Japanese musical instruments that can be found in Japanese homes: Annual Events and Japanese Traditional Musical Instruments

Have you ever heard of the Japanese traditional culture “Doll’s Festival（Hinamatsuri）”?

Hinamatsuri is a uniquely Japanese annual event celebrated on March 3 every year.
It is a day to wish for the healthy growth and health of girls.
Families with girls display hina dolls and eat sweets and food unique to Hinamatsuri.

Hina Ningyo is a Japanese doll wearing traditional Japanese costume for Hinamatsuri.
The scale of the set varies, but dolls representing the dolls of the Emperor(odairi-sama) and the Empress(ohina-sama), the maidens and the musicians are displayed.

The musicians are called goninbayashi in Japan.
Goninbayashi consists of a small drum (taiko), an large drum (otsuzumi), a hand drum (kotsuzumi), a transverse flute (yokobue), and a singer.
Their role is to enliven the festive occasion with songs and performances.

Some of you may be wondering, “What do you mean by ‘happy occasions’?”
Actually, it is said that hina dolls represent the wedding ceremony of the odairi-sama and ohina-sama.
It seems that music is indispensable to weddings now and in the past.

Even today in Japan, there are opportunities to see Japanese musical instruments through annual events celebrated at home.
If you do a homestay in Japan around March, you may be able to meet the five musicians.