著者
薦田 治子
出版者
The Society for Research in Asiatic Music (Toyo Ongaku Gakkai, TOG)
雑誌
東洋音楽研究 (ISSN:00393851)
巻号頁・発行日
vol.1983, no.47, pp.21-48, 1982-08-25 (Released:2010-02-25)

The library of Tokyo National University of Fine Arts and Music has Heikyoku written on staff notation. It was done by the Hôgaku Chôsagakari (Department of Research in Japanese Traditional Music) which was attached to the Tokyo Ongaku Gakkô (Tokyo Academy of Music), the former Tokyo National University of Fine Arts and Music.The writer was given the opportunity to investigate this notation, and was able to understand how it came to be written. Through this writer's investigation, the circumstances how it was done became fairly clear. TATEYAMA Zennoshin, who was extremely devoted to Heikyoku, lamented the declining interest in this tradition and encouraged the preservation and study of traditional music. Through his efforts, the Department of Research in Japanese Traditional Music was established in 1907 (Meiji 40). The department's major project was to write traditional music onto staff notation.According to the written record of the department, there are four pieces still remaining as well as five pieces and a piece with just a biwa part, which, because they were probably incomplete, were believed not to have been submitted to the department (See Figure 1).In these written records, the writer was able to learn when and by whom these staff notations were done. Certain descriptions in the “Heike Ongakushi (the History of Heike Music)” written by TATEYAMA, who himself sang for the notation, conflict with some of the points in the written records. In his book TATEYAMA described the proper notation of Heikyoku used by the performer. These proper notations, copied by KUSUMI Bansui, include 650 stories in 5 volumes. At present, three of the volumes are owned by TATEYAMA Kôgo in Sendai, the fourth son of Zennoshin.Considering that the biwa was used when the notation was done, the writer believes, at least in regard to these four extant pieces, that the biwa may not have been used. This is because there are mistaken pitches in the staff notation that could not have occurred if the biwa had actually been used.Since there are only a few Heikyoku performers at present, the notated music is highly valuable. Furthermore, each of the four pieces shows interesting characteristics. The ‘Nasu-no-Yoichi’ was written showing two different singing methods: the first can be refferred to as su-gatari or “plain singing” while the second can be called kurai-gatari or “performance-singing”.According to the characteristic of its music, Heikyoku can be divided to two categories, hushi-mono and hiroi-mono. ‘Kiso Saigo’ represents hiroi-mono and ‘Naishi-dokoro Miyako-iri’ represent hushi-mono. Therefore from these two pieces we can see the various aspects of these music.Because ‘Yasaka-ryû Hôgetsu’ retains some of the characteristics of the Yasaka-ryû style which had discontinued in the middle of the Edo period, it provides an important example for the study of the older styles of Heikyoku.Since TATEYAMA gives a detailed explanation of the proper notation, it is possible to understand how to perform what is written in the proper notation. In other words, his explanation can be corroborated through the notated music. For all these above reasons, the writer believes that the study of this notation along with the performances of Heikyoku as they are transmitted to this day are indispensable for studying the musical aspect of Heikyoku.
