The Singing Voice of Japan

The Singing Voice of Japan (, Nihon no Utagoe / うたごえ運動, Utagoe-undō) is the name of a social and political movement that emerged after World War II in Japan and based on musical and choral activities of the working class of the entire nation. Ideologically communist or democratic socialist, activists of the movement organize choral circles in factories, in schools and in their residential areas. The movement reached its peak in the years 1950 and 1960. Japanese singer Akiko Seki () is generally regarded as the founder of the Singing Voice of Japan.

History

May 1, 1946: In the occasion of the first May Day post-war in Tokyo, Akiko Seki conducted L'internationale and a Japanese version of The Red Flag; this experience led her to the creation of a national musical movement of the working class.Akiko Seki: Theory of The Singing Voice of Japan: What is the music (Tokyo, 1956), p.58. 関鑑子「うたごえ運動の理論－音楽とは何か－」（「知性」1956年増刊号［東京、河出書房］）58ページ February 10, 1948: Akiko Seki created the Choir of the Communist Youth League of Japan () in Tokyo, as the core of national musical movement of the working class.NDL Search Various Authors: Ōkina benibara. (Tokyo, 1981) 関鑑子追想集編集委員会 編 「大きな紅ばら: 関鑑子追想集」 (音楽センター 1981年) 関鑑子略年譜 June 1949: First issue of the periodical Singing Voice, organ of the Choir of the Communist Youth League of Japan (). November 29, 1953: First national festival of the Singing voice of Japan in Tokyo, in the halls Hibiya Kōkaidō (日比谷公会堂) and Kanda Kyōristu Kōdō (神田共立講堂). February 14, 1955: Permanent institution of the Executive Committee of the Festival of the Singing Voice of Japan (). December 20, 1955: Akiko Seki received the Stalin Peace Prize. May 1960: Statement of the Executive Committee of the Festival opposing the renewal of Treaty of Mutual Cooperation and Security between the United States and Japan.Journal of The Singing Voice of Japan, June 11, 1960, p.1. 「うたごえ新聞」 1960年6月11日号 第1ページ November 7, 1967: Première of a partial version of the opera Okinawa () in Naha (Okinawa). November 25, 1967: First local performance in Tokyo, of the partial version of the opera Okinawa , in the Nippon Budōkan (日本武道館).Journal Akahata, November 26, 1967, p.7. 日本共産党中央機関紙「赤旗」1967年11月26日号 第7ページ　記事 ”一万人が大合唱-日本のうたごえ 大音楽会開く” December 10, 1969: First performance of the complete version of the opera Okinawa in Tokyo, in the hall Shibuya Kōkaidō (渋谷公会堂).Journal of The Singing Voice of Japan, January 1–10, 1969, pp.4-5. 「うたごえ新聞」1970年1月1日·10日合併号 第4・5ページ April 1971: First issue of the quarterly organ of the executive committee of the Festival ().NDL Search Kikan Nihon no Utagoe 「季刊日本のうたごえ」 February 25, 1974: Radical revision of the organizational system of the executive committee, adopted during its sixth national congress: renaming the committee "National Council of the Singing Voice of Japan" ().Journal of The Singing Voice of Japan, September 10, 1969, pp.1,6. 「うたごえ新聞」1973年9月10日号 第1・6ページ

Musical repertoire and organization The repertoire of the movement consists mainly in revolutionary songs and those of the working class of different nations. Among registered members of individual committees (distinguished by region, industrial union, and other criterion) of the singing voice of Japan is favored to create new songs and choral pieces in the genre suited to the needs of their group. According to the program adopted in 2013, the National Council of the singing voice of Japan aims the objective to include 500 units and choral circles allover the national territory of Japan.Program adopted at the 46 th National Congress of The Singing Voice of Japan (2013). 第46回日本のうたごえ全国協議会総会 (2013年) で採択の方針文書

Origin of the Hiragana script (うたごえ) for the name of the movement Traditionally, the two initial words of the movement's official name Singing Voice are not expressed in Kanji () as would be standard today, but in Hiragana () that is: うたごえ (Utagoe written in Hiragana) instead of 歌声 (the same in Kanji). And at least since the first national Festival of the movement in 1953, its title text was written in Hiragana: The singing voice is the vitality of peace - The Singing Voice of Japan 1953 (). Concerning the origin of such a particular script, who was one of the founding members of the Choir of the Communist Youth League of Japan, recalled the moment of publication of the first choir organ Utagoe (June 1949) in these terms:

{|class="wikitable" |...When we decided to create the periodical organ of the Choir, I was in charge of all the task. It was my idea to name it with the words Singing Voice in Hiragana script (), because at that time these words were not well diffused, so this might have been one of the most important works of my career. Thus I entitled it in Hiragana because the aim of the movement was to involve even a large part of the working class that could not have graduated the secondary school.

