TAI, Minori

Positions, degrees

Project Research Associate

Research Keywords

Music; Ritual; Funeral; Cultural anthropology

Email

taiminori[at]aa.tufs.ac.jp

I study how musical practices in Japanese and Taiwanese funerals serve as a means of mourning in contemporary society.

In recent years, music has been incorporated into Japanese funerals in diverse ways. It may be played as background music, family members may perform songs that the deceased loved, or professional musicians known as “ceremony players” may perform live. In non-religious funerals, so-called “music funerals” are sometimes held, in which music is placed at the very center of the ceremony. As both a researcher and a ceremony player myself, I examine how such varied musical practices serve as a medium for sending off the deceased, while also enabling the bereaved to reaffirm their memories and reshape their continuing bonds with the departed. Music resonates in the body and evokes memories and emotions. I aim to clarify how such invisible mechanisms operate within mourning, drawing also on my own experiences as a performer.