Nationalism and Music in Pre-War Japan

Session Submission Type: Organized Panel Proposal Application

Abstract

This panel addresses the interface between music and Japanese nationalism during pre-war period in an attempt to establish the beginnings of a theoretical understanding of the ways instruments acquire symbolic associations and become embedded in distinct forms and systems of nationalism. The panellists will examine four Japanese musical genres through different analytic paradigms: naniwa-bushi and its problematic role as an agent of propaganda, modern biwa music and the construction of national identity in the colonised populations, kaetua and the role of play as anti-war protest, and sōkyoku-jiuta and the role of the composers in contributing to the formation of nationalist ethos. Tokita’s paper questions the intrinsic nature of naniwa-bushi and nationalism, illustrating her argument with examples drawn from the popular post-Russo-Japanese War repertoire, the significance of which is questioned through examination of those produced under force to boost the morale of Japanese soldiers during WWII. Seto’s paper explores the role of chants and songs in political protests during the same Russo-Japanese War, and how parody of military marches, gunka, as a form of protest created a sense of solidarity against the war. De Ferranti’s paper addresses how the biwa served as a method of indoctrinating the colonies into Japanese nationalist ideology, and in doing so, acquired new symbolic meaning. Flavin’s paper examines the koto musicians and their contributing to the creation of a nationalist ethos through a forgotten collection of highly politicised works: marches, anthems, works that used themes considered problematic even then such as General Nogi’s ritual suicide.

Area of Study

• Northeast Asia

Session Organizer

• Philip Flavin, Osaka University of Economics and Law

Individual Presentations

• Naniwa-bushi: Nationalism, Appropriation or Sentimentality? - Alison Tokita, Kyoto City University of Arts

• Deterritorializing a War Song: Politics of Socialist Playfulness in Kaeuta-making During the Russo-Japanese War (1904-5) in Japan - Tomoko Seto, Yonsei University

• Biwa as an Instrument of Nationalism - Hugh de Ferranti, Tokyo University of Technology

• Anthems, Marches, and National Myth: Music for the Koto and Pre-War Nationalism in Japan - Philip Flavin, Osaka University of Economics and Law