Eating and rules courtesy of Japan

Eating is a pleasure in daily activities. So in order not to cause discomfort to those sitting at the table together, which also has the polite rules or methods holidays mean seriously.
In case of Japan, though relatively less, but also some rules of courtesy or ceremony method means that you should remember and practice.

1. Using chopsticks during meals

Food culture in every country in the world is very diverse. On how to make a meal, country meals are served on the floor and sit down to eat, and national use table. Moreover, how to eat, country eat with a knife and fork, eat with chopsticks countries, what countries also use their hands to eat etc. The difference is that the method developed by conditions climate, nature and contents of the dish etc. and was a most appropriate method, is preferred to that country, and it is seen as part of the cultural life of the country.

Japanese dining table and use chopsticks when eating. Only a few people in the world such as Japanese, Chinese etc ... use chopsticks, but if used it is very convenient.

2. Do not eat with your hands

The Japanese hated feeding method because hands become dirty. Because they think that there are many different species in the magazine in your hands, just wash a bit, it still remains very much in the nails, etc. Surely this is not how food hygiene. However, for trainees and technical interns grow in direct hand food culture, it appears that delicious feeling of being cut in half by not eating with chopsticks. At least in the case of Japanese meals and eat together as in the restaurant or at a party, it is better to eat using hands.

3. Number of bowls

The Japanese appreciate the shape, flavor materials available, to appreciate the beauty of the shape sorting food, etc. So, there are specific points that each dish is placed on a separate disk should have a variety of dishes laid out on the table. And both eat and enjoy the taste of each plate.

In contrast, food is probably the most common beverage in many countries, for food on a big plate of rice, then to penetrate rice dishes, or mix and eat with food .

This is due to differences in food culture, food in any way. However, when food is absolutely not leave uneaten food on the table or thrown to the floor. Table dirty, very unsanitary. Leftovers to put in an absolute angle of the disk is not littered. This makes it easier to clean.

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"Quan ho" folk songs of vietnam

Of them (also known as Quan Quan Ho Bac Ninh or Kinh Bac ...) are the folk songs of the northern plains, Vietnam; concentrated mainly in the Business North - Bac Ninh News and northern Jiang.

Called Quan Ho Bac Ninh does not mean Bac Ninh province is the main subject of the folk genre, North Kinh Bac Ninh or be interpreted as former Bac Ninh province, October 10, 1895, Bac Giang province, separated from the Northern Province Ninh. However, this type of folk mainly developed in the Bridge River, a natural border of the two provinces. According to the researchers, the name of this heritage can change over time, by creating cultural entities.
September 30, 2009, at the 4th session of the Intergovernmental Committee of the UNESCO Convention on Protection of intangible cultural heritage (from September 28 to October 2, 2009), they were recognized as representative of the intangible heritage of humanity after Hue royal court music, the space of Gong Culture in the Central Highlands and the same phase with Ca Tru.

Origins
Meaning of "Quan" is usually separated into two words and literal interpretation of the etymology of "objective" and "them". This leads to insights about Quan derived from "royal music", or associated with the integration of an important man going through the Kinh Bac was ecstatic by singing of joint his sister in the it and stopped steps to enjoy ("they"). However, this interpretation ignores the elements of their cultural space as living forms (the wards ceremony they made you two, her life just as you, can not be causally husband and wife), oratorio, how to organize and communicate, the way to use the word opposite in meaning and tone in cultural activities to meet folk.
Some opinion said that Quan derived from religious rituals bring people the traditional elements, not Quan derived from royal music, or view the progress of living forms culture "Quan game" rooted in religious ceremonies through the court then folk folk back.
Identified based on the semantic analysis of terms in the tunes and oratorio space that their view is "relationship" of a group of people who love them in Kinh Bac.
However there is no point of view accepted by most scholars. Their offices today is not only a way of singing (singing) between "linked him" (the male, men singing them) and "instant she" (female, woman singing them) but also the form of emotional exchange between mainland him, and he her audience. One of the forms represented a new song they sing style for consecutive consecutive meeting between him and her. Scenario may occur in the content of the lyrics have been prepared in advance or according to ability to improvise both sides of the theater.

