A Portuguese Clavichord in Sixteenth-Century Japan?

Author(s): Minoru Takahashi

Source: The Galpin Society Journal, Vol. 54, (May, 2001), pp. 116-123
Published by: Galpin Society
Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/842450
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 MINORU TAKAHASHI

A Portuguese Clavichord in
Japan?
Sixteenth-Century
t is known that the SpanishJesuit missionary priest, Francisco de Xavier
(1506-1552), now known as St. FrancisXavier, arrived in Japanjust over
450 years ago but the significance and purpose of his visit are still not fully
appreciated. On 15 August 1549, Xavier reached Kagoshima, at the
southern end of Kyushu Island, which is located in the south-west end of
Japan and is one of the main four islands.
The first mission, marking the beginning of'The Kirishitan (Christian)
Century'1 in Japan included Francisco de Xavier; C. de Torres (a Spanish
priest);J. Fernandez (a Spanish monk), Yajirou (the firstJapaneseChristian),
2 other Japanese whose names are no longer known, a Chinese and an
Indian. This was not the first visit of Europeans to Japan, for, several years
before Xavier's coming, other Europeans had arrived bringing guns and
many other things. These weapons, probably made in Asia, were soon
copied by theJapanese, and for the next century both guns2and Christianity
contributed to a number of widely different changes in the country.
Xavier first preached Christianity in Kagoshima, though for a while the
Japanese thought it a new kind of Buddhism, largely because Xavier's
knowledge of Japanese with which to expound the Christian gospel was
minimal, and so he usedJapanese terms which had been used for Buddhism.3
In 1550 Xavier went to Yamaguchi, at the west end of Honshu Island (the
main Island of Japan ) and there met Yoshitaka Ohuchi, one of the most
influential Japanese Tonos (lords), while in the following year, 1551, he
went on to Kyoto, at that time the capital city, to meet the Emperor
(Gonara) with the object of asking if he might carry out missionary work
there. Not surprisingly, permission was not granted4and Xavier returned to

'KouichiroTakase(KeioUniv.) wrote a book underthistitlebut it is not easyto

assesshow important Christianitywas. In my opinion, Christianitywas very
importantbut its spreadwas limited. Now (2001) less than 1 per cent of the
populationis Christian(Encarta).
2 See
(The transmissionof guns). TakehisaUdagawa, Tokyo,
Tettupoudenrai
1990.
3Xavier called Christ 'Dainichi'but this name was that of one of the Gods of
Buddhism. The name 'Dousyuku' is also sometimes found in the records of
ChristianityinJapan.This means'Katekisuta'which comes from 'Zen Buddhism'.
It is thereforeunderstandablewhy it took some time for theJapaneseto realisethat
Christianitywas a new religion.
4
Kyoto was in ruins because of a long war so it was not a good place for his
missionarywork.
116
Yamaguchi. At the end of April 1551, he met Yoshitaka Ohuchi again and
handed him a letter from Garcia de Sa, the governor-general in India and a
further letter from DomJoao Alfonso de Albuquerque, the Bishop of Goa.
In addition, Xavier gave him some presents, including a musical instrument.
Thus the year 2001 marks the 450th anniversaryofXavier's having brought
the first Nanban (the word's original meaning is 'southern barbarian'but it is
equivalent to European) musical instrument to Japan, and this article is
devoted to an investigation of this important event inJapanese history.

