Images from the OIKAWA Takao Collection Are Now Partially Open to the Public
In 2021, TOBUNKEN received a donation of paper-based documents (a total of 2,235 items) owned by OIKAWA Takeo (1942 – 2018). He was known as a collector of traditional Japanese musical instruments and related documents. The Department of Intangible Cultural Heritage has been organizing the donated documents and since 2022 has made a database of the documents open to the public on the TOBUNKEN website, as the OIKAWA Takao Collection. The collection covers a wide variety of paper-based documents, with varying formats and period of establishment, based on Japanese traditional musical instruments originating within and outside Japan.
These documents are available for viewing at the TOBUNKEN library by reservation. However, aiming to make these documents more widely available, the department has started to digitize the rare works and those in such condition that their handling is to be avoided. The documents that have already been digitized and are now available are listed in the “pdf” column in the database, available here (Japanese only). We are now continuing our work on digitizing the rest of the documents.
Mr. OIKAWA exhibited his musical instrument collection, which he had collected by himself, at the “Oikawa Museum of Musical Instruments”, and guided the visitors as the museum director from 2003-2015. He wanted visitors to handle these instruments and make sounds with them. Therefore, we believe that making his paper-based documents available to a wider audience follows his aspiration. We hope you will make use of the database.