A delightful primer on earlytomid20thcentury Japans fruitful fusion of music and design as materialized in sheet musicWinner of Third Place in Exhibition Catalogues from the New England Museum Association 2025 Publication Awards.Japanese society underwent a whirlwind of change during the first half of the 20th century a time period marked by rapid modernization. While Western influences catalyzed an increasingly rapacious appetite for consumer goods new sounds and massproduced images flooded the stereos and screens of Japanese citizens.Perhaps more than any other objects from the period sheet music covers graphically embodied this vortex of sights sounds events and ideas. Most commonly arranged for harmonica piano guitar and violin music scores encompassed songs ranging from traditional Japanese folk tunes to movie scores Western jazz opera and patriotic marches.