[78-L] Japanese empire recordings (was Taiwan)

[Hopkins/Kato]

I don't have any direct info on this subject, but there was an academic
conference a few years ago, which I didn't attend, about the music of the
non-Japanese parts of the Japanese empire and I can try and check on Taiwan.
There was certainly plenty of time post-WW2 for Taiwan to develop a 78
industry. As the oldest of the non-Japanese possessions, I would guess that
by the time there was a recording industry, most of the population would be
able to speak Japanese at least fairly well. There was a Korean
sub-industry, but as the war with China expanded in the late 1930s, Korean
language was suppressed. As far as I know, there was never a distinct
Manchurian record industry. (Movies are a different matter....)

David Hopkins
Nara, Japan