Miyagi Michio is said to have been the leader of the “New Japanese Music” movement and innovativeness in his musical works has tended to be overly emphasized. However, innovativeness in Miyagi's music is only one aspect of his compositions, so this would not be an accurate evaluation.
In this article, based on my research of Miyagi's literary works, I will discuss what kind of music Miyagi was trying to create, his thoughts on composing music, and the new style in Japanese music which Miyagi was seeking.
Miyagi's literary works can be devided into two types; essays and writings expressing his musical ideas. I found the latter states Miyagi's ideas for his music and these writings make a true appreciation of Miyagi's principles of composing music possible. I will elucidate Miyagi's principles from the following points of view: 1) how he undertook his compositional activities, 2) how he integrated Western music into traditional Japanese music, and 3) how he understood traditional music for the koto.
As a result of my research, it is clear that Miyagi was deeply influenced by nature. He tried to create a feeling of nature as much as possible in his music. Furthermore I came to see that Miyagi tried to avoid a simplistic fusing of Western music and traditional Japanese music for he truly had a full understanding of Western music.
Although people at that time seemed to be less interested in traditional Japanese music, Miyagi ardently loved and had a heartfelt understanding for it. Therefore Miyagi did use some elements of Western music in composing classical koto works because he wanted to draw people's attention back to this classical music.
In order to attain this goal, Miyagi always kept in mind the general public as his audience, and he therefore composed his music in a melodious and flowing style preferred by the general public. However, some people criticized him for doing so, and he himself was in a dilemma over the issue.
People at that time were seeking a new style in music. Miyagi was one of the musicians who was responding to this demand of the times. He tried to innovate traditional Japanese music in his works like “Mizu no Hentai” or “Hira” and also tried to be a pioneer in broadening styles of Japanese music in his works like “Etenraku Variations”, but at the same time he was swept away by the current of the times.

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