Western Musical Elements in Japanese Koto Music: Affective Media in Sonic, Visual and Behavioural Context

Abstract

This chapter discusses affective media in terms of discrete Western musical elements in Japanese koto (thirteen-string zither) music, especially from the nineteenth to the twenty-first centuries. Attention is given to sonic, visual and behavioural spheres of such influence as a way of discussing three broad and sometimes overlapping domains concerning some of the many ways that aspects of Japanese traditional koto music have changed as a result of Western influences. The discussion shows that some koto composers, performers and instrument makers were influenced greatly by non-Japanese music, especially the art music of European traditions. Such influences occurred before, during and after the major political changes of the Meiji era (1868–1912), and some had a far-reaching effect on the development of major musical movements and the future direction of what became known as Japanese traditional music. The chapter shows how elements of Western music and creative practice inspired new pathways of musical culture for the koto, as one example of an instrument that carried traditional Japanese culture into the modern period. A holistic analytical approach is taken in order to study sonic, visual and behavioural aspects of performance, each of which offers examples where Western influences are characteristic of a radical change from prior or parallel musical traditions. For the purpose of this chapter, the three spheres of discussion offer examples of composers, performers and movements as a way of analysing and comprehending how such influences had a profound effect on Japanese culture of the time, and how an aspect of Japanese musical modernity is defined by notions of cultural difference and authenticity.