Abstract
This series “A Century of Broadcasting Revisited through New Historical Sources” examines broadcasting history from multiple perspectives, drawing on recently uncovered historical sources to commemorate the centenary of broadcasting in Japan. The fifth installment explores the realities of wartime broadcast music, with particular attention to music scores from the Pacific War period preserved in the NHK Archives.
With only a very limited number of exceptions, most broadcast recordings from the Pacific War have not survived. Although radio program guides from the period list the titles and composers of the music that was aired, details about these pieces often remain unclear because neither the recordings nor the scores are extant.
However, two years ago, 253 scores were identified in the NHK Archives as “wartime music sources.” These scores were created for broadcast before and during the war and had been independently classified and preserved by the Archives.
In December 1941, just before the Pacific War began, the Japanese government compiled the “Outline of Emergency Measures for Domestic Broadcasting,” announcing its decision to use music actively to boost public morale. Following this directive, the Japan Broadcasting Corporation produced the Pacific War March Collection. Although this fact had been known previously, recent findings confirm that many of these scores were preserved in the NHK Archives, revealing the nature of the heroic music that was broadcast immediately after the war began.
However, previous research indicates that there was a gradual shift in policy regarding broadcast music toward the end of the war, driven by growing concern that grievances and dissatisfaction would intensify among the public as the conflict dragged on. In April 1944, a document symbolizing this shift was sent from the government to the Japan Broadcasting Corporation. It outlined a policy to broadcast music that would soothe public fatigue and dispel grievances, dissatisfaction, and gloomy moods.
However, judging from the scores preserved in the NHK Archives, it is clear that this policy was not immediately implemented. Because the government documents were treated as confidential, they may not have been thoroughly disseminated. It was not until after the government announced the “Outline of Measures for Public Opinion Guidance for the Decisive Battle” in October 1944 that actual changes in the nature of broadcast music began to appear. From the end of 1944 onward, composers began to create music with dreamy or elegant qualities.
By examining the scores preserved in the NHK Archives, it has become possible to clarify, at least to some extent, how shifts in government policy during the war led to specific changes in broadcast music.