THE EARLY BEGINNINGS

From the outset, life in Japan was very difficult for the Christian Fathers
(Bateren). First,it was often almost impossible for them to find for themselves
such necessities as a bed, and they were often driven to making do by using
mats made from ears of rice, even though it was very cold in the Japanese
winter.5 Secondly, their diet was much restricted since theJesuits did not eat
meat, and thirdly, the difficulty of communication between Spanish-, later,
Portuguese-speaking missionaries and the indigenous Japanese often led to
misunderstandingsand misinterpretations. Nevertheless, as their knowledge
ofJapanese increased, the first half of the Christian century became a time of
hope. So faras I canjudge from letterswritten by Xavier, even before he came
to Japan, he was optimistic about his mission since a number of people had
alreadyreceived Christian baptism in the Asian areasruled by Portugal.6The
interest the Japanese showed in this new religion must have been
encouraging for Xavier, despite theJapanese perception of it as a new kind of
Buddhism. Many ofthe Fatherswho came toJapan afterXavier were equally
hopeful of success. For these pioneers, their most important task was the
understanding of Japanese culture and language. The Japanese had always
been interested in other cultures, and showed their curiosity in many ways.
Accordingly, non-verbal communication was very useful. Music was one
form of communication which the Fathershad taught from their early daysin
the country. We know from a letter 7 that by 1562 Japanese boys played
'violas de arco'8very well. Only ten years after the introduction of European

5The Society ofJesushad three districtsin Japan'Kami','Shimo' and 'Miyako'.

The 'Kami'and 'Shimo' districtswere in Kyushuand 'Miyako'meantKyoto. To
some extent, the Fathers'lives in Japanwere differentdependingon where they
were or when they came to Japan.
Many of these were childrenwho were baptisedby Xavier before their death
when 'in extremis'.
7
L. de Almeida, a famous doctor, in a letter from Yokose 28 October 1562.
Yokose is in Kyushuisland.
8 The most serious problem in
understandingwhat musical instrumentsthe
Fathersused is thattheirarbitraryuse of one of 4 languages- Portuguese,Spanish,
Italianand Latin.'Viola'may have had severalmeanings,but in this case it seems
fairlycertainthat 'violasde arco' were violas da gamba.Beryl Kenyon de Pascual
(personalcommunication)observesthat in Spainvihuela de arco can referto any
memberof the viol family(not the violin family).The authorwould be pleasedto
hearfrom anyonewho can explainPortuguesepracticein thismatter.

117
instruments to Japan, L. de Almeida reported thatJapanese boys could play
the viola da gamba so well that they could perform even in the presence of
kings or lords of Christian countries.
As the sixteenth century drew to its close, opposition to Christianity
increased, and by 1650Japanese Christians had totally disappeared, with the
exception of a few who practised in secret - Kakure (latent) Kirishitan
(Christians). In addition, tradersfrom the Netherlands who came to Japan
in 1600,9 expelled Iberian tradersfromJapan. The Fathershad played a very
important role in trade, but gradually they came to lose their income from
this source after the arrivalof the Dutch. The latter promised not to do any
missionary work and Christianity was thenceforth forbidden until the
middle of the nineteenth century. Tokugawa'ss? suppression was so
complete that there are few surviving records about the Kirishitan century.
However, thanks to recent Iberian discoveries in music, we are beginning,
little by little, to know about Kirishitan music in Japan.
We have only one record written in Japanese about the musical
instrument presented by Xavier: 'Among various presents there is a bell
which strikesthe 12 hours correctly by day and night, [a musical instrument]
like aJapanese 13-stringpsaltery,on whichcan beplayed 5 tunes [modes] or 12
modes[tunes] butit canbeplayedwithouttouchingthestrings[directly]," a glass'2
that make old eyes see things clear and two glasses that can make us see
distant things clearly. Including these things, it is said that [Xavier] sent 5
strange and precious treasures'.13
Xavier himself, may have taken presents with him to Japan, but
unfortunately he lost all his possessions in a great storm on the way. The
presents in the above record were prepared by P. da Silva, a son ofVasco da
Gama and brought to Japan by a Portuguese ship in the year after Xavier's
arrival. The gifts were worth 200 crusadoand according to Xavier's letter'4
were intended for Xavier to give to the King in Japan. In the above list of
presents, those parts in (my) italics need further examination. It was very
difficult for people who had never before seen a keyboard instrument to
explain it. The writer was, however, familiar with the traditionalJapanese
Koto,"5a 12- or 13-string instrument similar to the psaltery, and tried to
9In this year Tokugawawon the battle of Sekigahara,the biggestbattlein the
historyofJapan.
10The
Tokugawadynastylastedfor about250 years.
1 I use 'tune' or 'mode'. But the originalwas '5 sei' or '12 chou'. Sei now means
voice and Chou now equalstuning, but we can find '5 sei' and '12 chou' in Koto
instructionsin old ChinaandJoaoRodriguez Tcuzu alsousesthese terms.Historia
daIgrejadoJapao.Translatedby Ikegamiand others.Vol. II, p. 117.
12
InJapanesethe pluralformsarenot used, except on specialoccasions.
3Gunnshoruiju,TheRecordofYoshitaka Ohuchi.vol.13, p.411
14 EpistolaeS.FranciscoXaverii,IIRome 1945, pl 18 .Translated by Inoue 1949.
15
Today the Kotohas 13 or more strings,but it was saidthatoriginally,it had 25
stringsandthe masterof the Kotoin Chinahad dividedit into a 13-stringanda 12-
string Kotoand had given them to his 2 sons. Kotos,a kind of long zither, were
introducedintoJapanafterthat.
118
describe Xavier's present by analogy with it. Later L.Frois compared a
European cravowith aJapanese 12 string Koto.16At that time, the Koto had
12 or 13 strings played by wooden plectra. We usually call this type of Koto:
Sou or Sou no Koto. But there is another type of Koto which we call: Kin or
Wagon.We can judge that Frois meant sou because the Kin has fewer strings
than the sou. The main clue to the instrument's real identity lies in the
words 'without touching the strings' (directly), and this must surely indicate
that the instrument had a keyboard.

