*A THESIS SUBMITTED TO THE GRADUATE DIVISION OF THE
UNIVERSITY OF HAWAI‘I IN PARTIAL FULFILLMENT
OF THE REQUIREMENTS FOR THE DEGREE OF MASTER OF ARTS IN MUSIC
MAY
2001
From Fuke Shuu to Uduboo:
Zen and the Transnational Flow of the Shakuhachi Tradition to the West
(Excerpt)
2.3 The Meiji Period
In 1871, three years after the overthrowing of the
Tokugawa government and the beginning of the Meiji
Restoration, the government issued a decree (Daijoukan fukoku), which formally abolished the Fuke shakuhachi
sect of Zen Buddhism (Kurihara 1918:175-176 in Lee 1993:138). Since all of the Fuke temples were closed,
the former Fuke sect priests became laypersons and were, therefore, forbidden
to beg for alms and play the shakuhachi as a spiritual tool (Lee
1993:138). However, contrary to the
fear of the shakuhachi falling into complete disuse, the abolishment of the
Fuke sect did not result in the demise of the shakuhachi, but rather during the
Meiji period its popularity as a secular musical instrument increased. The growing importance of the use of the
shakuhachi in a secular context is evident with an 1895 quotation of Uehara
Kyodou (1849-1913). Uehara wrote, “there has of late been such an extraordinary
decline in the number of those learning this music that the tradition is only
just kept from extinction. In the long
run, given extraordinary difficulties presented by the music, interest in it
will only be maintained when it is adapted to the taste of the masses”
(Gutzwiller 1984:63). Although the
shakuhachi was being “adapted to the taste of the masses” during this era, the
use of it in a secular context was not new to the shakuhachi tradition. Even during the Edo era the shakuhachi, which
was legally only supposed to be used by the members of the Fuke sect, was also
played by non-members of the sect in a secular musical context. According to Lee:
The shakuhachi continued to be performed as a secular musical instrument
during the Edo era in contravention to the monopolistic tenets of the Fuke
sect, just as it had been used in non-religious contexts before the Edo period.
. . despite the claim by the Fuke sect that their members had the exclusive
right to play the shakuhachi, it was in fact played by non-members of the sect,
including commoners, whether in a spiritual context or a secular context. It must be remembered that before tacit
approval of the monopoly claimed by the Fuke sect was given by the government.
. .the shakuhachi had also been used in secular music contexts from the time of
its first introduction into Japan.
(Lee 1993:139-140)
Hence, one can see the growing importance of the shakuhachi repertoires
outside of the classical honkyoku
tradition (e.g., sankyoku gasso, the shakuhachi, koto, shamisen ensemble) during this period. Due to the growing importance of the secular shakuhachi during
the Meiji period, one can see the development of two streams of shakuhachi
playing. One stream, generally called
the Myouan style, which consisted of those individuals who solely concentrated
on the classical honkyoku handed down
from the Fuke sect in the spirit of suizen
meditation. The other stream of shakuhachi playing utilized the shakuhachi as a
musical instrument. The most notable of
these styles were the Kinko ryuu (Kinko style/school) of Kurosawa Kinko
I (1710-1771), developed during the Edo period, and the Tozan ryuu of Nakao Tozan (1876-1956),
developed during the Meiji period.
While most of the members of the Tokyo-based temples
of Ichigetsuji and Reihouji became part of the Kinko ryuu, those who wanted to maintain the spirit of suizen went to Myouanji temple in
Kyoto (Lee 1986:68). Although Myouanji was also eventually forced
to close its doors after the abolition of the Fuke sect, in 1881 the new
government, at the request of various Buddhist sects, once again allowed the komusou to beg for alms after ten years
of prohibition. In 1883, the Myouan Kyoukai (Myouan society) was
founded at Zennei’in with Lord “Kyuujo Michitaka” [sic], the individual
in charge of rebuilding Tofukuji Temple, as its chairman and “Katsuura Seizan”
[sic] as the head of the Kyoto Branch (according to the Shakuhachi
Kenkyuukai, the above-mentioned names are correctly translated as Kujou
Michitaka and Katsuura Shozan) (Kamisango/Blasdel 1988:125). The present day Myouanji grew out of the Myouan
Kyoukai. Although Myouanji is
associated with the Myouan style of shakuhachi playing, most shakuhachi players
presently look upon it as a spiritual homeland. In 1952, various sects collaborated in creating a group to honor
Kyochiku Zenji, the founder of the Fuke sect.
