The festival will include many kinds of music concert; Japanese traditional '
Gagaku' music, rock music performed with traditional instruments, anime songs and pop music, as well as many other cultural and educational events.
ISLAMABAD -- To entertain and to familiarize with the centuries old Japanese Imperial Court music, the Embassy of Japan in Islamabad organized a classical Japanese
Gagaku music and dance performance at the auditorium of Islamabad club on Monday.
In the eighth century, Phat Triet, a Cham Buddhist monk from what is now central Vietnam, traveled to Japan, where he helped to popularize Cham music and dance, which was later incorporated into the Japanese imperial court's
gagaku performances.
Gagaku, the Imperial Court dance, is said to have its origins in India, having come to Japan via the Silk Road.
It continues to be an integral part of
Gagaku, typically performed at the Tokyo Imperial Palace in addition to local temples and shrines.
The reason for this is simple: short-lived as it was, the Yuan dynasty in China witnessed the growth and maturity of Zaju, and is therefore best remembered as a golden era of traditional Chinese drama, whereas in Japan during the Muromachi period (1336-1573), Noh developed from earlier forms of performing arts such as gigaku [TEXT NOT REPRODUCIBLE IN ASCII],
gagaku [TEXT NOT REPRODUCIBLE IN ASCII], sangaku [TEXT NOT REPRODUCIBLE IN ASCII], sarugaku [TEXT NOT REPRODUCIBLE IN ASCII], and dengaku [TEXT NOT REPRODUCIBLE IN ASCII] into its present form.
This commemoration of Bodhi Day, the day Gautama Buddha got enlightened, included
Gagaku (Japanese court music), Shoshinge sutra chanting, homage to Buddha-dhamma-sangha, reading from Buddhist texts, meditation, dharma talk by priest Reverend Phil Bryan, etc.
Stubbs gives the example of
gagaku music to illustrate how Western audiences found chaotic and unlistenable music that Japanese people considered elegant.
The new additions include a traditional Ainu dance in Hokkaido, northern Japan, performed by the indigenous Ainu people in the area, and ''
Gagaku,'' one of Japan's traditional performing arts characterized by long, slow songs and dance-like movements, according to the agency.
I told Seymour that I didn't think music had to go anywhere and that I was interested in stasis such as the gamuts (constellations of pitches in which given identities are repeated at the same octave placement) found in the music of Webern, Nono, and Stockhausen and in the restricted sets of pitches in modal music such as
gagaku and Indian classical music.
Attending the conference was also an amazing cultural experience, with the Japanese Nurses Association (JNA) spoiling us with traditional
Gagaku music and dancing on the opening night, and even a dinner visit from Empress Michiko, followed by several dance groups made up of JNA members.