Jinku
Jinku is a form of traditional and folkloric Japanese songs.
Overview
The actual form of jinku songs probably appeared in the Edo period. Jinku is a vocal performance using verses. These songs often depicts qualities of character, love stories, worklife, or comedic situations.Like the dodoitsu genre, jinku uses lyrics constituted by one chorus of 7, 7, 7, 5. Each song can be divided in 6 parts.:
- Utamakura, an often repeated descriptive epithet
- Honuta, the main body of the song
- Hayashi, the accompaniment of meaningless words in the song for rhythm
- Honuta, the resumption of the main body of the song
- Maeuta, the prelude to the song's end
- Atouta, the encore
Tsugarujinku
Tsugarujinku is a folkloric song often performed with a variety of instruments, such as shamisen, Japanese flute or Japanese drums. It birthed in the Aomori prefecture, either in Tsugaru or Hirosaki, and is commonly used to accompany a traditional dance bearing the same name. The genre is also called "Dodarebachi" from the first words of most songs.Sumo jinku
Sumojinku is one of the most popular and known form of jinku. It is performed a capella by yobidashi or sumo wrestlers during sumo celebrations, such as or.The yobidashi are traditionally given the task of composing jinku even though it is now quite common to have wrestlers composing it. It is often distributed in three sub genres: meisho jinku, glorifying songs; o iwai jinku, festive songs; and owarai jinku, comedic songs.
Sumojinku follows a precise sequence in which the singer occupy the center of the dohyo and sing with an open fan while wrestlers circles him and punctuate the song with hands gestures and exclamations like "hoi" and "dosukoi" while moving around the singer. Every rikishi, no matter his rank, can participate to a jinku song, even those in the lower ranks. They're all given a, either borrowed from a senior wrestler or their own, for the occasion. However, only gets to wear their.
Some wrestlers are well known for their ability to sing traditional jinku such as Ikioi, Daishi or Konishiki.
Japan Sumo Jinku Association
The Japan Sumo Jinkukai or Japan Sumo Jinku Association is a body that gave itself the mission promote, teach and develop jinku songs, and more specifically sumo jinku songs, as an art and culture in Japan under the jurisdiction of the Agency for Cultural Affairs. The organization has its headquarter in Ryōgoku, Sumida Tokyo.History
The association was founded in 1995 by former Nishonoseki yobidashi Nagao who notably composed the jinku for the retirement ceremony of yokozuna Wakanohana in 1963, or the "Sumo Training Song" in 1979. In 2012, his daughter, Iida Michiyo, became the chairman of the association.Missions
The association tends to develop a strong territorial network by founding and approving local branches divided in 6 regional zones:- Northern region
- Eastern region
- Hokushinetsu region
- Tokai region
- Western region
- Kyushu region