著者
早稲田 みな子
出版者
The Society for Research in Asiatic Music (Toyo Ongaku Gakkai, TOG)
雑誌
東洋音楽研究 (ISSN:00393851)
巻号頁・発行日
vol.2002, no.67, pp.61-80,L7, 2002-08-20 (Released:2010-02-25)
参考文献数
19

The contact that immigrants maintained with their homeland is one of the important determinants of the immigrant culture. However, this factor has been rarely emphasized in the studies on immigrant cultures as well as on Japanese Americans. The studies on immigrant cultures tended to focus on the interplay of cultural elements originating from the host society and those the immigrants bring from their home, while the studies on Japanese Americans tended to emphasize a process of Japanese American's Americanization, acculturation, and their upward movement toward the America's middle class through the successive generations. This study attempts to focus on the element undervalued in these past studies —a tie between immigrants and their home culture —to gain new insights into the Japanese American musical culture in pre-World War II southern California.The Japanese immigrants in pre-World War II southern California maintained close contact with their home culture through the successive waves of touring Japanese artists from Japan who performed and/or taught their musical arts in the United States. This study views these Japanese performance artists as “cultural ambassadors, ” and examines their roles and influences in the immigrant community.There were two major forces that attracted a large number of touring Japanese artists to the United States. One was the Japanese artists' own ambitions to achieve some success outside Japan. The other was the Japanese immigrants' strong attachment and longing for their home country. Coming from nationalist Japan of the Meiji period (1868-1912) and encountering racism and cultural conflict in the foreign country, the Japanese immigrants reinforced their Japanese identity and looked toward Japan as their authentic cultural model.In this pro-Japan immigrant community, the touring Japanese artists played the following three major roles to affect the immigrant musical culture:1) The role as a provider of contemporary Japanese musical arts and entertainment.Through the overseas performances by the Japanese artists, Japanese immigrants were able to enjoy the musical arts and entertainment that were popular in Japan at that time, and thus, they could maintain an intimate cultural tie with “contemporary” Japan.2) The role as a teacher and promoter of Japanese performance arts.Some of the Japanese artists not only performed, but also taught their arts to the Japanese immigrants, and sometimes even organized the local performance groups within the immigrant community. There were artists who were invited from Japan as instructors for the immigrant-based performance groups. The Japanese artists, thus, greatly contributed to the development of Japanese performance arts among the immigrants, and enhanced Japanese culture within the immigrant community.3) The role as a catalyst for the immigrants' acceptance of western musical culture.Although the majority of the Japanese immigrants were yet unfamiliar with western art music, they paid a great deal of attention to the Japanese professionals of western art music who performed in the United States, because the immigrants highly regarded those artists as the Japanese elites successfully assimilated into western culture. Through these Japanese professionals, the immigrants gained access to western musical culture in the United States, and also raised their self-confidence and pride as Japanese.
著者
蒲生 郷昭
出版者
The Society for Research in Asiatic Music (Toyo Ongaku Gakkai, TOG)
雑誌
東洋音楽研究 (ISSN:00393851)
巻号頁・発行日
vol.2008, no.73, pp.43-61, 2008

