The lead singer KINEYA Mitsuya, the lead shamisen-player IMAFUJI Chotatsuro and the hayashi musician KATADA Shinjuro are veteran performers in the fields of Nagauta and hayashi currently active in concerts, dance presentations and the Kabuki theatre both in Japan and overseas. At the time of this particular performance they were energetic, youthful performers preparing for their future positions at the forefront of their respective musical worlds. Their youthful energy is in full evidence in this attractive performance.
Nagauta is a genre of shamisen music that has played a central role in the Kabuki theatre of Edo since the 18th century. Most genres of shamisen music entail the performer both singing and playing the shamisen, but one of the features of Nagauta is the division of these two roles between different performers. A performance style independent of the Kabuki theatre came into existence during the Bakumatsu era towards the end of the Edo Period, and since the Meiji era at the end of the 19th century concert performances of Nagauta pieces have become increasingly common.
The Nagauta piece Kanjinchō was composed by KINEYA Rokusaburo IV (1780-1856) in 1840, and ever since the Edo Period has retained its status as one of the most popular items in the repertoire. The Noh play Ataka forms an important structural element of the piece. The instrumental sections (aikata) known as Ennen no mai no aikata and Taki-nagashi that appear towards the end were not part of the piece when it was first performed but were added later by KINEYA Shojiro III (1826-95) as part of the piece’s gradual evolution over the years.

NIPPON STEEL Arts Foundation
NIPPON STEEL Arts Foundation, which was founded in 1994 with the goal of providing support for development of musicians, hosting of recitals, and other outstanding activities in the field of music (both Western and Japanese), utilizes Kioi Hall as its base of operations. This foundation conducts a variety of planning and production activities related to classical and Japanese traditional music performances held in the classical music concert hall (Kioi Hall: 800 seats) and the dedicated hall for Japanese traditional music (Kioi Small Hall: 250 seats), such as managing the venue’s affiliated orchestra, Kioi Hall Chamber Orchestra Tokyo. Through these efforts, the foundation aims to contribute to further development of music culture in Japan.

2011
Kioi Small Hall

Presented by: The Japan Foundation (JF) (https://www.jpf.go.jp/e/)
In cooperation with EPAD (https://epad.terrada.co.jp/)

＜Performance Credits＞
Song: KINEYA Mitsuya
Song: TOUON AJIMI Jun
Song: KINEYA Minosuke
Song: IMAFUJI Tatsunosuke
Song: HIYOSHI Kohachiro
Shamisen: IMAFUJI Chotatsuro
Shamisen: MATSUNAGA Chuichiro
Shamisen: IMAFUJI Masajuro
Shamisen: IMAFUJI Tatsuichiro
Shamisen: KINEYA Ichiro
Kotsuzumi: KATADA Shinjuro
Kotsuzumi: KATADA Masahiro
Kotsuzumi: MOCHIZUKI Hideyuki
Ōkawa: UMEYA Ukon
Flute: HOUSEI Haruhisa
Organized by: NIPPON STEEL Arts Foundation

＜Subtitling Credits＞
Chinese Translation (Simplified): Shu LIN
Chinese Translation (Traditional): Muju TSAN
English Translation: Robin THOMPSON
French Translation: Patrick DEVOS
Russian Translation: Inga IBRAKHIM
Spanish Translation: David TARANCO