Cool and weird little picture disk flexi here. I don't know anything about Asia (is that even the politically correct thing to say? It was still the Orient when i went to school...) and its languages, so i can't be sure but i THINK this is Chinese? But i could very easily be wrong.... I can't even tell what speed this is suppossed to be at. I copied it 45 rpms and at 33. At 45 the music sounds more "correct" but the voice is so fast i couldn't be sure. At 33 it sounds a lot more creepy, kinda like a very weird old cartoon soundtrack and the voice sounds ok but i can't be sure since i do not speak Chinese.... Either way, i like the way this sounds...
Unknown Chinese? Music @ 45 RPM
Unknown Chinese? Music @ 33 RPM
10 comments:
Japanese, not Chinese. The tipoff is there are a lot of Hiragana characters strewn about, and I am almost positive they do not exist in Chinese. A better clue, though, is にほん is "Japan" written in Hiragana (it's 日本 in Kanji, which is used in both Chinese and Japanese).
Regardless, I likes it. :)
PS: Did you pull your Hassles post? I posted an Attila song the other day and was gonna link to your post, but couldn't find it.
The cover has a 45 in the bottom right hand corner so I would assume that the correct speed.
boy i really blew this one..... i didn't pull that hassles post LB it was just one song in a mix tape not on its own....
D'oh! No wonder I couldn't find it easily!
*wipes egg off face*
*goes to find frying pan*
AWESOME!!this 45 is old traditional seeweed(nori) company they called yamamotoyama from AD1703 in japan for commercial.I think this music is EDO koyou.
wow. thanks for the info. i wonder how this thing ended up at a flea market in Philadelphia PA....??? So what are they singing about? Seeweed?
This is a very interesting post! Having lived in Japan in the past, I just had to research the record...
This record is a commercial for an old company called Yamamotoyama that is still based in Tokyo. The company is very famous for its "o-cha" (green tea) and "nori" (edible seaweed). It was established in 1690 and is still in business 322 years later in the same area of Tokyo!
The picture with the bridge is very famous and is known as "Leaving Edo." It shows a feudal procession led by standard-bearers coming over the Nihonbashi bridge in Edo (Edo is the old name for Tokyo). It's the first print in the "Fifty-three Stations of the Tokaido Road" series of woodblock prints by Utagawa Hiroshige (Ando) (b. 1797 - d. 1858). The picture here seems to depict an early edition of the print, as various later editions added figures of vendors in the foreground. Nihonbashi was the last bridge to cross when leaving Tokyo to the south.
As for the song, its title is "O-Edo Nihonbashi" and dates back to the Edo Period (1603-1867). What the woman says at the beginning of the song is basically an advertisment for the company; when it was founded, what they sell, where they're located, etc. (The song is also in Puccini's "Madame Butterfly" opera in Act I, when Butterfly's friends are congratulating her.)
Below the picture of the bridge, the title "O-Edo Nihonbashi" is written, and under that it says the musical performance is by the orchestra Minamijuujisei (which means Southern Cross). This orchestra is also famous and is still around today. The writing on the wooden tablet says Yamamotoyama (big characters) and Nihonbashi (small characters). In the lower-right corner, it says the record is produced by Nippon Ekou (Japan Echo) and beneath that it says "45 revolutions."
Here's what's on the other side of the record: Top left says "Established... Genroku (era) 3rd year," which is 1690. Large black characters in middle: "Yamamotoyama" and above that "Nihonbashi." Large white characters on left: "O-cha" (green tea). Large white characters on right: "Nori" (edible seaweed). Small black characters in lower right of blue area: "Nihonbashi-dori 2-3" (their address) and their telephone numbers. In the white lower-half area, large black characters say "At train stations, buy this Tokyo specialty." Starting from the right-hand side (vertical Japanese printing is read from top-to-bottom and right-to-left) it lists the train lines (between the striped lines) and the stations on those lines where the products can be bought. It includes lines in the Tokyo area (Tokaido Line, Yamanote Line, Chuo Line, Tokyo subway, etc.) and on the left it also says the products can be bought on the Nagoya subway line.
As for how old the record is: There is no date on the record, but the oldest date it could've been released is 1947; that was the first year they starting selling "nori," according to Yamamotoyama website.
Their tea is available in the U.S. (see www.yamamotoyama.com). It'd be neat to listen to this record and drink the tea of this 322-year-old company at the same time!
wow!!!!! i can't thank you enough for all that info! how long did it take you to find all that out!?!?? amazing!
thank you yyc canuck! i wish i had more coments like this one!
i really appreciate it!
The research took maybe an hour total, bit by bit, over the past couple of days, but I enjoyed researching it. Some of the simple Japanese characters I had already known, but for the more complex ones I had to use my Japanese dictionary and/or an online Japanese character dictionary. Like you, I'm wondering how it made its way to that flea market in Philadelphia!
well thanks for the work! shed some much needed light on it! and having know idea what it was and at only 50 cents i had to buy it at the flea market!
many thanks again!
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