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What is Folklore?
What is Folklore?
The definition of folklore is fairly broad, however it can be summed up as any knowledge informally past down between generations within a particular community. This includes customs, rituals, stories and material items.
What is Minyo?
What is Minyo?
Minyo is a blanket term for the traditional folk songs of Japan, coming from the regular working class folk as opposed to the music reserved for upper class individuals. These songs were centered around the hardships of life, manual labor, love stories and honoring ones ancestors. In its multiplicity, Minyo includes many different folkgroups within the genre, all of which share the custom of passing down song and dance through oral means, and for the sake of the folkgroup. Some of these groups that practice Minyo include:
Fishermen
Bath house workers
Geishas
Farmers
Blind travelers
The Connection lays in the Performance...
The Connection lays in the Performance...
What ties these traditions together and solidifies it as such a crucial aspect of Japanese folklore is that these songs originally established by specific groups have since been recontextualized into performances that anyone can take part of. At obon and other festivals throughout the year many Minyo are performed and it is almost required as an auddience member to take part in the festivities, almost similair to Carnival in the Carribean where the lines between perfomer and audience are completely dissovled and everybody participates. Minyo acts at the cultural glue in these situations, giving everyone a familiar melody or dance to grab onto and celebrate with. As such it is a crucial tool to utilize as an outsider when seeking to understand the rich cultural history of Japan and its people.
Here is in image of the Naha Great Tug of War festival in Okinawa where audience and performers merge together in a great game of tug of war to the sound of group chanting and percussion.
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