Japanese Collections

Noriko Awaya in her fifties. From 「淡谷のり子：わが放浪記」

Awaya Noriko (淡谷のり子) was a Japanese soprano and blues singer born in Aomori, Japan on August 12, 1907. Because her family was quite wealthy, she was able to go to school for a time at Toyo Conservatory of Music (東洋音楽学校, present day Tokyo College of Music). However, her father’s business became bankrupt and she was forced to leave school for a year, working part-time as a nude model. Eventually she returned to school, finished her studies, and began her 70-year long career. Her most famous songs include the 1937 hit 「別れのブルース」 (Wakare no burūsu) and 「雨のブルース」 (Ame no burūsu).

Rekion access in OSUL — Noriko Awaya’s popular songs can be found with the following Rekion identifiers:

• 「別れのブルース」
  • info:ndljp/pid/2915506
• 「雨のブルース」
  • info:ndljp/pid/8272244

Continue reading

Nagayo Moto’ori, from 朝日新聞 January 12, 1917

Nagayo Motoori (本居長世) (1885-1945) was a Japanese composer known for children’s songs. Although his grandfather and guardian protested, he pursued a music degree at Tokyo School of Music (present day Tokyo University of the Arts) and began working there as a research assistant studying traditional Japanese music. He was well-known for his talent on the piano (for which he served as an assistant professor) but switched suddenly to composing due to a finger injury. During his employment at the university, he taught other important Japanese musicians such as Shinpei Nakayama. Continue reading

The Shōchiku Kagekidan (松竹歌劇団) was an all female revue and musical troupe that lasted from 1928 to 1996, and rivaled the famed Takarazuka Kagekidan (宝塚歌劇団). Continue reading

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」. Continue reading

Typical calisthenics routine from Illustrated “Salaryman” in Japan (Click the image for the book in the OSUL Catalog).

One unique characteristic of daily life in Japan is mass participation in morning calisthenics routines. Particularly noticeable are construction workers who can be observed stretching outside at construction sites, but  the routines are also common in a range of spaces from kindergartens to offices.

These radio-broadcast routines were originally brought from the U.S. in the 1920’s, (detailed timeline is available on かんぽ生命 website) but contrary to their American counterparts, the exercises continue to be a part of daily Japanese life.

In 1931, the Radio Taisō Song (ラジオ体操の歌) was released and for many represented the beginning of the day. The broadcasts were banned for a period following the war, but were revived with the addition of a new theme song in 1951.

Rekion access in OSUL – There are several versions of the  Radio Taisō Song available through Rekion. Continue reading

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.

The sensational Takarazuka Revue began as The Takarazuka Girl’s Opera in 1914 as a way to attract guests to an up-and-coming tourist destination, and 100 years later continues to entertain the imaginations of audiences from across Japan. One of Takarazuka’s most well-known performances was a Japanese language adaptation of the popular revue show, Mon Paris (吾が巴里よ), which became the first revue in Japan. The Revue was named after the city in which it originated, Takarazuka, in Hyōgo prefecture.

Mon Paris, 「吾が巴里よ」from ｢夢を描いて華やかに：宝塚歌劇80年史」.

• Rekion access in OSUL – A series of recordings from the Mon Paris performance are available through the following Rekion identifiers:
  • info:ndljp/pid/8269617
  • info:ndljp/pid/8269618
  • info:ndljp/pid/8269619
  • info:ndljp/pid/8269620
  • or by searching the keyword: “吾が巴里よ”.

Takarazuka and Osamu Tezuka:

Manga artist Osamu Tezuka (手塚治虫), creator of Astro Boy (鉄腕アトム) grew up in Takarazuka and his work was influenced by the theater group, particularly his manga Princess Knight (リボンの騎士) . After Tezuka’s manga gained notoriety, his stories were then adapted into several Takarazuka musicals. For more information about Tezuka and Takarazuka theater, see Tezuka in English by Ada Palmer.

Rose of Versailles ｢ベルサイユのばら」, showing the mutual stylistic influence between Takarazuka and shōjo manga, from 「夢を描いて華やかに：宝塚80年史」.

More information about Takarazuka is available through several resources in the OSU Library catalog. Continue reading

As a continuation of the previous post about Shinpei Nakayama’s composition “Tokyo March”, this article will focus on Nakayama and his other well-known works.

Shinpei Nakayama (中山晋平) was born in 1887 in Nagano prefecture. He attended Tokyo School of Music (present day Tokyo University of the Arts).

One of his most beloved works is “The Gondola Song” (ゴンドラの唄, Gondora No Uta), which was used in Akira Kurosawa’s classic 1952 film, Ikiru (生きる）. During his career, Nakayama composed a great number of popular melodies, including nearly 800 children’s songs, many of which were featured in the children’s picture magazine Kodomo No Kuni (Children’s Land).

• Rekion access in OSUL – Rekion Identifier for the 1934 recording of The Gondola Song” (ゴンドラの唄 ） is “info:ndljp/pid/1322660”

Nakayama was active at a time when radical changes were occurring in the nature of Japanese music and performance. Continue reading

Longing for the past when the streets in Ginza were lined with willow trees
A young beauty becomes a nobody with age
Dance to the jazz music and down liquor into the night
And the rain that is the tears of the dancers will sprinkle at the break of dawn.

Tokyo March (1929) Lyrics taken from the English subtitles in Tokyo March (1929), directed by Mizoguchi Kenji, in Talking Silents 1, DVD (Tokyo: Digital Meme, 2007)

Movie Poster for Tokyo March from 完全版朝日クロニクル 20世紀 : 日本と世界の100年 v.2

Shinpei Nakayama(中山晋平) was a Japanese composer known as “the father of popular music” who was active during the early 1900’s. Nakayama rose to fame when his composition “Tokyo March” (Tokyo Koshinkyoku) was used as the theme song for the 1929 movie by the same title directed by Mizoguchi Kenji. Upon the song’s release, “Tokyo March” came to be considered one of the first Japanese “pop” songs, selling an unprecedented 400,000 copies according to The Oxford Handbook of Japanese Cinema. The resounding success sparked the careers of Nakayama, the song’s lyricist, and the song’s performer Chiyako Sato (佐藤千夜子), which subsequently caused a surge in the country’s overall record production. Japan’s professional music industry was set into motion. Continue reading

The Ohio State University Library is proud to announce a new resource: 歴史的音源 the Japanese Historical Recordings Collection (Rekion). Compiled by the Recording Industry Association of Japan (RIAJ) in cooperation with the National Diet Library (NDL), this archive consists of approximately 50,000 digitized recordings from 1900-1950. A fraction of these recordings are available to the public through the National Diet Library Online Collections, but the majority of material is only available through libraries who have been granted special access. This year, OSU became the first (and currently the only) location in North America to be granted access to this database: Continue reading