Celebrity File Japan by Lint


英文		重要語句
■ Japan is certainly an elitist society and that means it has many ancient and unusual traditions based on that. Elitism in any field, though, often causes creative stagnation. This is why the traditional music of gagaku is a strange place to learn where the musical styling of a long-haired rebel by the name of Hideki Togi got his start.		elitist　エリート主義的な ancient　由緒ある；昔ながらの tradition　伝統 stagnation　不振 rebel　反逆者
■■ This talented musician has updated gagaku by breaking with tradition. Gagaku is soaked in tradition as it is basically only performed by the 25 members of the Imperial Palace gagaku Orchestra. It was also almost never performed in public nor for anyone but the Emperor. Nowadays it is, at times, even performed in other countries as part of state visits by Japanese dignitaries. Traditionally, though, gagaku remains the preserve of the Imperial Household.		update　…を最新のものにする break with ...　 …〈旧習など〉を捨てる soaked in ...　 …でいっぱいの Imperial Palace　皇居 state visit　公式訪問 dignitary　高官 preserve　領分；領域
■■■ So where does a child of the '60s fit into all this? Togi, born in 1959 in Tokyo, comes from this guild musician stock on his mother's side of the family. Even so he only came to study music after high school and was more influenced by jazz and Jimi Hendrix. He was talented enough to become a member of the Imperial Palace gagaku Orchestra, but having a guaranteed job for life was not his primary goal. He surprisingly quit after ten years with this prestigious orchestra.		fit into ...　 …に適合する guild　組合；団体 stock　家系；家柄 influence　…に影響を与える guarantee　…を保証する for life　一生；終身 primary goal　主目的
■■■■ Not only did he quit but he released his own solo album, Mode of the Rising Sun, of gagaku music. In a former time, this would have probably meant his death as to release music that is the exclusive preserve of the Emperor is beyond scandalous. His music was officially condemned as "pathetic." They may be right as it is pretty ambient and New Agey but the public loved his use of traditional gagaku wind instruments, the sho and the hichiriki.		as to ...　 …に関しては exclusive　独占的な condemn　…を非難する pathetic　感傷的な ambient　背景音楽的な New Agey　ニューエイジ調 wind instrument　管楽器
■■■■■ Most people feel the music alone is not the reason for his success. Maybe it's his "rock 'n' roll" image he tries to pull off with his "hip" hairstyle and the passion for motorcycles. Or maybe it's the Japanese interest for whatever is new (and gagaku, even though it is an old form of music, is new to most people's ears). Who knows why but, without Hideki Togi, gagaku would probably have remained an elitist form of music heard by just a select few. For bringing it out into the open and spreading this unique musical form to the masses, he may have done the Imperial Family a favor in helping to keep an ancient form of Japanese culture alive and well into the 21st century. I'm not so sure how they feel about having Togi's version of gagaku being used in TV commercials.		pull off ...　 …を首尾良くやる hip　粋な；かっこいい bring it out into the open　事を明らかにする the masses　一般大衆 alive and well　生き残って；健在で

－written by Brian Maitland

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