Traditional quan
Traditional they only exist in 49 villages of their origin in Kinh Bac Quan is a form of traditional folk cultural institutions of Kinh Bac people, with strict regulations, requiring rigorous consecutive him, her instant understanding the criteria and follow the rules. This explains why Kinh Bac people enjoy "Quan game", not "Quan sing" traditional Quan main accompaniment and sing consecutive double between him and linked her to the spring festival The second period in the village. In their tradition, sometimes linked him to meet with her immediately she is known as sneeze, sing farming; them, the group linked him to meet with the group immediately she called to sing Happy, happy, singing church.
- "Playing them" traditional no audience, and performers who enjoy (enjoy the "love" your song). Many post offices they traditionally linked him, and he her "play their" favorite to this day as that, Love, You metallic times, A, plant rice.

They
They also called "Quan sing", is a form of performing (singing) their offices mainly on the stage or in the community Spring Festival, festivals, tourism, restaurants, ... In fact, they performed on any day of the year. The tape CD, DVD of them today are the form they were performing on stage, ie they are new. They always have an audience, who sang emotional exchange with the audience is no longer the love between you sing together. They are no longer located in the village space that has reached out in many places, with many listeners in countries around the world.
They have the form of their richer representation traditions, including solo, song, top song, dance song accompanied ... They modified the traditional post in two ways: unconscious and conscious. More or less, but the form of their song accompaniment is regarded as a modified no sense. Most all of them come under this type of arrangement. Modified sense that all documents have modified both the music and lyrics of their tradition. This type of arrangement is not much, for example, "do not" is adapted from tunes "Golden Bell doorman gate" (Xuan Tu arranger).
Sing them with my new favorite by many to mistakenly believe their traditional song "Bridge River water suspended poetry" written by Mai Khanh new words from traditional tunes "least sensitive cinnamon". They are preferred over traditional they do not have the space and the activities of their neck style is no longer part due to the activity "of their song" today often associated with responsible authorities for propagation, introduction, promoting them on a large scale.

Tunes
They are the most abundant type of folk on folk tunes in warehouses Vietnam. Each of them has its own tone. So far, there were at least 300 of them have been negative sign. The last of them was introduced only a part of the folk repertoire they were discovered. Tape storage thousands of their shares by the artist in the villages of their singing is still kept at the Department of Culture, Bac Giang and Bac Ninh.
The tunes of their neck: is that the way you Kim Loan, rice plants, Farewell you, Well la, La bargain, The Funeral, A, Up the mountain, down the river, the soul, A, Wind Moon bar, Four you ...

Apparel

Hats Sports straps and strips her tenderness of the joint
Of their costume includes dress costume then he and her immediately. During the festival they have both of their costume contest.

Soon he
Soon he wore a fifth body, neck upright, leaf, border evil, to bear up to the knees. Usually inside wearing a blouse or two, then two long. Particularly outside the regular black dress, materials, food, the, or for better-off people, the coat is made from the black, also covering garment dress twice with one out in wages or the period, once in blue silk thin flake, light green shoots, lemon yellow ... called a double coat.
Concerned of his white trousers, wide tube, garment type is lame foot up to the ankle, sewing materials polling well with pants, Cartridge, architecture elected, or silk Truoi color chicken fat. Small waist to tighten the waistband. Noise double his head wrapped or folded towel. Time ago, man more bun to should be the hair with a towel. After this part many haircuts, turn road house should switch to use a folded towel sold in the stores for this.
Along with pants, shirt, scarf, shoes, ... the instant he often more conical tip with the tip sheets usually pineapple or tip, chicken fat silk straps. Also see the instant he used the black box. Other accessories are hand towel, comb, the "luxury" in the ancient sense. Handkerchiefs of silk or with a large white cloth, fold and tuck in the donut, belt or pocket.

