Rekion includes a very famous recording made at the 1936 Berlin Olympics, when NHK announcer Sansei Kasai (河西三省) abandoned his regular detachment as a journalist to cheer on Japanese swimmer Hideko Maehata (前畑秀子) as she edged out her German rival to win the gold medal in the 200 meter breaststroke event.
Hideko Maehata, 1936 from 昭和日本史: スポーツ五十年.
- Rekion access in OSUL – Rekion Identifier for the 1936 recording of NHK Radio Women’s 200 Meter Breaststroke 日本放送協会著作所有：水上競技実況放送（女子二百米平泳決勝）is “info:ndljp/pid/8273611”
Additional reading:
- To read more about Hideko Maehata and Japan at the 1936 Olympics, see:
Japanese women and sport : beyond baseball and sumo by Robin Kietlinski (Bloomsbury, 2011). - “Moving Forward: Sports and Gender in Modern Japan” by Robin Orlansky (Graduate Journal of Asia-Pacific Studies 5:1 (2007), 71-83)
- Japanese sports: a history by Allen Guttmann and Lee Thompson (U Hawaii Press, 2001).
- Supōtsu Gojūnen (Shōwa Nihon shi. 16). 昭和日本史16: スポーツ五十年 (Akatsuki Kyōiku Tosho, 1976-78).
NOTE: This is one of a series of posts highlighting content available in Rekion (れきおん), the Historical recordings collection of the National Diet Library (Japan), which is available at a dedicated computer in the Music and Dance Library at Ohio State. See the Introductory post in this series for more information about the database.