However, even after the first issue of the choir organ, the script for the Japanese word Utagoe in Kanji (歌声) and one mixed with Hiragana (歌ごえ) were sometimes used by authors of books or periodicals concerning The Singing Voice of Japan,NDL Search. An amusing choir manual by Yoritoyo Inoue (Kyoto, 1956) 井上頼豊「新しい合唱読本」（京都、1956年）().Songs for Youth by Akiko Seki (Tokyo, 1951) 関鑑子編「青年歌集」第一篇（東京、1951年）(). while an exclusive formalization of Hiragana script (うたごえ) has never been imposed by any official organization of the movement. A very remarkable example of the graphical oscillation would be the autograph of Akiko Seki dedicated to the national Festival of December 1962, in which she wrote one of the movement slogans The singing voice is the vitality of peace () using mixed script of both Kanji and Hiragana for the word Utagoe, precisely such as: 歌こえ [sic].

Relationship with the Japanese Communist Party In accordance with the slogan Let's sing for the struggle (of the working class) (), activists of the movement have composed many songs to encourage workers protest against illegal discrimination of their employers. In the 1960s, instruction of militants of the movement and continued improvement of their ideological, political and artistic quality were considered important means of cultural policy by the Japanese Communist Party ().On the occasion of the Festival of The Singing Voice of Japan, article published in the journal Akahata, December 9, 1960. 日本共産党機関紙「アカハ タ」1960年12月9日号所載の論説"「日本のうたごえ祭典を迎えて" Nowadays (2016), the only group that is active and explicitly dedicated to the support of JCP is Choir of JCP-fans (), established in 2011 in Kyoto by veteran activists of the movement and directed by Tadao Yamamoto, composer, accordionist, choir director and an ordinary member of the National Council of The Singing Voice of Japan: the choir witnesses the historical connection calling itself by the acronym of English official name of the party.First performance of the Choir of JCP-fans in a concert in Kyoto Kaikan Hall (February 11, 2011), sponsored by the committee of Kyoto of the JCP. 「いっぱい花咲かそうコンサート2011」日本共産党京都府委員会 Its repertory and artistic activity are strongly linked in the movement, and in various cultural events organized by the Party, the Choir of JCP-fans appears as an element among the joined choirs of the volunteer singers of The Singing Voice of Japan.

Notable concerts and performances of the Choir: February 11, 2011, Kyoto Kaikan Hall: Concert sponsored by the Kyoto Committee of the JCP. August 1, 2013, Nishijin Bunka Center (Kyoto): Cultural Live Revolutionary Pub, in collaboration with Tokiko Nishiyama, former JCP member of the House of Councilors.on the weekly Kyoto-minpo, August 1, 2013[JA]. 「文化ライブで勝利に貢献 共産・文化後援会が革命酒場」- 京都民報 2013年8月5日付 September 23, 2014, Takaragaike Park (Kyoto): Festival Kyoto ed.2014, organized by the Kyoto Committee of the JCP.Committee of the JCP, September 9, 2014[JA]. 「2014 京都まつり」- 文化の森 ステージ「にぎわいの広場」日本共産党京都府委員会 February 1, 2015, Kyoiku Bunka Center (Kyoto): Festival sponsored by the Kyoto Committee of the JCP.Committee of the JCP, January 29, 2015[JA]. 「いっぱい花咲かそうフェスタ2015」同上 April 29, 2016, Takaragaike Park (Kyoto): Festival Kyoto ed.2016, organized by the Kyoto Committee of the JCP: performance with Seifuku Kōjō Iinkai (制服向上委員会) and Akira Koike (小池晃), JCP member of the House of Councilors, and Secretary-General of the Party.Committee of the JCP, April 2, 2016[JA]. 「2016 京都まつり」（宝が池公園）。制服向上委員会、小池晃（参議院議員・日本共産党書記局長）共演「2016京都まつり」同上http://lineblog.me/ski/archives/5687917.html　Seifuku Kojo Iinkai (SKI), April 23, 2016[JA]. 制服向上委員会公式ブログ「2016.04.23 イベント告知」

