Abstract
Japanese immigrants began to develop their ethnic community in southern California during the 1910s. Since then, those immigrants and their descendents have transmitted various genres of Japanese performing arts within their community. As in Japan, the transmission of Japanese arts in southern California has been greatly dependant on the iemoto system—a hierarchical structure of teachers and students organized under the iemoto (the headmaster of a school of an art), as well as the system of transmitting and maintaining the arts within that structure. However, detached from Japanese sociocultural contexts and transplanted into southern California, the iemoto system could not remain as it is in Japan, and this transformation of the iemoto system has led to the changes in Japanese musical practices in southern California.
The three main factors that transformed the iemoto system in southern California are: 1) the shift of the students of Japanese musical arts from Issei (the first generation; immigrants from Japan) and Nisei (the second generation; American-born children of the Issei) to Sansei (the third generation; American-born children of the Nisei) and younger generations, who are more Americanized in their language, moral values, and mentality, 2) the American socio-cultural environment, which is different from that in Japan, and 3) the teachers' own recognition of the negative aspects of the iemoto system. These factors have led to the undermining of the following four ideological principles of the iemoto system: 1) disciples' loyal obligations, 2) the absolute value of the authoritative ranks, 3) a teacher-student relationship that emphasizes hierarchical distinction, and 4) a teaching method that emphasizes imitation. The undermining of these principles has, in turn, produced various distinctive features of Japanese musical arts in southern California, which include the weakening of a sense of belonging to one's teacher and school; development of non-traditional repertoire and techniques; concert style student performances that reduce students' financial burden and appeal to public; emphasis on musical ability rather than ranks; a democratic, “contract-based” teacher-student relationship; and use of alternative teaching methods.
In spite of these changes, the iemoto system continues to function in southern California, as the teachers keep their ties with their iemoto system in Japan. In a sense, teachers in southern California have dual approaches to the iemoto system: while they accommodate their specific environment and pursue their own policies in America, they continue to respect and maintain the iemoto system in their relation to Japan. There are three main reasons that teachers in southern California maintain their involvement in the iemoto system: 1) they need to belong to a particular iemoto system so that their disciples can acquire the natori-licenses (teaching degrees), which are granted only by the iemoto; 2) since teachers in southern California are mostly those originally trained within the traditional iemoto system in Japan, they understand the system, and thus, tend to maintain an active sense of belonging and obligation to the iemoto, and 3) their membership in a particular iemoto system ensures their access to Japanese musical resources—music scores and musicians—derived from that school. Thus, the iemoto system functions as an important tie that connects the teachers in southern California with Japan, and this connection plays an important role in their activities in America.
This study of the iemoto system in southern California suggests the following three points: 1) the iemoto system is subject to transformation once it is detached form the Japanese socio-cultural environment and mentality that
