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Paper short abstract:

This paper focuses on the issue of orality in the tradition of blind biwa players of Kyushu. It will clarify some aspects of the tradition related to oral performance and discuss the formulaic-thematic composition in a broader context of Japanese katarimono known for its continuity.

Paper long abstract:

After the Edo period, it was only in Kyushu that the biwa was not replaced with the shamisen. In this region, the biwa continued to be a part of the folk performing tradition of blind biwa players until the second half of the 20th century due to its primary function in folk religious practices.

The genre of blind biwa music from Kyushu is widely known as the higobiwa. However, the term is relatively new and appears to have been coined not earlier than the Meiji era, as an attempt to distinguish the biwa tradition of Kumamoto from the satsumabiwa and chikuzenbiwa. Today the higobiwa is treated as an independent genre. However, it is evident that the tradition came into contact with other storytelling genres, borrowed some of the stories, and later reworked them into its own.

In this paper, I will focus on the issue of orality in the tradition of blind biwa players of Kyushu. Firstly, I will examine the nature of changes occurring in the narrative texts during multiple performances, based on the analysis of such pieces as Watamashi, Kikuchi Kuzure, Ko-Atsumori, Shuntokumaru, and Oguri Hangan. Secondly, I will clarify some aspects of the tradition related to the narrative text and musical pattern reproduction process. Finally, I will discuss the issue of formulaic-thematic composition in a broader context of Japanese katarimono known for its continuity.