Japanese Folk Music in Modern Japan

While in traditional Japan, folk songs were sung during the day as sources of personal pleasure and as tools for increasing work efficiency, today they have gained a higher and more professional status in Japanese culture. Folk songs, to members of an urban and bustling society like Japan's, evoke feelings of a more peaceful and natural existence, echoing the simplicity associated with life in Tokugawa Japan. It is then no surprise that Japan strives to preserve their folk songs and history through the creation of preservation societies. As a result, folk music has gained a more official and standardized status within Japanese society. This is also aided by new technology like television which raises awareness over a much larger demographic.
With folk music taking more front stage role, the work and discipline needed to perform it at a professional level also increases significantly. Now it is not uncommon for a student to change cities to pursue apprenticeship with a certain teacher for several years. What used to be a natural process learned during childhood was now a far more intensive and focused discipline. The student/teacher relationship is cherished, and requires a special bond between master and apprentice. Often, a student will receive their "artistic name" from their teacher, or even take their teachers last name.