Investigation of Shapes and Musical Instruments

2003 Fiscal Year Final Research Report Summary

• Project/Area Number: 13610064
• Research Category: Grant-in-Aid for Scientific Research (C)
• Allocation Type: Single-year Grants
• Section: 一般
• Research Field: 美学(含芸術諸学)
• Research Institution: National Research Institute for Cultural Properties, Tokyo
• Principal Investigator: TAKAKUWA Izumi National Research Institute for Cultural Properties, Tokyo, Department of Performing Arts, Music/Dance section, Head, 芸能部, 室長 (60249919)
• Co-Investigator(Kenkyū-buntansha): TAKAHASHI Mito Kyoto City University of Arts, Research Center for Japanese Traditional Music, semi-professor, 日本伝統音楽研究センター, 助教授 (70326172) ; KOMOTA Haruko Musashino Academia Musicae, semi-professor, 助教授 (00323858) ; KATSUKI Genichiro National Research Institute for Cultural Properties, Tokyo, Department of Fine Arts, Chief researcher, 東京文化財研究所・美術部, 主任研究官 (50249918)
• Project Period (FY): 2001 – 2003
• Keywords: Musical Instruments

Research Abstract

With regard to biwa, supplementary investigation was made of the instruments in a private collection in Kyusyu district. As a result, we have been able to point out a systematic relationship among moso biwa used in different parts of Kyushu. Results of investigation were presented orally by Komoda Haruko at the 10^<th> Meeting of the East Japan Center of the Toyo Ongaku Gakkai in February 2004.
Investigation was also made of instruments in the collection of Sannomaru Shozo-kan that were offered to the Emperor from the court nobles and daimyo lords and many of which are mentioned in Gakkaroku, an Edo period document on gagaku. It was possible, by this investigation, to confirm to a certain degree the traditionally reported dates of manufacture of these instruments. It was customary to inscribe the name of the maker and the time of manufacture on sho, a mouth organ. Taking into consideration the condition of deterioration of the pipes of sho, it was found that some of the dates inscribed were credible. However, there were some whose dates of manufacture could not be determined. With some, the dates on the pipe and head did not match, making it difficult to determine the date of manufacture accurately. In contrast to this, matters related with the manufacture of an instrument were not customarily written on ryuteki, a flute. However, it was possible to determine the dates of manufacture of many ryuteki by examining the degree of deterioration and the way in which some of the parts were made. Very often with so, a 13-stringed Japanese zither, the name of the manufacturer is branded on the inner side of the instrument. But if damage is great, the name inside may be that of the restorer rather than of the manufacturer. From the condition of the surface, there were not a few cases in which it could be said that decorations were re-applied in the Edo period even though the instrument may have been made in the Muromachi period. A similar phenomenon can be seen with biwa. Nonetheless, whether an instrument is old or new, old fabric was used to store these instruments, indicating that they had been treasured over the years. Results of these investigations were published in March 2004.
In addition to these investigations, Takakuwa Izumi presented a paper on Japanese musical instruments at the 10^<th> Congress of the European Association for Japanese Studies held at the Warsaw University in Poland in August 2003. She also investigated an exhibition of musical instruments at a museum in Vienna.