A yen for the traditional: in modern Japan, street performers sell ritual and nostalgia to compete with high-tech advertising

Natural History, May, 2003 by Ingrid Fritsch

After receiving her license to teach piano in Germany, INGRID FRITSCH ("A Yen for the Traditional") went on to earn a doctorate in ethnomusicology (with a focus on the Japanese bamboo flute) at Cologne University. She has subsequently done extensive fieldwork on the social and religious organization of guilds of blind musicians and shamans in Japan.

Currently Fritsch is a professor at the Institute of Japanology in Cologne, Germany. Her article on chindonya is just one aspect of her fascination with the itinerant performers and street artists who have characterized Japanese culture for many centuries.