本稿は、絵画資料にもとづきながら、「三曲合奏」はいつごろから行われていたのか、という問題を考察するものである。<br>明暦元年 (一六五五) 刊の遊女評判記『難波物語』には、床に並べて置かれた三味線、箏、尺八を描いた挿絵がある。年代の明確な資料としては、箏の加わった三楽器の組み合わせの初見である。<br>しかし、それより早い「元和~寛永年間初期」の作とされる相国寺蔵『花下遊楽図屏風』には、三味線と胡弓による合奏と、三味線と箏、胡弓による合奏とが、描かれている。さらに、ほぼおなじ時期の合奏を示すと考えられる、つぎの資料がある。<br>すなわち、『声曲類纂』巻之一に「寛永正保の頃の古画六枚屏風の内縮図」として掲げられている二つの挿絵のうちの、遊里の遊興を描いているほうの挿絵である。これは模写であり、「古画六枚屏風」は現存しない。しかし、かつて吉川英史が『乙部屏風』として紹介した模本が別に存在する。二つの模写は構図と人物配置が違っていて、その点では『乙部屏風』のほうが、原本に忠実であると考えられる。<br>『乙部屏風』でいえば、遊里場面の中ほどにいる十一人は、一つのグループを形成している。つまり、三味線、胡弓、尺八が伴奏する歌に合わせて踊られている踊りを見ながら、客が飲食している様子が描かれているのである。踊りを度外視すれば、そこで演奏されている音楽も、後の三曲の楽器による合奏にほかならない。<br>すなわち、これらの楽器による合奏は、こんにちいうところの「三曲」が確立するよりかなり前の寛永ごろには、すでに行われていたことがわかる。これらの楽器をさまざまに組み合わせた絵はその後も描かれ、こういった合奏が早い時期から盛んに行われていたことをよく示している。その流れをうけて、こんにちの三曲合奏につながる合奏が行われるようになるのである。
著者
片桐 功
出版者
The Society for Research in Asiatic Music (Toyo Ongaku Gakkai, TOG)
雑誌
東洋音楽研究 (ISSN:00393851)
巻号頁・発行日
no.49, pp.172-174,L34, 1984

This report deals with my research into the folk music of Hiroshima prefecture. There are many kinds of folk music in this prefecture, most of which are valuable in historic terms. Accordingly, deciding that I would take up research dealing with this region as my second field of study, I undertook various types of field work on a number of occasions. This led me to the personal discovery of a type of drum dance of interesting historical origin, which I have since been investigating.<br>The dance apparently originated in the following way: when Kikkawa Motohara (the lord of Hinoyama castle in Shinjo) attacked Nanjo Mototsugu (the lord of Ueishi castle in Hoki province) towards the end of the Sengoku era, he had a number of his warriors disguise themselves as dancers, who then entered the castle to entertain the dance-loving Mototsugu. The warriors, seizing their chance, drew the swords that they had concealed upon them, with the result that the enemy was defeated and the castle captured. As a commemoration of his victory Kikkawa Motoharu spread this dance throughout his domains.<br>Today drum dances associated with this story or dances of very similar nature can be found throughout the Chugoku district of Japan. The dances have two lineages: one is danced by dancers in female attire wearing a flower hat and is called the <i>hanagasa</i> dance; and the other is danced by dancers dressed as warriors and is called the <i>bukotsu</i> dance.<br>During the initial stages of my research I have to date concentrated on the lineage of the <i>hanagasa</i> dance, dealing over the period of the last few years with the drum dances of Ikeda (Midori-cho, Takata-gun, Hiroshima prefecture), Honji (Chiyoda-cho, Yamagata-gun) and Yahatabara (Geihoku-cho, Yamagata-gun). This year I am planning to shift my attention to the lineage of the <i>bukotsu</i> dance, and investigate the <i>nanjo</i> dance of Iwakuni (Yamaguchi prefecture).
著者
平間 充子
出版者
The Society for Research in Asiatic Music (Toyo Ongaku Gakkai, TOG)
雑誌
東洋音楽研究 (ISSN:00393851)
巻号頁・発行日
vol.2006, no.71, pp.39-63, 2006

踏歌節会の原型は天武・持統朝 (六七二~九七) に遡り、また中国の元宵観燈という行事に起源が求められるとの指摘があるが、その根拠となる『朝野僉載』は元宵観燈を先天二 (七一三) 年と記し、天武・持統朝に及ばない。一方、隋の煬帝 (在位六〇四~一八) は、正月中旬洛陽にて百戯と呼ばれる見世物を諸蕃の前で挙行し、それを恒例とした。本稿では、日本の踏歌節会及びその前身と考えられる正月中旬の饗宴儀礼について、その構造と政治的重要性を中心に煬帝の百戯と比較検討を行うこと、その上で洛陽以外にて行われた煬帝の百戯と奈良次代以前の日本で見られる芸能奏上の場とを比較し、踏歌節会と密接なつながりを持つ射の儀礼を媒介に、古代日本における音楽・芸能の奏上について政治的視点から考察することを目的とする。<br>第一章では、平安初期の儀式書『内裏式』および正史に見える天武朝から桓武朝 (六七二~八〇六) の踏歌節会の構造から、踏歌芸能の有無は踏歌節会の起源特定の根拠となり得ず、それを前提としていた先行研究の結論は再検討を要することを明らかにした。第二章では、『隋書』に見られる都城での百戯の記事を分析し、日本の踏歌節会の原型となった正月中旬の饗宴儀礼のモデル足り得るとの結論に到った。根拠は、元宵観燈と違い諸蕃の参加が不可欠であること、国家的行事としての組織的関与が窺われることの二点が日本の儀礼と共通するからである。第三章では、日本の正月中旬の饗宴儀礼と煬帝の百戯とにおける蕃客・諸蕃の位置づけの差異に関し、射の儀礼との比較から音楽・芸能の奏上が日本独自の礼秩序を体現していた可能性を示した。第四章では、『日本書紀』『続日本紀』に記される奏楽・芸能の奏上のほぼ全てが、蕃客・客徒のいる場か行幸先のどちらかであることについて考察を行い、当時の日本の奏楽・芸能奏上が中国の影響を受けつつも独自の発達を遂げた可能性を指摘した。<br>古代日本の儀礼における音楽・芸能奏上と中国のそれとを比較することは、音楽史的問題に留まらず、礼の移入や日本独自の礼秩序の樹立・表象といった政治史・文化史的側面を解明する手がかりともなり得るであろう。
著者
東 暁子
出版者
The Society for Research in Asiatic Music (Toyo Ongaku Gakkai, TOG)
雑誌
東洋音楽研究 (ISSN:00393851)
巻号頁・発行日
vol.1988, no.52, pp.79-97,L8, 1987-11-30 (Released:2010-02-25)
参考文献数
17

