Pour Une Infante
Why do the Japanese love French music?
Hello there,
I’m curious whether anyone knows why the Japanese love playing and listening to French composers (i.e. Ravel, Debussy, etc…). I’m a pianist, and I happen to love both Japan and impressionist music, so I’m really curious. It seems that every second Japanese movie that’s worth watching (as in NOT the generic horror films) has some impressionist piece included. “Tokyo Sonata”? Debussy’s Claire de Lune (which I’m also playing by the way). “Adrift in Tokyo” (aka. Tenten), Ravel’s Pavane Pour une Infante Defunte (which I will probably be playing some time in the future). Not that I’m complaining, but, what gives?
Serious answers only please.
Thanks
The truth is that the Japanese love Ravel, Debussy, etc…, not because they are French, but because they are good, I think.
Nevertheless, it is also true that various kinds of French culture including music has attracted the Japanese for a long time. For example, modern French songs are called “shanson” (chansons) and they form one of major genres of modern Japanese music. They are loved by the Japanese, of course.
There are some Japanese who call France as “o-furansu”. “O” is an honorific. France is the only country in the world which is called with an honorific by the Japanese.
The converse can be true. Various kinds of Japanese culture has attracted the French since Japan opened the country to the western world in the middle of the 19th century. “Japonisme” has been one of mainstreams of French culture, I have heard.
It is my personal opinion, but the French and the Japanese are located in the opposite poles in various points, from the people’s ways of thinking to the structure of languages.
For example, it is said that the French are the most self-assertive people in the world, while the Japanese are the least. Subjects are regarded to be important in the French language and their rules are very logical, however, they are not in the Japanese language and we sometimes even omit them when it is communicable.
The two peoples located in the opposite poles attract each other, just like the opposite poles of magnets do; it is what I mean.
Grave Of The Fireflies AMV – Pavane Pour Une Infante Defunte (by Ravel)