A Historical Study of Field Recordings of Okinawan Music: From Hisao Tanabe to the Okinawa Ongaku Soran LP Record Collection

2021 Fiscal Year Final Research Report

• Project/Area Number: 17K02365
• Research Category: Grant-in-Aid for Scientific Research (C)
• Allocation Type: Multi-year Fund
• Section: 一般
• Research Field: Art at large
• Research Institution: Kochi University
• Principal Investigator: TAKAHASHI MIKI 高知大学, 教育研究部人文社会科学系教育学部門, 教授 (30403869)
• Project Period (FY): 2017-04-01 – 2022-03-31
• Keywords: 田辺尚雄 / 民族音楽学 / 沖縄 / 民族音楽調査 / レコード / 録音 / 蓄音器 / 沖縄民謡

Outline of Final Research Achievements

(1) The study clarifies how the results of Hisao Tanabe’s 1922 survey on music in Okinawa and the Yaeyama Islands contributed to society. (2) It also clarifies the relationship between the 1953 Ryukyu koku-geki public performance by an Okinawan performing arts and culture delegation and 78 rpm SP records recorded in Tokyo and Osaka. (3) The 78 rpm SP records in the Tanabe collection at the Okinawa Prefectural University of Arts library were catalogued, and six SP records produced by Osaka Chikuonki Co., Ltd. in 1915, the oldest commercial recordings of Okinawan music, were discovered. (4) The study outlines the history of field recordings with regard to ethnic music research conducted by Tanabe in Asia and Okinawa between 1921 and 1940. (5) The production process and genre of tracks on the 16 LP records in the Okinawa Ongaku Soran collection are classified and the relationship between the cultural asset preservation policy and folk performing arts elucidated.

Free Research Field

音楽学

Academic Significance and Societal Importance of the Research Achievements

本研究の成果は蓄音器を端緒とする録音テクノロジーの発達が、民族音楽調査の現地録音に与えた影響を解明した点にある。
本研究から人類学、民俗学、民族音楽学の分野に共通する研究方法＝「現地調査」における声、音、音楽の記録、解析に対して、新しい知見を導き出すことができた。特に、聴覚に基づいた記録方法として、蓄音器による録音技術を先駆的に導入した田辺の実践は、民族音楽学が録音・採譜・出版に依拠していた時代のフィールド・ワークを解明する資料であることを証明した。