The earliest Japanese music recorded was around 0 AD.

The music at this time was called the Shinto ritual. It had to do with one of their main religions, Shinto.

At this time it was very ‘free’ music, people just played what they wanted, but as the years progressed it became a lot more ‘formal’. The Shinto ritual was the main type of music around Japan until roughly 700 AD.

From 700-1200 AD was The Age Of Court Music.

This music came from the Buddhists who came to Japan from China around this time and the Chinese brought their music and instruments with them as well as their religion. This music became extremely popular and it led to the finding of Gagaku, which still is one of the most popular forms of music in Japan.

Gagaku has been around in Asia for more than a millennium.

Shamisen- is a three-stringed lute. Originally derived from the Chinese sanhsien. It is played like a guitar with a plectrum. Originally it had silk strings but now it has nylon strings. It is used to accompany singing and theatre.

During the Edo Period, 1700-1868, Japan started to calm down and find peace and stability. And the music continued to develop. By now Noh was very big amongst all of the upper class people.

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