Does anyone know anything about how expiry of copyright works for
music under Japanese law? If I am reading the copyright laws
correctly, it's 50 years from the death of the last surviving
author... so for example "Beniya no Musume" (released 1929) is now
public domain because Noguchi Uju (lyrics) died in 1945 and Nakayama
Shinpei (music) died in 1952. Am I overlooking something obvious here,
like some role played by JASRAC?

I have a book called "Nihon no Uta, dai-2-shuu: 1926-1945". None of
the songs in the book have a copyright notice, but I know for sure
that some of them are still within the 50-year period (for instance
there are a few songs with lyrics by Saijou Yaso, who died in 1970).
What's going on? Surely Nobarasha (the publisher, who have a copyright
notice at the back) has not gone out and bought the copyright to all
of these songs...

-Matt