Tankō Bushi

Tankō Bushi (炭坑節) is a Japanese folk song. Despite the term "fushi/bushi" found in its name, the rhythm is in swung, ondo style. It is a song about coal mining, and it refers to old Miike Mine in Kyūshū (Tagawa City). It is a common song used in Bon dances during the Bon Festival, and the dance that accompanies it depicts actions in mines such as shoveling coal, throwing a bag of coal over the shoulders, wiping sweat from the brow or pushing a cart of coal.

The Tankō Bushi originated at Miike Mine, Kyushu, Japan.

Excerpt from Tankō Bushi

Modern arrangements of Tankō Bushi replace the lyric "Miike Tankō" with "uchi no oyama," which in traditional mining dialect means "our coal mine" or "our coal pit," as Miike Mine is no longer in service, and the song is played at Bon dances outside of Kyūshū.

History

The song was recorded in Japan in 1932.[1] It was originally recorded on 78 RPM as Victor V-41543.

A popular version [2] is the 1963 commercial recording featuring Suzuki Masao and Kikumaru, recorded on Victor of Japan, MV-1 (JES-1041).[3] The CD version is Victor of Japan MVK-1.[4]

The version of Tanko Bushi most commonly heard in Bon Dances in Hawaii during the second half of the 1900's was the 1950 recording of Suzuki Masao with Japanese musicians. It was recorded in 1950 in Japan by Yoshio Nakayama and released by The Folk Dancer Record Service as a 78 RPM MH 2010a.[5] [6] This recording features five verses, with Suzuki Masao singing verses 1, 3 and 5 and a female singer on verses 2, 4 and 5.

Video

References
  1. "'Tanko-bushi' inspiration honored". 3 November 2008.
  2. The Japanese Bon Dance in Hawaii, Judy Van Zile, Press Pacifica, 1982, p. 52
  3. https://music.metason.net/artistinfo?name=Masao%20Suzuki%20、%20Kikumaru&title=常磐炭坑節%EF%BC%8F炭坑節
  4. Victor of Japan MVK-1
  5. The Folk Dancer Record Service MH 2010a record label
  6. "The Society of Folk Dance Historians (SFDH) - the Folk Dancer Record Service".
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