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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).
The Tale of the Heike ' s origin cannot be reduced to a single creator. Like most epics (the work is an epic chronicle in prose rather than verse), it is the result of the conglomeration of differing versions passed down through an oral tradition by biwa-playing bards known as biwa hōshi.
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.
The Biwa-bokuboku was modeled after the biwa (琵琶), a short-necked, wooden lute. Toriyama Sekien reports in his work Hyakki Tsurezure Bukuro (百器徒然袋) that the biwa was designed after Chinese instruments such as the bokuma and the genjō. [1] [2] [3] The Biwa-bokuboku belongs to a special group of yōkai: the Tsukumogami (Japanese ...
Several key mistakes could throw off the accuracy of blood pressure readings for people who take them at home. The average "normal" blood pressure is 120/80, according to the American Heart ...
Description 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, Satsuma-biwa
Akashi Kakuichi (明石 覚一, 1299 – 10 August 1371) also known as Akashi Kengyō (明石検校) was a Japanese Buddhist monk of the early Muromachi period of Japanese history, noted as the blind itinerant lute player (biwa hōshi) [1] who gave the epic Heike Monogatari its present form.