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The biwa (Japanese: 琵琶) is a Japanese short-necked wooden lute traditionally used in narrative storytelling. The biwa is a plucked string instrument that first gained popularity in China before spreading throughout East Asia, eventually reaching Japan sometime during the Nara period (710–794).
Biwa hōshi (琵琶法師), also known as "lute priests", were travelling performers in the era of Japanese history preceding the Meiji period. They earned their income by reciting vocal literature to the accompaniment of biwa music. Biwa hōshi were mostly blind, and adopted the shaved heads and robes common to Buddhist monks.
The biwa (琵琶 - Chinese: pipa), a form of short-necked lute, was played by a group of itinerant performers (biwa hōshi). The root of Biwa music was The Tale of the Heike. [7] Biwa hōshi organized into a guild-like association. The biwa is Japan's traditional instrument. [citation needed]
琵琶 is an East Asian string instrument. 琵琶 may refer to: Bipa, a Korean pear-shaped lute; Biwa, a Japanese short-necked fretted lute; Pipa, a Chinese plucked string instrument; Tỳ bà or đàn tỳ bà (檀琵琶), a Vietnamese traditional plucked string instrument
English: Types of Biwa, Japanese short-necked fretted lute, often used in narrative storytelling. Left to right: Gagaku-biwa, Chikuzen-biwa, Heike-biwa, Mōsō-biwa ...
Several related instruments are derived from the pipa, including the Japanese biwa and Korean bipa in East Asia, and the Vietnamese đàn tỳ bà in Southeast Asia. The Korean instrument is the only one of the three that is no longer widely used.
' Japanese dance ') refers to the classical Japanese performing art of dance. Nihon-buyō developed from earlier dance traditions such as mai and odori , and was further developed during the early Edo period (1603–1867), through the medium of kabuki dances, which often incorporated elements from the older dance genres.
Tsuruta specialized in the ancient pear-shaped plucked lute called the biwa, [1] and also sang. She developed her own form of the Satsuma biwa, [2] which is sometimes referred to as Tsuruta biwa. This biwa differs from the traditional Satsuma biwa in the number of frets, construction of the head, and occasionally a doubled 4th string.