Honjō Hidetarō

本條秀太郎

三弦
honjoh@honjoh.co.jp
http://www.honjoh.co.jp/index_e.html

Honjoh Hidetaro began shamisen lessons in 1956, learning the folk Japanese arts of nagauta, hauta, kouta and minyo. Then he studied at the NHK Training Course for Traditional Music Performers. In 1971 he gave himself the professional name of Honjoh Hidetaro and established Risogaku as his own musical style. At the same time, he established the Honjoh School. Risogaku is a genre of Japanese traditional and folk music. He sponsors the "Honjoh Hidetaro no Kai" and puts great effort into wide-ranging public promotion of folk songs and folk entertainment. Honjoh Hidetaro also continues his own personal music activities. Over many years he has collected a great many traditional hauta and has also composed a number of new hauta. His music is not confined to a classical Japanese framework. He collaborates with musicans of a variety of genres and has held numerous performances in Japan and overseas.

- 1983 Awarded "4th Matsuo Art Entertainment Prize - Japanese Folk Music Prize of Excellence"
- 1986 Awarded Arts Festival Prize by the Agency for Cultural Affairs
- 1991 Awarded Arts Festival Prize by the Agency for Cultural Affairs
- 2004 Awarded 54th Monbukagakusho Outstanding Achievements in Cultural Affairs Prize
- 2007 Awarded Purple Ribbon Medal
- 2007 Awarded Master Rank Prize by Nihonminyokyokai.

In 1983 Honjoh Hidetaro won the 4th Matsuo Performing Arts Prize for "Excellence in Japanese Folk Music" for his achievements. He has promoted Japanese folk music widely overseas, created guidance for the younger generation, and composed music for shamisen. In 1985 and 1990 he received an "Art Festival Prize" for his contribution to the annual arts festival sponsored by the Agency for Cultural Affairs.

He also does collaboration on composition activities with modern music and folk music using Japanese musical instruments. He has released several new CDs including "Sange," "Amateru," "Keten," "Sangen," "Hauta," "Risogaku," "Kaiki," "Nu·Qua·Ta." and "Lullaby Songs." He has performed on stage and has made television appearances, along with composition activities for commercials and in the direction of music programs in Japan and abroad.

He has conducted 26 "Honjoh Hidetaro no Kai" performances, and put his efforts into the wide promotion of music. Over many years, he has collected more than 350 "Hauta" songs (a type of Japanese traditional music). He is presently giving concerts of Hauta songs, with a goal to sing all of his collected sogs within the next ten years.

He is a member of the JASRAC (Japanese Music Society for Rights of Authors, Composers and Publishers), the Society for Japanese Folk Music and the Modern Japanese Music Composer's Association. He is a member of the steering committee for Contemporary Shamisen Music Association, a goodwill ambassador for Ibaragi prefecture, head of the Association for the Encouragement and Preservation of Japanese Folk Music and honorary professor of the Japan Folksong and Dance Foundation.

教え子

林美音子

アルバム

Sange

録音した曲

曲	漢字	長さ	アルバム	楽器
Ane Komo-sa	姉こもさ	02'35	Invitation to the Folk Songs for Shakuhachi	三弦
Ashura	阿修羅	07'15	Sange	三弦
Dancing Sand	砂の海	21'40	Sange	三弦
Integral I	し・あ・わ・せ	02'54	Sange	三弦
Kiyo Bushi	喜代節	03'48	Invitation to the Folk Songs for Shakuhachi	三弦
Mamuro Gawa Ondo	真室川音頭	02'44	Invitation to the Folk Songs for Shakuhachi	三弦
May	メイ	02'26	Sange	三弦
Nagasaki Nonnoko Bushi	長崎のんのこ節	02'35	Invitation to the Folk Songs for Shakuhachi	三弦
Nehan		07'48	Sange	三弦
Pilgrimage Part 1	巡ネし	07'54	Sange	三弦
Pilgrimage Part 2	巡ネし	06'09	Sange	三弦
Sangen Dokusō Kyoku 'Yuzuriha'	三絃独奏曲ゆずり木	15'02	Yuzuriiha	三弦
Sky with Fish		05'43	Sange	三弦

作曲・編曲

三弦の作品
タイトル	漢字	年	別題
Dancing Sand	砂の海
Integral I	し・あ・わ・せ
May	メイ
Nehan
Pilgrimage Part 1	巡ネし
Pilgrimage Part 2	巡ネし
Sky with Fish