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John William Fenton (12 March 1828 – 28 April 1890) was an Irish musician, the leader of a military band in Japan at the start of the Meiji period. He is considered "the first bandmaster in Japan"〔Asiatic Society of Japan. (1980). ( ''Transactions of the Asiatic Society of Japan,'' p. 14. )〕 and "the father of band music in Japan."〔Joyce, Colin and Julian Ryall. ("British Soldier who Wrote Japanese National Anthem Honoured." ) ( ''The Telegraph'' (London) ). 14 October 2008.〕 Fenton is best known for having initiated the process through which ''Kimi ga yo'' came to be accepted as the national anthem of Japan. Fenton is considered Scottish in Scotland because he lived in Montrose in around 1881;〔Sabadus, Aura. "Japan Searches for Scot who Modernised Nation," (''The Scotsman.'' ) 14 March 2006.〕 but he is also considered Irish because he was born in Kinsale, County Cork in Ireland in 1828.〔 journalistic writing on Fenton typically considers him a Briton. ==Bandmaster in Japan== Fenton, bandmaster of Britain's 10th Foot Regiment (later renamed Royal Lincolnshire Regiment), 1st Battalion, arrived in Japan in 1868. The regiment had been sent to protect the small foreign community in Yokohama during the transitional period at the end of the Tokugawa shogunate and the early years of the Meiji restoration.〔 Japanese naval cadets overheard the brass band rehearsing; and they persuaded Fenton to become their instructor. The Central band of the Japanese Maritime Self-Defense Force traditionally considers this first group of cadet musicians as the earliest of Japan's naval bands. In due course, Fenton ordered instruments from London for his Japanese students.〔 When Fenton's battalion left Japan in 1871, he remained for an additional six years as a bandmaster with the newly formed Japanese navy and then the band of the imperial court.〔 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「John William Fenton」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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