The primary aim of this article is to clarify the ways in which the framework of melodic construction and the linguistic tones of a text interact in the process by which a melody maintains its melodic identity, and takes as its object a genre of folk-song of the Hakka _??__??_(Ch. Kèjia) of Taiwan, the mountain song (Ch. shange _??__??_). Secondly, an examination has been made of the present distribution of the mountain song, which originally spread from the regions inhabited by the Hakka in the northern part of the island, and treatment has also been made of the special characteristics of the musical activity of the Hakka of Taiwan, which centres on folk-song. This can be viewed as an attempt firstly to analyse the musical phenomena of a particular music-cultural sphere as a sound idiom that includes a model for the making of music, and further to grasp anew the meaning that these sound phenomena hold within the overall context that gives birth to the music.Within the mountain song, texts variable in nature are set according to fixed principles of melodic construction. Of three types into which the mountain songs of the Hakka are divided, the type called sankotsú _??__??__??_ (Ch. shangezi) has been dealt with here. After a brief examination of the elements that constitute the framework of melodic construction—the form that performance takes, musical form, verse structure of the texts, and the methods of text-setting, etc. —analysis has been made of the correspondence between melody and linguistic tone pattern, in the cases of two-word phrases and single-word phrases, and in terms of the treatment of the entering tone (_??__??_ Ch. rùsheng) that exists in Hakka languages as it does in many other southern variants of Chinese.As a result of this analysis, it has been shown that the melodies of sankotsú folk-songs basically correspond with the linguistic tones of their texts. This does not mean, however, that the movement of the melody agrees completely with the rising and falling intonation of the linguistic tones. At certain points where movement of the melody is limited by the maintenance of its identity as a single song, the influence of linguistic tone is hardly felt. In the case of two-word phrases, there are numerous examples when the second word does not retain the rising and falling movement of the appropriate linguistic tone. Speaking generally, it is rare for the melody to be able to represent all characteristics of any single linguistic tone; it is by expressing part of those characteristics, sometimes by means of rhythm and sometimes by means of pitch change, that contrast with other linguistic tones is effected.Consequent upon the results of this analysis is the supposition that the melodies of sankotsú folk-songs are sung according to the linguistic tones of the. Sìxiàn _??__??_ dialect of Hakka. Even those who speak in Hailù _??__??_ dialect appear to conform to the linguistic principles of Sìxiàn dialect as their “sung language”. Since folk-songs of the mountain song variety intrinsically possess many elements that are prescribed by the language of their particular region of origin, it is often said that it is difficult for them to overcome the barrier of language and spread further in geographical terms. If so, the mountain song of the Hakka of Taiwan, which is distributed among people who speak in different dialects of Hakka, would seem to have changed somewhat in character from the original mountain song.Next, consideration has been made of the historical process responsible for this distinctive geographical distribution, and of the central role that folk-song, mainly that of the mountain-song type, plays in the traditional musical activity of the people. The Hakka people of Taiwan are immigrants from a number of places on the continent. We may speculate that
著者
甲地 利恵
出版者
The Society for Research in Asiatic Music (Toyo Ongaku Gakkai, TOG)
雑誌
東洋音楽研究 (ISSN:00393851)
巻号頁・発行日
vol.1989, no.54, pp.1-45,L4, 1989-08-31 (Released:2010-02-25)
参考文献数
14

