Reception of Western Music in Meiji Japan: A Music Transfer Approach

• Project/Area Number: 25370749
• Research Category: Grant-in-Aid for Scientific Research (C)
• Allocation Type: Multi-year Fund
• Section: 一般
• Research Field: Historical studies in general
• Research Institution: Osaka University
• Principal Investigator: Takenaka Toru 大阪大学, 文学研究科, 教授 (90163427)
• Project Period (FY): 2013-04-01 – 2016-03-31
• Project Status: Completed (Fiscal Year 2015)
• Budget Amount: ¥3,120,000 (Direct Cost: ¥2,400,000、Indirect Cost: ¥720,000); Fiscal Year 2015: ¥1,040,000 (Direct Cost: ¥800,000、Indirect Cost: ¥240,000); Fiscal Year 2014: ¥1,300,000 (Direct Cost: ¥1,000,000、Indirect Cost: ¥300,000); Fiscal Year 2013: ¥780,000 (Direct Cost: ¥600,000、Indirect Cost: ¥180,000)
• Keywords: 明治日本 / 西洋音楽 / ワーグナー / 伊沢修二 / 幸田延 / ディトリヒ / 島崎赤太郎 / ドイツ / コンサート / 東京音楽学校 / 国際情報交換 / 明治 / 洋楽 / 音楽移転 / コミュニケーション / 聴衆共同体 / 言語メディア

Outline of Final Research Achievements

This research project aims to examine how and why reception of Western music went ahead swiftly and sweepingly in Meiji Japan though Western music was extremely strange to the native music culture. This can be seen as rare case of music transfer.
The research shows 1. the incongrousness immanent to Wester music was neutralized by degrading it as tool; 2. Western music provided the "losers of Restoration" with alternatives to compensate their deprivations in a psychological and material way; 3. Western music served as ideological means for the "rebellious" youth to express their discontent with status quo of Meiji society.

Research Products

• [Journal Article] The Myth of “Familiar Germany”: German-Japanese Relationships in the Meiji Period Reexamined (2016)
  • Author(s): Toru Takenaka
  • Journal Title: Transnational Encounters between Germany and Japan: Perceptions of Partnership in the Nineteenth and Twentieth Centuries Volume: 1 Pages: 19-34
  • NAID: 120005663479
• [Journal Article] Musik hören mit dem Kopf: Soziokultureller Mechanismus der Rezeption westlicher Musik im modernen Japan (2015)
  • Author(s): Toru Takenaka
  • Journal Title: Kommunikation im Musikleben: Harmonien und Dissonanzen im 20. Jahrhundert Volume: 1 Pages: 201-213
  • Peer Reviewed
• [Journal Article] 『近代化の模範』から『生活大国』へ――近現代日本におけるドイツ像の展開 (2015)
  • Author(s): 竹中 亨
  • Journal Title: パブリックヒストリー Volume: 12 Pages: 1-14
• [Journal Article] 「近しい国ドイツ」の神話――明治期日独関係の再考に向けて (2014)
  • Author(s): 竹中 亨
  • Journal Title: 大阪大学大学院文学研究科紀要 Volume: 54 Pages: 1-23
  • NAID: 120005663479
• [Presentation] 「近しい国ドイツ」の神話――明治期日独関係の再考に向けて (2013)
  • Author(s): 竹中 亨
  • Organizer: 九州史学会大会
  • Place of Presentation: 九州大学
• [Presentation] Rezeption universalhistorischen Denkens im modernen Japan (2013)
  • Author(s): Toru Takenaka
  • Organizer: Deutscher Orientalistentag, 32th annual meeting
  • Place of Presentation: ミュンスター大学
  • Invited
• [Book] 明治のワーグナー・ブーム――近代日本の音楽移転 (2016)
  • Author(s): 竹中 亨
  • Total Pages: 393
  • Publisher: 中央公論新社
• [Remarks] 大阪大学大学院文学研究科西洋史学研究室ホームページ
  • URL: http://www.let.osaka-u.ac.jp/seiyousi/takenakaeng.html