The Kyochiku Zenji Housan Kai meets twice a
year in the fall (November in Myouanji, Kyoto) and spring (June at another
location) and to this day shakuhachi players, regardless of their affiliation,
gather to participate in the ceremony, which may last a good part of the day
(Kamisango/Blasdel 1988:125). For
example, the November 7, 1999 ceremony lasted from 9:00AM until
4:00PM. Various styles of shakuhachi
playing were presented at this ceremony and either one could perform by oneself
or with a group if one chose to do so.
Riley Lee, in his article An
American Looks at the Shakuhachi of Japan, describes his experience of
performing at one of these ceremonies (Lee 1986:113-116). According to Lee, Tukitani lists nine
different lineages related to the Myouan
style: the Myouan Shinryo ha (school), Myouan Soetsu ha, Myouan Jimpou ha, Kyuushuu Myouan ha, Myouan Rogetsu ha, Myouan Taizan ha, Fuke Shakuhachi ha, Fuke Myouan ha, and the Itchoken Fukko ha.
Although the Myouan Taizan ryuu,
unlike the other ryuu-ha (schools/styles) listed above, still
functions today as an organization, one of the most influential of the lineages
is the Itchooken Fukkoo ha of Tanaka
Yuuhi, or otherwise known today as Watazumi Douso (Lee 1993:156-157). This is mainly due to the efforts of
Watazumi Douso’s student Yokoyama Katsuya, which will be discussed further in
Chapter Three.
After the abolition of the Fuke sect, the Meiji
government considered banning the shakuhachi even as secular musical
instrument. By convincing the Meiji
government that a banning of the secular shakuhachi was neither necessary nor
desirable, Yoshida Itcho and Araki Kodo of the Kinko ryuu were responsible for the revitalization of the shakuhachi as a
musical instrument during the Meiji period (Kurihara 1918:109-110 in Lee
1993:146). After the retirement of
Yoshida Itcho, Araki Kodo directed his efforts to notating shamisen pieces and adding shakuhachi parts. At first, he notated mainly pieces from the nagauta (music ensemble used in kabuki
theater) repertory, but later switched to the jiuta (important koto genre) style music. Besides developing the gaikyoku repertoire of the Kinko tradition, Araki also improved the
shakuhachi notation of the Kinko style.
Since there was no need to indicate precise rhythmic values in the
traditional honkyoku, the ensemble
music being incorporated in the Kinko repertoire required precision and clarity
regarding time and speed. Therefore,
with the aid of the musicologist Uehara Rokushiro, Araki developed a system of
notation consisting of vertical katakana
script (ro-tsu-re-chi-ri-ro) that indicates pitch and a system of dots and
lines that indicate the rhythm (Kamisango/Blasdel 1988:128).
As stated earlier, members of the Kinko lineage
transmit a set number of koten honkyoku (thirty-six), and particular
performance practices and techniques, which are believed to have been developed
by Kinko I (1710-1771). Furthermore,
the role of the gaikyoku repertoire
as developed and notated by Yoshida Itcho and Araki Kodo also plays an
important role in the training of the Kinko musician. There are at present five or six sub-lineages of the Kinko ryuu, called sha or kai. Each sha
or kai is completely separate
administratively and compete in varying degrees for new members. Among the sub-lineages of the Kinko ryuu today are those headed by Araki
Kodo V (b. 1940) head of the Kodo-kai
shakuhachi guild, Notomi Judoo II (b. 1929), Aoki Reibo (b. 1935) head of
the Reibo-kai shakuhachi guild,
Yamaguchi Goro (1933-1999) head of the Chikumeisha
shakuhachi guild, and Kawase Junske III (b. 1936) head of the Chikuyusha shakuhachi guild (Lee
1993:158-159).