Soon she
Apparel instant she often referred to as "open three open seven shirt", consecutive means you can wear three interlocking dress (her grave) or seven interlocking dress (open seven). But in fact, the instant she often wears her grave. Basically costume includes components: the same as a regular brightly colored overalls made Truoi silk dyeing. Flaps are usually two types of is affectionately car (for middle) and neck bibs border (for young women). Outside bibs as a white blouse, gold, ivory, light colors, background firing. Also the same as the dress itself, the color scheme is similar in male costume but more colors.
Dress of the female body, buttoned, the different styles of Deathly tighten the two before that in ancient times girls usually worn during festivals, weddings or current artistic actors usually wear. Material for the best dressed first is the silk. Dresses out often fired as the old brown background color, non brown, black, amber while in often different colored dress: colored lotus, patio flower color, cerulean, hydro, color lemon yellow, yellow nuggets etc. Blouses worn can be replaced with white filter fabric, silk chicken fat.
Often dyed red overalls (old called petal coveralls), yellow letter (flowers), blue (natural sound), pink (lotus), aquarium (blue) etc. also sometimes encounter colored overalls white. Related sisters they do not seem to want his affection, his shirt completely covered should have caused a bit of bright color from the affection and the hem left body turn out. Award affection to let out the back of shirt and the bibs tied around the waist and wearing the front zone with bags and belts.
How's the old girl they often use oak material se (third-woven silk spinning), black, braided tassels at the ends of shell width, you can use thin pocket in the cover and tighten neat waist, slipped back tunic, tight get three body shirt, tied to zone to cover the belly. Belts are usually small bag with about 1/3 bag, used to tighten the waistband skirt waist. Similarly overalls, belts made of silk dyed bright colors like pomegranate flowers, peach flowers, fresh porch, colored aquarium. The waist and tied to the front zone to zone with shell smell overalls make these colorful flowers in front of the girl.
Immediately she wore skirts oak, silk skirts, sometimes with a double skirt dress in silk, fabric, color, food, the, the; outside in the silk dress. Black skirt. The dress is smart not to cut front dress, in strapless dress circle for trousers that are arranged so that the front drape tongues bottle down near the back of the foot, behind the superficial range incipient double sweet side heel.
Contact her slippers made of buffalo skin by manual methods; leather with a circle on the slippers to put on the second toe (next to the big toe) caused walking, not falling sandals. Nose bent sandals and slippers hairdresser to know yourself, of for hard nose sandals, such as a small shield, hiding the toes. Also, pants, belts, slippers, instant, she also scattered towel opened, athletic hats straps, the and strap beam waist area.
Quan conservation
Quan is a kind of extremely rich folk tunes. They were handed down in folklore from generation to generation through the oral method. This method is an important factor for them to become a kind of folk large number of songs with different melodies. However, this method has to do for all they are handed down in folk had to be changed a lot, even different than the original. Many ancient melodies were lost. Although this change make Quan development, but in the context of intrusion of Western culture is strong in Vietnam, their problems preserve the status quo in each stage of development is the employment level setting. Since the 70s of last century, the Department of Culture, Hebei conducted Quan collection. Thousands of posts Quan, including variants have been recorded in the villages of them, with the voices of hundreds of craftsmen (By now almost all gone). After screening and selection, musicians, researchers Hong Thao signed audio tracks, added some characters their own characteristic tone Quan. 300 Quan or post has been Music Publishing in a book. However, thousands of posts they have been recorded, by the particular artist (deceased) sang, must be extremely careful preservation. Department of Culture Bac Ninh (or Bac Giang) is responsible for keeping the tapes need to digitize the entire order to be able to keep a long way for future generations.

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ancient costumes of philiphin

The official national costume of Filipino men is the barong tagalog. The  upper garment of the boy in the picture is a barong. It is worn over a Chinese collarless shirt called camisa de Chino. The boy is also wearing the traditional wide-brimmed hatsalakot, which is usually made of rattan or reeds.

 The official national costume of Filipina women is the baro at saya (= baro't saya). The baro is the top blouse. The saya is the skirt.

They look like Ferdinand and Imelda Marcos! She was famous for wearing the terno with its butterfly sleeves. 

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Spanish Fashion

Spanish fashion triumphs all over the world through its designers, prestigious international fashion labels and models that have had success on international catwalks like in Milan, London, New York and Paris displacing the most sought-after top models in the market. The world of fashion, frivolous as it may seem, is a million-dollar business which does not only allow many national companies turnover millions of dollars, rather it makes Spain known and it promotes the use of Castilian.

