"These recording were made with the acoustic rather than the later electronic system. They were probably made in 1927 or 28. I have only my memory to rely on now. I obtained copies of these in 1959 and I recall being told that they were recorded in the late 1920s. Hearing them now the performances sound beautiful and steady, but when I heard them in the late 1950s for the first time, they seemed painfully loose and almost disorganized. I can also remember that when I first played these for the younger court musicians in the late 50's they thought the recordings had been made by some shrine musicians in some remote part of Japan. They were shocked and could not believe that the recordings were made by their own grandfathers even after I showed them the labels with the names of the musicians on it."

Japan Pre-World War II Recordings
Garfias UCI