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EntityQ1073515· pop 7· linked from 151 articles

is the Japanese term for military music. While in standard use in Japan it applies both to Japanese songs and foreign songs such as "The Battle Hymn of the Republic", as an English language category it refers to songs produced by the Empire of Japan in between roughly 1877 and 1943.

Wikidata facts

Subclass of
music of Japan
Country of origin
Empire of Japan
Image
Ad for Nitto Records, Osaka, Japan, in 1932.jpg
Show 3 more facts
native label
軍歌
different from
war song

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~4 min read

Encyclopedic overview

11 sections
Contents
  • History
  • Meiji Restoration period
  • Empire of Japan
  • Post-war period
  • Characteristics
  • Instruments
  • Metre, rhythm and tone
  • Topics
  • Notable ''gunka''
  • References
  • Bibliography

is the Japanese term for military music. While in standard use in Japan it applies both to Japanese songs and foreign songs such as "The Battle Hymn of the Republic", as an English language category it refers to songs produced by the Empire of Japan in between roughly 1877 and 1943.

==History== ===Meiji Restoration period=== During the Meiji Restoration Period, Western composers and teachers taught Japanese people to write and make music in the Western classical tradition. Military marches were adopted in Japan, as part of a trend of Western customs integrating into the Japanese culture. Gunka was one of the major Western-influenced musical forms that emerged in this period and were used to encourage patriotism in the post-restoration era.

Excerpted from Wikipedia’s “gunka” article, available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 licence.

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