Jinta - Jinta

A professional wind orchestra from the Meiji and Taisho periods, or the colloquial name for such wind orchestras. In 1887 (Meiji 20), the "Tokyo Municipal Band" was established, made up mainly of former military band members, and other municipal bands were established all over the country, used for garden parties and various other events. Later, as Western music became more popular, demand for jinta increased, and in the late Meiji period, jinta came to be used widely for advertising and to attract customers to circuses, and they also began to provide music accompaniment for motion pictures (films). However, with the spread of the violin, jinta, which mainly consisted of wind instruments, gradually declined, and by the early Showa period had almost completely disappeared, replaced by chindon-ya. There are many theories about the origin of the word jinta, including that it comes from the intro to the widely performed song "Utsukushiki Tennen" (composed by Tanaka Hozumi, commander of the Sasebo Marine Corps Band), which sounds like "jintatta, jintatta," that it was used to actively promote Jintan, or that it comes from a scene in Iwaya Sazanami's novel "Boku no Namiki Kyouiku" (My Military Review) in which a boy draws a picture of a soldier while humming "Jinjin, jingaratta," but there is no definitive proof.

[Soya Mukai]

Source: Shogakukan Encyclopedia Nipponica About Encyclopedia Nipponica Information | Legend

明治・大正期の職業的吹奏楽隊、またはその吹奏楽の俗称。1887年（明治20）に軍楽隊出身者を中心にした「東京市中音楽隊」が開業したのをはじめ、各地に市中音楽隊ができ、園遊会など各種の催しに利用された。のち洋楽の大衆化とともにその需要も増え、明治後期には広告宣伝や曲馬団（サーカス）などの客寄せにも幅広く使われるようになり、さらに活動写真（映画）の伴奏音楽も担当するようになった。しかしバイオリンの普及に伴い、吹奏楽器が主体のジンタはしだいに衰退、昭和初期にはほとんど姿を消し、チンドン屋にとってかわられた。ジンタの語源については、数多く演奏された『美しき天然』（佐世保(させぼ)海兵団軍楽隊隊長田中穂積(ほづみ)作曲）の前奏が「ジンタッタ、ジンタッタ」と聞こえるところからきたとか、仁丹(じんたん)の宣伝を盛んに行ったからとか、巌谷小波(いわやさざなみ)の小説『僕の観兵式』に登場する少年が「ジンジン、ジンガラタッタ」と口ずさみながら兵隊の絵を描く場面からきたとかの諸説があるが、確証はない。

［向井爽也］

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