Plucking the forest sound
Borealism in the Japanese enthusiasm for the Finnish kantele
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.23985/evk.126886Nyckelord:
Finnish kantele, Japan, enthusiasm, borealism, natureAbstract
This article examines Japanese enthusiasm for the Finnish kantele from the perspective of Borealism (Schram 2011). The question it addresses concerns the Northern characteristics that spring to mind among enthusiasts who use the kantele for recreational purposes. It also examines how these qualities are further used and developed in Japan. This cross-cultural music phenomenon reflects homogenous Japanese notions of the kantele, which influenced how its sound is used in a new environment. Borealism is reflected in the enthusiasts’ narrative and adoption of the instrument, which is perceived as an excellent tool with which to approach nature, fulfilling the fantasy and inspiring the imagination. The primary data comprises interviews and participant observation conducted in Japan between 2016 and 2018. Other supplementary materials include Internet data, liner notes, CD covers, promotional materials (posters, leaflets) and decorated instruments discursively gathered in the community.Article cover photo: A five-string kantele painted green with Unikko as decoration, made in Sapporo, Hokkaido, 2009 (courtesy of Mitsuko Sato).
Referenser
Aho, Marko (2016) The Tangible in Music: The Tactile Learning of a Musical Instrument. New York: Routledge. https://doi.org/10.4324/9781315527017
Asplund, Anneli (1993) Kantele. Frossa: Suomalaisen Kirjallisuuden Seuran toimituksia 390.
Atkins, E. Taylor (2001) Blue Nippon: Authenticating Jazz in Japan. Durham and London: Duke University Press. https://doi.org/10.1515/9780822380030
Bellman, Jonathan (1998) The Exotic in Western Music. Boston: Northeastern University Press.
Cornyetz, Nina (1994) “Fetishized Blackness: Hip hop and Racial Desire in Contemporary Japan.” Social Text 41, 113–139. https://doi.org/10.2307/466835
Condry, Ian (2006) Hip-hop Japan: Rap and the Paths of Cultural Globalization. Durham: Duke University Press. https://doi.org/10.1515/9780822388166
Condry, Ian (2001) “Japanese Hip-Hop and the Globalization of Popular Culture.” Urban Life: Reading in the Anthropology of the City. Ed. George Gmelch and Walter Zenner. Prospect Heights, IL: Waveland Press. 357–387.
Crowell, Kevin C (2016) “Japan: The Colorful History of the Ukulele's Second Home.” https://ukulelemagazine.com/stories/how-japan-became-the-ukuleles-second-home (visited 14 August 2020).
Djupsjöbacka, Tove (2019) “Pluck Those Strings, Play That Bow - Kantele and Jouhikko”. Finnish Music Quarterly. https://fmq.fi/articles/kantele-and-jouhikko (visited 28 August 2021).
Edgar, Marjorie (1935) “Finnish Folk Songs in Minnesota.” Minnesota History 16:3, 406–410.
Erkut, Cumhur, Matti Karjalainen, Patty Huang, and Vesa Välimäki (2002) “Acoustical Analysis and Model-Based Sound Synthesis of The Kantele.” The Journal of the Acoustical Society of America 112:4, 1681–1691.
Finnish Embassy in Japan, twitter. https://twitter.com/finembtokyo/status/1101040009715634177 (accessed 19 March 2021).
Furmanovsky, Michael (2008) “American Country Music in Japan: Lost Piece in the Popular Music History Puzzle.” Popular Music and Society 31:3, 357–372.
Fuse, Rie (2021) Othering Finland in Japan Representation of Aki Kaurismäki´s Films in Reviews in Japanese Magazines. Ph.D. dissertation, Tampere University.
Grove Music Online, s.v. “Kantele,” by Carl Rahkonen. https://www.oxfordmusiconline.com/grovemusic/grovemusic/view/10.1093/gmo/9781561592630.001.0001/omo-9781561592630-e-0000014682?mediaType=Article (visited 15 November 2021).
