Digital Imaging of the Manuscripts of Traditional Japanese Music Notations Transcribed by Mr. ASADA Masayuki, known as Asada-fu
The music notations, transcribed by Mr. ASADA Masayuki (1900-1979), are widely known as a source for describing the melodies of voice (jōruri or uta) and shamisen accompaniment in shamisen music. His notations span a variety of genres, primarily Kiyomoto-bushi, but also Icchū-bushi, and Miyazono-bushi, among others. The Department of Intangible Cultural Heritage has been organizing and preserving the valuable manuscripts, which were collectively donated by the bereaved families when the department was known as the Department of Performing Arts. The outline of the material is reported as “Scores of Japanese Music Transcribed by ASADA Masayuki” [in Japanese] in Vol. 5 of “Research and Reports on Intangible Cultural Heritage.”
The bound versions of Asada-fu (copied and bound from the original manuscripts) are held by various institutions and are available for viewing. In addition, we have been working on digital imaging of the manuscripts, which have only remained at the Institute to ensure their availability for long-term use. We have recently completed the digital imaging of the manuscript of Kiyomoto-bushi genre.
Documenting intangible cultural properties based on oral/aural traditions, especially vocal music with various verses, remains a difficult task. This was even more so in the period when Asada-fu was created, that is before technological developments made it easier to record sound and edit images. From the manuscript, two types of traceable revisions were found: manuscripts revised by cutting and pasting of papers and those rewritten from scratch by destroying the previous version. The use of digital images allows future research into the revision process to be conducted without damaging the original manuscript, which calls for careful handling.
The list of manuscripts in our collection [in Japanese], which includes the progress of digital imaging, was posted on the website of the Department of Intangible Cultural Heritage on February 1st, 2022. The list will be updated based on the progress of our research.