Biwa.

Generic term for necked bowl-lutes of Japan. Discussed here are construction and tunings; for history and schools, see Japan, §V, 3. Forms of biwa have been played in Japan since at least the 8th century. Early forms used for gagaku derived from China, but biwa subsequently developed in Japan have been played in the performance of various kinds of oral narrative and Buddhist ritual texts (sūtras). While structural dimensions and playing techniques vary, all biwa share a shallow, pear-shaped body and neck cut from a single piece of wood, four or more wooden frets, a shallow cup-shaped wooden bridge that transmits the vibrations of four or five strings of entwined silk, and a large plectrum. With the exception of the gogen-biwa, an archaic instrument played in gagaku until perhaps the 9th century (see also Japan, §§II, 3(i); V), the strings of biwa are secured to tuning pegs inserted into a pegbox bent back nearly perpendicular to the neck. Common to most forms of biwa, moreover, is a distortional timbral element, a buzzing quality (sawari) that is produced by contact between a short length of fretted or open string with the upper surface of either a fret or the joint of the neck and pegbox (see illustration).

The gaku-biwa is the largest of all forms (Table 1). Unlike biwa used for vocal performance, its timbre lacks sawari. The strings are touched lightly against the upper edge of each of four frets, without use of additional pressure to produce higher pitches at a given fret. A relatively thin, round-tipped plectrum is wielded at an acute angle to the four strings, which are tuned differently for each of the principal modes of the modern tōgaku and saibara repertories.

The heike-biwa is closest in form to the gaku-biwa, although it is much smaller and is sounded by a larger, sharp-tipped plectrum. In modern practice both Nagoya and Tsugaru tradition instruments have five frets, but the positioning of frets differs. Unlike gaku-biwa, left-hand pressure is applied between the frets, and is used to produce pitches raised by a major 2nd or less at some frets. The tunings used in the Nagoya and Tsugaru traditions of heikyoku differed until the mid-1960s, but have since been identical, with the exception of a revised tuning used by the Tokyo-based performer Hashimoto Toshie.

Until the 20th century it seems that there was little or no standardisation of instruments formerly played by blind priests (mōsō) and blind professional narrative performers (zatō) in south-western Japan. Common to all instruments of the region, however, are four strings, strong sawari and relatively tall frets that allow for manipulation of pitch by up to a minor 3rd at some frets. Mōsō and zatō have required a collapsable instrument for both seasonal ritual work and itinerant secular performance. One of two relatively small, light forms was the sasa-biwa, named for its slender shape (see Japan, fig.1). The others are what scholars have dubbed uguisu-biwa, and hyōichi-biwa; both are shorter, rounder-bodied instruments. A large form of sasa-biwa with a relatively deep resonating chamber was used by zatō in the Higo region. On such instruments, various techniques were employed to regulate sawari, including the insertion of a detachable strip of bamboo between the strings and the bridge, and the insertion of extra soundposts. Plectra and tunings vary by region, but extant data point to a distinction between tunings used for performing sūtras (usually called rokuchōshi) and those for secular narrative repertory (honchōshi tuning). From the early 20th century, many mōsō and zatō started to use standard four-string chikuzen-biwa and satsuma-biwa (albeit with carrying straps, often made from a string of juzu prayer beads).

The satsuma-biwa and chikuzen-biwa both derive from instruments formerly played by mōsō. The foremost distinguishing features of the satsuma-biwa's structure are its large, thin plectrum (see illustration), tall frets and its slightly convex soundboard. The hardwood plectrum is often intentionally struck against the soundboard, either by itself or concurrently with a plucked string. The outward curve of the soundboard is said to have been an innovation of the putative designer of the modern instrument, and may have been influenced by the form of European string instruments introduced by Jesuit priests in the 16th century. The four-string variety is now often called the seiha instrument, for many Kinshinryū and all Nishikibiwa school and Tsurutaryū players have adopted a five-string instrument, also called the nishiki-biwa. The seiha instrumental technique is distinguished by the production of ornamental figures through left-hand regulation of pressure during the decay period of plucked tones.

The four-string chikuzen-biwa was a little-altered version of a form of biwa played by mōsō in the Chikuzen region. Its tuning is the same as the shamisen's basic tuning, honchōshi, for all repertory except a small number of advanced pieces taught to chosen students. It also inherited from the mōsō instrument a strong sawari, enhanced by the placement of bamboo strips across the top of its frets. Popular among many thousands of amateurs between about 1900 and 1920, the four-string instrument was produced and sold cheaply, but was gradually displaced by the five-string instrument, which provided a far larger range of melodic and technical possibilities. The ornate instrumental patterns developed for both varieties of chikuzen-biwa require rapid left-hand movement over the frets, as well as subtle microtonal inflection of individual pitches in the course of melodic phrases.

BIBLIOGRAPHY

Chikuzen-biwa Seisaku Gijutsu Chōsa I-in Kai: Chikuzen-biwa (Fukuoka, 1977)

F. Koizumi, Y. Tokumaru and O. Yamaguchi, eds.: ‘Satsumabiwa’, Asian Musics in an Asian Perspective (Tokyo, 1977), 223–6

D. Murayama: ‘Biwa: wasurerareta oto no sekai’ [Biwa: a forgotten sound world], Aruku, miru, kiku, no.135 (1978), 4–30

R. Wolpert: ‘A Ninth-Century Score for Five-Stringed Lute’, Musica asiatica, iii, ed. L. Picken (1981), 107–35

S. Nelson: ‘Gogen-fu shinkō - omo ni gogen-biwa no jūsei oyobi chōgen ni tsuite’ [The Gogen-fu, a Japanese Heian-period tablature score for five-stringed lute: concentrating on the fret system and tunings of the instrument], Tōyō ongaku kenkyū, li (1986), 13–76 [Eng. summary 4–9]

K. Hirano: ‘Mōsō-biwa’, Nihon ongaku daijiten, ed. K. Hirano, S. Gamō and Y. Kamisangō (Tokyo, 1989)

K. Tohnai: Nihon kindai biwa no kenkyū [Study of biwa in Japan in the modern period] (Tokyo, 1994)

HUGH DE FERRANTI