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The Tôdôza guild of heikyoku musicians was established
in the fourteenth century, and received the patronage of the Tokugawa
Shogunate throughout the Edo Period (1603-1867). In addition to heikyoku
players, blind performers of the principal koto and shamisen music genres,
as well as practitioners of massage, acupuncture and moxa healing, were
required to be members of the Tôdôza. In effect the guild had
monopoly control over traditional professions of the blind. There was
an elaborate hierarchy within the Tôdôza, kengyô
being the top rank. A Tôdôza member's rank was denoted by his
clothing, the colour of his walking stick, the kinds of formal greetings
he used, and other strictly regulated aspects of appearance and behavior.
After the forced dissolution of the guild in 1871, blind musicians in
many regions of Japan formed new, private professional associations. Among
them was the Association for National Music, formed in the Nagoya area.
It has been the most successful of such organizations in preserving heikyoku
and other traditions that had been under the aegis of the Tôdôza.
The garments worn by Imai Tsutomu in tonight's performance are copies
of those of an Edo Period Tôdôza kengyô.
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