Various - 決定盤 日本民謡特選集 Album

Review by Johan Wellens:

A stunning collection of an assorted auditory journey through the Japanese hinterland that features traditional instruments, stunning vocals in various dialects, complex rhythms and the passionate energy that has inspired people of all ages and origins. Like folk around the world, the Japanese traditionally sang themselves through their workday. If not lulling a child to sleep or singing for amusement, they used song to pace their work — be it threshing barley, rowing boats, or makingsake. Japanese folk music (min'yo) falls into three categories according to the situation the songs are sung and the function of the song: 1) labor folk songs dealing with rice-planting, grass-cutting, fishing, herding or other jobs; 2) songs sung as festivals, celebrations, weddings, bridal processions, New Years Day and other holidays; and 3) lullabies and other children songs. Rokyoku(storytelling) and ondo festival music. (Ondo is a generic term for folk songs that are often used to accompany the dances of the obon festival. During obon, it is said that the souls of ancestors return from the dead. Traditionally obon falls in the middle of July, but according to the modern calendar it falls in the middle of August. People return to their hometowns to visit their ancestors graves. At night they dance in a circle to comfort the souls. Today it is more of a form of entertainment during the summer evenings. Older dances used no instrumental accompaniment, instead a chorus of singers. Pieces from the Edo period use flute, drums, shamisen or cassette recordings. Dancers hold fans and with hand gestures, leg and arm movements in unison move in a circle around the musicians, who are often on a tower covered in a red and white cloth.) All of these styles are also sometimes regarded as folk music and get some coverage in this box set. Apart from Rokyoku, you get hit here with a vast array of rural folk art. However, the real meaning and spirit of min'yo, is believed to have somehow gotten lost during the Meiji period of modernization in Japan in the second half of the 19th century. The government strove hard to root out traditional culture, deemed not suitable for a western style nation. Many min'yo songs were re-written and only government-approved min'yo came to be recorded or played on the radio. Pockets of true min'yo survived however in rural regions and some flashes of those traditions are preserved here. Stunning collection of rural folk music for your pleasure, I for one am totally addicted to this stuff.