MANICORDIO, MONOCHORDUM or CRA VO ?

The word cravoappears in some records, and almost all Japanese scholars
have taken this to indicate the Xavier's instrument, but without checking
whether cravomeant a hammered or a plucked keyboard instrument. If cravo
in Portuguese means a kind of key (Latin clavis) as David Munrow has
discussed,'7it can mean not only a kind of plucked keyboard instrument but
also a kind of hammered keyboard instrument. Beryl Kenyon de Pascual,
quoting Sebastian de Cobarruvias, has translated the word clavetes as
'plectra' and if cravoequals clavetesthis indicates some form of plucked-string
keyboard instrument.18 It is known that there were two kinds of keyboard
instruments in Japan before a third kind, the organ, came to Japan.'9 What
then were the first and second keyboard instruments? I believe the first was
a clavichord (manicordioor monochordum)and the second keyboard was a
spinet or a harpsichord. It is true that Frois compared a cravowith a 12 string
Koto but he only used the 12 string Koto to show the difference between a
cravoand a Koto. This does not automatically mean that Xavier's instrument
was a kind of plucked keyboard instrument.
There is also other evidence, admittedly not direct, but if we examine
the following references carefully, it can be seen that the instrument was not
a plucked keyboard instrument, but a clavichord (manicordio or
monochordum).
In H. J. Coleridge20 C. de Torres refers to the instrument as a 'mani-
cordio'. H. Tursellini21wrote that Xavier had presented a 'monochordum',

"6L.Frois.Memorandums ofJapan.No. 9-7226, pp. 247-286 (The originalis in the

Bibliotecade la Real Academicade la Historia,Madrid).Translatedby Matsudaand
Jorissen.p.133.
17InstrumentstheMiddle
of AgesandRenaissance.p.18.
18'Clavicordiosand clavichordsin 16'h-centurySpain.'EarlyMusic.Vol. XX,
No. 4, p. 611.
19Whenthe firstorganwasbroughtis not certain.Therewasa possibilitythattwo
organswere broughttoJapanwhen ValignanocametoJapanin 1579. Bibl.deAjuda,
cod.49-IV-55, p.18. Fromthis we know thatsome organswere shippedfrom Goa
but we do not know when they arrivedin Japan. However, in the Mass of 4
October 1580, the words 'com orgaos'appear.L. Mexia. The annualreportfrom
Bunngoin Kyushu20 February1580.
20
H.J.Coleridge, The Life and Lettersof St. Franciscio
Xavier,London 1881,
Translatedby TorahachirouAsai, 1891, p.154.

