Koto

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Koto (instrument)</span> Japanese plucked string instrument

The koto is a Japanese plucked half-tube zither instrument, and the national instrument of Japan. It is derived from the Chinese zheng and se, and similar to the Mongolian yatga, the Korean gayageum and ajaeng, the Vietnamese đàn tranh, the Sundanese kacapi and the Kazakh jetigen. Koto are roughly 180 centimetres (71 in) in length, and made from Paulownia wood. The most common type uses 13 strings strung over movable bridges used for tuning, different pieces possibly requiring different tuning. Seventeen-string koto are also common, and act as bass in ensembles. Koto strings are generally plucked using three fingerpicks, worn on the first three fingers of the right hand.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Zither</span> Class of stringed musical instruments

Zithers are a class of stringed instruments. Historically, it could be any instrument of the psaltery family. In modern terminology, it is more specifically an instrument consisting of many strings stretched across a thin, flat body, the topic of this article.

Iga may refer to:

Jin may refer to:

<i>Biwa</i> Japanese short necked lute

The biwa is a Japanese short-necked wooden lute traditionally used in narrative storytelling. The biwa is a plucked string instrument that first gained popularity in China before spreading throughout East Asia, eventually reaching Japan sometime during the Nara period (710–794). Typically 60 centimetres (24 in) to 106 centimetres (42 in) in length, the instrument is constructed of a water drop-shaped body with a short neck, typically with four strings. In Japan, the biwa is generally played with a bachi instead of the fingers, and is often used to play gagaku. One of the biwa's most famous uses is for reciting The Tale of theHeike, a war chronicle from the Kamakura period (1185–1333). In previous centuries, the predominant biwa musicians would have been blind monks, who used the biwa as musical accompaniment when reading scriptural texts.

Takashi Yoshimatsu is a Japanese classical music composer. He is well known for composing the score for the 2003 remake of Astro Boy.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Guzheng</span> Chinese musical instrument

The zheng or guzheng, is a Chinese plucked zither. The modern guzheng commonly has 21, 25, or 26 strings, is 64 inches long, and is tuned in a major pentatonic scale. It has a large, resonant soundboard made from Paulownia wood. Other components are often made from other woods for structural or decorative reasons. Guzheng players often wear a fingerpick made from materials such as plastic, resin, tortoiseshell, or ivory on one or both hands.

<i>Kokyū</i> Traditional Japanese string instrument

The kokyū (胡弓) is a traditional Japanese string instrument, the only one played with a bow. A variant of the instrument also exists in Okinawa, called kūchō (胡弓) in Okinawan.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Michio Miyagi</span> Musical artist

Michio Miyagi was a Japanese musician, famous for his koto playing.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Toshi Ichiyanagi</span> Japanese composer and pianist (1933–2022)

Toshi Ichiyanagi was a Japanese avant-garde composer and pianist. One of the leading composers in Japan during the postwar era, Ichiyanagi worked in a range of genres, composing Western-style operas and orchestral and chamber works, as well as compositions using traditional Japanese instruments. Ichiyanagi is known for incorporating avant-garde techniques into his works, such as chance music, extended technique, and nontraditional scoring. Ichiyanagi was married to artist Yoko Ono from 1956 to 1962.

<i>Yamatogoto</i>

The yamatogoto, also called wagon and azumagoto, is a six- or seven-stringed plucked bridge zither which, unlike the koto and other stringed instruments, is believed to be truly native to Japan, and not imported from mainland Asia. Both names translate literally to "Japanese stringed instrument."

Minoru Miki was a Japanese composer and Artistic director. He was known for promoting Japanese, Chinese and Korean traditional instruments as well as some of their performers.

Kora may refer to:

<i>Đàn tranh</i> Vietnamese string instrument

The đàn tranh or đàn thập lục is a plucked zither of Vietnam, based on the Chinese guzheng, from which are also derived the Japanese koto, the Korean gayageum and ajaeng, the Mongolian yatga, the Sundanese kacapi and the Kazakh jetigen. It has a long soundbox with the steel strings, movable bridges and tuning pegs positioned on its top.

Events in the year 1987 in Japan.

Hiroaki Zakōji was a Japanese composer and pianist.

The 17-string koto is a variant of the koto with 17 strings instead of the typical 13.

The 80-string koto, known as the hachijugen (八十絃/はちじゅうげん) in Japanese, was an invention of Japanese composer Michio Miyagi created in 1923. Miyagi added 67 strings to the traditional 13-string koto design, creating an instrument much like a western harp. Together, the 80 strings provide a far larger pitch range than the standard koto. It is widely seen as a short-lived experimental instrument.

Tatsumi is a Japanese name. It may refer to:

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Tube zither</span> Musical instrument

The tube zither is a stringed musical instrument in which a tube functions both as an instrument's neck and its soundbox. As the neck, it holds strings taut and allows them to vibrate. As a soundbox, it modifies the sound and transfers it to the open air. The instruments are among the oldest of chordophones, being "a very early stage" in the development of chordophones, and predate some of the oldest chordophones, such as the Chinese Se, zithers built on a tube split in half. Most tube zithers are made of bamboo, played today in Madagascar, India, Southeast Asia and Taiwan. Tube zithers made from other materials have been found in Europe and the United States, made from materials such as cornstalks and cactus.