The Fate of Music - Toshiro Mayuzumi's View of Art, July 1967

The Fate of Music - Toshiro Mayuzumi's View of Art, July 1967

In the year 1967, the Japanese music world was beginning to search for its own sound beyond Western imitation. While postwar reconstruction and economic growth had brought affluence, there was still a strong yearning for the West in terms of culture. Toshiro Mayuzumi said that "music is a projection of the spirit of the times," and he tried to build a Japanese-style contemporary music, moving away from imitation. He was known for his avant-garde style, incorporating electronic sounds and coincidental techniques in "X, Y, Z" and "Bunraku," while reconstructing traditional structures such as Noh and Gagaku for the modern age. While rapid modernization was homogenizing culture, Mayuzumi believed that "music records the times, but it must not be subordinated to the times," and sought to restore the spirit of Japan through sound. He also connected contemporary music with the masses through "Concert without a Title," thereby expanding the gates of art. His philosophy was that music
is a testament to the memory of the times and people, and his ideas were a quiet voice of resistance that demanded cultural independence in the Showa era.