Utazawa is a style of singing with shamisen that comes from the late Edo period. The voice is drawn out and highly ornamented and there is a very subtle relationship between the voice and the shamisen. It began when some samurai and wealthy merchants decided that the popular songs of the time needed to be polished and improved and eventually, this became a separate style.

JTRAD 045

This piece shows the famous demon-queller Watanabe Tsuna, but instead of fighting the ordinary demons that he is famous for fighting, this shows him fighting the demons of the pleasure quarters. Watanabe Tsuna was one of the followers of Minamoto no Yorimitsu (also known as Raiko). Once he was sent to investigate a haunting at the Rashomon gate in Kyoto. Tsuna was attacked by a fearsome demon that pulled him into the air. Tsuna finally escaped by cutting off the demon's arm. Later, the demon recovered his arm by masquerading as Tsuna's old nurse.
The Utazawa piece begins in very grand style as it introduces Tsuna's heroic exploits, then suddenly it changes to a light popular style as it describes Tsuna in the pleasure quarters.

Performers:
Utazawa Shibakin (Singer), Utazawa Shijo (Shamisen)