Min'yō
/mɪnˈjoʊ/noun
A traditional Japanese folk song or folk-song genre.
Did you know?Many min’yō songs were tied to work, festivals, courtship, or ritual, allowing communal singing to preserve local history before mass literacy and recording.
Etymological Timeline
Ancient Chinese
Old Chinese
民謠
“A people’s song or popular song; the compound was later borrowed into Japanese.”
Middle Chinese
Middle Chinese
民謠
“Pronounced approximately *min yew; 民 meant “people,” while 謠 meant “song” or “ballad.””
8th Century
Japanese
民謠
“Sino-Japanese written compound read with imported Chinese-derived vocabulary.”
Early Modern Japanese
Japanese
みんよう (min'yō)
“A song of the people, especially a traditional regional song.”
20th Century
Japanese
民謡 (min'yō)
“Standard term for Japanese folk songs and the broader traditional folk-song genre.”
Modern English
English
min'yō / minyo
“A Japanese folk song or traditional folk-music style.”