The Music of Japan
By: Riley Sterling
In Japan, there is a mixture of different types of music. Older people tend to listen to traditional types. These types include instrumental, court music, and theatrical. Younger people listen to J-Pop. This can include pop, rock, dance, rap, and soul. Some examples of the J-Pop are bands such as Morning Musume, Luna Seam and Da Pump.
In traditional Japanese music, there are three types of general instruments. These are percussion, stringed instruments , and wind instruments, mostly flutes. They also use bells in Buddhist ceremonies and drums are used in gagaku which is a form of court music. The most dramatic drum used is the Odaiko which means big drum. This is used at many festivals in Japan. Another common instrument is called a koto which is a string instrument.
Below is a couple of pictures of instruments used in Japan along with a video of one of the popular J-Pop bands and a video of relaxing traditional music that the people like to listen to.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NwacTv-6DK4
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Wp2oSuh1Hy0