119
while Joao Rodoriguez, Tcuzu calls it a 'manicordio'.22 Unfortunately,
some Japanese scholars have thought that this instrument was the same as a
Japanese traditional 'one string psaltery', while A.Valignano (Padre
Visitador) mentioned it as a 'clavichordio'.23 Surprisingly, L.Frois did not
mention any musical instrument among the presents.24
Japanese one-string psalteries have always been popular with the
Japanese, and even in the year 2000 many people enjoyed watching a
popular TV program on the NHK25 in which the heroine was a Japanese
monochordum player.
The most confusing aspect of all attempts at systematic scholarship has
how to distinguish between the meanings of the words cravo,manicordio,and
monochordum.The first problem is that the word cravohad two possible
meanings; either a plucked or a hammered keyboard instrument. L. Frois
complicates the matter further by quoting that four boys who had been sent
to Rome played a cravowith a rabequinhaa laudeand a harpaas accompany-
ing instruments for singing.26 Or in some cases there are reports of a cravo
being used for Mass. Since houses in Japan have traditionally been made of
wood, paper, mud or clay, which are sound-absorbent materials, the sound
of a clavichord in aJapanese house would have been extremely soft. In such
cases it is possible that cravomeant a plucked keyboard instrument. But a
cravosometimes had a wider meaning. Father G. Coelho wrote in a letter
'We have a cravoin each place'.27 It is not possible to judge unequivocally
the meaning of cravoin this case. However, I think Coelho used cravohere
in a general way to describe not only a plucked but also a hammered
instrument.
In an educational sense, A. Valignano settling the rules for a Seminario (a
primary school for Christians), first uses cravoand then monochordio in the
preface but later refers again to cravoin his article 12 to show the same
thing.28 On closer examination it appears that on the first occurrence cravo
means a plucked instrument only but on the second occurrence cravomeans
both instruments. Often the same writer would use the word cravoto
indicate different things. The problem is very complicated and most
Japanese scholars seem not to have realized the difference between a
plucked and a hammered keyboard instrument, and used the word cravo
without examining what it really meant. There is a further problem when
trying to distinguish the correct meanings of the terms manicordioand
monochordum. However, I believe that it is safe to say that both terms meant

H. Tursellini,De VitaF. Xaveii,Rome: 1594. p. 208.

21

22Historia daIgrejadoJapao.L.iv. III, cap.17.

23A.Valignano,HistoriadelPrincipio de la CompaniadeJesusen lasIndias
y Progress
(1583). Rome: 1944, p.176.
Orientales
24L.
Frois,Historiade lapam.Translatedby Matsudaand Kawasaki,Vol. VI, p.6.
25'Ichigenno Koto.' Ichigenmeansone string.
26
L. Frois,Historiadelapam.Translatedby MatsudaandKawasaki,Vol. II, p. 107
27Archivum RomanumSosietatis Iesu(ARSI).Cartas,1598.II, f.41r.
28Schutte, ValignanosMissionsgrundsatze Translatedby Matsuda.
fuirJapan.II.

