Linkages of music around Asia and beyond: Seeking possibilities of transborder research methods.

6/16 2:00 ~ 4:00 p.m.

Presenters: Masaya Shishikua

Area of study: Memories and Music

Abstract: In this seminar, we will explore various musical linkages around Asia. With focus on Japan, the seminar introduces music activities of minorities in Japan, historical Japanese prostitutes/musicians who migrated to many Asian regions, and Japanese songs that have been widely appreciated around Asia. The cases of minorities’ music in Japan interrogates such concepts as community and minorities. Especially, the case of Ogasawara demonstrates multiple musical bonds that expand from this small island community to the world. The stories of Japanese prostitutes/musicians exemplify great human mobility that transcends political boundaries of nation states and illustrate transborder humanities shared among different peoples in different places. The Japanese songs that have retained popularity around Asia are good examples of globalization, through which we will consider dilemma and negotiation in the rapidly shifting modern world. The various linkages of music and people also suggest a possibility of transborder research methods that questions some conceptual models within ethnomusicology, such as “a music and a society”. In the seminar, we will remain critical and creative, and seek new and innovative research methods that overcome conventional concepts, customs, and discourses.

Masaya Shishikura is an ethnomusicologist who researches geographical and social frontiers of Japan. He is currently a lecturer of the School of Foreign Languages, Huizhou University, China. Shishikura received a Ph.D. from The Australian National University and  holds a research fellow position at the Institute for Liberal Arts, Tokyo Institute of Technology, where he is lead researcher on two Japanese goverqnment KAKENHI projects. His recent publications include book chapters from Routledge (2018), ANU Press (2017), and Junpōsha, Tokyo (2017, in Japanese), as well as several articles on music, memories, travel, and cultural translations. Shishikura is an international scholar, who had served as a researcher at the Institute for Advanced Study on Asia, The University of Tokyo, the Jawaharlal Nehru Institute of Advanced Study, New Delhi, and the International Institute for Asian Studies, Leiden.

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