The Tokyo Shichū Ongakukai: commercial bands and the informal spread of Western music in Meiji Japan

The adoption and spread of Western music in Meiji-era Japan (1868–1912) is often explained through formal, state-led initiatives such as military bands, educational reforms, and the establishment of institutions including the Tokyo Academy of Music. While these state initiatives created the infrastructure for musical change, they do not fully explain how Western music eventually came to be heard and enjoyed by the broader public. This article examines the role of commercially organised wind and brass ensembles in the informal diffusion of Western music during the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. It centres on the Tokyo Shichū Ongakukai (Tokyo City Band), a privately organised band founded in 1887 that transformed military musical practices into entrepreneurial entertainment, giving performances at hotels, parks, and other urban venues in and around Yokohama. Drawing on a micro-historical reading of a 1942 interview with co-founder Ikeda Tatsugorō, the article reconstructs the everyday experiences of musicians navigating the emerging commercial and cosmopolitan worlds of Meiji Japan. Situating the band alongside related phenomena such as department store youth bands and mobile street ensembles known as jinta, the study argues that Western music spread not only through state institutions but also through commercial spectacle and consumer culture.