Research on Scottish vocal music reception in Japan

人们普遍认为，自明治时代以来，日本从苏格兰引进了许多歌曲，由于音调系统的相似，这些歌曲很容易扎根。这项研究试图收集所有苏格兰歌曲的曲目，以找出它们是如何被接受的，并重新审视上述说法。主要研究结果如下：1.明治时代有20多首苏格兰曲调传入日本，其中13首改编自日本的校歌Shoka。这些歌曲被修改成25首不同文本的不同歌曲。我们今天在日本流传的大部分苏格兰曲调早在明治时期就可以找到。一些起源于苏格兰的Shoka被重印了15次，而另一些只出现了一次。一些苏格兰曲调被重新改编成10首不同的歌曲，而另一些曲子则总是在同一个标题下。在改编的过程中，原曲没有发生剧烈的变化。可以强调的是，从反虚点节奏到通常节奏的变化几乎没有发现，这表明这种变化在美国版本中已经发生了，这可能是日语版本的来源。人们经常指出苏格兰和日本声调系统之间的相似之处，因为它们有一个共同的五声音阶。通过对这方面的论述进行整理和归类，可以看出类似的逻辑自明治晚期以来一直沿用至今。然而，这项研究发现，与传统说法相反，明治时代的日本人并不熟悉以自然音阶为基础的五声音阶。此外，人们普遍认为，音阶的相似性有助于苏格兰曲调的接受，这可能是对过去的重建的结果，当时五声成为日本音乐的真正习语。

There is a general understanding that Japan has introduced many songs from Scotland since Meiji era and that these took root easily owing to the similarity of the tone systems. This research tries to collect all repertoires of the songs of Scottish origin, to find out how they were accepted and reexamine the above statement. Findings are as follows ;1. More than 20 Scottish tunes were introduced to Japan in Meiji era, 13 of which were adapted to Japanese shoka, the school songs. These songs were revised into 25 different songs with different texts. Most of Scottish tunes we have today in Japan can be found as early as in Meiji period.2. Some shoka of Scottish origin were reprinted 15 times while others appeared only once. Some Scottish tunes were readapted to 10 different songs while others are always under the same title. No drastic change of the original melody happened in the process of adaptation. It can be stressed that the change from the reverse dotted rhythm to the usual one has scarcely been found which suggests the shift has been happened already in the American versions which could be the source of the Japanese ones.3. Affinity between Scottish and Japanese tone system has been often pointed out on the basis that they have a pentatonic scale in common. By collecting and classifying statements on this, we can see the similar logic has continuously been used since late Meiji period. However, this research revealed that, against the conventional statement, the pentatonic scale based on the diatonic scale was not so familiar to the Japanese people in Meiji era. Also, the general belief that the similarity of the scale has contributed to the reception of Scottish tunes could be the result of reconstruction of the past, after when pentatonic became the true idiom of Japanese music.