From en.wikipedia.org:
[Japanese term for military music] [reason= :Category:Japanese words and
phrases] [_GUNKA_] is the Japanese term for military music. While in standard
use in Japan it applies both to Japanese songs and foreign songs such as "The
Battle Hymn of the Republic", as an English language category it refers to
songs produced by the Empire of Japan in between roughly 1877 and 1943.
** History
*** Meiji Restoration period
During the Meiji Restoration Period, Western composers and teachers taught
Japanese people to write and make music in the Western classical tradition.
Military marches were adopted in Japan, as part of a trend of Western customs
integrating into the Japanese culture. _Gunka_ was one of the major
Western-influenced musical forms that emerged in this period and were used to
encourage patriotism in the post-restoration era.[1]
*** Empire of Japan
In 1871, Japan founded the Imperial Japanese Army and Navy band. During the
late nineteenth century, Japanese conductors japanized the band
repertoire.<ref name="mclimon"/> In the period of imperialist expansion of
Japan in Asia and the Pacific, _gunka_ was used to glorify anyone that
"fought" on the home front.[2] Japanese _gunka_ were consciously constructed
to engender loyalty and warm feelings towards the nation.
In 1921, a disarmament agreement signed at the Washington Conference of 1921
obligated Japan to reduce its army during the Taishō Era (1912-1926) and the
first years of Shōwa, which included the suspension of five of six army
bands.<ref name="mclimon" /> As the Japanese Navy was not affected by the
agreement, the Navy bands remained without problems.<ref name="mclimon" /> In
this peace period, the main topic of _gunkas_ was the importance of working
hard, such as happened the songs "Battleship Duties" (_Kansen Kinmu_, by
Setouguchi Tōkichi), and "Monday, Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday
and Friday" (_Getsu Getsu Ka Sui Moku Kin Kin_, by Egucho Yoshi).<ref
name="mclimon" />
Up until the surrender of the wartime Japanese government in 1945, _gunka_
were taught in schools both in Japan proper and in the larger Empire. Some
_gunka_ songs derived from children songs called _shōka_.<ref name="mclimon"
/> In 1893, the Japanese educator Isawa Shūji released the _shōka_ public
school song "Come, Soldiers, Come" (_Kitare ya Kitare_). This song became a
melody in military marches, called "Defense of the Empire" (_Teikoku no
Mamori_).<ref name="mclimon" /> Another _gunka_ derived from a _shōka_ was
_War Comrade_, released in 1905 and remains popular.<ref name="mclimon" /> The
song talks about loyalty and friendship and advocated assisting a fellow
soldier in battle, which was against the Japanese military code. For that
reason, the song was banned during the Asia-Pacific War.<ref name="mclimon" />
_Shōka_ songs "Lieutenant Hirose" (_Hirose Chūsa_, 1912), "The Meeting at
Suishiying", (_Suishiei no Kaiken_, 1906) are other examples of public school
songs that became part of the _gunka_ repertory.<ref name="mclimon" />
*** Post-war period
During the Occupation _gunka_ performance was banned. However, the ban was
lifted with the signing of the Treaty of San Francisco in 1952, and these
_gunka_ experienced a mild "boom" in the late 1960s, and by the early 1970s
they had regained popularity in Japanese-controlled Micronesia and parts of
Southeast Asia.[3] A famous example of a Japanese _gunka_ was the song
"Sen'yū" written during the Russo-Japanese War.
_Gunka_ were common in pachinko parlors and are still commonly played in
karaoke bars and shrine gates.<ref name="mclimon" />
** Characteristics
*** Instruments
Instruments of Western musical tradition are common in _Gunka_ songs, such as
trumpet, trombone, tuba, timpani, cymbals, glockenspiel, snare, and woodwind
instruments as clarinet, flute and piccolo.<ref name="jgunka"/>
*** Metre, rhythm and tone
Due to its origin in military marches, _gunka_ has a metre in four-four time.
The most common rhythmical motif is a music theme of six quarters and a
triplet pair. _Gunka_ marches are composed in a major tone.<ref
name="jgunka"/>
*** Topics
Fighting on the battlefield, sending a son to war, and waiting for a father's
return were common topics in Japanese war songs.<ref name="mclimon" />
[Almost all early war songs were epics, in which the state of war was
described in a concrete narrative form. As time went by, however, the motifs
present in the war songs were narrowed down almost exclusively to the
enhancement of hostility and morale ... on the basis of the fact that the
single unit of recording time was three minutes.]
** Notable _gunka_
- "Aa Kurenai no Chi wa Moyuru "
- "Battōtai "
- "Fujin Jūgunka "
- "Roei no Uta "
- "Shussei Heishi o Okuru Uta "
- "Teki wa Ikuman "
- "Umi Yukaba "
- "Yuki no Shingun "
** References
{{Portal|Japan|Music }} [reflist]
** Bibliography
- Satoshi Sugita (1972). " Cherry blossoms and rising sun: a systematic and objective analysis of gunka (Japanese war songs) in five historical periods (1868-1945) (see http://etd.ohiolink.edu/view.cgi?acc_num=osu1170788993) [url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110716153318/http://etd.ohiolink.edu/view.cgi?acc_num=osu1170788993 ] ". Dissertation submitted to Ohio State University.
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Category:Music of Japan *Gunka Category:Military music