Biwa

The biwa arrived in Japan in the 7th century, having evolved from the Chinese bent-neck pipa (曲項琵琶; quxiang pipa),[1] while the pipa itself was derived from similar instruments in West Asia. This type of biwa, known as the gaku-biwa, was later used in gagaku ensembles and became the most commonly known type. However, another variant of the biwa – known as the mōsō-biwa or the kōjin-biwa – also found its way to Japan, first appearing in the Kyushu region. Though its origins are unclear, this thinner variant of the biwa was used in ceremonies and religious rites.

The biwa became known as an instrument commonly played at the Japanese Imperial court, where biwa players, known as biwa hōshi, found employment and patronage. However, following the collapse of the Ritsuryō state, biwa hōshi employed at the court were faced with the court's reconstruction and sought asylum in Buddhist temples. There, they assumed the role of Buddhist monks and encountered the mōsō-biwa. Seeing its relative convenience and portability, the monks combined these features with their large and heavy gaku-biwa to create the heike-biwa, which, as indicated by its namesake, was used primarily for recitations of The Tale of the Heike.

Through the next several centuries, players of both traditions intersected frequently and developed new music styles and new instruments. By the Kamakura period (1185–1333), the heike-biwa had emerged as a more popular instrument, a cross between both the gaku-biwa and mōsō-biwa, retaining the rounded shape of the gaku-biwa and played with a large plectrum like the mōsō-biwa. The heike-biwa, smaller than the mōsō-biwa, was used for similar purposes.

While the modern satsuma-biwa and chikuzen-biwa both originated from the mōsō-biwa, the satsuma-biwa was used for moral and mental training by samurai of the Satsuma Domain during the Warring States period, and later for general performances. The chikuzen-biwa was used by Buddhist monks visiting private residences to perform memorial services, not only for Buddhist rites, but also to accompany the telling of stories and news.

Though formerly popular, little was written about the performance and practice of the biwa from roughly the 16th century to the mid-19th century. What is known is that three main streams of biwa practice emerged during this time: zato (the lowest level of the state-controlled guild of blind biwa players), shifu (samurai style), and chofu (urban style). These styles emphasized biwa-uta (琵琶歌) – vocalisation with biwa accompaniment – and formed the foundation for edo-uta (江戸歌) styles of playing, such as shinnai and kota.[2]

From these styles also emerged the two principal survivors of the biwa tradition: satsuma-biwa and chikuzen-biwa.[3] From roughly the Meiji period (1868–1912) until the Pacific War, the satsuma-biwa and chikuzen-biwa were popular across Japan, and, at the beginning of the Shōwa period (1925–1989), the nishiki-biwa was created and gained popularity. Of the remaining post-war biwa traditions, only higo-biwa remains a style almost solely performed by blind persons. The higo-biwa is closely related to the heike-biwa and, similarly, relies on an oral narrative tradition focusing on wars and legends.

By the middle of the Meiji period, improvements had been made to the instruments and easily understandable songs were composed in quantity. In the beginning of the Taishō period (1912–1926), the satsuma-biwa was modified into the nishiki-biwa, which became popular among female players at the time. With this, the biwa entered a period of popularity, with songs reflecting not just The Tale of the Heike, but also the Sino-Japanese War and the Russo-Japanese War, with songs such as Takeo Hirose, Hitachimaru and 203 Hill gaining popularity.

However, the playing of the biwa nearly became extinct during the Meiji period following the introduction of Western music and instruments, until players such as Tsuruta Kinshi and others revitalized the genre with modern playing styles and collaborations with Western composers.

There are more than seven types of biwa, characterised by number of strings, sounds it could produce, the type of plectrum, and their use. As the biwa does not play in tempered tuning, pitches are approximated to the nearest note.

Gagaku-biwa

Gakubiwa

The gagaku biwa (雅楽琵琶), a large and heavy biwa with four strings and four frets, is used exclusively for gagaku. It produces distinctive ichikotsuchō (壱越調) and hyōjō (平調). Its plectrum is small and thin, often rounded, and made from a hard material such as boxwood or ivory. It is not used to accompany singing. Like the heike-biwa, it is played held on its side, similar to a guitar, with the player sitting cross-legged. In gagaku, it is known as the gaku-biwa (楽琵琶).

Chikuzen-biwa

Plectra for the chikuzen-biwa (left) and satsuma-biwa

The Chikuzen-biwa (筑前琵琶), a biwa with four strings and four frets or five strings and five frets, was popularised in the Meiji period by Tachibana Satosada. Most contemporary performers use the five string version. Its plectrum is much smaller than that of the satsuma-biwa, usually about 13 cm (5.1 in) in width, although its size, shape, and weight depends on the sex of the player. The plectrum is usually made from rosewood with boxwood or ivory tips for plucking the strings. The instrument itself also varies in size, depending on the player. Male players typically play biwa that are slightly wider and/or longer than those used by women or children. The body of the instrument is never struck with the plectrum during play, and the five string instrument is played upright, while the four string is played held on its side. The instrument is tuned to match the key of the singer. An example tuning of the four string version is B, e, f♯ and b, and the five string instrument can be tuned to C, G, C, d and g. For the five string version, the first and third strings are tuned the same note, the second string three steps down, the fifth string an octave higher than the second string, and the fourth string a step down from the fifth. So the previously mentioned tuning can be tuned down to B♭, F, B♭, c, d. Asahikai and Tachibanakai are the two major schools of chikuzen-biwa. Popularly used by female biwa players such as Uehara Mari.

