Hello.  My name is Miho Matsuo, living in Tokyo.  I found this group in
Mark Fontana's page while searching about "Superscope", just like Shin,
whom I never met before.  I sent a mail to Jody last month, and enjoy
reading the mail everyday.

I am not good at computer nor building an instrument, though I like
reading about it.  If I knew anything, it's about Japanese history.
During 19c, Japanese people imported pianos, organs, violins and
automatic musical instruments from curiosity to western culture, but
unfortunately, nobody understood its music.  So, some people became
enthsiastic in learning western music, while others were absorbed in
analysing the mechanism of the instruments.  In 1880's, there was a
first national best-seller in this field, which was a small organette
called SHI-KO-KIN (perforated paper organ).  This SHI-KO-KIN played
both western music (mostly hymns) and domestic popular songs, and was
not too expensive.  It seems like a copy of Mactammany organette made
in Massachusettes, probably brought by a christian priest, but I only
presume it from the assemblance of its shape which I saw in Ordhume's
"Encyclopedia of automatic musical instruments".  I'm so delighted if I
could receive any information regarding this simple organette or its
manufacturer.

Aside from Mactammany, I'm interested in automatic instruments also
becuse my grandma had an old player piano in her house.  It was given
from her father while he was in South America, and seemed very unusual
among Japanese furnitures, but was my favorite thing in her house.

Sorry if there were any weird sentence.  Unlike Shin Ohkura, I don't
usually use English in a daily life.

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Miho Matsuo<RXP03264@niftyserve.or.jp>
Tokyo, Japan
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