本文考察日本在明治 (1868-1912) 和大正 (1912-26) 時期音樂方面的文化政策，並將焦點放在政府機構──包括「音樂取調掛」(音樂研究中心)、「東京音樂學校」和「雅樂局」的活動上。文中討論日本政府在吸收西方音樂和改革傳統音樂方面的企圖和實際成就。近來關於西方音樂在日本的接受研究已有一些十分傑出的成果，因此本文主要針對日本傳統音樂的部分加以探討，並舉實例說明政府的政策和做法。另外，文中也將詳細檢視「改革」傳統音樂的系統或內容的連動，以及將傳統音樂記為西方五線譜以達到「標準化」或「普遍化」的現象。 此類的改革隨處可見，例如在雅樂的新增系統和相關儀式的重組中，以及俗樂歌曲詩句的「改良」版本中。將日本音樂的各個樂種採譜為西方五線譜的形式，如「邦樂調查掛」所實行的，意昧著將記譜法系統統一為當時被認為具有「科學性」和「普遍性」者。同時，由政府機構所指派的採譜工作，也逐漸使每位音樂家清楚意識到、並且更深刻地了解自己的音樂傳統。

This article surveys cultural policy on music during the Meiji明治 (1868-1912) and Taishô大正 (1912-26) periods of Japan, focusing on the activities of government institutions, Ongaku torishirabe gakari音楽取調掛 (Institute for Investigation of Music) / Tokyo ongaku gakkô東京音楽学校 (Tokyo Academy of Music) and Gagaku-kyoku雅楽局 (imperial music department for gagaku雅楽). It discusses the intentions as well as the actual accomplishments of the Japanese government in incorporating Western music and reforming traditional Japanese music. Since a number of excellent studies on the reception of Western music in Japan have become available recently, this article focuses primarily on traditional Japanese music by giving several examples of government policies and actions. In particular, movements to “reform” the system or content of traditional music and its “standardization” or “universalization” through transcription in Western staff notation will be examined in detail. Reform occurred in various areas, such as in the reorganization of associated rituals and the recruitment system of gagaku, and in “improved” revisions of the verses in zokugaku俗楽songs. To transcribe various genres of Japanese music in Western notation, as carried out in Hôgaku chôsa gakari邦楽調查掛 (Institute for Investigation of Traditional Japanese Music, meant a unification of notational systems into one that was regarded as “scientific” and “universal.” In the meantime, the work of transcription, assigned by governmental institutions, gradually sharpened each individual musician’s consciousness of their traditions and eventually led to a deeper understanding of them.