BG Report: Visiting Kanazawa Phonograph Museum

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In the Japanese city of Kanazawa in Ishikawa Prefecture, there is a big brick building that houses the Kanazawa Phonograph Museum. It’s on three floors and features dozens of very old and very well-kept record players from the late 1800s until the late 1920s. And they still work!

I visited the museum because I was in Kanazawa and I noticed the place on Google Maps. And I like records. The museum is quiet and respectful, but they let you get fairly close to the old wooden machines. (Well, as long as you don’t touch them.)

I wandered the rows, looking at the history of recorded music, and saw several of the earliest Japanese-made phonographs as well. All of the players in the museum are acoustic, not electric: there’s no plug for the wall, and they operate by turning a hand crank that spins the platter long enough to play a side of a record. Most 78 rpm discs were about three minutes long per side (i.e., one song).

At 2:00 pm, a few of us visitors gathered and were given a demonstration of some of the machines. A guy played actual records – and an early wax cylinder – and showed how loud these acoustic machines could be, especially with their big horns. Not being electric, there was no volume control.

After the visit, I was finally able to check my blood sugar – it had been good at lunch time, and I hoped that the bus ride to the museum and the lack of any other food since lunch had all behaved. They had – my mid-afternoon reading was a perfect 100.

If you are into old records, or any old technology, or interesting museums, I recommend the Kanazawa Phonograph Museum. It’s very well done, and you may have perfect blood sugar afterwards!

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