Hill, Juniper (2005) From Ancient to Avant-Garde to Global: Creative Processes and Institutionalization in Finnish Contemporary Folk Music. Ph.D. dissertation, University of California, Los Angeles.
Hosokawa, Shuhei (1999a) “STRICTLY BALLROOM: The Rumba in Pre-World War Two Japan”. Perfect Beat 4:3, 3–23.
Hosokawa, Shuhei (1999b) “'Salsa no Tiene Frontera': Orquesta de la Luz and the Globalization of Popular Music.” Cultural Studies 13:3, 509–534.
Ilomäki, Henni (2009). “The Kalevala in Translation”. https://www.folklorefellows.fi/the-kalevala-in-translation/#:~:text=The%20first%20translation%20of%20the,its%20third%20printing%20in%201985. (visited 17 Jan 2023).
Ipatti, Laura (2019) “At the Root of the ‘Finland Boom’: The Implementation of Finnish Image Policy in Japan in the 1960s”. Scandinavian Journal of History 44:1, 103–130.
Itakura, Yuji (2009) “Sapporo Sosei”. Kanteleliitto. http://www.kantele.net/sapporo-sosei/1598 (visited 13 December 2021).
Jaakkola, Jutta & Arne Toivonen (2004) Inspired by Tradition: Kalevala Poetry in Finnish Music. Jyväskylä, Finland: Finnish Music Information Center.
Kaeppler, Adrienne L (2013) “Music and Dance as Export and Import: A Case Study of Japan in Europe, and Hawai'i in Japan.” Yearbook for Traditional Music 45, 214–230.
Kalevala Society (Kalevalaseura). “Translations of Kalevala”. https://kalevalaseura.fi/en/about-kalevala/translations-of-the-kalevala/ (visited 1 May 2021).
Kankaanranta, Eija & Satu Sopanen. n.d. “Kantele - The Authentic Finnish Contribution to the World of Music.” http://www.kantele.net/kantele/in-english (visited 21 October 2021).
Kanteleliitto (2019) “5th International Kantele Competition and KanteleKimara Evaluation.” https://www.kantele.net/5th-international-kantele-competition-and-kantelekimara-evaluation-may-3rd-5th-2019/10463 (visited 1 March 2020).
Kastinen, Arja (2009) “Karelian Kantele Improvisation in the Light of the 19th Century Manuscripts.” Musiikin Suunta 31:1, 50–67.
Kastinen, Arja (n.d.) “Karelian Kantele Tradition.” https://www.temps.fi/en/research/karelian-kantele-tradition/. English translation: Sara Norja. (visited 3 December 2021).
Kastinen, Arja (n.d.) “The Polymorphic Kantele.” https://www.temps.fi/en/research/kantele/ (visited 9 December 2021).
Kastinen, Arja (2000) Erään 15-kielisen kanteleen akustisesta tutkimuksesta (An Acoustical investigation of a 15-stringed kantele). Sibelius Academy Folk Music Department publications 5.
Kastinen, Arja (2021) “Six Hours of Exploratory Improvisation.” https://www.temps.fi/wp-content/uploads/2021/01/Six-Hours-of-Exploratory-Improvisation_Kastinen-Arja-1.pdf (visited 3 December 2021).
Koistinen-Armfelt, Ritva (2016) Kehollisuus ja kosketus kanteleensoitossa (Bodily Experience and Touching in Kantele Playing). Taideyliopiston Sibelius-Akatemia. https://taju.uniarts.fi/handle/10024/6406
Komppula, Raija & Henna Konu (2017) “Designing Forest-Based Wellbeing Tourism Services for Japanese Customers”. Co-creation in Tourist Experiences. Ed. Nina K. Prebensen, Joseph S. Chen & Muzaffer Uysal. NY: Routledge. Komppula, 50–61.
Koskoff, Ellen, ed. 2005. Music Cultures in the United States: An Introduction. New York: Routledge. https://doi.org/10.4324/9780203997161
Kurokawa, Yoko (2004) Yearning for A Distant Music: Consumption of Hawaiian Music and Dance in Japan, Ph.D. dissertation, University of Hawai'i.