With the formation of the Tozan ryuu in 1896, one could see the
beginnings of the modern shakuhachi ryuu-ha
system (schools or organization).
Although the Tozan ryuu has
the one of the largest memberships among all shakuhachi ryuu-ha, this style does not incorporate any classical honkyoku in its repertoire. The honkyoku
of the Tozan ryuu are mostly
compositions by the founder, Nakao Tozan (1876-1956), and other members of the
Tozan ryuu. Tozan not only composed solo works for shakuhachi, but his compositions
also included “duets, trios, quartets, and ensemble pieces with various other
instruments, for he vigorously introduced new innovations in all aspects of
shakuhachi playing” (Kamisango/Blasdel 1988:130). Nakao Tozan was knowledgeable about Western music, which,
therefore, influenced his compositions, teaching and performance methods. Although the Tozan ryuu notation is still based on the ro-tsu-re system, which is similar to the
Kinko ryuu system of notation, its
rhythmic indications are influenced by Western staff notation, for according to
Lee, “many of the changes in the shakuhachi which have taken place since the
Meiji Restoration are related to the technological differences between notation
systems specific to the shakuhachi and staff notation” (Lee 1988:72).
With the development of the Tozan ryuu during the late nineteenth century,
the seeds of the present-day tendency for established players to experiment
with original uses of the shakuhachi were sown. Since players of the Tozan ryuu
have always had a positive attitude toward new music and are active in the
field of contemporary music, it comes as no surprise that some of the early
influential figures—e.g., Yamamoto Hozan and John Kaizan Neptune—in the
development of new uses for the shakuhachi in such genres as Jazz and Pop are
members of the Tozan ryuu
(Kamisango/Blasdel 1988:131). Although
the interest in new compositions and experimentation with various ensembles is
common among members of the Tozan ryuu,
today this experimentation is growing among all ryuu-ha that utilize the
shakuhachi as a musical instrument. For
example, although Christopher Youmei Blasdel is an accomplished player of the
Kinko style and has studied with the world-renowned master, Yamaguchi Goro, the
majority of his recordings available are of modern compositions.
2.4 Taisho-Shouwa-Heisei
Due to the steady rate of change and flow of the shakuhachi tradition overlapping between these historic periods, this section will focus on the movements themselves and, therefore, will not be divided according to historic period. It is my opinion that due to the these sweeping and varied changes within the tradition in Japan and its transnational flow to the West, it does not fit into the boundaries of these prescribed periods, which will be evident to the reader at the end of this section. The following are the dates of these Japanese eras: Taisho (1912-1926); Shouwa (1926-1989); Heisei (1989-present).
2.4.1 The Formation of New ryuu-ha
During the Edo period, the task of teaching the
shakuhachi was initially done in the temples of the Fuke sect themselves, but
as the sect’s restrictions regarding the teaching of townspeople were lessened,
outside teaching locations were established.
These locations, entitled fukiawase,
steadily increased so that by 1792 at least nineteen individuals were listed as
in living in houses in Edo and teaching shakuhachi (Lee 1993:144). According to a directive reproduced in
Nakatsuka , the “fukiawase is an
extension of the temple. Therefore,
pieces other than those transmitted by the temple are not to be taught there”
(Nakatsuka 1979:211-212 in Lee 1993:144-145).
