This article is about Minyo that is one of the Japanese folk song.
What is Minyo?
Minyo (Japanese fork song) is a genre of Japanese traditional music. Japan has a rich heritage of folk song, but the history of folk music is extremely complicated and tangled. There is an image of folk song emerging naturally from the work and culture of people in villages and this song being taken up by people in the cities. There is, of course, folk song like this, and this must have been the origin of most music long time ago.
This information was found from here.
About Minyo
There are many Minyo songs in Japan. They vary from the area of Japan. Each area has own Minyo and they are boasting of their good things (such as place, style, speciality etc.) in Minyo. So we can see many Minyo songs from the northern part of Japan "Hokkaido" to the southern part of Japan "Okinawa". And most of them are sung with dancing. Many of the folk dances were done by the whole community according to their work and/or season, such as a harvest dance, fishing dance, etc., and was part of a festival or celebration. Summer festivals were often for warding off disease. The music is a "cultural asset" supported by the government, famous for its unique words, melody, and dance. They are always sung and danced when people have happy events, for example a wedding reception, the erection of the frame of a house, restoration of a thatched roof and so on.
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"Ondo" is a generic term for folk songs that are often used to accompany the dances of the obon festival. During obon, it is said that the souls of ancestors return from the dead. Traditionally obon falls in the middle of July, but according to the modern calendar it falls in the middle of August. People return to their hometowns to visit their ancestors graves. At night they dance in a circle to comfort the souls.Today it is more of a form of entertainment during the summer evenings. Older dances used no instrumental accompaniment, instead a chorus of singers. Pieces from the Edo period use flute, drums, shamisen or cassette recordings. Dancers hold fans and with hand gestures, leg and arm movements in unison move in a circle around the musicians, who are often on a tower covered in a red and white cloth "yukata".
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Famous Minyo Songs
These are famous Minyo song in Japan.
<Sakura Sakura> This is one of the traditional Japanese fork song depicting spring, the season of sakura (cherry blossom). The cherry blossom is Japan's national flower and has for years appeared in the country's poetry, paintings, and music, as well as on its craft, clothing, and other commercial items. So there is this popular traditional song, Sakura, Sakura (Cherry Blossom, Cherry Blossom), commonly sung to celebrate the national flower.
This information was found from here.
<Soran-Bushi> This is one of the folk songs representing Hokkaido. Sung while herring fishing, the name comes from the first words of the song, "Ya-ren-so-ran". Soran bushi is sung during this process and the words "Ya-ren-so-ran" can be thought of as encouraging and cheering up the fishermen. The words "hai-hai" is a response to this chant. Characteristically masculine, the song is one of strong men belonging to the sea. Every summer, Sosakoi Soran Festival is held in Hokkaido. People are dancing with Soran-Bushi.
This information was found from here.
You can see the dancing of Soran-Bushi from here.
Posted by Shiori Abe

Okinawan songs are borned in 
Okinawan fork festival are held every year. You can see many Okinawan folk entertainments like
"Shimauta", song by the popular Japanese singer 



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