Japanese
Recorded in Tokyo and other Japanese cities, 1900s–1940s
The Japanese sides number sixteen, and the greater share of them is given to one long work issued in sequence: Nagauta Kanjinchō, with yomiage and mondō, spread across ten discs. The credits name 芳村伊四郎 (Ishirō Yoshimura) together with 杵屋東十郎, 富士田吉四郎, 芳村伊千十郎, 杵屋栄蔵, 杵屋栄次郎, 芳村栄四郎, 杵屋和八, and 望月太左衛門社中, the same company carried in English as Tōjurō Kineya, Kichishirō Fujita, Ichijūrō Yoshimura, Eizō Kineya, and Eijirō Ki.
Beside that run stand shorter titles. Tak Shindo is credited on two sides—one pairing Tea Garden (Flute Solo) with Koto Improvisation, the other a string of cues that takes in Oriental Street Festival, Geisha, Samurai, Ohayo, Ricksha, and Ondo. Rintaro Tokai, with Noushou Omura and Fukei Imanaka, appears on Nozaki Kouta (A Little Nozaki Song). A 1941 side carries Hiroshi Tachibana in Kokkyou-no Oka (Border Hill); the set also holds Ginga No Yoi (Galaxies’ Evening) and Zhonghua zhi ye, China Night.
The rights picture is plain and uneven. Almost all of the sides are classed as unknown; a single side falls in the 1923–46 gray band. The only year marked on the sides themselves is 1941.
About this hearth
A domestic recording industry took shape in Japan in the early twentieth century, documenting genres already long established on stage and in the pleasure quarters. Noh and kabuki-related material, narrative shamisen traditions, folk min’yō and courtly instrumental pieces appear in varying depth beside ryūkōka popular song. Voice with shamisen, koto, shakuhachi and percussion is fundamental to much of the traditional catalogue. The sides show how an older performance world adapted to the gramophone while new urban song forms rose around it.
Recorded in: Tokyo, Osaka
Tokyo, in their time
Tokyo crowds — Ginza in 1895, the wait for the Crown Prince in 1916, and the day the Olympic team came home. Library of Congress and Wikimedia Commons.
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The music-makers and the dress
10 period photographs of this hearth's own music-makers and dress, every one dated from its source's own records. Pictures are shown as documentary record, credited to the holding collection; anything here is removed on request. Sources: Wikimedia Commons (10).
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Restored Recordings
Every track below is a remaster. Press play on the full sequence, or pick a single recording.
Nozaki Kouta (A Little Nozaki Song)
TEA GARDEN (Flute Solo); KOTO IMPROVISATION
長唄 勧進帳 (読上・問答入) (九) (Nagauta Kanjinchō (with Yomiage and Mondō), disc 9)
長唄 勧進帳 (読上・問答入) (五) (Nagauta Kanjinchō (with Yomiage and Mondō), disc 5)
長唄 勧進帳 (読上・問答入) (六) (Nagauta Kanjinchō (with Yomiage and Mondō), disc 6)
長唄 勧進帳 (読上・問答入) (十) (Nagauta Kanjinchō (with Yomiage and Mondō), disc 10)
長唄 勧進帳 (読上・問答入) (十一) (Nagauta Kanjinchō (with Yomiage and Mondō), disc 11)
長唄 勧進帳 (読上・問答入) (十三) (Nagauta Kanjinchō (with Yomiage and Mondō), disc 13)
長唄 勧進帳 (読上・問答入) (十二) (Nagauta Kanjinchō (with Yomiage and Mondō), disc 12)
長唄 勧進帳 (読上・問答入) (十五) (Nagauta Kanjinchō (with Yomiage and Mondō), disc 15)
長唄 勧進帳 (読上・問答入) (十六) (Nagauta Kanjinchō (with Yomiage and Mondō), disc 16)
長唄 勧進帳 (読上・問答入) (十四) (Nagauta Kanjinchō (with Yomiage and Mondō), disc 14)
About the restoration
Every recording here is a historical track sourced from a public archive and remastered through a purpose-built chain — the same fixed chain for every file, no machine-learning enhancement. The aim is simple: sound better, and meet YouTube's audio standards. Rights status differs per recording and sources are credited where known; anything still in copyright is published with attribution and removed on request. The surface noise of the original transfer is still audible, because removing it completely would mean removing the recording too. How the restoration works →