Folk Music of Japan
Each country may has different types of folk music. From town to town, village by
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On the list below you can find some folk songs or traditional songs from Japan. Each song
has some tags which specify its genres or musical instrument which is used in that song.
Inside each page you can find more information about the artist or music genre. You can
listen to all songs as playlist too or you can add each song to your personal playlist.
1. Japanese folk songs (min'yō) can be grouped and classified in many ways but it is
often convenient to think of four main categories: work songs, religious songs (such
as sato kagura, a form of Shintoist music), songs used for gatherings such as weddings,
funerals, and festivals (matsuri, especially Obon), and children's songs (warabe uta).
In min'yō, singers are typically accompanied by the three-stringed lute known as the
shamisen, taiko drums, and a bamboo flute called shakuhachi.[9] Other instruments
that could accompany are a transverse flute known as the shinobue, a bell known as
kane, a hand drum called the tsuzumi, and/or a 13-stringed zither known as the koto.
In Okinawa, the main instrument is the sanshin. These are traditional Japanese
instruments, but modern instrumentation, such as electric guitars and synthesizers,
is also used in this day and age, when enka singers cover traditional min'yō songs
(Enka being a Japanese music genre all its own).[10]Terms often heard when
speaking about min'yō are ondo, bushi, bon uta, and komori uta. An ondo generally
describes any folk song with a distinctive swing that may be heard as 2/4 time rhythm
(though performers usually do not group beats). The typical folk song heard at Obon
festival dances will most likely be an ondo. A bushi is a song with a distinctive melody.
Its very name, which is pronounced "bushi" in compounds, means "melody" or
"rhythm." The word is rarely used on its own, but is usually prefixed by a term
referring to occupation, location, personal name or the like. Bon uta, as the name
describes, are songs for Obon, the lantern festival of the dead. Komori uta are
children's lullabies. The names of min'yo songs often include descriptive term, usually
at the end. For example: Tokyo Ondo, Kushimoto Bushi, Hokkai Bon Uta, and Itsuki
no Komoriuta. Many of these songs include extra stress on certain syllables as well as
pitched shouts (kakegoe). Kakegoe are generally shouts of cheer but in min'yō, they
are often included as parts of choruses. There are many kakegoe, though they vary
from region to region. In Okinawa Min'yō, for example, one will hear the common "ha
iya sasa!" In mainland Japan, however, one will be more likely to hear "a yoisho!,"
"sate!," or "a sore!" Others are "a donto koi!," and "dokoisho!"Recently a guild-based
system known as the iemoto system has been applied to some forms of min'yō; it is
called. This system was originally developed for transmitting classical genres such as
nagauta, shakuhachi, or koto music, but since it proved profitable to teachers and was
supported by students who wished to obtain certificates of proficiency and artist's
names continues to spread to genres such as min'yō, Tsugaru-jamisen and other
forms of music that were traditionally transmitted more informally. Today some
min'yō are passed on in such pseudo-family organizations and long apprenticeships
are common.
2.SAKURA FOLK MUSIC
Folk Music of China
Music of China refers to the music of the Chinese people, which may be the music of the
Han Chinese as well as other ethnic minorities within mainland China. It also includes music
produced by people of Chinese origin in some territories outside mainland China using traditional
Chinese instruments or in the Chinese language. It covers a highly diverse range of music from
the traditional to the modern.
Different types of music have been recorded in historical Chinese documents from the early
periods of Chinese civilization which, together with archaeological artifacts discovered, provided
evidence of a well-developed musical culture as early as the Zhou dynasty (1122 BC – 256 BC).
These further developed into various forms of music through succeeding dynasties, producing the
rich heritage of music that is part of the Chinese cultural landscape today. Chinese music continues
to evolve in the modern times, and more contemporary forms of music have also emerged.
There are dozens of styles of folk music in China. Along with the Han folk music, the ethnic
folk music that tourists might hear and most like includes the Tibetan, Uighur, and Dong folk
music. The Miao are famous for their singing.
Han Folk Music
About 92% of China's people are Han Chinese, and there are various regional styles of Han
folk music. Han folk music is the music of common people who live in the country. The Han
people have several languages and many dialects, and there are many regional styles of folk
music also.
Until recently, Chinese people were mostly peasant farmers. You might hear folk music being
played during weddings, funerals, or festivals such as the New Year Festival.
Though most young people opt for modern music at their wedding dinners, you may still
hear the traditional suona (a wind instrument) played or the clanging of gongs. There are
several regional styles.
North China
In the North, ensembles of wind and percussion instruments, with musicians playing mouth
organs (sheng), suonas, flutes (dizi), drums and gongs are popular. Around Xi'an in northern
Central China, the Xi'an drum music consists of sheng or dizi playing and drumming.