120
a clavichord in sixteenth-century Spain. Nevertheless, most Japanese
scholars and musicologists do not agree with this, and still insist that Xavier
brought a cravoto Japan. As I have searched the various documentary
sources, I have found that the word cravo is used without further
investigation of the type of instrument referred to.29
I believe therefore that the best interpretation of the evidence is that
Xavier presented a clavichord to Yoshitaka Ohuchi. Unfortunately so far as
I know, there has been only one group of scholars who agree with me,30but
as they were not musicologists and did not know the word 'clavichord',
they explained that the instrument was 'like a small piano played with
hammers'.
Before we examine the evidence further, we must know how the Fathers
made their reports. For security, and to avoid risks, they usually sent three
letters. One was written by a priest in his native language, and two more
copies were made by his colleagues usually in Portuguese. Each letter was
then sent by a different ship to Goa or Lisbon, and there two more copies
of each were made. If the system worked correctly, nine letters would
eventually arrive in Rome.
The word manicordioor monochordum was rare. Despite a careful search of
this material, I have found only two cases. The first, as I have already
mentioned was in the records concerning Xavier and the second was in the
rules for the Seminario by Valignano. However, we can see that the Fathers
distinguished a cravofrom a manicordioor a monochordum. In the regulations
for a Seminario (Christian primary school), Valignano instituted following:
'Music or singing must be taught to the boys in the Seminario. Boys will
study a cravo,a monocordio,31 a guitar and other musical instruments and by
their performance the church's celebrations will be enriched.'
Valignano apparently knew the difference between a monocordioand a
cravo (a plucked keyboard instrument, in this case). He also wrote that
Xavier presented a clavichordio32 to a Japanese lord in his book about the
history of the church in east India. We cannot judge which instrument he
meant by the word clavichordio.It may have been a cravo (a plucked
instrument). Even though Valignano was possibly using the word
clavichordioto indicate a cravo(a plucked instrument), I do not think it is

29 L.Gay, La
Liturgiaen la MisiondelJapon del SigloXVI. Translatedby Ide,
Tokyo,1983. J.S.I.Alvarez,'El Sisttemade educacionmusicalde la Companiade
Jesus en Japon durantela antigua mission cristiana'.TheJournalof Musicology,
Japan.Vol.XXXIII, No.l,Tokyo, 1987. ShinyaAgario,In theAutumnofEiroku5th
(1562) christao-musicin Funai,Bungo.All three of these 3 articlesinsist Xavier
presenteda cravoto YoshitaOhuchi, however, much other evidenceindicatesthat
Xaviergave him a manicordio or monochordum.
30These scholarstranslatedHistoriadaIgrehadoJapao, byJoaoRodoriguezTcuze.
31 Laterhe statedin the same rule 'to let the children
studya cravo,a guitarand
othermusicalinstruments.'
32As I cannotcheck the original,I cannotsee whetherit camefromthe Italianor
Spanishor others.

121
important, because he came to Japan 30 years later than Xavier. He did not
see the original instrument because it was lost soon after Ohuchi received
it. So Valignano wrote his book without seeing the instrument and without
detailed knowledge of it.
In contradistinction, I think the remark made by Torres was very
important. He came to Japan with Xavier and he saw the musical
instrument and as the instrument was indispensable for the Father, he
would never mistake a manichordiofor a plucked keyboard instrument (the
narrow meaning of a cravo).Torres had been in Hirato while Xavier was in
Kyoto or Yamaguchi.33As the instrument was brought by way of Hirato, I
believe Torres knew what it was. As I have not been able to see Coleridge's
original book, I do not know how he came to know the word manichordio.
But it is reasonable for us to think Coleridge saw one of the letters fromJapan
or Goa or a letter copied in Lisbon or some other document and Coleridge
could not understand what a manichord was so he left manichordio as it was.
Tursellini wrote his book on Xavier in 1594 and said that Xavier brought
a monochordum.Though he wrote his book in Europe, it was possible for
him to see one of the letters from Japan or one of the subsequent copies.
Because the members of The Society ofJesus were looking forward to the
arrivalof letters from Asia, above all fromJapan, when a letter arrived, they
would read it to the members. This was done not only in Rome but also at
each place on the way to Rome. Rodoriguez wrote of the instrument as a
manicordioin his The Historyof the ChurchinJapan.34
I think Rodoriguez's word is the most reliable. He did not see the
instrument but he was very good atJapanese, and we can see from his work
such as hisJapanese-Portuguese dictionary35that he was very strict and very
careful in using words. (Frois was not so careful and accordingly, we must
make every effort to understand what his sentences mean.) It is true that
Rodoriguez studied the early Christian century by the books written
outsideJapan36but he knew many Fathersor monks in person who came to
Japan very early.
Yoshitaka Ohuchi was killed in 1551 and the musical instrument was lost
then. Torres died in 1570 so Rodoriguez who came toJapan in 1575 could
not have met him. But he could have asked his Portuguese colleagues, Frois
and Almeida, and others who came to Japan before him and asked them
what it was. As a result, he actually used the word manicordio,and his word
is most probably accurate in this respect.

