Shinnai Today

Having always been a kind of salon music, independent from the better-known performing art forms of Kabuki and Bunraku, shinnai today lacks the broad audience and recognition that related forms of music and narrative associated with these major traditional performing arts enjoy. Although growing somewhat due to the efforts of Tsuruga Wakasanojo XI and others, awareness of shinnai remains limited, even in Japan.

Tsuruga Wakasanojo's designation, in 2001, as a Living National Treasure marked a major step, however, not only in the artist's personal career, but also in terms of the official recognition of shinnai as a vital traditional art form to be preserved for future generations. Following the formal induction ceremony as Living National Treasure, Wakasanojo-sensei and the other designees were invited to the Imperial residence, where he had the honor of speaking briefly with the Imperial Couple about the history of shinnai, which was completely unfamiliar to them, and the current state of the art form. At the end of their conversation, Wakasanojo-sensei commented that he would love to invite them to hear shinnai some time and the Empress responded that she would be most interested. These few words, reflecting Wakasanojo-sensei's passion for his art, ultimately resulted, a few years later, in the Imperial Couple's first-ever attendance at an individual performer's recital of traditional Japanese music, a solo performance by Tsuruga Wakasanojo XI in September 2005.

Recognizing that shinnai as a standalone art form poses challenges for the majority of audiences unfamiliar with this style of narrative singing, Wakasanojo-sensei has also conceived of ways of collaborating with artists of various other traditional and contemporary performing art forms in order to make shinnai more accessible to a wider range of popular audiences. He has actively sought opportunities to link shinnai with visual performing arts and has performed with Kitagawa School Noh actor Matsui Akira, with classical and modern ballet dancers, ukiyoe painters, and, of course, Kuruma Ningyo puppetry master Nishikawa Koryu V and his predecessor Nishikawa Koryu IV. Opportunities for collaboration continue to grow and the performances continue to be well-received.

The Kuruma Ningyo collaborations are one of the longest-running and most successful efforts, and the intense realism of the Kuruma Ningyo form of puppetry works particularly well with the highly poignant mode of expression characteristic of shinnai. Amid these various innovations, Wakasanojo's careful choice of collaborators and performance material always serve to highlight the key aspects of shinnai singing and the particular style of shamisen that have defined it since its beginnings in the mid-18th century.

One final and very important aspect of Wakasanojo-sensei's efforts to ensure the future vitality of shinnai is, of course, teaching the younger generations. He conducts lessons at his home in Kagurazaka, Tokyo, in the traditional master-student mode and welcomes newcomers regardless of background.