Three Japanese women composers who broke new ground in the early 20th Century experienced extraordinary highs and lows in their public and personal lives.
Their stories encompass international prizes, conflict with rising militarism and even imprisonment. They lived through times of cultural change which opened new opportunities for women, but they also struggled to be heard and held in the same regard as their male counterparts. Though neglected for decades, there is now a revival of interest in the musical work of these women and a renewed focus on their stories.
From the start of the Meiji era (1868–1912) in Japan, the new government made a concentrated effort to encourage the study everything European and American, including classical music in the European tradition. Prominent performers, composers and music educators were brought to Japan, leading to the popularisation of instruments such as piano and violin and the establishment of the Tokyo Music School in 1887 (now the Tokyo University of the Arts). Students from this era went on to become the first Japanese composers of yōgaku, Western classical music. However, as the stories of these three women show, many women composers were undervalued, unpublished or performed less than their male counterparts. These women broke new ground in their music, careers and in other areas of their lives, but also faced obstacles and challenges.
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Kōda Nobu (1870–1946)
Born in Tokyo to a wealthy family, Kōda studied first at the predecessor of the Tokyo Music School before enrolling at the age of 19 at the New England Conservatory of Music, Boston, making her one of the first Japanese students to be sponsored by the government to study music abroad. Later, she went to study in Vienna and wrote two violin sonatas, including her most famous piece ‘Violin Sonata No.1 in E flat Major’. Both sonatas illustrate Kōda’s Romantic style, talent for the violin and deep understanding and appreciation for German composers such as Schubert and Schumann.
In 1895, she returned to Japan and became the first woman on the faculty at the Tokyo Music School, teaching violin, piano and singing. However, articles appeared in newspapers and magazines criticising the employment of women teachers, arguing there was a ‘difference in the quality’ between male and female teachers and that the employment of men and women together ‘threatened social order’. Kōda herself came under personal attacks in the press and by 1909 she was forced to resign from her post at the Tokyo Music School.
Kōda didn’t let the hostility end her career: in the 1910s and 1920s, she opened her own piano school in Tokyo, wrote music for performances at the imperial palace and arranged concerts with international musicians from Europe and Russia. In 1937, Kōda became the first yōgaku musician and first woman to become a member of the Royal Japan Art Academy, established by the Ministry for Cultural Affairs.
A gallery featuring Violin Sonata No.1 by Koda Nobu.
- Violin Sonata No.1 by Koda Nobu
Yoshida Takako (1910–1956)
Ranging from modernist and bold to sensitive and lyrical, Yoshida’s works are filled with earnest emotion and thought-provoking messages. She was born in Tokyo and began studying the piano at age 12. She chose not to enter music school or university, but took composition lessons privately and at just 21 years old, her piano composition Canone was published in a magazine, marking the start of her career.
Against the backdrop of political upheaval and the rise of expansionist imperialism in the 1930s, Yoshida joined the Proletariat Composers Group and became involved in radical left-wing activities with her unmarried partner socialist playwright Kubo Sakae (1900–1958). Her political stance and refusal to write militaristic music meant she was frequently arrested between 1935 and 1940 and even jailed for 6 months. Her imprisonment aggravated an underlying health condition, but she managed to continue composing, writing a number of vocal, choral and instrumental pieces as well as music for stage and bunraku puppet theatre.
In the late 1940s, Yoshida composed a number of pieces with words by famous female poets such as Yosano Akiko (1878–1942) and О̄tsuka Kusuoko (1875–1910), whose feminist and anti-war message aligned perfectly with Yoshida’s philosophy. She also wrote, contributing pieces of criticism to a variety of magazines and publishing essays about sexual discrimination and the neglect of female composers.
A gallery featuring Canone for solo piano by Yoshida Takako.
- Canone for solo piano by Yoshida Takako
Toyama Michiko (1913–2006)
Toyama was introduced to classical music at a young age by her mother, a piano teacher at the Tokyo Music School. In 1930, she went to study in Paris with Nadia Boulanger, one of the most influential composition teachers of the time. Early recognition for Toyama came in 1937 when her piece “The Voice of Yamato” won the 15th International Composition Prize, making her the first Japanese composer to win an international award. Although it was performed in Paris that year, it wasn’t until 1993 that the work was finally performed in Japan.
Decades later, an encounter with a pioneer of an early form of electronic music had a big impact on Toyama. In her sleeve notes to her 1960 release Waka and Other Compositions, Toyama says:
When Mr. [Pierre] Schaeffer played back all his experimental discs, which sounded more like noise than music, there was more disappointment than enthusiasm in the air, but I was one of those who was impressed.
This prompted Toyama to study electronic music at Columbia University and later to become a research fellow in the Department of Electronics at Kyoto University. Toyama deftly combined her broad range of skills, interests and influences in her compositions: many of her works draw on different Japanese art forms such as Japanese folk music and poetry along with aspects of experimental and electronic music.
Through their compositions, teaching, research and activism, these composers had their own impact on the development of classical music in Japan and abroad. Renewed attention has been brought to the work of Kōda, Toyama and Yoshida, alongside many other Japanese women composers through the activities of the ‘Japanese Women Composers Meeting’, a research collective of contemporary composers whose resources were invaluable for this article.
From 5–9 March 2024, internationally-acclaimed satsuma biwa performer Kubota Akiko is performing works by Kōda, Toyama and Yoshida in venues across the UK to celebrate International Women’s Day. Further details can be found on the HERA website.
The pieces are performed alongside a new work for satsuma biwa and voice, about writer and feminist anarchist Itō Noe (1895–1923). Learn more about the biwa and Itō with performer Kubota Akiko and composer Francesca Le Lohé at Japan House London on 12 March 2024.
Francesca Le Lohé is a composer active in Japan and the UK. Her operas include: How Was It For You? (2022) and THE KEY: an immersive, site-specific opera inspired by Tanizaki’s novella which was awarded the prestigious 2019 Keizo Saji Prize. Her work has featured in festivals including Sonorities, Tama Music & Arts and the London Festival of Architecture. She has held artist residencies at Co.iki (Japan), Elektronmusikstudion (Sweden), Hospitalfield (UK) and was a 2015 Daiwa Anglo-Japanese Foundation Scholar.