Japanese Musical Instruments

During Japan's prehistory its musical instruments were seen as sources of ritual power, used by the islands’ inhabitants to call up divine forces for inspiration and aid. As the nation developed a court and then an urbanized society, instrumental performance continued to be one of the most important of its arts, becoming a primary realm of aesthetic experience for the population at large. Illustrated with images drawn from picture scrolls as well as photographs of instruments as they are used in performance, Japanese Musical Instruments presents a comprehensive survey of traditional instruments. Supported by references to music in works of literature from the tenth to the twentieth centuries, this handy guide studies musical instruments as ‘instruments of culture’ as much as devices for the making and ordering of sounds. The result is an easy-to-use, concise overview of the nation’s musical heritage, detailing the historical meanings and uses of Japan's traditional instruments. Hugh de Ferranti is Assistant Professor in the Departments of Musicology and Asian Languages and Cultures at the University of Michigan.