 Yasugi
Bushi 1 (Song of Yasugi)
|
|
The Yasugi Bushi is one of the most difficult and popular folksongs
in Japan. It requires a special technique to sing it and singers have
to go from very high tones to very low tones, at almost the same time,
to sing it properly. Every year, there is a contest to determine who is
most proficient at singing this famous song. It is indeed a stirring melody
and the Japanese enjoy it immensely. Foreign visitors hearing it for the
first time are astonished at the great range of vocal changes included
in the song. They admire the singer for his or her ability.
|
|
Originally, it was sung as entertainment for boatmen from the seaports
on the Japan sea during the latter part of Edo Era, from about 1830 to
1844. Many other folksongs were combined with it. Finally, a restaurant
owner in Yasugi, Sahei Watanabe, a proficient musician, developed the
Yasugi Bushi into thestandard Yasugi Bushi we have today. His daughter,
Oito, sang the Yasugi Bushi when she was eight years old. She had a beautiful
voice and it made her famous.
|
|
Later on, Tokunosuke Tomita, a popular shamisen player joined her. The
background music of the shamisen is a very important part of the song
and during the Meiji Era, the way of playing shamisen and singing the
song used to be very free and flexible. Now it is fixed.・ As the song
and Oito's singing to Tokunosuke's playing became more popular, they felt
the need to protect the original character of the song, and formed the
"Orthodox Yasugi Bushi Preservation Society" in 1911. At that time, formal
rankings were established for the singers.
|
|
From that time, after the Taisho Era, it became fixed and is now taught
and sung in a standard way. However, it is still flexible to some extent
and the emotions of the singer can affect the song. Sadness, humor, happiness
and almost any other feeling can be expressed by the person singing it.
|
|
Shimane Prefecture had a Cultural Fair in New York City in June, and
the Yasugi Bushi was played there. My friend Mr. Randy Quinby, attended
to the performances and told me that he had became homesick for Shimane.
He also told me that the exhibition hall was so full that no more people
could get in. Many were standing, but all of them were charmed by the
fantastic culture of Shimane Prefecture. Maybe some of them will visit
us. I hope so.
|
