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What subjects were common in new Chikuzen and Satsuma biwa pieces?
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Japanese music
Courtesan playing a samisen, Japanese woodcut print.
During the late 19th century, new schools of narrative biwa music emerged under the names Chikuzen and Satsuma, influenced by samisen narrative traditions. The subjects of these new pieces were often military in nature and were considered appropriate for the modernization period of the Meiji Restoration.1