音楽

Pattern visualization

Examples

1. 寝る前にクラシック音楽を聴きます。▶ —
   I listen to classical music before sleeping.
2. 音楽は心を癒してくれます。▶ —
   Music heals the heart.

Collocations

Mnemonic

おんがく — 音楽, Sino-Japanese. Unpack the two kanji ── 音 (sound) + 楽 (joy) = 'the joy of sound'. A combination that holds the essence of music in two characters ── Korean eumak (音樂) and Chinese 音乐 share the kanji; China uses simplified 乐, Japan and Korea 楽. The kanji 楽 is interesting ── it carries two readings, 'joyful' (raku) and 'music' (gaku). Within Japanese, 楽しい tanoshii (enjoyable) and 音楽 ongaku share the same character. An old East Asian intuition: music is joy. Japanese music vocabulary ── 邦楽 hougaku (Japanese music), 洋楽 yougaku (Western music), 演歌 enka (a Japanese trot). The Korean readings eum / ak are sister to the onyomi おん / がく.

Quick check

1. 1980s Japanese genre rediscovered as sample source for global vaporwave / lo-fi hip-hop?

   • City Pop — Japanese urban funk / R&B
   • Enka — trot
   • Anison — anime song
   • J-POP (current mainstream)