The first commercial recordings from Asia were made in Japan in 1903 by Fred Gaisberg, the legendary producer and recording engineer who traveled the world making recordings for the Gramophone Company. It is a miracle what these fragile discs have survived: wars with Russia and China, the fire bombings of World War II, modernization, the onslaught of Western media.They document, through a dreamlike haze of surface noise, a Japan that had just barely begun to open its doors to the rest of the world. Including gagaku, shakuhachi, shamisen, storytelling, folksong and more. These recordings are a unique glimpse into an ancient culture and an important document of the beginnings of the recording industry. Simple and complex.
Features Suenaga Togi and gagaku musicians from the Imperial Household Orchestra, Toyosawa Heikichi, Azumaya Kamanosuke, Sumako of Shinbashi, unknown artists, Uehara Sakima, Takahashi Kiyokusa, Fukushira Kado, Yanagiya Kosan, Mimasuya Kachiguri, Umewaka Manzaburo, Umewaka Rokurou of the Kanze Noh school, Nokiken Hanadou, Shimeju of Yoshiwara, Takemoto Sumitayu, Toyozawa Danpei, Toyozawa Sennosuke, Takemoto Haruko Tayu, Toyozawa Shinzaemon, Inoue Satokishi.
