Wind Bands and Cultural Identity in Japanese Schools

293 Pages·2012·4.106 MB·English

by  David G. Hebert (auth.)

Wind Bands and Cultural Identity in Japanese Schools
Landscapes: the Arts, Aesthetics, and Education
VOLUME9
SERIESEDITOR
LioraBresler,UniversityofIllinoisatUrbana-Champaign,U.S.A.
EDITORIALBOARD
EevaAntilla,TheatreAcademy,Helsinki,Finland
MagneEspeland,StordUniversity,Norway
SamuelLeong,HongKongInstituteofEducation,HongKong
MinetteMans,InternationalConsultant,Windhoek,Namibia
GaryMcPherson,UniversityofIllinoisatUrbana-Champaign,U.S.A.
JonothanNeelands,UniversityofWarwick,UK
MikeParsons,TheOhioStateUniversity,U.S.A.
ShifraSchonmann,UniversityofHaifa,Israel
JulianSefton-Green,UniversityofNottingham,UK
SusanW.Stinson,UniversityofNorthCarolinaatGreensboro,U.S.A.
ChristineThompson,PennsylvaniaStateUniversity,U.S.A.
SCOPE
Thisseriesaimstoprovideconceptualandempiricalresearchinartseducation,(including
music,visualarts,drama,dance,media,andpoetry),inavarietyofareasrelatedtothe
post-modernparadigmshift.Thechangingcultural,historical,andpoliticalcontextsof
artseducationarerecognizedtobecentraltolearning,experience,andknowledge.The
booksinthisseriespresenttheoriesandmethodologicalapproachesusedinartseducation
researchaswellasrelateddisciplines-includingphilosophy,sociology,anthropologyand
psychologyofartseducation.
Forfurthervolumes:
http://www.springer.com/series/6199
David G. Hebert
Wind Bands and Cultural
Identity in Japanese Schools
1 3
DavidG.Hebert,Ph.D.
GriegAcademy,FacultyofEducation
BergenUniversityCollege
P.O.Box7030
Nyga˚rdsgaten112
N-5020Bergen,Norway
[email protected]
ISBN978-94-007-2177-7 e-ISBN978-94-007-2178-4
DOI10.1007/978-94-007-2178-4
SpringerDordrechtHeidelbergLondonNewYork
LibraryofCongressControlNumber:2011937238
#SpringerScience+BusinessMediaB.V.2012
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Foreword
ThatthisbookshouldbethefirstbyaWesternscholarontheinstitutionofthe
school wind band in Japan is quite remarkable – legendary for excellence,
supported at the world’s center of instrument manufacture, and fostered by
the largest music competition of any kind in the world as it is. The sources
explored, the issues raised, the information gathered and the perspectives
brought to bear range widely and are presented in well-organized, easily
readable fashion. This is a major contribution to studies of international
musiceducationandofmusicinJapan.
Introduced for the purpose of strengthening the Japanese nation, Western
musichasbeena partofthe schoolcurriculum since the foundation ofa new
educational system in the Meiji era (1868–1912), with singing the primary
medium forinstruction.PartI(particularly, Chapter 2)ofthisbook provides
a thorough tracking of the introduction of Western music to Japan with, of
course, particular focus on wind bands – their introduction through military
functions, the early emergence of community organizations and associations
withpopularmusic,influentialinstructorsandotherindividuals,thedevelop-
mentoftheeducationalsystemandmotivationsforbringingwindbandsinto
theschools.
While wind music has been closely associated with Japanese school music
programs, bands are not a program of formal academic instruction. Rather,
they (like orchestras and choruses) are an extracurricular club activity at all
levelsofJapaneseeducation,endorsedbytheMinistryofEducationaspartof
‘‘moraleducation,’’forthepurposeofcharacterdevelopment.Withoutformal
training as band directors, school music teachers of academic courses are
responsible for the clubs beyond their full-time instructional duties. Students,
whoarehighlypressuredtosucceedacademically,neverthelessspendover20h/
weekandinexcessof600h/yearinschoolbandrehearsals.Thisbookdemon-
stratesthatthesystemofschoolbandsinJapan,whilehighlysuccessfulinterms
ofWesternperformancestandards,isbaseduponquitedifferentassumptions,
values, objectives and practices than are commonly seen in European and
Americanschoolmusicensembles.
v
vi Foreword
David Hebert writes as an experienced band musician and director, music
educator in the United States and Japan, professor of music education in
ScandinaviaandtheUnitedStates,andalsoasanethnomusicologist.Hisskills
ofethnographicobservationareacute,andhisuseofdocumentationthorough
and critical. From the moment of setting the scene in Chapter 3 – the urban
setting,theneighborhoodinwhichHebert’sprimarysiteofresearchislocated,
the middle school itself and finally the band room, Hebert creates a sense of
place that is at first particular, but from there we are taken in the book to
Japanese culture ‘‘in general’’. Filling the band room with students and the
director for a rehearsal in Chapter 4, Hebert guides us gradually through the
book to an understanding of ranks and roles, gender and class, and issues of
identities (Chapters 15 and 16) in a system of cooperative learning and peer
tutoring that developed in the particular context of Japanese history and
modernity. InChapter5theroles oftheband director arecompared tothose
ofanAmericansportscoachandateacherintheiemotosystemoftraditional
Japanesemusic.Thisisasystemthat,unliketheSuzukimethodthatisknown
so well known internationally, functions well with little parental involvement
