Another subject that was quick to captivate young Akira's mind was music. Otofuke afforded the boy the unique opportunity to be exposed to an unexpectedly rich variety of folk song. Since the annexation of Hokkaido into the Japanese empire in the mid-19th century, the pioneers who trekked to the northern island from the Japanese mainland, particularly from the Tôhoku region of northeastern Honshu, brought with them their regional folk melodies. Akira heard much of this everywhere in the town from the local workers and their families and even from his own father; when drunk, Toshizo had the habit of singing Yasugi-Bushi, a folk song from the Shimane region that he learned in his youth. [6] Traditional Ainu music surrounded the youngster just as much. Akira marveled at the strange repetitive chanting and odd rhythms of Ainu singing; the extraordinary mixture of this tribal weirdness with the sentimental lyricism of Japanese song instilled within the child a fierce desire to become a musician himself.

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Assuredly, young Ifukube's drive to learn more about music, and aspiration to perform it, were intensified by his first encounter with a violin at, of all places, a local Otofuke barber shop. At the time, it was common for businesses to have instruments such as violins or mandolins available in their waiting rooms so that musically inclined customers could entertain themselves with a little practice while standing by for service. One day, while waiting for a haircut, Ifukube began playing with his barber's violin and was instantly taken by the instrument. He knew immediately that he had to get one of his own. With a shorter coiffure, he ran home and enthusiastically asked his parents to purchase him his own violin.

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Toshizo, the ever-pragmatic father, believed that musical pursuits were frivolous and certainly not to be taken up by boys; he initially refused to buy a violin for his son. Akira pleaded incessantly until his father gave in and bought the instrument. Despite Akira's small victory, his father did not allow him to take music lessons. This left the would-be violinist no recourse but to attempt to learn the instrument on his own. Although Akira was allowed to play with the instrument, the draconian Toshizo only allowed his son only one hour per day to practice it. [7]

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Ifukube once described his father's attitude toward music: "Toshizo [...] did not care much about music...or more precisely, he did not like it. [...] To that type of personality, things like music or dance were depravity of the soul. [...] [H]e did not like his sons to make sound, [play] instrument[s] or SP records. [...] About reading and writing, however, my father didn't care. As a Meiji man, again his value of culture was based mostly on letters. [...] Whenever I returned home from elementary school, my father let me sit in front of the book of Lao Tzu and had me do sadoku, the reading and reciting of Chinese text without comprehending its meaning. After doing this for a while, my father always began to doze off...then I would escape to do my homework, finger my violin, or run outside and play with my Ainu friends. Sometimes he would wake up and catch me escaping and say, 'No Akira, not yet!'" [8]

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With the help of his older brother Isao, who was already familiar with Western classical music and was proficient on the guitar (how did Toshizo ever allow that?), Akira was able to find and purchase 78 RPM records of classical violin music in local shops, which he studied very intently. He did his best to learn to play what he heard on the recordings by ear. He was particularly enthralled by an SP record of music by the famed Austrian virtuoso Fritz Kreisler on which he performed pieces by Antonin Dvorak, Cesar Cui and Pyotr Tchaikovsky.

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Through these recordings, Akira discovered yet another type of music that captured his imagination just as much as the Japanese and Ainu folk material that he already adored: Western classical music. With his tastes widening and his resolve to become a musician growing exponentially - and despite the seemingly impossible conditions imposed upon him by his father - Akira became increasingly capable on the violin and, with much confidence, he decided he should also branch out to the guitar. With his knowledge of the violin, and certainly with Isao's guidance, Akira's skills on that instrument progressed rapidly.

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In the summer of 1926 Akira, aged 12, transferred to his grandmother's house in Sapporo to begin studies at the Hokkaido Sapporo Nishi Junior High School the following fall; Isao had already been studying at the same school since 1924. This environment at the school offered much to satisfy Akira's budding artistic talents and curiosities and he enthusiastically joined the institution's art club. Ifukube began to dabble in painting and thought for a while that he might want to become painter like Picasso.

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By imbedding himself in such an art-intensive environment, Akira had the occasion to meet another artistically-minded student, Atsushi Miura. Born in 1913, the somewhat frail and introverted Miura came from a highly educated family; his father was a professor of Metallurgy in the Faculty of Engineering at Hokkaido Imperial University. From an early age, Miura was taught to appreciate art, culture and language; he was highly proficient in English and French. Ifukube found much in common with Miura and a friendship quickly developed between them.

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Ifukube was not initially aware, however, that Miura was also heavily interested in music. During a visit to Miura's home, Ifukube noted that his friend had an unusually varied collection of classical music recordings and scores. After Ifukube discovered that his new friend was just as passionate about music as he was, the primary focus of their friendship quickly shifted from the visual arts to the aural.