Beautiful Folk Songs Passed Down in Miyagi Prefecture: A Collection of Masterpieces that Play the Heart of the Hometown
The many folk songs that live on in Miyagi Prefecture are sonic treasures that vividly reflect Tohoku’s culture and the lives of its people.
From mountain songs set against majestic peaks to fishermen’s songs praising the bounty of the sea, the rich voices born from the land and people’s way of life can still be heard across the region.
This article brings together folk songs from Miyagi, centered around Sendai.
Why not lend an ear to the gentle melodies imbued with the feelings of our forebears—melodies that evoke the changing seasons, the bustle of festivals, and the joys of farm work?
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- Beautiful Folk Songs Passed Down in Miyagi Prefecture: A Collection of Masterpieces that Play the Heart of the Hometown
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Beautiful Folk Songs Passed Down in Miyagi Prefecture | A Collection of Masterpieces that Play the Heart of the Hometown (31–40)
Fantasy on a Theme from “Saitaro-bushi”Shobi Wind Orchestra
Fantasy on the Theme of Saitaro-bushi is a piece composed by Kayoko Goda, selected as a required piece for the 2014 All-Japan Band Competition.
Based on the Miyagi folk song Saitaro-bushi, it is structured around a gentle, shadowy “yin” section and a fast-paced, bright “yang” section.
It is a wonderful work that serves as a gateway for those unfamiliar with folk songs to discover Saitaro-bushi.
Enkoro-bushiSeikō
A distinctive feature of the “Enkoro-bushi” is the refrain “enkoro, enkoro” sung at the end of each verse.
It is a folk song performed to celebrate the launching of a newly built ship, and also sung on January 2, the first workday of the new year, when people gather at the head of the fishing fleet.
The melodic patterns vary by region, and the version commonly sung today is the one that has been passed down around Matsushima Bay.
Coin-Blowing SongSotaro Katakura
In 1728 (Kyōhō 13), the Edo shogunate established a coin-minting office called a “Zenza” in Ishinomaki, where it was easy to obtain materials for coinage.
The craftsmen who operated the bellows to stoke the furnaces during minting were people from the former Nanbu domain; the folk song from their homeland, Kesen-zaka, which they sang while working, took root and evolved into a work song known as the “Zenibuki-uta,” remaining in Ishinomaki.
After the Zenza was abolished, it eventually came to be sung as a celebratory song.
Doya-bushiTakeo Aizawa
This is the “Doya-bushi,” a song sung around Matsushima Port in Miyagi Prefecture to pray for a bountiful catch.
As for the meaning of “doya,” there are two theories: one holds that it comes from toya, meaning a foundry or smelting workshop, and another that it derives from tōya, meaning the household serving as host for a celebration.
Bean-Grinding SongFumio Otsuka
It is the Miyagi folk song “Mamehiki Uta” (Bean-Threshing Song).
It is a work song for the task called “mamehiki,” in which beans are beaten out of dried bean pods.
The version recorded by folk singer Sakae Yoshimegi on the album “Miyagi Min’yō-shū” is well known.
In addition to Miyagi Prefecture, the “Mamehiki Uta” is also sung in the Date area of Fukushima Prefecture and in Yamagata Prefecture.
Beautiful Folk Songs Passed Down in Miyagi Prefecture | A Collection of Masterpieces that Play the Heart of the Hometown (41–50)
New Sansa ShigureTamako Onishi
Shin Sansa Shigure is a song composed before the war by Chūichirō Takeda, a researcher of Tohoku folk music.
Because Momosui Gotō, a folk music scholar from Miyagi Prefecture, disliked the song’s popular-enka-like style, Shin Sansa Shigure was long denied opportunities for public presentation.
As times changed and folk songs with a popular music flavor began to spread, the song finally came into the spotlight.
Oitoko-bushiToya Agatsuma
Around the late Edo period (the Tenpō era), the popular song Oitoko sō da yo was widely sung, mainly in the Kanto and Tohoku regions.
It saw a resurgence in Tokyo from the late Meiji to the Taisho period, but was gradually forgotten thereafter, surviving only in Miyagi Prefecture as Oitoko-bushi.
Originally, it was sung and danced as an entertainment dance, but later it came to be widely sung as a drinking-party dance song.