Gagaku in Place and Practice: A Philosophical Inquiry into the Place of Japanese Imperial Court Music in Contemporary Culture

Gagaku is the oldest form of traditional Japanese music; however, it is commonly depicted both in academic and nonacademic works as remote and removed from everyday life and people. Nevertheless, musicians throughout Japan, in the United States, and in Germany are playing gagaku. This situation raises two questions: How exactly does the misconception of gagaku arise? How can we discuss gagaku in a way that more accurately reflects its “worldly” position? In this article I address these two questions by using the concept of place to answer the first question and the concept of practice to answer the second.