33Hiratois in Kyushuand was a very importantplace for NannbanBoueki (the

tradewith Europeans).
34He wrote thisbook outsideJapanbecausehe hadbeen expelled.
pello PadreIoao RodriguezPortugues
35 Rodriguez, Arte da Lingoa de lapam composta

da Companhiade Iesu diuididaem TresLibros,1604-08.

36 Truselliniwrote in Rome, Maffeiigot informationin Portugal,Lucenawrote
in Portual. But mainly from PrimeiraParteda Historia dos Religions da Companhiade
dos Infieisa nossaSanctaFee
Jesuse quefirzeramcon a Divina Gracana Conversao
Catholicanos Reynos e Provinciasda India Oriental,by S.Goncalves.

122
 The first mission consisted mainly of Spanish. When they wrote letters or
reports, it was certain they used a manicordioor a monochordum37
to show what
musical instrument Xavier presented. Colerige, Tursellini, Rodoriguez
speak ofXavier as presenting the same kind ofinstrument, the clavichord. In
the early years in the Kirishitan century, clavichords must have been one of
the most important instruments, and it was very natural that, especially for
educational purpose, clavichords were in use as instruments for practicing
organ music. In 1554, the 3rd mission left Goa forJapan. They brought one
book for cantollanoand one book for cantode organotoJapan. As for the book
for cantode organo,it was not only used for choral instruction, but also for
instructing or practising keyboard instruments (and others).38This suggests
that there was a need for the book of cantode organonot only for singing but
also for playing keyboards.
Clavichords were easy to transport, easy to keep in good condition and
easy to tune. From these points of view, clavichords were the most ideal
keyboard instruments for the Fathers inJapan.
In the absence of further new and valid evidence, I think we can
conclude that Xavier presented a clavichord to Yoshitaka Ohuchi.

CONCLUSIONS
Finally, I would like to try to decide what size clavichord Xavier presented
to Yoshitaka Ohuchi and where it was made. Frois stated that their cravohad
42 strings.39This means that the instrument had three and a half octaves,
most probably with compass C/E - a2, and this coincides with Bermudo's
description of a clavichord. In my next article I want to investigate what
textbooks for musical instruments were available in sixteenth-century
Japan, and this may give further evidence for the compass of contemporary
instruments. At this stage, however, from the above evidence of Frois, it
seems that the usual size of the keyboard instrument inJapan was three and a
half octaves. From further research40,I have little hesitation in saying that
Xavier's instrument was a three and a half octave clavichord like the
instrument mentioned by Bermudo.
Valignano mentioned that Xavier's presents were from Portugal. Since
the Society of Jesus got much support from Portugal and they acted as
agents for Portuguese traders in the sixteenth century, there seems every
reason to suppose that the instrument presented by Xavier was a three and
half octave clavichord made in Portugal.

7As is often the casewith the letterfromJapanor Asia,when fatherscopied the

letter,they changeda word into a synonym.
38LikeBermudoor SanctaMaria.
39In this case,I thinkFroismeanta
pluckedinstrument.He only wantedto saya
size of the instrument.But we can see from the life of Xavier,thatthe fatherswere
alwaysmoving fromplaceto place.So smallerinstrumentswere convenient.I even
thoughtof an octavinospinetasthe instrumentthatFroismeant,becauseit is so easy
to transport.See alsonote 16.
4'There is some evidencethatsixteenth-centuryJapanese playednot only sacred
musicbut alsosecularinstrumentalmusic.

123