Lehtonen, Sanna (2019) “Touring The Magical North–Borealism and The Indigenous Sámi in Contemporary English-language Children’s Fantasy Literature.” European Journal of Cultural Studies 22:3, 327–344.
Leisiö, Timo (2021) 8-10 December. “Neuronal Responses to The Five-Stringed Kantele Music and Three Aesthetic Regions in Europe.” Conference presentation abstract, Finnish conference of cultural studies. Joensuu, Finland. https://kulttuurintutkimus.fi/wp-content/uploads/2021/12/Sessions_20211130.pdf
Lindblom, Arto, Taru Lindblom & Miikka J. Lehtonen (2016) “A Study on Japanese Images and Beliefs on Finland, Sveden and Denmark: Key Results and Conclusions”. Nordic Branding Experts’ Seminar, 9 June 2016. http://www.kuluta.fi/wp-content/uploads/2016/10/Nordic-Images-in-Japan-report-June-2016-Lindblom-et-al.T.pdf (visited 11 June 2022).
Manabe, Noriko (2006) “Globalization and Japanese Creativity: Adaptations of Japanese Language to Rap.” Ethnomusicology 50:1, 1–36.
Matilainen, Anne & Sanna Santalahti (2018) Finland as a Tourist Destination Through the Eyes of The Japanese: An Interview Study on Japanese People Living in Finland. Report 180. University of Helsinki, Ruralia Institute. https://helda.helsinki.fi/bitstream/handle/10138/236590/Reports180.pdf?sequence=1&isAllowed=y (visited 1 December 2021).
Mitsui, Hideko (2016) “Uses of Finland in Japan’s Social Imaginary”. Reflections on Imagination: Human Capacity and Ethnographic Method. Ed. Nigel Rapport & Mark Harris. Abingdon, Oxon: Routledge, 161–176.
Mitsui, Toru (1993) “The Reception of the Music of American Southern Whites in Japan”. Transforming Tradition: Folk Music Revivals Examined. Urbana: University of Illinois Press: 275–293.
Niemelä, Juha (1999) “Who Do We Think We Are-The Finnishness in Finnish-American Songs.” Finnish Yearbook of Population Research: 114–132. https://doi.org/10.23979/fypr.44939
Onali, Alma (2016) “Kantele kiehtoo japanilaisia soittajia, Kantele koskettaa yli rajojen” [Kantele Fascinates Japanese Players, Kantele Touches Over Borders]. Kouvolan Sanomat, 6 August 2016. (Printed newspaper).
Penttinen, Henri, Cumhur Erkut, Jyrki Pölkki, Vesa Välimäki, Matti Karjalainen (2005) “Design and Analysis of a Modified Kantele with Increased Loudness.” Acta Acustica united with Acustica 91:2, 261–268.
Pieni Tauko (2010) “カンテレ演奏クラブ Pieni Tauko（ピエニタウコ）参加者 募集中！” https://plaza.rakuten.co.jp/finland/diary/200912080000/ (visited 28 February 2020).
Ramnarine, Tina Karina (2003) Ilmatar's Inspirations: Nationalism, Globalization, and the Changing Soundscapes of Finnish Folk music. Chicago: University of Chicago Press. https://doi.org/10.7208/chicago/9780226704043.001.0001
Rahkonen, Carl John (1983) “The Concept of Ultrastability as Applied to A Study of The Finnish Kantele.” Suomen Antropologi 8:4, 23–42.
Rahkonen, Carl John (1989) “The Kantele Traditions of Finland.” PhD diss., Indiana University.
Reyes-Ruiz, Rafael (2005) “Music and the (Re)creation of Latino Culture in Japan.” Journal of Latin American Cultural Studies 14:2, 223–239. https://doi.org/10.1353/dsp.0.0000
Ruokonen, Inkeri, Anu Sepp, Venla Moilanen, Ossi Autio, and Heikki Ruismäki (2014) “The Finnish Five-String Kantele: Sustainably Designed for Musical Joy.” Journal of Teacher Education for Sustainability16:1, 76–88.
