Wind Bands and Cultural Identity in Japanese Schools

This well researched volume tells the story of music education in Japan and of the wind band contest organized by the All-Japan Band Association. Identified here for the first time as the world’s largest musical competition, it attracts 14,000 bands and well over 500,000 competitors. The book’s insightful contribution to our understanding of both music and education chronicles music learning in Japanese schools and communities. It examines the contest from a range of perspectives, including those of policy makers, adjudicators, conductors and young musicians. The book is an illuminating window on the world of Japanese wind bands, a unique hybrid tradition that comingles contemporary western idioms with traditional Japanese influences. In addition to its social history of Japanese school music programs, it shows how participation in Japanese school bands contributes to students’ sense of identity, and sheds new light on the process of learning to play European orchestral instruments.

• All-Japan Band Association
• European orchestral instruments
• Japanese composers
• Japanese influences
• Tokyo Kosei Wind Orchestra
• Yamaha
• japanese schools
• music education
• wind bands
• young musicians

From the book reviews:

“David Hebert introduces readers to Japanese wind band culture with his book Wind Bands and Cultural Identity in Japanese Schools. … Written in conversational prose suited for ethnography, Hebert accomplishes a rare feat—a book that is accessible to both scholars and music teacher practitioners. … Hebert successfully weaves the inner workings of a successful Japanese wind band with the social history of Japanese bands into an interesting, intricate tapestry.” (Andrew Goodrich, Journal of Historical Research in Music Education, Vol. XXXVI (1), October, 2014)

“The book is intended for a broad readership (e.g. education, ethnomusicology, Japanese studies and band directors). The way it is written will certainly appeal to readers from each of these disciplines. … Wind Bands and Cultural Identity in Japanese Schools is a thoroughly written book that combines in-depth historical and ethnographic research. It is certainly the first book of its kind and adds to the growing literature of research on transplanted music styles in Japan.” (Henry Johnson, Music Education Research, January, 2014)

“This book is a valuable resource to those with interests in a number of musical and academic fields … . the author successfully connects these different strands and produces an accurate and engaging picture of the middle school wind band scene in Japan. In reading this book it is evident that the author has an impassioned interest in the subject matter and this is achieved without losing both its potent focus and its attraction to a broad readership.” (Richard Jones, the world of music (new series), Vol. 2 (1), 2013)

“Hebert not only describes the structure of practices and training of contemporary Japanese school wind bands as seen through his fieldwork, he also traces the history of the reception of modern Western music in Japan. … at a time when Japanese schools, clubs, arts, and sports aregoing through a great number of changes, this publication can serve as an important reference and inform the decisions of those attempting to advance changes to the educational system.” (Hiroshi Nishijima, Social Science Japan Journal, April, 2013)

“David Hebert’s book exhaustively explores the relationship of wind bands and the formation of cultural identity in Japanese primary schools in the twenty-first century. … This book will be most interesting for scholars interested in contemporary Japan and music pedagogy. … In this meticulously researched book Hebert methodically guides the reader through a highly organized account of every aspect of Japanese wind bands.” (CedarBough Saeji, ethnomusicologyreview.ucla.edu, February, 2013)

“Hebert’s text is an important contribution to the profession, important and unique. The book’s importance stems from Hebert’s first-hand knowledge of students, schools, and teachers at the middle school level in one suburb of Tokyo. … One learns many facts about middle school instrumental music and its context and one can honestly say that the book provokes one to learn more. … I am glad to have read the book and I learned a lot … .” (Richard Colwell, ethnomusicologyreview.ucla.edu, February, 2013)

“The definitive book on Japanese wind music by David Herbert was published by Springer. This detailed research into wind band training in Japan should be in every library, and his interviews with six leading wind band composers must be compulsory reading for anyone interested in Japanese music.” (Tim Reynish, timreynish.com, June, 2012)

• Grieg Academy, Faculty of Education, Bergen University College, Bergen, Norway

  David G. Hebert

David G. Hebert, PhD is a Professor of Music with the Grieg Academy, Bergen University College, Norway. He previously held academic positions with universities in the USA, Japan, Finland, Russia, and New Zealand, and has directed (or currently directs) music research projects on 6 continents. Widely published and cited as a scholar of global music education, he is chair of the Historical Ethnomusicology special interest group of the Society for Ethnomusicology.

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