An Overview 解説
Jan. 19, 2005
Figure1 ©So Sugiura
Figure2 ©So Sugiura
Understanding the Figures
The solid lines in the chart show music genres that are considered direct descendants of the oldest traditions (to the left) in the genealogy of traditional Japanese music, while the dotted lines show genre rooted more generally in the preceding genre. All the names shown in the chart are of schools that still exist today. It should be noted that the division between "
utai
(sung)" and "
katari
(spoken)" traditions is based on a historical perspective and not on the actual contents of the music. As for the
joruri
genre, it began to divide into many branches in the early Edo period after the introduction of the
shamisen
and, as a result, includes many schools today.