East China
Guzheng performance showGuzheng is a stringed instrument of Chinese traditional music
instrument. In the richer eastern coastal provinces such as Shandong, Zhejiang, and Jiangsu,
the favorite instruments for folk musicians are stringed instruments, such as the gu zheng,
erhu, and gao hu. Musicians like to perform in groups or solo.
In Fujian Province, the folk music tradition has a genre of traditional ballads called Nanyin
or Nanguan. These songs are sung by a woman accompanied by a xiao or a pipa and other
traditional instruments. The music is generally melancholy in tone.
South China
In Guangdong Province and Guangxi Province, the large Cantonese-speaking population has
a distinctive culture and folk music tradition, as do the Hakka-speaking people. Hakka folk
music is known for its rhythms.
Folk Music of Korea
As Koreans are known for their natural singing ability it should be no
surprise that the nation has cultivated a large collection of folk songs. These
songs are normally classified according to five regions of the nation:
northwestern region · Seoul & Kyonggi Province · eastern region · southern
region · Cheju Island. Each region has its own collection of songs and vocal
styles which are quite distinctive. Also, each region bases its songs on a slightly
different melodic scale. There are a number of folk songs common to all regions
of Korea although they might exist in slightly different variations. Some of these
common folk songs are: Arirang, Miryang Arirang, Doraji-Taryong, Banga-
Taryong, Kangwondo-Arirang, Nongbuga, Yukjabaegi, Susimga, and Cheonan-
Samgeori.There are also collections of folk songs associated with various
activities, such as: farm songs, fishing songs, work songs, ceremonial songs,
marriage songs, and children's songs.
Korea’s folk music tradition, with its generous use of bright rythms and
melodies, offers a more energetic and capricious contrast to the nation’s
collection of classical music works. Folk music represents the soul and sound of
traditional Korean villages with an electric array of music forms of instrumental
pieces, pansori, and shaman ritual music. Some of the most prominent pieces
and folk music forms are as follows:
Doraji taryeong (Korean: 도라지타령) is a Korean folk song which
originated from Eunyul in Hwanghae Province. However, the currently sung
version is classified as a Gyeonggi minyo (Gyeonggi Province folk song), as the
rhythm and the melody have changed to acquire the characteristics of it.
The song is sung with semachi (fast 64 or 98) jangdan (rhythmic
structure), with occasional switch to jungmori (124) jangdan. Like other
traditional songs from Korea, it uses the pentatonic scale of jung (G), im (A), mu
(C), hwang (D), and tae (E).
Doraji is the Korean name for the plant Platycodon grandiflorus (known
as "balloon flower" in English) as well as its root. Doraji taryeong is one of the
most popular folk songs in both North and South Korea, and in China among the
ethnic Koreans. It is also a well known song in Japan, by the name Toraji
(Japanese: トラジ).[2]
Lyrics
Hangul
도라지 도라지 도라지
심심산천의 백도라지
한두 뿌리만 캐어도
대바구니로 반실만 되누나
Refrain:
에헤요 에헤요 에헤애야
어여라난다 지화자 좋다
저기 저 산 밑에 도라지가 한들한들
도라지 도라지 도라지
은율 금산포 백도라지
한 뿌리 두 뿌리 받으니
산골에 도라지 풍년일세
Refrain
도라지 도라지 도라지
강원도 금강산 백도라지
도라지 캐는 아가씨들
손맵시도 멋
들어졌네
Refrain
Revised Romanization
doraji doraji doraji
simsimsancheonui baekdoraji
handu ppuriman kaeeodo
daebaguniro bansilman doenuna
Refrain:
eheyo eheyo eheaeya
eoyeorananda jihwaja jota
jeogi jeo san mite dorajiga handeulhandeul
doraji doraji doraji
Eunyul Geumsanpo baekdoraji
han ppuri du ppuri badeuni
sangore doraji pungnyeonilse
Refrain
doraji doraji doraji
Gangwondo Geumgangsan baekdoraji
doraji kaeneun agassideul
sonmaepsido meotdeureojyeonne
Refrain
English translation
Doraji, doraji, doraji!
In the depths of the mountains is white doraji!
Though one or two roots only I pull,
my bamboo basket grows full.
Refrain:
Eheyo! Eheyo! Eheaeya!
Eoyeorananda! Jihwaja, good!
There at the foot of the mountains, doraji is moving to and fro
Doraji, doraji, doraji!
Eunyul Geumsanpo's white doraji!
A root, two roots that I picked up,
in the mountain valley having bumper doraji crop
Refrain
Doraji, doraji, doraji!
Gangwondo Geumgangsan's white doraji!
Damsels pulling doraji
have such an elegant hand pose.
Refrain
