Search results
Results from the WOW.Com Content Network
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.
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.
Traditional Japanese musical instruments, known as wagakki (和楽器) in Japanese, are musical instruments used in the traditional folk music of Japan. They comprise a range of string , wind , and percussion instruments.
Japanese folk songs (min'yō) can be grouped and classified in many ways but it is often convenient to think of five main categories: fisherman's work song, farmer's work song; lullaby; religious songs (such as sato kagura, a form of Shintoist music) songs used for gatherings such as weddings, funerals, and festivals (matsuri, especially Obon)
Hōichi-dō (Hōichi's shrine) in Akama Shrine. Hoichi the Earless (耳なし芳一, Mimi-nashi Hōichi) is the name of a well-known figure from Japanese folklore. His story is well known in Japan, and the best-known English translation first appeared in the book Kwaidan: Stories and Studies of Strange Things by Lafcadio Hearn.
Get AOL Mail for FREE! Manage your email like never before with travel, photo & document views. Personalize your inbox with themes & tabs. You've Got Mail!
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