The Bunka-Fu Came into Existence

One day, You Sakagami (later Kine-ie Yashichi IV) thought, "I wish there were musical notes for shamisen music students, as there were in the western musiccal world. It would be much easier for them to learn and practise."

Then, together with her husband Kunikiyo Akaboshi, who was an instructor of piano and violin, made a great effort for creating a shamisen music notation. In 1909, they published "the shamisen music score based on western music notation". However, their efforts ended in fail as there were few people who could read musical scores

They studied and worked harder, and fortunately had an opportunity to make an acquaintance with Dr. Inazo Nitobe, an enthusiastic Nagauta patron. Finally, the current "Bunka-Fu" was successfully completed, after several trials.

Kine-ie Yashichi IV declared that the Bunka-Fu should be her lifework and would last forever to help shamisen students and shamisen, and shamisen music would become popular worldwide.

This style of shamisen text "Bunka-Fu" became the major shamisen music notation, and has been used in not only Nagauta field but also many other shamisen musics..