Reconstruction and revitalization of Japanese folk music through utilizing the Toyo Ongaku Gakkai Sound Archives preserved in the National Museum of Ethnology

Keywords

folk music,sound archives,cultural resources

Objectives

The National Museum of Ethnology (“Minpaku”) has in its holdings both audio materials and accompanying materials such as notes and photographs from a survey of Japanese folk music that was conducted in the 1960s and 1970s by the Toyo Ongaku Gakkai (The Society for Research in Asiatic Music). Some of these materials were collected in collaboration with the Kyugakkai Rengo (The Association of Nine Academic Societies). These materials—which added up to more than 1,000 tapes—were donated to Minpaku in 1995. They have been digitalized, and a database has been created with information about the musical selections. I, however, have seen no evidence of them having been used as research materials since the survey was completed. Accordingly, the objective of the present research is to bring to light the contemporary significance and future potential of the Toyo Ongaku Gakkai materials in the following three ways. (1) Use these materials to identify the changes and continuities in Japanese folk music since the mid-20th century and attempt to recreate events and repertory; (2) through the materials, trace tendencies, results, and questions in Japanese folk music research in the latter half of the 20th century; and (3) use these materials—which should function as a cultural resource to be shared among scholars and popular transmitters of folk music—to create an information platform among interested parties that would be of use for reviving traditions and reawakening awareness of local culture.

Research Results

This inter-university research project was originally planned to last for three years from 2021 to 2023, but it was extended one more year due to the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic.
In 2021, we conducted a basic study to ascertain the current state of the Toyo Ongaku Gakkai Sound Archives (hereinafter “Toyo Archives”). Tomiko Kojima and Nobuko Irie, who were involved in the original Toyo Ongaku Gakkai survey, were invited as guest lecturers to talk about the state of fieldwork at the time with a focus on research conducted by Kyugakkai Rengo (Council of Nine Learned Societies) in the 1960s. We found that the Toyo Archives donated to the National Museum of Ethnology (hereinafter “Minpaku”) lacked data in some of the researched areas, with much of it assumed to be owned by individuals today. We also found that there was a need to digitalize notes and reconsider how to publicly release metadata and the archives itself. Future initiatives were guided by the study’s findings, including the importance of collaborating with local experts to conduct more surveys.
However, the COVID-19 pandemic has still had a significant impact on folk performing arts as of 2022.. Therefore, we were unable to fulfill one of the research project’s objectives that year, which was to share and return to the Toyo Archives’ local transmitters. We held a workshop only once that year, where researchers reported their research on the locations of the audio sources in the Amami and Goto Islands survey and on the state of preparation for sharing and giving back the Sanbikishishimai [“Three Beasts Dance”] audio from the 1967 Tone River basin survey.
From 2023, performances of folk performing arts gradually resumed, so the inter-university research project researchers were able to share the Toyo Archives with the transmitters and others involved through activities such as listening events. Reports of said activities were presented at the second workshop held that year, showing the potential of the Toyo Archives to revive traditions and the high hopes transmitters had for the Archives. The first workshop of the year was held at the National Museum of Japanese History that August. There we learned about the current state and challenges of the museum’s folk song database, and it was suggested that it could be used in the Toyo Archives. The workshops held up to this year shed light on the characteristics of the Toyo Archives and the fundamental problems related to “giving back” sound archives to locals.
Two workshops were held in 2024, the final year of the project. At the first workshop, two reports were presented on the results of giving back the Toyo Archives to locals since the previous year, and participants comprehensively examined how to utilize and organize the Archives going forward. At the second and final workshop, we discussed methods for compiling the outcomes of the project and prospects for after the conclusion of project.