An example of this expansión at international leve lis that of the leading companyZara which is currently the most widely known company of Inditex group, also consisting of Pull & Bear, Massimo Dutti, Berksha and Stradivarius, a fashion empire made up of hundreds of factories and 1080 shops in 33 different countries.

Inditex dresses Europeans, Americans, the Japanese, and the Middle Eastern population alike with its labels. It also attracts international personalities for example Chealsea Clinton, the daughter of Bill Clinton, ex-President of the United States, who once modified his presidential itinerary to go shopping in the Zara branch of Ankara, the Turkish capital where his father had once visited officially.

The thing with this story is that it had wide repercussions and it meant unexpected as well as free publicity for the company which, among its characteristics that distinguish it from its competitors, had to suffer a calculated aversion to advertise itself through the media. A similar story of free advertising which the company enjoyed was when the American model Cindy Crawford appeared unexpectedly in one of the Zara branches of Canada.

However Inditex and Zara have not only known how to attract the foreign market. Companies with large numbers of sales like El Corte Inglés, Loewe, Camper, Mangoand Pronovias have taken part. In the case of Pronovias the Spanish firm which produces clothing for weddings is the largest producer in the world specializing in this market. Since 1965, the year in which it was born, it has been ever an ever growing company. There are 100 shops with the name in Spain, one in Paris and one in New York and 1000 mini stores within department stores, distributed over more than 40 countries. Another one of the fashion empires is Mango. With more than a hundred shops in the world its expansion in 1998 was so big that it had an average of 10 openings of shops every month. China and India are the latest openings of a giant which employs more than 4000 people.

However behind these companies and other companies the brains of Spanish fashion can be found. They are the artists of fashion, with Spanish names which mark style. Some have triumphed in the country but have also crossed the borders to take their label to other countries to gain success and it has been something which has rendered them Gods in their native country.

Among the most notable fashion designers many names can be found such asAntonio Miró, Agatha Ruiz de la Prada, Pura López, whose products can be found in Asia, Australia, Latin America, and it many parts of Europe, Amaya Arzuaga, Pedro del Hierro, Paco Rabanne…. A large list of designers who have sold all over the world.

In the case of the Sevillians Victorio & Lucchino, their designs can be found in the best shops in New York, in Paris they are a point of reference and also sell in Italy, Germany, the United Kingdom and Japan. Other have managed to become known by merging, which is the case with La Asociación Textil de Galicía (Galician Fashion Association), which boasts well-known names like Adolfo Domínguez, Javier Cañas Caramelo and Roberto Verino. Each one of its members, currently 13, generates millions each year thanks to its varied and personal offers. Forming part of this group has helped them to become famous, nationally as well as internationally. They, together with other designers, have played a part which has given rise to Spanish fashion its grand success.

However, it is without doubt that Spanish models are the main reasons why Spanish fashion has become to be so recognised internationally. Professionals who can let themselves be called top models, a word which only the best are named. Among them, names such as Eugenia Silva, for whom it is normal to see at on 5th Avenue in New York. A close up of her face used to be on la valla deEscada. Eugenia has modeled for Yves Saint Laurent, Prada, Christian Dior. She has made the front page of the Italian and American Vogue and has modeled for campaigns of Óscar de la Renta and Clinique.

Also Vanesa Lorenzo has been involved in a big campaign. She has been the face of Gap and has featured on billboards in Time square and in JFK airport. However they are not the only ones. Eshther cañadas, Inés Sastre, Laura Pone, Nieves Álvarez, Judith Mascó and Verónica Blume are models who today who can been seen in the world, contributing to the use of Castillian and it being the second most used language of the world.

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Dhoti- India clothing

Indian Dhoti

In Andhra Pradesh it is called Pancha, in North India it is called dhoti in Hindi, 'Laacha' in Punjabi, 'mundu' in Malayalam, 'dhuti' in Bangla, 'veshti' in Tamil, 'dhotar' in Marathi and 'panche' in Kannada, is the traditional garment of men's wear in India. Dhoti is a rectangular piece of unstitched cloth, usually around 5 yards long, wrapped about the waist and the legs, and knotted at the waist.

