This large collection of songs and ballads is accredited to the years of efforts by Mr. Tokutaro Fujita, a pioneer scholar of Japanese songs and ballads, and by Mr. Takeji Kobayashi, a renowned scholar on the study of Kangin-shu (閑吟集) (a
collection of quietly recited poetry). This is also one of the very few collections of documents that provide various and rare materials for those who attempt to study traditional performing arts and songs in Japan, and those who try to approach the Japanese culture as a whole through the study of songs and ballads. The collection may be grouped into five major genres: Furyu-odori-uta (風流踊歌) (the rhythm of popular dancing), Ofuna-uta (御船歌) (sung when ships are launched), Koto-uta (箏歌) (recited to the accompaniment of a koto instrument), Joruri (浄瑠璃) (ballad dramas), and Ha-uta (端唄) & Ko-uta (小唄) (ditties sung on auspicious occasions). Each of these genres claims a distinguished position in the history of Japanese popular and entertaining songs and ballads.