Tôkyô Shônen Ongakutai 　東京少年音楽隊

Established in 1895 by Shikama Totsuji 四竈訥治(訥堂、1853 – 1928), this youth band was one of the first of its kind. A few years later several department stores founded youth bands. They performed publicly and were important for making Western music more widely heard. The following year Shikama Totsuji moved back to his native town of Sendai, where he established a similar band. A pioneer of Western music in Japan, Shikama Totsuji also published Japan’s first Music Magazine, Ongaku zasshi 　音楽雑誌 (“The Musical Magazine”), which appeared from September 1890 to February 1998.