Biwa (Japanese Lute)

The History of the Biwa (from A Booklet of Satsuma Biwa by Tsuruta Kinshi and Yamaguchi Osamu)

Japanese biwa are fretted and plucked lutes that were introduced from the Asian continent around the 17th century. These instruments were derived, it is presumed from Western Asia, where its related instruments such as the Arabic, Uod, the European lute, and guitar are also said to orginate from. Japan owes its direct introduction to China and Korea where there are similar instruments called pyiba, p'i-p'a, etc. It is interesting to note that the construction and usage of each instrument reflects some aspects of cultural values and musical ideas among each ethnic group. For instance, in China, as many as 17 frets make it possible for a p'i-p'a player to show his or her virtuosic fingering in fast passages, while in Japan, in contrast, the traditional Satsuma Biwa muscians are often found engaging in subtle modification of a tone before it dies away by use of the left hand fingering techniques applied in the proximity of frets or bridges as few as 4 or 5.

Even within Japan, there are variants of biwa, supporting as many genres of music. And the genres have been preserved almost in coexistence, though with different periods of origin and with differing popularity among different classes of people through time. The oldest styles are perhaps gaku biwa and moso-biwa (blind priests' biwa): the former as in gagaku (ensemble functioning mainly in the palace), introduced in the 7th century; the latter, also called kojin-biwa (for the god of the kitchen), religious chant, originating in Kyoto in the 8th century. Although unreligious in nature, kokkei biwa (comical) and higo biwa (narrative from Kumamoto) show strong influences from moso-biwa. The well-known Heikei biwa, or heikyoku, from the 12th centruy in Kyoto is also narrative, based on the Heike Monogatari (an epic depicting the decline of the Taira clan).

Since the latter half of the 16th centry a new style, biwa uta (biwa singing), has gradually become representative of biwa gaku (biwa music) in general. The music later called Satsuma biwa is the oldest among the several generes of biwa uta. Warriors of the Satsuma Clan, now present day Kagoshima, were ordered by the lord to sing songs with didactic textual content and to play the biwa, which came from Satsuma moso, a brance descended from the old moso biwa. Afterwards, the local common people began to enjoy the songs.

And since the Meiji period it has been widespread throughout the country. There are three major schools of musicians along this line: Satsuma biwa seiha (authentic), Satsuma biwa Kinshin ryu (founded by Nagata Kinshin in the Taisho period), and Nishiki biwa ("brocade", founded in the Showa period). Another genre in biwa uta is the Chikuzen biwa, established in the middle of the Meiji period under the influences of Chikuzen moso in Fukuoka, Satsuma biwa, and shamisen music.

In the contemporary milieu, each variant of the instrument is thought to have a rich inventory of idioms, some of which are already utilized by composers and some yet to be explored.

Recent Visit to Japan

On my recent visit to Japan this past Nov./Dec. 2005, I visited three key biwa people living in Tokyo: biwa maker, Ishida-san, my old biwa teacher, Yukio Tanaka, and stellar player, Nishihara Kakushin.

Biwa maker, Ishida starting work on biwa made of KUWA (mulberry wood).

This is a biwa from a customer who needs a repair

job done.

I am sitting with my biwa teacher, Yukio Tanaka at

his home studio, as he holds up his latest CD, simply entitled "Biwa" on which be recorded the great piece "Atsumori" as well as an original piece called, "Kiri-haruru---Sekigahara kassenki".

With Kakushin Nishihara at a rehearsal in Tokyo.

Kakushin tuning her axe.

Performing with Kakushin @ Ledeco in Shibuya 12/05.

Kakushin and butoh dancer, Makiko Ogino @ Ledeco in Shibuya 12/05.