The Sekiten music of the Hirosaki Domain and the Kyoto-gakuso

• In Event: Tōhoku, Kyoto, and the Dialectics of “Japanese Culture”

Abstract

This paper introduces the music of the Sekiten (“Ceremony of Confucius”) in Edo-period Japan (1603-1868), with a comparison of the Hirosaki domain and the Kyoto-gakuso, the Gagaku performers of the Kyoto imperial court. The Sekiten, a ceremony to honor Confucius and his students, was performed at the Confucius Mausoleum of many feudal domains in the Edo period. The Sekiten was held every year in the Hirosaki domain, and it included Gagaku. The Kyoto-gakuso was the most prestigious and accomplished Gagaku performance group at that time. Its members were invited to perform in the Sekiten ceremony of Yushima Seidō in Edo, which was annexed to Shōheizaka Gakumonjo under the direct control of the Tokugawa shogunate. I will examine the differences between the Sekiten ceremony in the Hirosaki domain and the Kyoto-gakuso, as regards the pieces of music played, the instruments used, the number of the players, and the scenes which were inserted in the ceremony.

Author

• Emiko Takenouchi, Kyoto City University of Arts