Ca’ Foscari Japanese Studies

Series | Ca’ Foscari Japanese Studies
Edited book | Rethinking Nature in Post-Fukushima Japan
Chapter | The Music Culture after the Great Kantō Earthquake (1923)

The Music Culture after the Great Kantō Earthquake (1923)

Abstract

This essay intends to overview the destruction and reconstruction of music life, discussing the topical songs and musicals, the special concerts, the widely-acclaimed notion of Heavenly Punishment (tenken 天譴), and the official ceremony of reconstruction organised by the Tokyo City and the State in 1930. The paper will be concerned with questions such as how the street singers reacted to the metropolitan misfortune, what kind of concerts were offered and what kind of music was played, how the people interpreted natural and human-made disaster and sang it, how the reconstruction was musically celebrated and what kind of political message was implied.


Open access | Peer reviewed

Submitted: May 29, 2017 | Accepted: July 10, 2017 | Published Nov. 7, 2018 | Language: en

Keywords Japanese MusicEnkaStreet singersTokyoGreat Kantō Earthquake (1923)


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