Tokugawa in 1961, from 「徳川夢声と出会った」
Musei Tokugawa (徳川夢声) was a multi-talented performer known for his silent film narrations, film and radio appearances, as well as for authoring numerous essays and novels.
He was born in 1894 in Shimane prefecture. His career began as a benshi (弁士), or a narrator of silent films. He enjoyed success in this realm until the end of the silent film era. From there, he began appearing in film and television as an actor, as well as storytelling through radio.
Some of Tokugawa’s stories can be heard at the Rekion station at the OSUL Music/Dance Library by searching the following access codes, or by searching 「徳川夢声」.
- Children’s Story: Tortoise and the Hare
- 兎と亀（一）info:ndljp/pid/1323989
- 兎と亀（二）info:ndljp/pid/1324013
- Scary Stories
- 漫談：一ツ目怪談(上) info:ndljp/pid/3572120
- 漫談：一ツ目怪談(下) info:ndljp/pid/3572121
- 漫談：新四谷怪談(上) info:ndljp/pid/3572115
- 漫談：新四谷怪談(下) info:ndljp/pid/3572116
- Rakugo
- 落語漫譚：ムセイの小言幸兵衛（一）info:ndljp/pid/3572095
- 落語漫譚：ムセイの小言幸兵衛（ニ）info:ndljp/pid/3572096
- 落語漫譚：ムセイの小言幸兵衛（三）info:ndljp/pid/3572097
- 落語漫譚：ムセイの小言幸兵衛（四）info:ndljp/pid/3572098
Tokugawa wrote over 50 books and essays, including detailed diaries. Part of his diaries during the years of the war is available in OSUL – Musei Sensō Nikki,「夢声戦争日記」 (中央公論社 1977年). These diaries are known to be an important record of life during the second world war.
OSUL carries some resources about Musei Tokugawa:
- 「徳川夢声放送話術二十七年」徳川夢声著 (日本図書センター 1998年)
- 「徳川夢声と出会った」濱田研吾著 (晶文社 2003年)
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.
