An Introduction to Japanese Folk Performing Arts (SOAS Studies in Music)

Lancashire, Terence A.

ISBN 10: 1138278963 / ISBN 13: 9781138278967

Published by Routledge, 2016

About this Item

Summary:Japanese folk performing arts incorporate a body of entertainments that range from the ritual to the secular. They may be the ritual dances at Shinto shrines performed to summon and entertain deities. This title provides an introductory guide to the major performance types as understood by Japanese scholars.

Seller Inventory # BGJAP54

Bibliographic Details

• Title: An Introduction to Japanese Folk Performing Arts (SOAS Studies in Music)
• Publisher: Routledge
• Publication Date: 2016
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 1138278963
• ISBN 13: 9781138278967
• Binding: Soft cover
• Edition: 1st Edition
• Condition: New
• Seller catalogs:
  • Ethnomusicology
  • Japan

About this title

Synopsis

Japanese folk performing arts incorporate a body of entertainments that range from the ritual to the secular. They may be the ritual dances at Shinto shrines performed to summon and entertain deities; group dances to drive away disease-bearing spirits; or theatrical mime to portray the tenets of Buddhist teachings. These ritual entertainments can have histories of a thousand years or more and, with such histories, some have served as the inspiration for the urban entertainments of no, kabuki and bunraku puppetry. The flow of that inspiration, however, has not always been one way. Elements taken from these urban forms could also be used to enhance the appeal of ritual dance and drama. And, in time, these urban entertainments too came to be performed in rural or regional settings and today are similarly considered folk performing arts. Professor Terence Lancashire provides a valuable introductory guide to the major performance types as understood by Japanese scholars.

About the Author

Professor Terence A. Lancashire, Osaka Ohtani University, Japan