Rethinking Iemoto: Theorizing Individual Agency in the Tsugaru Shamisen Oyama-ryū

What is it about?

This article discusses issues of individual agency arising from previous scholarship on iemoto (家元) (headmaster) in Japanese performing arts. Extant literature on the iemoto system has tended to view human action as mere enactment of rules and standards. The article develops a theory of individual agency and then examines the sociocultural practices of individuals associated with an iemoto school of tsugaru shamisen music called Oyama-ryū. This article aims to facilitate an in-depth understanding and critical rethinking of the iemoto organization’s formative processes, transformativity, and temporality as well as individual members’ projects and creativity.

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