Anthems, Marches, and National Myth: Music for the Koto and Pre-War Nationalism in Japan

• In Event: Nationalism and Music in Pre-War Japan

Abstract

Perception and understanding of music for the koto was reshaped after the war to conform to highly westernized concepts of music as art: the contemporary listener assumes this music is imbued with formal aspects worthy of contemplation and reflection for their own sake. The modern audience has been led to believe that this music embodies meaning or is capable of transporting them to realms of profound emotional experience only available through the medium of music. The composers were also ‘artists’ innocent of contributing to the nationalist colonialist pro-war project. This belief, however, reflects the new mentality of the post-war period, during which time the nation attempted to erase the taint of militarism and nationalism as they reconstructed Japan’s image. This, however, was far from true. During the pre-war period, the koto musicians actively contributed to the creation of a nationalist ethos through highly politicised works produced before the war: marches, anthems, works that used themes considered even problematic during the period such as General Nogi’s ritual suicide. Of great interest is that despite the very Japanese images drawn upon for the majority of the works, the musical language was highly westernised. This paper seeks to understand the synthesis of Japanese nationalism with the modernist westernised musical medium. The ideology underlying these choices and its derivation from ideas promoted by the state shall also be explored, but with the explicit aim of arguing that the musicians were far from naïve in making the choices they did in creating these works.

Author

• Philip Flavin, Osaka University of Economics and Law