Capturing Sound or History? Understanding the 1928 Minzoku Geijutsu Transcription Debate

Debate over the procedures of ethnographic transcription have ranged from the technical to the philosophical, and, in more recent years, the goals of transcription have been considered against the backdrop of other debates over authenticity and representation. The debate in the pages of the 1928 Japanese folklore journal Minzoku geijutsu between composer Fujii Kiyomi (1889–1944) and shakuhachi historian Nakazuka Chikuzen (1887–1944) provides an exceptional opportunity to see our own practices from the outside. Fujii and Nakazuka's argument over the goals and procedures for the transcription of Japanese folk song takes an unusual trajectory through issues of style, sophistication, standardization, and form.