Tsugaru-jamisen

Tsugaru-jamisen
Stylistic origins	Min'yō
Cultural origins	Early 19th - late 20th century Tsugaru, Japan
Typical instruments	shamisen
Local scenes
Tsugaru, Kanagi, Hirosaki

Tsugaru-jamisen (kanji: 津軽三味線, hiragana: つがるじゃみせん) or Tsugaru-shamisen (hiragana: つがるしゃみせん) refers to both the Japanese genre of shamisen music originating from Tsugaru Peninsula in present-day Aomori prefecture and the instrument it is performed with. It is performed throughout Japan, though associations with the Tsugaru remain strong. Tsugaru-jamisen is considered the most recognized genre of shamisen music, and has enjoyed multiple periods of popularity in Japan.

While it is clear that the instrument originated from China through Okinawa in the 16th century CE, the specific developers of tsugaru-jamisen are not known with certainty, largely because written records of its development were not kept nor was it ever formally recognized by the Japanese government. What is known is that tsugaru-jamisen originated from a small peninsula due west of present-day Aomori Prefecture called Tsugaru. In addition, some researchers have conjectured on the style's origins based on available evidence. There is some consensus that the style was developed by homeless and blind individuals called bosama.

One scholar, Daijō Kazuo, proposed that the genre originated from a bosama named Nitabō on the basis of interviews of musicians and their families. According to his research, Nitabō acquired and modified a shamisen in 1877 for which he adopted a different playing style. Nitabō rounded off the plectrum of the instrument such that it was shaped like a rice paddle. In addition, he adopted a playing style with the shamisen held upright, included the area around the bridge as the playing area, and incorporated beating and slapping the strings in contrast to exclusive use of the plectrum. However, other scholars, such as Gerald Groemer, argue that due to a lack of documentation, the account advanced by Kazuo may not be entirely accurate.

Nitabō had multiple blind students, such as Kinobo and Chōsakubo, who contributed to the development of the style. Nitabō's last student, Shirakawa Gunpachirō, performed outside of the Tsugaru region as a part of a folk performance troupe. Gunpachirō also performed in professional settings, such as in concert halls in Tokyo. As a result of his successes, tsugaru-jamisen became popular in the 1920s, but its popularity waned with the onset of the Second Sino-Japanese War later in the decade.

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Wikipedia