 | This articleneeds additional citations forverification. Please helpimprove this article byadding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. Find sources: "Horagai" – news ·newspapers ·books ·scholar ·JSTOR(December 2010) (Learn how and when to remove this message) |
.JPG)
Horagai (法螺貝) (orjinkai陣貝) are largeconch shells, usually fromCharonia tritonis, that have been used astrumpets in Japan for many centuries. The instrument, which has served a number of purposes throughoutJapanese history, has been given a number of Japanese names depending on its function. Special schools still teach students to play the traditional music associated with the conch.
Unlike most shell trumpets from other parts of the world which produce only one pitch, the Japanesehora orhoragai can produce three or five different notes. The different pitches are achieved using a bronze or wooden mouthpiece attached to the apex of the shell's spire. At freezing temperatures (often encountered in the mountainous regions of Japan) the lips may freeze to the metal surface, so wooden or bamboo mouthpieces are used.
The conch is used byBuddhist monks for religious purposes. Its use goes back at least[citation needed] 1,000 years, and it is still used today for some rituals, such as theomizutori (water drawing) portion of theShuni-e rites at theTōdai-ji inNara. Each Shugendō school has his own conch shell melodies.
Thehora is especially associated with theYamabushi,ascetic monks of theShugendō tradition. Theyamabushi used the trumpet to signal their presence (or movements) to one another across mountains and to accompany the chanting ofsutras.
In war, the shell, calledjinkai, or "war shell", was one of severalsignal devices used by Japanese feudal warriors known assamurai.[1] A large conch would be used and fitted with a bronze (or wooden) mouthpiece. It would be held in anopenwork basket and blown with a different combination of "notes" to signal troops to attack, withdraw, or change strategies, in the same way abugle orflugelhorn was used in the west. The trumpeter was called akai yaku (貝役).
Thejinkai served a similar function todrums and bells in signaling troop formations, setting a rhythm for marching, providing something of a heroic accompaniment to encourage the troops and confusing the enemy by inferring that the troop numbers were large enough to require such trumpeters. Manydaimyōs (feudal lords) enlistedyamabushi to serve askai yaku, due to their experience with the instrument.
The sound ofjinkai is often used in motion pictures and television dramas as a symbolic sound effect indicating an impending battle, e.g.,The Last Samurai or the 2007Taiga dramaFūrinkazan, but both of these screen renditions use deep, resonating monotones, not the melodic tones thatyamabushi used for relaying messages.
