Abstract
The Hokkaido Museum of Northern Peoples houses the collection of the folk music researcher Hisao Tanabe (1883-1984). He travelled to research on the music of the northern people such as the Sakhalin Ainu, whom he studied in 1923.
This collection includes packing slips, porter tickets and the timetable for travelling to Sakhalin island. In addition, he kept detailed accounting records and a diary during this trip. This interesting historical material related to railways sheds light on the railway situation in Japan, including Sakhalin, during that time. By matching the material on railway history with the information in the diary, it is possible to verify the validity of the inforn1ation in the given material. This study investigates the significance of the railway history with respect to the
material in this collection.