Dhoti, a cloth-piece covering the lower part of the body from the waist, is a kind of traditional drapery, bearing the signature of the heritage of Indian civilisation. This single piece of rectangular stitchless cloth , measuring about 5 yards in length, can give a man an air of elegance, inherent to his culture

In northern India the dhoti is worn with a Kurta on top, the combination known simply as "dhoti kurta", or a "dhuti panjabi" in the East. In southern India, it is worn with an angavastram which is a another unstitched cloth draped over the shoulders in Tamil Nadu or else with a "chokka"(shirt) in Andhra Pradesh or "jubba" (a local version of kurta). On occasions Dhoti kurta is considered formal wear in India.

Dhoti is a traditional Indian men's wear and even in the developed world today men love to wear this ethnic wear occasionally. To tie a dhoti is a difficult task. This attire worn by important political persons makes a political statement. Many people say that clothes may or may not make a man but they certainly make a point when political leaders wear them. Indian political leaders wear their political ideologies on their sleeves by choosing clothes. So if you follow the dhoti trend in Indian political arena, they will tell altogether a different story.

Dhoti is known to be a traditional wear for men all over the country. It is called by different names and worn differently in different sates of India. Over the past century or more, the western clothings have taken the place of traditional Indian wear like dhoti. But in traditional functions like wedding ceremony, it still enjoys an eminent status and preferred by men, all across India. Earlier the dhoti used to be a casual daily wear of the Indian men. But with modernization of our society, it steadily relegated to being just formal clothing in India, though there are still people especially in the rural belts for whom dhoti is the regular clothing attire.

The dhoti dress has not yet lost its popularity in modern day India, as it is still worn with a lot of dignity by the many prominent senior citizens, politicians, musicians, dancers and others. Apart from being worn on all important government and family occasions, the dhoti kurta is also allowed to be worn in the post upscale clubs, which normally stipulate very stern dress code for guests. There is one prominent Indian citizen who gets all credit for popularizing this attire beyond the Indian borders and he is Mahatma Gandhi.

There are various styles of wearing the Indian dhoti. The Bengali style is- men usually make pleats in their dhoti. In south India, the dhoti wearers add the angavastram to their attire, which is an extra piece of unstitched cloth kept on the shoulders. For convenience purpose, many south Indian men fold their dhoti in half and tuck it at the waist so that it reaches only till the knees. In certain Indian communities in Rajasthan, wearing the dhoti-kurta is mandatory.

A dhoti is the coventional male costume for attending official meetings, or ceremonial occcassions, in the entire nation. Even today`s young generation, flaunt themselves in Dhotis, ornately designed , happen to be their foremost priority , during festivals, social-gatherings and ceremonies.It not only furnishes them with an ethnic look, which is the in-thing now, but increases the element of dignity, related to manliness.

This attire of eminence, Dhoti is the costume of most of the national icons too. Ranging from the ministers, politicians, national leaders, to the cultural cultivators, like musicians, poets, and men of letters, represent the nation, being Dhoti clad.

Indeed, dhoti was the insignia of national tradition, a strong pillar of Ghandhi`s championing of indigenous culture, in the face of the oppressive enforcement cast by the British regime in India. The glorification of Dhoti, was a constituent programme of Satyagraha movement, initiated by the venerated Bapu, the Father of India, Gandhi, during the national war of Independence in India.

Gandhi, himself used to wear Dhoti, to personify the teeming millions of the country, starting from the humble farmers to the elite class, as all had Dhoti as their common dress.

Dhoti , in this hi-tech age, is till date, the daily garment for many regions in India. For example, the royal Rajputs, proudly display themselves in Dhoti. The Bengali manner of Dhoti-draping is quite artistic .Dhoti, with sober but attractive patterns, are arranged in proper pleats, with the front portion of the cloth being held firmly as a japanese fan. Dhoti is the hereditary groom`s costume in Bengali marraiges. Again, the manner of wearing is differernt in Tamil Nadu. One famous style is the Pancha Katcham, i.e. five knots or five folds.

