Music Library — Enjoy classical music with 4,000 SP records and a gramophone. A space where Ohara Soichiro’s “dream” lives on today.

Play music and videos on a smartphone

Compared with the 20th century, music and videos (visual works) have become more accessible and convenient. However, during the postwar period of rapid economic growth, they were not readily accessible, and SP and LP records, which were the mainstream formats at the time, were expensive.

In 1969 (Showa 44), in that era, the “Music Library” opened inside Kurashiki Community Center (formerly Kurashiki Cultural Center).

Today, it is not unusual for libraries to have audiovisual facilities such as DVD collections, but Kurashiki City’s “Music Library” is a little different from other facilities in terms of its origins and collection.

This article focuses on the “Music Library” inside Kurashiki Community Center.

What is the “Music Library”?

The Music Library opened on October 3, 1969 (Showa 44), the same day Kurashiki Community Center (formerly Kurashiki Cultural Center) opened.

It is said that the impetus was a donation of 10 million yen to Kurashiki City by Ohara Soichiro in 1953 (Showa 28) to build the Music Library, along with the strong desire of citizens to see it built.

Ohara Soichiro deeply loved the city of Kurashiki and classical music.

He loved music so much that he even said, “If I were born again, I would want to become a musician.” Perhaps he also hoped that Kurashiki would become a city filled with art and music.

Today, it is no longer unusual for public libraries to have audiovisual equipment for viewing and listening to CDs and DVDs.

However, as an affiliated facility of a local government holding music materials such as SP, LP, CD, LD, DVD, and BD, it is one of the few well-equipped facilities of its kind nationwide, making it a unique facility.

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The Ohara Collection

The Music Library’s greatest distinguishing feature is its large collection of SP and LP records.

When the Music Library was established, Ohara Soichiro donated some 2,000 classical SP records, which are still carefully maintained as the “Ohara Collection.”

The collection centers on SP and LP records, and also includes video works such as LDs

Jo Sengoku, former president of Kuraray Co., Ltd. (formerly Kurashiki Rayon), also donated materials, bringing the total to around 4,000 records.

These reportedly include many celebrated recordings by performers active from the late 19th century through the first half of the 20th century.

The materials held by the Music Library are summarized below.

Among the music books, back issues of the magazines Record Geijutsu and Ongaku no Tomo are available from the library’s opening in 1969.

Only books can be borrowed

The Music Library lends out “books only”; records and sheet music cannot be borrowed.

Items cannot be picked up or returned at libraries or community centers in Kurashiki City. The borrowing conditions are as follows:

• Up to two books per person
• Loan period: two weeks
• Limited to people who live, work, or study in Kurashiki City

Listen to performances through headphones or speakers at the Music Library

Some may wonder how the Music Library is used if it does not lend out its materials.

At the Music Library, you can look for the music or sheet music you want to hear in files organized by composer or genre, then fill out a request card with the required information.

Hand the card to a staff member, and you can listen through headphones at an individual listening station.

If a group wants to listen to the same piece, staff can play it through speakers, provided no other users are present.

You can also listen to music on a phonograph once used by Ohara Soichiro

The “large phonograph” is what particularly catches the eye inside the Music Library.

It certainly looks like an antique, and it was a phonograph used by Ohara Soichiro and donated by his eldest son, Kenichiro, as a commemorative gift when the Music Library opened.

Ohara Soichiro, however, did not live to see the Music Library completed; he died in July 1968 (Showa 43), the year before its completion.

Although these phonographs are valuable, visitors can actually listen to them at the Music Library.

I was also able to listen during my visit (staff operate the phonograph).

“It has a different character from the digital sound you hear on CDs and smartphones.”

To be honest, I don’t know much about music and didn’t think I could tell enough of a difference to comment on the sound quality, but I felt a warmth in the sound that CDs don’t have.

It is difficult to explain in writing, but the sound of a CD seemed “too clean,” and the music from CDs and smartphones gave me the impression that “everything unnecessary” had been removed from the music coming from the phonograph.

It was a surprising experience.
Such an opportunity seems like a “rare experience” today, but what does the work of a Music Library that offers this kind of experience involve?

In the second half of the article, I spoke with staff members Sasao Kaazuhiko and Okura Hitomi.

Music Library Information

Name	Music Library
Address	2-21 Honmachi, Kurashiki City, Okayama Prefecture
Contact	086-423-2135
Parking	Available Kurashiki Community Center parking lot available
Opening hours	9:00 a.m.–5:15 p.m. ※Visitors must enter by 5:00 p.m.
Closed	Monday ・Open when Monday is a public holiday ・The next weekday when Monday is a public holiday ・Year-end and New Year holidays (December 28–January 4) ・May also close for shelf organization on other days (announcements on the website)
Admission (tax included)	Free
Reservations	Not available
Smoking	Entirely smoke-free
Restrooms	Western-style toilet
Accessibility	Accessible restroom
Website	Kurashiki City Kurashiki Community Center Music Library

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