The biwa, considered one of Japan's principal traditional instruments, has both influenced and been influenced by other traditional instruments and compositions throughout its long history; as such, a number of different musical styles played with the biwa exist.

• Hōgaku (邦楽, Japanese traditional music): In hōgaku, musical instruments usually serve as accompaniments to vocal performances, which dominate the musical style, with the overwhelming majority of hōgaku compositions being vocal.[5]
• Gagaku (雅楽, Japanese court music): Gagaku was usually patronized by the imperial court or the shrines and temples. Gagaku ensembles were composed of string, wind, and percussion instruments, where string and wind instruments were more respected and percussion instruments were considered lesser instruments. Among the string instruments, the biwa seems to have been the most important instrument in orchestral gagaku performances.[6]
• Shōmyō (声明, Buddhist chanting): While biwa was not used in shōmyō, the style of biwa singing is closely tied to shōmyō, especially mōsō- and heike-style biwa singing.[7] Both shōmyō and mōsō-biwa are rooted in Buddhist rituals and traditions. Before arriving in Japan, shōmyō was used in Indian Buddhism. The mōsō-biwa was also rooted in Indian Buddhism, and the heike-biwa, as a predecessor to the mōsō-biwa, was the principal instrument of the biwa hōshi, who were blind Buddhist priests.

Biwa usage in Japan has declined greatly since the Heian period. Outside influence, internal pressures, and socio-political turmoil redefined biwa patronage and the image of the biwa; for example, the Ōnin War of the Muromachi period (1338–1573) and the subsequent Warring States period (15th–17th centuries) disrupted the cycle of tutelage for heikyoku[lower-alpha 1] performers. As a result, younger musicians turned to other instruments and interest in biwa music decreased. Even the biwa hōshi transitioned to other instruments such as the shamisen (a three-stringed lute).[15]

Interest in the biwa was revived during the Edo period (1600–1868), when Tokugawa Ieyasu unified Japan and established the Tokugawa shogunate. Ieyasu favored biwa music and became a major patron, helping to strengthen biwa guilds (called Todo) by financing them and allowing them special privileges. Shamisen players and other musicians found it financially beneficial to switch to the biwa, bringing new styles of biwa music with them. The Edo period proved to be one of the most prolific and artistically creative periods for the biwa in its long history in Japan.

In 1868, the Tokugawa shogunate collapsed, giving way to the Meiji period and the Meiji Restoration, during which the samurai class was abolished, and the Todo lost their patronage. Biwa players no longer enjoyed special privileges and were forced to support themselves. At the beginning of the Meiji period, it was estimated that there were at least one hundred traditional court musicians in Tokyo; however, by the 1930s, this number had reduced to just 46 in Tokyo, and a quarter of these musicians later died in World War II. Life in post-war Japan was difficult, and many musicians abandoned their music in favor of more sustainable livelihoods.[16]

While many styles of biwa flourished in the early 1900s (such as kindai-biwa between 1900 and the 1930s), the cycle of tutelage was broken yet again by the war. In the present day, there are no direct means of studying the biwa in many biwa traditions.[17] Even higo-biwa players, who were quite popular in the early 20th century, may no longer have a direct means of studying oral composition, as the bearers of the tradition have either died or are no longer able to play. Kindai-biwa still retains a significant number of professional and amateur practitioners, but the zato, heike, and moso-biwa styles have all but died out.[18]

As biwa music declined in post-Pacific War Japan, many Japanese composers and musicians found ways to revitalize interest in it. They recognized that studies in music theory and music composition in Japan almost entirely consisted in Western theory and instruction. Beginning in the late 1960s, these musicians and composers began to incorporate Japanese music and Japanese instruments into their compositions; for example, one composer, Tōru Takemitsu, collaborated with Western composers and compositions to include the distinctly Asian biwa. His well-received compositions, such as November Steps, which incorporated biwa heikyoku with Western orchestral performance, revitalized interest in the biwa and sparked a series of collaborative efforts by other musician in genres ranging from J-Pop and enka to shin-hougaku and gendaigaku.[19]

Other musicians, such as Yamashika Yoshiyuki, considered by most ethnomusicologists to be the last of the biwa hōshi, preserved scores of songs that were almost lost forever. Yamashika, born in the late Meiji period, continued the biwa hōshi tradition until his death in 1996. Beginning in the late 1960s to the late 1980s, composers and historians from all over the world visited Yamashika and recorded many of his songs; before this time, the biwa hōshi tradition had been a completely oral tradition. When Yamashika died in 1996, the era of the biwa hōshi tutelage died with him, but the music and genius of that era continues thanks to his recordings.[20]

• Silenziosa Luna – 沈黙の月 / ALM Records ALCD-76 (2008).

• History and evolution of the lute
• Lake Biwa
• Pipa
• Bipa

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Biwa.

• Introduction to the Hei-kyoku
• Picture of Biwa school about 1900