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Other types of music

Western Classical Music

    In addition to Japanese traditional music and folk songs, the entire range of Western classical music is practiced and performed in Japan. An increasing number of Japanese performers are receiving top honors at renowned international competitions, such as the Chopin International Competition for Pianists and the Queen Elizabeth of Belgium prize for violinists and pianists. Likewise, a growing number of Japanese performers have built a reputation for themselves abroad. In the world of opera, sopranos Hayashi Yasuko and Nakamaru Michie, both of whom are based in Milan, are active on the international stage. Pianist Uchida Mitsuko is a regular on the European concert circuit. Iwaki Hiroyuki, the senior conductor of the NHK Symphony Orchestra, Japan's oldest orchestra, is the chief conductor of the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra, and Ozawa Seiji, the chief conductor of the New Japan Philharmonic Orchestra, is also a music director at the Boston Symphony Orchestra.

Western classical music is now very popular among the Japanese.

The popular music scene in Japan covers a wide range of genres, including rock and jazz.

    There are nine full-time orchestras in Tokyo, all of which give regular performances. The programs span the baroque, classical, romantic, and contemporary periods--from the music of Bach to the symphonies of Mozart, Beethoven, Schumann, and Mahler, and Debussy and Ravel's works for orchestra, as well as ballet and opera. Japanese orchestras also give overseas performances of recent works by contemporary Japanese composers.
    In the past musical activity tended to be concentrated in Tokyo, but these days it extends nationwide. Hiroshima, Kyoto, Osaka, Sapporo, and other major cities now have full-time orchestras, and a variety of musical festivals are held throughout the country. Moreover, the number of foreign performers visiting Japan continues to rise each year.

Activities of Japanese Composers

    In addition to pieces based on the standard forms and styles of Western classical music, Japanese composers write a number of works for Japanese instruments or for a combination of Japanese and Western instruments. Ensembles consisting only of Japanese instruments perform Japanese contemporary music to audiences in and outside Japan. The late Takemitsu Toru, one of Japan's most representative composers, wrote not only purely orchestral works like Textures, which employed avant-garde techniques, but also commemorative works like November Steps for orchestra, biwa, and shakuhachi. In addition, Moroi Makoto, who has experimented with electronic music, also composed Taiwa Godai, a piece for two shakuhachi.
    Since the 1970s works for taiko or for taiko and orchestra have also been composed. In more recent years composers have looked back even further, and thanks to the activities of a number of Japanese, and also Western, composers, gagaku and music for the sho have experienced a revival.
 

Popular Music

    Just as Japanese traditional music exists alongside Western classical music, so Japanese and Western styles coexist in the realm of popular music, too. Japanese popular music, called kayokyoku, embraces pieces based on the distinct scales of traditional Japanese music, exemplified by enka, as well as a genre labeled "new music," which features tunes that have been built on the scales of Western music. "New music" has little Japanese influence and stands in contrast to enka, which is based on Japanese musical scales, with improvised grace notes and vibrato added that have their roots in the music of noh.
    Though less popular than kayokyoku, rock and jazz also have fairly large followings and have had an impact on the other genres of popular music. "Technopop," a recently developed genre of music that is played on the synthesizer, has prompted the construction of rooms and buildings that can accommodate its unique acoustics.