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About Naruko

Jan 17, 2022

Do you know a musical instrument called "Naruko"?
A musical instrument? Isn't "Naruko" a "place name"? I think you may often think so.

In this article, we would like to explain "Naruko" as a musical instrument.


What is Naruko?

It is a tool made by attaching a bamboo tube or piece of wood to a wooden board to make a sound.
The sound is used to drive away rice-eating birds from the rice paddies.


◆Naruko as a musical instrument
Today, Naruko is used not as a cultivation tool but as a musical instrument.
At the Yosakoi Festival in Kochi City, Kochi Prefecture, there is a "Yosakoi Naruko Odori" dance, in which people dance while playing Naruko.
The word "yosakoi" means "come to the night" or "come tonight.
In the "Yosakoi Naruko Odori" dance, bright red Naruko are used like castanets.

In addition to "Yosakoi Naruko Odori", Naruko seems to be used in "Soranbushi" in Hokkaido.
Incidentally, the name of Miyagi Prefecture "Naruko" is not related to this instrument, as it is derived from the birth of Minamoto no Yoshitsune's child.



◆How to learn it?

If you want to dance Yosakoi Naruko Odori, the shortest way to learn it is to actually participate in a festival.
Also, since Naruko is an instrument used in postwar contemporary music (Maki Ishii, Yoriko Matsudaira, Kazumi Shimoyama, etc.), percussionists are available for lessons.

We have many percussionists on the lesson grid, so if you are not confident with Naruko, why not try taking a lesson? We wish you good luck!

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