The purpose of this paper is to examine the social function of music transmitted in the village communities in the Shimokita region of Aomori Prefecture, in particular from the perspective of enculturation. The learning of a music within a community involves not only that music, but also the learning of various matters that are concomitant with it. This paper will therefore clarify the social structure of the communities in an attempt to understand the state of their music culture. It will then present an interpretation of how music has functioned within communal society, taking as an example the nomai of Ori in Higashidori-mura.A variety of types of folk music are transmitted in the Shimokita region. Almost all of them take the style of geino, that is performing arts, in which music, dance, and theatre come together. These include shishi-kagura (nomai and kagura), kabuki, matsuribayashi, nenbutsu (a type of wasan, colloquial Buddhist music), and several teodori. It is in the latter that the tendencies of the folk music of Shimokita are most clearly reflected. In the neighbouring regions of Tsugaru and Nanbu, folksongs developed as solo vocal pieces into what may be called a stage vocal art. In contrast, in Shimokita, folksongs are sung as an accompaniment to teodori, generally by a number of people together. Percussion instruments, taiko (drums) and kane (a type of small cymbal), are always used as well.The inclination of the music of Shimokita towards geino style is connected closely to the characteristic social structure of the communities of the region.Firstly, the primary industries of Shimokita were restricted by its cool climate and, up to the Second World War, did not produce adequately. For that reason, differences in economic well-being did not develop to the extent of dividing the society into classes. Within the community, the principle of not producing bunke (branch families) was observed, so that the division of property should not result in further poverty. Since the community is made up only of honke (head families), the status within the communities of each ie (family) is equal.One force that brings together these equal ie as a single community is that of the system of communal economy. (For instance, in a fishing community, the catch is sold through the community's fishing cooperative, and the profit is distributed equally between each ie, or used for communal purposes.)Another force is the existence of the ‘age group’. In Shimokita, a type of age grade system can be observed. The members of each ie participate in an appropriate group in accordance with their position in the ie. By doing this, they perform their roles as members of the community. Functions essential to communal life are traditionally distributed between the age groups. Those in festivals and ceremonies are especially well-defined.We may construe here that strong communal relationships of this type are reflected in the music culture of the communities, and further that the people living in them learn of ‘community’ (and, in turn, culture) by means of learning the music. Strong communal relationships between members of equal status were indispensable in the daily life of the Shimokita communities. The people play their part in this ‘community’ by participating in their appropriate age group, where they perform the music of festivals and ceremonies. This music, furthermore, takes the geino style. It is, in other words, music performed not alone but with others of the same age group. What is important in this case is not whether an individual is more skilled than his fellows, but rather whether he can participate in the realization of a geino by adjusting to them. The sense of collectivity or community that can be discerned in the style of the music
著者
小塩 さとみ
出版者
The Society for Research in Asiatic Music (Toyo Ongaku Gakkai, TOG)
雑誌
東洋音楽研究 (ISSN:00393851)
巻号頁・発行日
vol.1999, no.64, pp.1-22,L1, 1999-08-25 (Released:2010-02-25)
参考文献数
21

