Indo-mono musical works in modern Japan - a focus on Kazuo Yamada and Sadao Itō

This paper examines the Indo-mono [India-related] musical works of two Japanese composers, Kazuo Yamada (1912-1991) and Sadao Itō (1906-2005), both active in the mid-twentieth century, and the positions of their works in a line of the Indo-mono category. Indo-mono literally means something related to India. This term is used in this paper as a category of musical works related to Indic or south Asian musical and cultural elements, to denote a groupe of such musical works composed in modern Japan. Two case studies on two composers show that these Indo-mono works are the mixture of various writing methods of the Western music and Indian elements, including musical scales and Indian poetry. The general interest of Japan in Nanpō [south] area including India in early twentieth century, and Weserrnized music education system introduced since Meiji era constitute the background of such cultural hybridization found in these works. In addition, a historical connection of Japan to India over 1,200 years since the introduction of Buddhism also played an important role.