Japanese Folk Music

Japanese Folk Music

The music of Japan includes a wide array of performers in distinct styles both traditional and modern. The word for music in Japanese is 音楽 (ongaku), combining the kanji 音 ("on" sound) with the kanji 楽 ("gaku" music). Japan is the second largest music market in the world, with a total retail value of 4,096.7 million dollars and most of the market is dominated by Japanese artists.

Local music often appears at karaoke venues, which is on lease from the record labels. Traditional Japanese music is quite different from Western Music and is based on the intervals of human breathing rather than mathematical timing. In 1873, a British traveler claimed that Japanese music, "exasperate beyond all endurance the European breast."

Read more about Japanese Folk Music:  Traditional and Folk Music, See Also

Famous quotes containing the words japanese, folk and/or music:

    The Japanese have perfected good manners and made them indistinguishable from rudeness.
    Paul Theroux (b. 1941)

    The ties between gentle folk are as pure as water; the links between scoundrels are as thick as honey.
    Chinese proverb.

    I used to be angry all the time and I’d sit there weaving my anger. Now I’m not angry. I sit there hearing the sounds outside, the sounds in the room, the sounds of the treadles and heddles—a music of my own making.
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