Episode of a Minister of Finance who tried to show his cultural competence uttering the name of the movement In 1963, during a discussion in the Budget Committee of the House of Councillors of Japan () around taxes to impose on entry tickets to theaters, Gorō Sudō (), a member of the Japanese Communist Party and militant of The Singing Voice of Japan, asked Kakuei Tanaka (), Minister of Finance at the time, if he knew of the existence of an workers' association of concert goers. To such a question, Minister Tanaka had to answer: "I do not know well about it". So Sudō recommenced his speech but the Minister who listened for a moment the continuation of the speech interrupted Sudō, uttering: "The Singing Voice..." (), then Sudō replied: "Not The Singing Voice of Japan. I am speaking of an association of music listeners. The Singing Voice of Japan is a movement for singers"The Minister of Finance Kakuei Tanaka wanted to demonstrate his knowledge on the movement of The Singing Voice of Japan[JA]: original text of the proceedings (March 25, 1963), in the Budget Committee of the House of Councillors of Japan (), for public consultation on the Official Site of the Search for proceedings of the Diet of Japan (国会会議録検索システム)[JA]. 第43回国会 予算委員会第二分科会 第1号（1965年3月25日）議事録：須藤五郎（日本共産党）による質問,.Original text of the proceedings in Japanese: 須藤五郎： ［．．．］最後にもうちょっと聞いておきますが、大蔵大臣は、勤労者音楽協議会という勤労者が会費を出し合っていい音楽を聞く組織のあることを御存じでしょうか。主税局長は知っているはずなんです。大臣は御存じないですか。 田中角栄（大蔵大臣）： よくわかりません。 須藤五郎： それじゃ、私は大臣の参考までに、ちょっとその点くどいようですが申し上げておきます。戦後非常な荒廃した生活の中で、入場料が高くて聞けなかったわけなんですね［．．．］こういう営利を目的としない何もしない、むしろ自分たちの力によって日本の文化に貢献しようというこういう意図を持った団体から税金を取り立てるということは、私は不当だと思うので、むしろ政府はこれに対して補助金を出すのが当然じゃないか、こういうふうに私は考えておるわけなんですね。それで、この団体のためにできました．．． 田中角栄（大蔵大臣）： うたごえ．．． 須藤五郎： うたごえ運動と違います。これは聞くほうです。うたごえは歌うほうです［．．．］

Personalities and historical activists Akiko Seki (関鑑子): singer, founder of the movement (1899–1973) Sakae Araki (荒木栄): composer (1924–1962) Gorō Sudō (須藤五郎): composer, conductor, JCP member of the House of Councilors (1897–1988) Yoritoyo Inoue (井上頼豊): cellist (1912–1996) Katsura Nakazawa (中澤桂): soprano (1933–2016) Nobuo Terahara (寺原伸夫): composer (1928–1998) Hikaru Hayashi (林光): composer (1931–2012) Yūzō Toyama (外山雄三): conductor (1931–) Susumu Ōnishi (大西進): composer (1931–) Nobuo Sugimoto (杉本信夫): composer, musicologist (1934–) Kiminobu Sōma (相馬公信): composer, choir singer (1942–) Tadao Yamamoto (山本忠生): composer (1939–) Hiromi Fujimoto (藤本洋): poet (1932–) Daisuke Doi (土井大助): poet (1927–2014) Taku Izumi (いずみたく): composer (1930–1992) Kōji Kinoshita (木下航二): composer (1925–1999)

Bibliography

General history of the movement Various authors: The Singing Voice of Japan - collection of favorite songs: definitive edition (special issue of the magazine Chisei, Tokyo, 1956). Library catalog of the Miyagi Gakuin Women's University[JA]. 「日本のうたごえ: 決定版 愛唱歌集」（雑誌「知性」1956年増刊号：東京、河出書房） Toshio Itoya: History of labors' and revolutionary songs (Tokyo, 1970). NDL Search[JA]. 糸屋寿雄「労働歌・革命歌物語」（東京、1970年） Akiko Seki: Since I am bewitched by the singing voice (Tokyo, 1971). NDL Search[JA]. 関鑑子「歌ごえに魅せられて」（東京、1971年） Nishio Jirouhei and Tamotsu Yazawa: Japanese revolutionary songs (Tokyo, 1974). NDL Search[JA]. 西尾治郎平、矢沢保 編「日本の革命歌」（東京、1974年） Yoritoyo Inoue: Singing voice, spread your wings (Tokyo, 1978). NDL Search[JA]. 井上頼豊 編「うたごえよ翼ひろげて: 1948-1978」（東京、1978年） Tamotsu Yazawa: Singing voice for freedom and revolution (Tokyo, 1978). NDL Search[JA]. 矢沢保「自由と革命の歌ごえ」（東京、1978年）