Hello!
When I discovered tsugaru shamisen, I saw a video of a certain Osanai Kaoru (and i think it’s really amazing, but I can’t evaluate). What tsugaru piece is that?
I’m confused! Like… tsugaku jonkara bushi and tsugaru jongara bushi are the same? I know can be off topic, but maybe jonkara and jongara are only graphic changes… but I don’t think so, since Japanese romanization isn’t a topic in which linguists fight…
Maybe, jongara is ancient of jonkara…
Yeah, it’s confusing! They are the same word though. The funny thing is that “jongara” or “jonkara” isn’t actually a real word in Japanese. Instead, it’s suggested that it comes from the name of a bridge in Tsugaru called “Joukawara” where an early version of the song was originally written. Over time the name changed, and both “jongara” and “jonkara” are correct ways of writing it.
In Japanese, there’s a special feature called “rendaku” where after certain syllables the next syllable becomes “voiced,” and is changed. In those contexts, ka becomes ga, sa becomes za, su becomes zu, and so on. So, people say Jongara/Jonkara both ways. Both are correct.
Ok. So boh are correct, but what’s the most used?
I see both equally, really. I think the Oyama Ryu and Nitta Ryu use Jongara, but on Youtube I also see a lot of Jonkara.
Oyama-ryu???
I’m not into, sorry!
It’s ok haha. Basically, the Oyama Ryu is one of the bigger schools of Tsugaru-jamisen, and they publish a lot of music books and hold events for people studying and playing their versions of the songs. They have hundreds of recordings and twelve or thirteen books I think, and they’re an amazing group of musicians. I use the books, and they’re super useful for learning both well known and obscure minyo. I know of a couple Oyama schools in Tokyo, and I’m sure there are more than that.
What are the major differences between ther ryu?
They typically have slightly (or sometimes, really) different versions of the standard pieces. For example, the Tsugaru Jonkara Kyu Bushi as written by Takahashi Chikuzan (considered Chikuzan Ryu) is very different from the one written by the Oyama Ryu. But, because of the structure and overall style, it’s the same song. Other times the songs (typically non godai tsugaru ones) are relatively standardized between schools, like Akita Nikata Bushi. The big exception here is Rokudan, which despite being a Jonkara Bushi variant is pretty much the same no matter who you ask. Rokudan is often used for ensemble playing, so everyone needs to know the same version. Sometimes the ryu also have slightly different techniques, and ways to hold the bachi and such (for example Nitta ryu has a very “claw” like way of holding the bachi with a gap between the handle and little finger) where as some schools have the fingers closer together).
They’re all right, just different interpretations of the same things.