui's album, "Scenery"
More recently, however, a major turn
in western in uence in Japanese pop
culture and music arose prior to the
during the Meiji Restoration Second
World War (the end of the Edo Period)
and gained substantial ground in
globalizing their music onwards in the
early 1960s-70s which was based on
contemporary western music of the
time. This blend of musical culture
creates an interesting mix of sounds
which, to the western ear and the
Japanese ear, gives a familiar yet very
unfamiliar feeling and mix of
sensory emotions and memories.

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