Ruokonen, Inkeri, Anna Kattainen, and Heikki Ruismäki (2012) “Preschool Children and the 5-string Kantele: An Exercise in Composition.” Procedia-Social and Behavioral Sciences 45, 391–400.
Said, Edward (2003 [1978]) Orientalism: Western Conceptions of the Orient. New York: Pantheon Books.
Savigliano, Marta E (1992) “Tango in Japan and the World Economy of Passion.” In Re-Made in Japan—Everyday Life and Consumer Taste in a Changing Society. Ed. Joseph J. Tobin. New Haven and London: Yale University Press. 235–252.
Schram, Kristinn (2011) Borealism. Folkloristic Perspectives on Transnational Performances and the Exoticism of the North. Ph.D. dissertation, University of Edinburgh.
SLOW FINLAND (n.d.) “The Healing Power of Forests”. https://slowfinland.fi/en/the-healing-power-of-forests/ (visited 29 August 2022).
Sirén, Arto (2003) “An Ancient Instrument Enters the Modern Era”. http://musicandculture.blogspot.com/2007/03/electric-kantele-finnish-folk-zither.html (visited 30 August 2020).
Steffensen, Kenn (2019) “The Nordics in The Modern Japanese Political Imagination.” nordics.info Aarhus University. https://nordics.info/show/artikel/the-nordic-countries-in-the-modern-japanese-political-imagination/ (visited 3 July 2020).
Sterling, Marvin (2010) Babylon East: Performing Dancehall, Roots Reggae, and Rastafari in Japan. Durham, NC: Duke University Press. https://doi.org/10.1215/9780822392736
Størvold, Tore (2018) “Sigur Rós: Reception, Borealism, and Musical style”. Popular Music 37:3, 371–391. https://doi.org/10.1017/S0261143018000442
Syrjälä, Pauliina (2020) Hytkypolkka ja hyppivä puuhevonen: kansanmuusikko säveltävänä perinnesoittajana (Hytkypolkka ja hyppivä puuhevonen – folk musician as a composing instrumentalist). Taideyliopiston Sibelius-Akatemia. https://taju.uniarts.fi/handle/10024/6856
The Kalevala (K. Bosley, Trans.) (1989 [1849]) Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Varamäki, Anna-Kaisa (2004) The Japanese Stereotyped Images of Finland. Master’s thesis. University of Jyväskylä.
Varhama, Timo (2010) “Finland's Good Image in Japan - Can It Last?” Finnish Chamber of Commerce in Japan. http://www.fcc.or.jp/aoyama-view080310.php (visited 8 February 2017).
van Ede, Yolanda (2012) “Sounding Moves: Flamenco, Gender, and Meaning in Tokyo.” In Proceedings of the 26th ICTM Study Group in Ethnochoreology Symposium 2010. 73-81. Prague: The Institute of Ethnology of the Academy of Science and the Academy of Performing Arts.
Viisma, Hedi (2019) Kromaattinen kantele mahdollisuuksien pelikenttänä: käsikirja säveltäjille (The Chromatic Kantele as a Playground for Opportunities: A Handbook for Composers). Taideyliopiston Sibelius-Akatemia. https://taju.uniarts.fi/handle/10024/6739
Visit Finland (2016) “Japan - MARKET REVIEW - Japanese Visitors in Finland – Statistical Trends and Profile.” https://www.businessfinland.fi/globalassets/finnish-customers/02-build-your-network/visit-finland/market-review-japan-2016.pdf (visited 7 January 2021).
Waseda, Minako (2013) “Gospel Music in Japan: Transplantation and Localization of African American Religious Singing.” Yearbook for Traditional Music 45, 187–213. https://doi.org/10.5921/yeartradmusi.45.2013.0187
Winter, Carolin (2009) Branding Finland on the Internet: Images and Stereotypes in Finland's Tourism Marketing. Master’s thesis. University of Jyväskylä.
Williams, Seán (2006) “Irish Music and The Experience of Nostalgia in Japan.” Asian music 37:1, 101–119. https://doi.org/10.1353/amu.2006.0014
