日本音乐

日本音乐(Japanese music)

日本的传统音乐。日本人吸收中国、印度（透过佛教传入）和西方音乐的影响，在经历一段与外界隔离的时期，浓缩并萃取其精华而发展成自己的独特风格。日本最早时期的音乐显然具有宗教色彩，到6世纪这种音乐被编成一种叫做「御神乐」的乐体，与神道教有关。日本建立帝国时，开始接纳外来文化的影响，612年雅乐从中国经由朝鲜传入日本。平家琵琶在宫廷乐因宫廷权力衰微时逐渐变得重要，这种音乐是由吟游诗人（通常是瞎子）以琵琶伴奏吟诵稗官野史。江户时代（1615～1868）重建中央政府时，这种受欢迎的叙事形式音乐演变为戏剧形式。新兴商人阶级赞助的流行娱乐包括歌舞伎和文乐，同时，贵族则奖励能乐（虽然是演化自同样的通俗来源）。在这段时期，与某种独奏乐器相关的乐体也开始兴起，尤其是为了尺八、日本古琴和三味线（一种三弦乐器）所作的音乐。19世纪日本开放门户後，西方音乐跃为主流，几乎取代了传统的音乐形式，不过在20世纪初民族主义抬头，日本人也开始致力於保存传统音乐。

English version：

Japanese music

Traditional music of Japan. Absorbing the influences of China, of India (by way of Buddhism), and the West, Japan has concentrated and refined them into something distinct during its periods of withdrawal from outside contact. The earliest music in Japan was apparently religious; by the 6th century this had been codified into a body of music associated with Shinto called mikagura. Once the imperial state was established, a period of receptivity to outside influence ensued, during which gagaku was imported from China by way of Korea (612). Heikebiwa, a narrative form of singing by minstrel-like figures (often blind) accompanying themselves on the biwa (lute), grew in importance as court music declined with the power of the court. When central government was reestablished in the Edo period (1615-1868), the popularity of such narrative forms was transferred to theatrical forms. A new merchant class supported popular entertainments such as kabuki and bunraku, while No drama, though evolved from similar popular sources, was supported by the nobility. During this period, genres associated with certain solo instruments (as in Chinese music) also arose, particularly for the shakuhachi, koto, and samisen (a three-stringed lute). With Japan's reopening in the 19th century, Western influences became predominant and almost displaced traditional forms, though the resurgent nationalism of the early 20th century fostered their preservation.