ABSTRACT
A 2003 documentary film Viva Tonal: The Dance Age (Tiaowu shidai 跳舞時 代) 1 traces the dissemination of popular song (and dance) from Japan to colonial Taiwan in the 1930s. The Office of the Governor General (sōtokufu 総督府) first allowed records to be imported from Japan en masse in 1928. Yet, the affordability and the content did not suit the native population, 90 percent of which were natives. It was not until 1933 when the Columbia Record Company of Japan (コロムビア・レコード) set up its operation on the island that the popular music scene took off. With the introduction of the recording industry, not only Western style popular music and dances (foxtrot, among others) 2 were introduced and popularized; it also changed the way traditional native music and theater were transmitted and appreciated. The head of Columbia Records in Taiwan, Kashiwano Seijirō 柏野正次郎, knew that the long term viability of the company required localization of the recording business, having native musicians compose for the native audience.