Kinko I, as one such teacher of the fukiawase
for both of the main temples, Ichigetsuji and Reihouji, developed a following,
which provided him and his successors a suitable foundation from which to
continue transmitting their style of shakuhachi playing after the abolition of
the Fuke sect in 1871. According to
Nishiyama:
A document
entitled Chouka juukyo shakuhachi shinan-sha seimei narabi ni fukiawase-sho
mei (Names of Teaching Studios and Shakuhachi Teachers Living in Townsman
Quarters), submitted by both the Reihouji and Ichigetsuji temples to the Edo
town magistrate in 1768, shows that Kinko was operating five teaching studios
in the city. Kinko commanded a large
following, but he was only one of many respected shakuhachi teachers active at
the time. In 1785, at the studio attached
to Kyoto Myouanji, nineteen teachers—Kokyou, Ryouun, Kofuu, Kichou, Rozan, and
others—were giving lessons.
(Nishiyama 1997:206).
During this time the Kinko lineage was not an
independent school of shakuhachi playing but rather was a style of shakuhachi
playing with a set repertoire that was collected by Kinko I and transmitted
through the Kinko lineage (Lee 1993:145-146). Therefore, with the transmission of the Kinko style, one could
begin to see the development of organizations/institutions that transmitted a
certain style of shakuhachi playing (i.e., ryuu-ha). This phenomenon was mainly centered in
Kyoto and Edo, one exception being the Kimpu
ryuu of Hirosaki (northern Japan).
Although these organizations were being developed during this time, they
were not solidified to the degree of what is called the iemoto (head of the family or school) system that was evident with
the formation of the Tozan ryuu
during the Meiji period and the formation of the Ueda ryuu and Chikuho ryuu
during the early Taisho period (Tukitani et al 1994:121).
With the formation of the Tozan ryuu by Nakao Tozan in 1896, the establishment of the shakuhachi ryuu-ha system was evident. This phenomenon was also evident during the
early Taisho era with mainly the Ueda
ryuu founded by Ueda Houdou in 1917, and the Chikuho ryuu founded by Sakai Chikuho also in 1917. The founders of each ryuu devised their own arrangement of the shakuhachi part of gaikyoku, as well as composed new honkyoku for the shakuhachi. These newly composed honkyoku were called Tozan
ryuu honkyoku in the case of honkyoku
of the Tozan ryuu, Ueda ryuu honkyoku in the case of the Ueda ryuu, etc. Besides these solo compositions of the ryuu-ha, numerous multi-part pieces for two or more shakuhachi were
also composed (Tukitani et al 1994:116).
However, unlike the Tozan ryuu,
the Ueda ryuu and Chikuho ryuu incorporated classical honkyoku in their repertoire. For example, the Ueda ryuu initially
incorporated such pieces as soukaku
reibo, yachio sugomori, sanya no kyoku, shika no tone into its repertoire
due to Ueda Houdou’s studies with Jin Nyodou (Kamisango/Tukitani 1989:80). However, according to the members of the Shakuhachi Kenkyuukai these classical honkyoku
are rarely played today by members of the Ueda ryuu. Furthermore, the Chikuho ryuu incorporated a multitude of classical honkyoku into
its repertoire, such as yamato choushi,
tehodoki reibo, banji, ajikan, sanya
no kyoku, etc.
The Ueda ryuu
was formed in 1917 as an independent branch from the Tozan ryuu. The founder of the
Ueda ryuu, Ueda Houdou, a native of Osaka,
was a top pupil in the Tozan ryuu
where at the age of seventeen he received the special name Kaizan from the
organization and by the age of nineteen received the special honor of being
approved as a top-ranking official within the organization. However, due to the fact that a shakuhachi honkyoku of his own composition was
performed without the organization’s authorization, in 1917 he was expelled
from the Tozan ryuu. Upon his expulsion from the Tozan ryuu he gave back the name Kaizan to
the Tozan ryuu organization and
founded his own organization entitled the Tozan ryuu Ueda ha. However, in 1921 he changed the name of the
organization to the Ueda ryuu. At first Ueda was keen on the idea of trying
to adopt five-line staff notation, but in the end he used a notation roughly
the same as that of the Tozan ryuu (Kamisango/Tukitani
1989:502).
Copyright ©2001 by Steven Casano
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Last modified: March 15, 2003