The aim of this paper is to clarify the concept of “gaku” in nagauta. Some nagauta pieces include a section labeled as “gaku”. The “gaku” sections are usually interpreted as representing or musically describing gagaku, court music, though it has been pointed out that the “gaku” sections do not imitate the musical style of gagaku. This paper considers 1) the types of music represented in the gaku, and 2) musical characteristics which create the gaku-likeness.It is not only nagauta that uses the term “gaku”: other genres such as music in the no theater, offstage music (geza ongaku) in the kabuki theater, and Yamada school koto music also use this term. However, the meaning of the term “gaku” varies in each genre. In the case of music in the no theater, the gaku is a type of dance mostly performed by the main actor (shite) who plays the role of “China man”, and the accompanying hayashi ensemble plays a special rhythmic/melodic pattern which is also called gaku. The gaku section is recognizeable by this pattern and can be considered to be representing Chinese music. In the case of kabuki offstage music, a short shamisen piece named gaku is performed as a kind of background music during the opening scene of a palace or at the entrance of a nobleman on stage. Different from the case of no, the gaku in the kabuki theater has a strong connotation with the aristocracy and does not represent Chinese music. But, when the gaku pieces are played, the hayashi part accompanies the same gaku pattern as no music. Some Yamada school koto music also includes a gaku section, where the gagaku koto technique called shizugaki is often used. The gaku here represents or imitates Japanese court music gagaku.The types of music represented in the gaku sections of nagauta have a wider range since they adopt the concepts of gaku from other genres and add nagauta's original meaning to them. In addition to Chinese music, background music for the opening scene at the palace and Japanese court music, some gaku sections represent exquisite music heard in “Western Paradise”, and some are used as background music for a Buddhist saint's appearance.Then, what kind of musical characteristics make a section sound gaku-like? In order to extract the common musical features of the gaku sections of nagauta, twenty-four nagauta gaku sections and seven gaku pieces of kabuki offstage music, which have a close musical relationship with the gaku section of nagauta, have been analyzed. As a result of the musical analysis, the following eight features have been found: 1) slow tempo; 2) continuous pizzicatos (hajiki); 3) double stop technique; 4) special techniques such as kaeshi bachi, and urahajiki; 5) unnatural melodic movement; 6) coexistence of the plural melodies; 7) regular phrasing of four- or eight-bar; 8) the rhythmic/melodic pattern performed by the hayashi part named gaku. Of these eight points, 2), 3) and 4) create the “elegant” and “solemn” atmosphere by using special tone colors, while 5) and 6) produce the gaku-likeness by using melodic movements different from nagauta's usual melodic movements.Creating gaku-likeness can be related to two ways of giving certain meanings to a melody which are widely employed in nagauta pieces: one is to quote a phrase from or to imitate the style of other musical genres, and this is considered to bring the musical atmosphere of the original genre into a nagauta piece; the
著者
葛西 周
出版者
The Society for Research in Asiatic Music (Toyo Ongaku Gakkai, TOG)
雑誌
東洋音楽研究 (ISSN:00393851)
巻号頁・発行日
vol.2008, no.73, pp.21-40, 2008

本論文は、国家イベントとして近代盛んに行われた博覧会における音楽を、日本の植民地主義という視点から考察することを目的としたものである。西洋とは異なる状況下で進められた日本の植民地主義とその文化的影響について考察する上では、西洋/非西洋=支配/被支配という構図から離れ、個々の事例から植民地政策による波紋や同時代の社会的思潮を汲み取ることが特に必要である。そのような問題意識を踏まえ、本稿では明治三六年の内国勧業博覧会における琉球手踊および昭和一〇年の台湾博覧会における高砂族舞踊という二つの対象について考察した。<br>「見世物」として諸民族の生活が展示された内国勧業博覧会の学術人類館では、地域特有の風俗を、「普通」という基準を作る内地の人々の前で披露するのは「恥ずべきこと」という発想が、琉球に顕著に生まれていたことを確認した。主催側の内地から見れば「他者」の「展示」になるが、「展示」される側から見ると、同じ「自己」であると教育されてきた内地に「他者」としてラベリングされたことを意味する。これによって、内地から見た植民地像と植民地の側の自己イメージとの間にずれが生じ、植民地は「不当」なイメージに対峙すると同時に、自己の再認識を迫られたと指摘できる。他方で、台湾博覧会における高砂族舞踊のような伝統的な演目は、支配層によって娯楽として消費されていたが、その一方で高砂族舞踊の出演者が支配層の前での上演に対して拒絶反応をあらわにせず、少なくとも表向きは肯定的な反応を示していたことも確認できた。<br>日本の植民地主義という文脈から文化イデオロギーについてアプローチする際には、「同化」のみならず「異化」が持つ暴力性もまた軽視せざる問題であり、エキゾチシズムをもって植民地の舞踊を眼差すことへの内地人の欲求が「異化」を生み出したと言える。政策レベル/精神レベルで行われた「同化」と「異化」との間の歪みが、植民地時代に披露された芸能にも顕著に見られることを本論文では実証した。