(Chapters10and11).
As we learn through the book, school wind bands in Japan are a form of
community-based music. Lacking the structure of a set curriculum, they are
undergirdedbyanetworkofcommunityinstitutionsthathavevestedinterests
inthesurvivalofthepractice.Researchintothoseinstitutions—theirhistories,
motivationsandinvolvementwiththebands–permittedHeberttounderstand
their individual contributions and the network among them (Chapters 12
and 13). Among the institutions (to which Hebert devotes more attention
thanusualinsuchastudy)areinstrumentmanufacturers–Yamaha,Roland,
Korg–thatarecommittedtocommunitymusiceducation.Professionalwind
bands including the Tokyo Kosei Wind Orchestra that Frederick Fennell
directed for ten years and also multiple band associations have roles to play
inthenetwork.ParticularattentionispaidtotheAll-JapanBandAssociation
that mounts thefabulouscompetition (in recentyears, roughly 700,000 musi-
ciansinover14,000bandstypicallyperforminginthethreetiersofthisannual
nationalcontest),drivescomposingofnewrepertoire,andprovidestheprimary
goalfortheschoolbandsofoutstandingmusicalachievement.Composersare
thefocusofChapter9.
ThelivelyissueofcompetitionsHebertaddressesinthreechapters.Notable
inChapter6isthefirstdetailedEnglish-languagedescriptionofthefinalstage
(nationallevel)oftheAll-JapanBandAssociationcompetitionthatisannually
attendedbyanumberofWesternbanddirectors.InChapter8theAJBAgoals
for the competition are revealed, the Japanese system is compared with the
Texascompetitiononwhichitwasmodeled,andHebertprovidesanoverview
ofresearchoncompetitioninmusic,includingEurovisionandAmericanIdol.
ThestudentperspectivesonthecompetitionarethefocusofChapter7,andwe
seeHebertasasympatheticethnographer.
Foreword vii
Addressingmusiceducatorsespecially,DavidHebertofferstwotheoretical
possibilities that he amply demonstrates were effective for his analysis of the
schoolwindbandsofJapan.InChapter14hepursuestheroleofmetaphorto
engenderkeyinsightsintothesignificanceofmusicalpracticesinthecontextof
education and culture. While that has been a key analytic in the fields of
linguistics and ethnomusicology, it is a recent interest in music education
philosophy(particularlyintheworkofMarieMcCarthyandPatriciaShehan
Campbell).InChapter 17Hebertproposesfromhisobservationofsuccessful
Japanesewindbandsatheoreticalmodelthatillustratestheensembleleader’s
role in guiding musicians toward the acquisition of further musical skills and
understandings.WithinthisEnsembleEthosModel,themusicteachingprocess
is reconfigured beyond mere transmission of instructional content, toward a
perspectivethataccountsforcollectivelearningandsocialinteraction:howan
effectivemusicteacherwillnurtureacultureofmusicalachievement.
This excellent book has the potential of bringing music education and
ethnomusicology (and other fields) closer and of bringing Japanese culture
moreintofocusasacontributingpartnerinthecosmopolitansharedspaceof
Western/Japanesemusic.Thereismuchtolearnfromit.
Berkeley,California BonnieC.Wade
Author Biography
DavidG.Hebert,PhDisaProfessorofMusicwiththeGriegAcademy,Bergen
University College, Norway. He previously held academic positions with
universities in the USA, Japan, Finland, Russia, and New Zealand, and has
directed(orcurrentlydirects)musicresearchprojectsonsixcontinents.Widely
published and cited as a scholar of global music education, he is chair of the
Historical Ethnomusicology special interest group of the Society for
Ethnomusicology.
ix
Contents
PartI ASocialHistoryofWindBandsinJapaneseSchools
1 TheWorld’sFinestSchoolBandsandLargestMusicCompetition .. 3
1.1 Overview.......................................... 5
1.2 WritingStyleandResearchBackground................. 6
Notes.................................................. 8
References.............................................. 9
2 WhereareTheseBandsFrom?–AnHistoricalOverview ......... 11
2.1 MethodologicalApproach............................ 12
2.2 ChapterOverview................................... 13
2.3 MythicalOrigins.................................... 15
2.3.1 WindInstrumentsinJapaneseTradition ........... 15
2.3.2 PsalmanazarandOtherEarlyEuropean
Accounts .................................... 15
2.4 FromZipanguthroughDejima ........................ 17
2.4.1 JesuitMusicInstructioninSixteenthCenturyJapan.. 17
2.4.2 DejimaandRangaku........................... 19
2.4.3 MusicTransmissionviatheNagasakiKaigun
Denshujo.................................... 21
2.4.4 Metallurgy,EarlyTrumpetInstruction,andGuttig’s
Dream ...................................... 22
2.4.5 Yamagunitai:Japan’sOldestWesternizedBand...... 23
2.5 MusicWesternizationintheMeijiRestoration............ 25
2.5.1 Fenton’sLegacy............................... 26
2.5.2 OriginsofKimigayo ........................... 28
2.5.3 IwakuraMissionandRokumeikan................ 29
2.5.4 EarlySchooling,andtheMason-IsawaSaga ........ 30
2.6 EmergenceofCommunityBandsandSchoolBands........ 34
2.6.1 Jinta:InformalMarchingBand................... 34
2.6.2 ShonenOngakutai:CommunityYouthBand........ 35
2.6.3 EarlySchoolBands............................ 36
2.6.4 AJBANationalCompetition..................... 38
xi