A Dhoti, normally comes in shades of white, crème or beige. In South India especifically in Tamil Nadu, the material of Dhots, known as Magatam or Pattu Pancha, is in general , silk, while the fabric could be of tussar, or silk, or comfortable cotton in Bengal. Crimson, Dhotis called Sowlay, is the uniform of the temple-priests in Maharashtra.

The Dhoti is an integral part of our cultural context, and daily customs and religion. Dhoti , as an Indian traditional costume, contains, the very impression of Indianness, needful to project our national identity, before the entire world.

How to wear a dhoti:

• The dhoti is one long piece of cloth. The first step is to start by folding the dhoti in half so that it is half its original length.
• Drape the dhoti behind onself. The stripe of the dhoti should be vertical and held at the top by the left hand. The top of the folded side should be in your right hand and the dhoti should drape almost to the ground behind your heels.
• Bring together in front side the folded side in the right hand to meet the stripe side in your left hand.
• Hold both the folded and stripe side in the left hand and bring them at even tension directly on to the left side, keeping the bottom of the dhoti level and near the ground.
• Hold the stripe side in the left hand as one accordion fold the fold side with the right hand until it is even horizontally with the left leg.
• There should now be a folded bunch in one’s right hand. Slightly lift this bunch in the right hand as one bring’s the stripe side over it on to the right side.
The dhoti is now wrapped around the waist. What is left is adjusting the tightness and rolling it down to hold the tension in place.
• Take the bunch in the right hand twist it slightly together and to the left and slip the top side of the dhoti just over the bunch to hold it in place.
• Even up the stripe side so that the stripe is vertical and the dhoti drapes level just above the floor.
• Roll the top of the dhoti down to a comfortable waist level, somewhere below the belly button.

Tips for comfort and convenience: Dhotis do not have pockets, but they do have a roll at the waistline which is very much useful. It is possible to carry small items such as keys, cash, and some IDs by placing them in the roll. With some practice, your items will be secure and easily accessible. One should be careful going up steps while wearing a dhoti. It is easy to step on the dhoti, especially the left side. Lifting the bunched accordion fold higher before rolling helps alleviate this problem. Silk dhotis do stay on.

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Culture of India

CULTURE IS THE ART OF LIVING

It refers to the intellectual development evolved out of the physical and mental training acquired in the course of the ages in a country.The culture of India (or) Indian culture can be best expressed as comprising the following

Humanity - The mildness of the Indians has continued till date, despite the aggressiveness of the Muslim conquerors and the reforming zeal of the British, the Portuguese and the Dutch. The Indians are noted for their humanness and calm nature without any harshness in their principles and ideals.

Tolerance - Gandhiji’s satyagraha principle or Ahimsa - freedom without taking a drop of blood, worked wonders and gave credit to India in the international arena. Swami Vivekananda in his famous Chicago Speech on the 11th of September, 1893 spoke of this.

Unity - India is a conglomeration of men and women of various castes and creed. It is a fusion of old traditional values and the modern principles, thus satisfying all the three generations in the present India. The Elite businessman and the common vendor on the road share the same news and worship the same deity .

Secularism - India is a secular coun country as stated in its Constitution. There is freedom of worship throughout the length and breadth of India without any breeches or violations of any other’s religious beliefs. The Hindus, The Muslims, The Christians, and The Sikhs in times of calamity and during festivities come openly together to share their thoughts despite their religious affinities. The catholicity of the Indian culture can be best understood by the fact that hundreds of Hindus visit the Velankanni shrine or the Nagore Dargah in Tamilnadu.

Closely knit Social system - The Indian Social System is mostly based on the Joint family System, but for some of the recently cropped nuclear families. The families are closely knit with Grandfathers, fathers, sons and grandsons sharing the same spirit, tradition and property. 

Cultural Heritage

India’s one billion people have descended from a variety of races. The oldest ones are the Negroid aboriginals called the Adivasis or First settlers. Then there are the Dravidians, The Aryans, the Mongols, The Semites and innumerable inter-mixtures of one with the other.

