ABSTRACT
Nagauta (‘long song’) is conventionally categorized as lyric or utaimono. A lot of ink has been spilled on the differences between narrative and lyric in Japanese vocal music (Oshio 2002). However, as with most binaries, they are not as mutually exclusive as it might seem. As indicated in Chapter 1, there are lyric aspects in most narrative genres, and narrative aspects in most lyric genres. So-called lyric nagauta is no exception.