著者
新井 弘順
出版者
The Society for Research in Asiatic Music (Toyo Ongaku Gakkai, TOG)
雑誌
東洋音楽研究 (ISSN:00393851)
巻号頁・発行日
vol.1983, no.48, pp.42-90,L2, 1983-09-30 (Released:2010-02-25)

The shomyo of the Shingon sect is divided into four classes according to modal usage:1. Rokyoku (pieces in the ryo mode)2. Rikkyoku (pieces in the ritsu mode)3. Hanryo-hanrikkyoku (pieces half ryo and half ritsu)4. HennonkyokuThe first three classes are distinctions based simply on modal usage, but pieces of the fourth class employ modulations of mode. Pieces of this class begin in one mode, be it ryo or ritsu, and change to the other mode, and finish after modulating back to the original mode. They are most common in the san (hymn) repertoire (comprising Sanscrit hymns [bongo no san] and Chinese hymns [kango no san], which have texts set in verses of four phrases) of which the Shichi bongo no san (“Sanscrit hymn of the Four Wisdoms”) is a representative example.The basic notation manual of Shingon shomyo (which includes the Nanzan shinryu, Shingi-ha chizan shomyo and Shingi-ha buzan shomyo styles) which has been transmitted until the present day, is based on the Gyosan taigai-shu (also called Gyosan shisho or more simply Gyosan-shu, compiled by Joe in 1496, revised in 1514 and printed in 1646) which is written in the goin-bakase (five-note notation) developed by Kakui in the 1270s (see photograph 1). In addition to this notation, referred to as hon-bakase or basic notation, each school uses its own supplementary system which transliterates and facilitates the reading of the original notation, and which is variously called kari-bakase or tsukuri-bakase (makeshift or fabricated notation). The tuning of each piece in the repertoire is based on the practice of the Shomyo ryakuju-mon of Ryuzen (1258-?). According to this source, the Shichi bongo no san is a hennonkyoku in ryo-ichikotsucho (ryo mode on D) or ryo-sojo (ryo mode on G). Beginning on sho or the second degree (i. e. E) of ryo-ichikotsucho, the piece modulates twice at intermediate points to ritsu-banshikicho (ritsu mode on B), and ends on the second degree (E) of ryo-ichikotsucho.The scale of Shingon shomyo is based fundamentally on the goin (five-note) scale structure (note names in ascending order kyu, sho, kaku, chi, u), and the special characteristics of each note in the scale depend on the mode of the piece (i. e. whether it is ritsu or ryo). A characteristic melodic ornamental figure called yu (or yuri), for instance, occurs on the kyu scale degree in ryo, and the chi scale degree in both ritsu and ryo. Pieces in the ryo mode characteristically begin and end on the kyu or chi degrees of the scale, while ritsu pieces begin and end on the sho or u degrees of the scale. However, the Shichi bongo no san appears to be an exception to this rule, since notwithstanding the fact that the piece begins and ends in a ryo mode (ryo-ichikotsucho), its initial and final notes are both the sho degree of the scale. In addition, the ornamental figure yu (yuri) is also found on the same degree of the scale, thus contradicting the usual practices of pieces in ryo modes. This contradiction is not only characteristic of this single piece, but can be seen in other pieces in the hennonkyoku group.Dr. Kindaichi Haruhiko has in his article “Shingon shomyo” (“Buddhist ritual chant of the Shingon sect”, Bukkyo Ongaku, Toyo Ongaku Sensho Vol. VI, 1972) attempted to explain the reason for the occurrence of these unusual features of the pieces in the hennonkyoku group. According to Kindaichi, the shomyo of the Nanzan shinryu school