Aurel Baele
Aurel Baele (Aurel Akinobu Ito) graduated from KU Leuven (Belgium) with a BA and MA in History and a BA and PhD in Japanese Studiers. His research interests are prewar recorded music, media industries, and history of modern Japan. A recipient of the FWO PhD Fellow Fundamental Research and the Japan Foundation Japanese Studies Fellowship, Aurel finished his dissertation titled “An East Asian ‘Sonic Empire’: Record Companies, the State, and Popular Music in Japan between 1910 and 1945” in December 2025 exploring the continuously changing relationship between music business and politics. During his free time, he is also an avid record collector, jazz fan, kissaten lover, amateur musician, and can be found hiking in nature.
Publications
Locating Jazz in Interwar Japan - Dance Halls, Jazz Coffeehouses and Cafés. Issue 1, Autumn 2020.