Ainu music

Ainu music is the musical tradition of the Ainu people of northern Japan.

The oral Ainuculture includes various genres, of which upopo, lighthearted ballads on daily affairs and rituals often accompanied by traditional Ainu instruments, and yukar (mimicry), a form of rhythmic epic poetry often supported by light percussion, are most prominently covered in writings on this oral Ainu culture.

The contents of these ballads were an important source of understanding daily life as well as various traditions and habits of the Ainu people, and today these remain an important part in protecting the Ainu cultural identity, as seen in efforts by performers such as Oki, the most famous contemporary performer of Ainu music.

The most useful English-language overview of Ainu music (with recordings and transcriptions) is by CHIBA Nobuhiko.

Ainu music carries spiritual resonance in almost all of its forms, and it has played an important role in both the cultural history and the cultural renaissance of the Ainu people. Almost every type of Ainu song is sacred, and even the musical instruments are said to be imbued with souls. Traditional Ainu music can be divided into two major groups — everyday songs and epic songs. Everyday songs in Ainu tradition were sung in many situations and on an impromptu basis. They were often accompanied by the two most prevalent Ainu musical instruments: the tonkori, a plucked zither, and the mukkuri, a jaw harp played by women.

These everyday songs are short, fairly simple, and center on an activity like a game or work. The act of singing is itself used as a game in some instances, such as Rekuhkara (Ainu throat-singing) competitions between women. Work songs are rhythmic, with lyrics and melodies based on the work with which they are sung. However, even such everyday songs have sacred rather than mundane meanings. "Chants like the kar upopo (sake-making song) and the iyuta upopo (the pounding song)…are not labor songs; rather, they are magic-oriented, for they are sung to ward off evil spirits". Short, everyday songs are also a way of praying. These prayer songs are (or were) performed regularly before meals, after a fishing trip, to ask for luck in hunting, and in many other contexts. Unfortunately, material about everyday songs is very difficult to obtain. Many have never been recorded.

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