ABSTRACT
This chapter presents two things from an article by the music scholar Eishi Kikkawa about classical Japanese music. First, his argument that Japanese music has always lacked a strict separation or value hierarchy between the sounds of nature and the sounds produced by man-made instruments. Second, his explanation of the philosophical concept from Zen Buddhism of “fusoku-furi”, the possibility of achieving balance between elements that are neither connected nor separate, the possibility in musical terms of an improvisatory practice of discretion and intuition to balance these elements as they unfold. The larger empire of art’s local magics spreads across myriad public and private spaces – it will always be largely unknown from any public standpoint. A hidden empire which is not really an empire at all; rather an infinite network, only of whose connecting points shine bright enough to be seen from a distance.
