Japan's Anthem

Japan's anthem makes for a good case study of European influence. In the 1860s a British bandmaster living in Japan, John William Fenton, noted that the country did not have a national anthem. A local military officer, Ooyama Iwao, selected the lyrics from a Heian era poem and Fenton wrote the melody. About a decade later, a Japanese committee chose a replacement melody by a court musician-one that had been composed for traditional Japanese instruments, but in a mixed style influenced by Fenton's arrangement. The version in use today was also altered by German Franz Eckert to fit a Western style.