Research Guides: Music: Ethnomusicology

Rekion Streaming Station

What is Rekion?

Rekion is a collection of historical audio recordings from the National Diet Library of Japan. It is a searchable streaming archive of over 50,000 sound recordings produced and released in Japan, including music, speeches, performing arts, etc. You can access it only from a computer station in Hamilton Library Harry C. and Nee-Chang Wong Audiovisual Center on the 1st floor. Recordings are not downloadable.

What is included?

Rakugo, traditional music and songs, Japanese instrumental music (such as a guitar, koto, shakuhachi, musical plays, Joruri, Naniwabushi, popular music, jazz), lectures, speeches, and more. The main sources are NHK, Japan Columbia Records, Victor Entertainment Company, Kings Recording, Teichiku Entertainment, Universal Music, EMI Music Japan, etc.

Ethnomusicology Program at UH-Manoa

The ethnomusicology program has a long-standing reputation for excellence in the study of world music, especially the music of Asian and Pacific cultures.

The program is in a unique geocultural environment that has direct contact with music as a dynamic process and defines the kinds of studies available at UHM. To learn more about the collection or the ethnomusicology program, please contact the Music Department at (808) 956-7756.

The image above features the koto, a traditional Japanese stringed musical instrument.

Musical Instruments Displays

This musical instruments display is curated by the UHM Music Department’s Ethnomusicology, which has over 2,000 musical instruments from around the world with a particular concentration of instruments from Asia and the Pacific. The Fall 2016–Spring 2017 display features instruments from Japan.

Right image includes shamisen, hichiriki, shakuhachi, bachi, and biwa.

Left image includes the following instruments: shimedaiko, kagurasuzu, mokugyo, rin, gong, hansho, and kotsuzumi.