Gagaku...and some larking about

Literally "elegant sound", this is the music of the Imperial court, derived from Chinese and Korean models. Although little is known of prehistoric Japanese music, figurines depicting musicians have been discovered, suggesting its early importance, along with poetry. The word "uta" can mean either "song" or "poem". Ancient stories, rituals and legends, recorded in the Kojiki and the Nihongi formed the basis of the old songs.


An ensemble generally consisted of about sixteen musicians playing koto (zither-ish), biwa (lute-like), taiko drum and wind instruments such as the hichiriki (oboe-esque) or shakuhachi (flute-y). Taiko drum displays are immense to behold, relying as much on choreography as on massive drums being pounded. Taiko drumming has also found expression in a very popular computer game, complete with drums, sticks and cute little Manga creatures which, as Matt will no doubt testify, is absurdly good fun.

Although largely overshadowed by J-pop, traditional Japanese music is still considered important enough to be taught in schools. The young lady is playing a koto. It usually has thirteen strings, although the 1920's saw the creation of the 17 stringed bass koto. The pitch is changed by moving the bridges across the body. The standard tuning is called Hirajoshi, meaning "tranquil tuning", but there are others. It's plucked with three plectrums strapped to the thumb and fingers, the shape varying depending on the school of playing, although, as this was very much an introduction to the koto (for me at any rate) we only used the thumb. Notation uses the kanji for 1-10 (denoting the strings) and three others that, although mean 11-13, are unique to koto music.

The tune we played was Sakura meaning "cherry blossoms" - a famous symbol of Japan. Cherry blossom viewing, or Hanami is a great excuse to sit under a pretty pink tree and get drunk. I missed that last year as I was still finding my way around...but this year, heh-heh-heh...back to the koto, of course I had a go...
(see the concentration!)...but they aren't exactly portable...I may take up the shamisen...

...and on saturday, despite the carnage faced in other parts of Japan, we had a right good muck about in the snow...





...culminating in a random trip to Odaiba...



...specifically, the Museum of Emerging Science...


...which gave us many an opportunity for educational tomfoolery.





Having the innermost workings of a particle accelerator explained to you in Japanese is just as confusing as it sounds.