The great Epic, The Mahabharata and the sacred text, the Bhagavad-Gita teaches the Indians that survival can only be in terms of quality of life. It provides a framework of values to make the Indian culture well- groomed.

Swami Vivekananda (1863- 1902) laid stress on physical development as a prerequisite for spiritual development, which in turn leads to the development of the culture of the country. For the past 1000 years various foreign invasions like that of the Huns, the Kushanas, The Arabs, The Muslims, TheDutch, The French and the British took place. So the Indians were exposed to cultures that were totally alien to them. Several attempts were made by the Indian rulers like the Pallavas, the Chalukyas, the Palas, the Rashtrakutas, the Cholas, and the Vijayanagar Emperors to give the Indians an administration, which was in consonance with the cultural heritage of the country.

Later, religions became an important part in the culture and places of worship became community centers. The innovations in religious thinking brought two popular beliefs in India, namely Buddhism by the Buddha and Jainism by the Saint Mahavir. Then there was a socio-religious shift or orientation in the Indian culture.

Later in the century Westernization of Indian culture began , but it was stemmed by the efforts of Raja Ram Mohan Roy, Dayananda Saraswathi, Swami Vivekananda, Narayana Guru, Maharisi, Aurobindo, etc. Then there took place a Renaissance, that emphasized the need to recognize the country’s own culture while ushering in an age of modernity. 

If India’s culture tended to become tolerant, accommodating, open-minded, deeply but not ostensibly spiritual and concerned with the common human welfare, then it is due to the great and relentless efforts of our great ancestors and leaders. Thanks to them our country has achieved a common culture, despite a staggering pluralistic society.

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Ancient music of Japan

Traditional Japanese music usually refers to Japan's historical folk music. One of the defining characteristics of traditional Japanese music is its sparse rhythm. Regular chords are also absent. It is impossible for a person to beat time to the music. All of the rhythms are ma-based, and silence is an important part of the songs. The focus is on creating music that flows in an attempt to mirror the behavior of nature. It is regular for songs to start off at an extremely slow pace and to pick up speed as they progress. Then, they get slow again before transitioning into long and drawn out finishes.

Traditional Japanese music has three main types, instrumental, court music, and theatrical. One type of theatrical music is Kabuki. Kabuki music can be sub-divided into three categories. The first is Gidayubushi, which is similar to joruri music. Joruri is a type of narrative music that uses shamisen  and has four styles. The second type of kabuki music is Shimoza ongaku and is played for kuromisu (lower seats) below the theater stage. Another form of theatrical music is called noh. The hayashi-kata play Noh music. They use taiko, kotsuzumi, fue, and otsuzumi instruments to make the sounds. The oldest Japanese traditional music is gagaku. Gagaku is a form of court music. Gagaku includes dances, songs, and a blend of other genres of Asian music. There are two styles of Gagaku. These are kigaku, which is a form of instrumental music, and Seigaku, which is A form of vocal music.

Some traditional Japanese music originated in other countries.  An example of this is shomyo.  Shomyo is a type of Buddhist song that is known for being a melody that is added to a sutra.  Shomyo originated in India and came to Japan during the country's Nara period.  An interesting fact about shomyo is that it doesn't use any musical instruments.  Instead, the song is sung by Buddhist monks.

Historical Japanese folk music is strongly-influenced by music from China. This is because many of the musical instruments which are popular in Japanese music first came from China.  These instruments include koto, shakuhachi, and wadaiko drums.  A koto is a stringed instrument that shares a similarity to China's guzheng.  It is Japan's national instrument and is made with kiri wood.  It uses thirteen strings over thirteen bridges that are movable over the instrument's width.  Picks on three fingers are used to play it.  Wadaiko is the name for the traditional style of Japanese drumming and the particular drums themselves.  The world's most famous wadaiko drumming group is Kodo (heartbeat).  A shakuhachi is a flute that is used in traditional Japanese music.  Shakuhachi are usually made from bamboo, but can also be made from other materials.  These instruments were originally used by Buddhist monks to practice suizen (blowing meditation).

Japanese music has a long tradition and great diversity.

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