Based on more than thirty years fieldwork, this book aims to increase the understanding of music played on elaborate wooden floats which form vital components in Japanese festivals with a religious dimension. The focus is on float-festivals in Aichi prefecture in central Japan; but wider perspectives, international as well as national, also come into play. Float-festivals date back several centuries. A good deal of modernization has taken place from the mid-twentieth century onwards, but historical roots and connections are still discernible, and these distinctive festivals and their music remain of great significance to many communities in modern Japan. -- .
Prologue
Introduction
Float-festivals
Float-festivals in Taketoyo
Musical instruments and learning
Ensembles in Chita Peninsula
Ensembles in Nagoya and Owari
Ensembles in Mikawa and parallels in Chita
The tsuzumi drums and performing arts
The musical repertoire
A historical perspective
Change and continuity
The wider perspective
Conclusions and epilogue -- .
Håkan Lundström, Professor Emeritus of Music and Society at the Faculty of Fine and Performing Arts, Lund University -- .
