Spirit of Wa: Masterpieces for the Koto — Japan’s Beautiful Melodies
The koto is an instrument with a soft tone and an enchanting sound.
Koto music is perfect for quintessentially Japanese occasions like New Year’s celebrations.
When you listen to it, it feels familiar to the ear and calms the heart.
In this article, I’d like to introduce many famous koto pieces.
By the way, I’ve been using the character “琴” for koto, but some of you might be thinking, shouldn’t it be “箏”?
Strictly speaking, “koto” (琴) and “koto/so” (箏) refer to different instruments.
However, since I want to cover as many pieces as possible, I’m using “koto” here as an umbrella term.
Please read on to the end.
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Spirit of Wa: Masterpieces for the Koto – Japan’s Beautiful Melodies (1–10)
Ring of DreamsSawai Higarū
This is Sakurakomachi Wagakudan, an all-female so-called wagakki (traditional Japanese instruments) girl group.
They are very popular in overseas performances and play a role in conveying Japanese culture abroad.
This piece was composed by Hikaru Sawai, known as a contemporary composer of Japanese music, and it transcends the boundaries of traditional wagakki repertoire, offering a sense of fusion with Western music.
Incidentally, Hikaru’s father is Tadao Sawai, the composer of “Kaze no Uta” (Song of the Wind).
He has created many other intriguing works as well, so please give them a listen.
Song of the PloversYoshizawa Kengyō
This piece, considered one of the representative works of early modern Japanese music, was composed by Yoshizawa Kengyō, a musician active at the end of the Edo period.
It was originally written for koto and kokyū, but, as in the video, it is often performed with shakuhachi as well.
The lyrics draw on poems about plovers (chidori) from the Kokin Wakashū and the Kin’yō Wakashū.
Songs that beautifully adorn and vocalize classical waka have such elegance and charm, don’t they? If you listen while picturing the scenes they evoke, you may find yourself enjoying the piece even more.
koto songHosokawa Toshio
This piece was composed by Toshio Hosokawa, who is known as a contemporary music composer.
It’s a relatively rare work for solo koto, featuring a style in which the performer sings while playing.
The accompaniment, in typical contemporary fashion, sometimes clashes with striking, unconventional sounds; yet perhaps because the timbre is traditional, it doesn’t feel avant-garde.
Strangely enough, it actually comes across as quite natural.
There are several other works for koto in contemporary music as well, so you might enjoy exploring them.
Spirit of Wa: Masterpieces for Koto. Beautiful Melodies of Japan (11–20)
Crimsonkafuugetsu
“Crimson” is a masterpiece brimming with Japanese flavor, featuring a beautiful interweaving of 25-string koto, shakuhachi, and piano.
It’s performed by Hanafugetsu, a three-piece unit consisting of Seiji Ibukuro on 25-string koto, Yuko Suzuhana on shigin (poetry chanting), and Daisuke Kaminaga on shakuhachi—members who are also part of the internationally renowned Wagakki Band.
OKOTOSawai Higarū
Composed with a fresh sensibility for the traditional koto, OKOTO is a celebrated koto masterpiece that evokes Japan’s natural beauty—like pure river water flowing quietly beneath trees breathing with brilliant autumn foliage.
It is a work by Hicaru Sawai, one of contemporary Japan’s leading koto composers, released in 1999.
Koto music: HigurashiMiyagi Michio
Here is a piece from the Taisho era by Michio Miyagi.
Best known for composing the New Year standard “Haru no Umi,” he moved with his family to Incheon in what is now the Republic of Korea during his boyhood due to his parents’ work.
Since he hadn’t learned that many pieces in Japan, he composed his own koto music to expand his repertoire and reportedly began teaching koto in his own studio at the age of 13.
Such remarkable drive, isn’t it? This piece was created with the image of evening cicadas (higurashi) calling at dusk in late summer.
Yachiyo ShishiFujinaga Kengyō
Yachiyo-jishi was originally enjoyed as a shakuhachi piece.
That piece was arranged for kokyū by Kengyō Masajima, and later arranged for shamisen by Kengyō Fujishima.
Lyrics were added, and it is often performed as an ensemble by the three instruments known as sankyoku—shamisen, koto, and kokyū.
Among lion-dance pieces (shishi-mono), some are considered secret repertoire and are forbidden to beginners, but Yachiyo-jishi is said to be permissible for beginners to play.
It is also used as geza music in kabuki—effect music performed behind the black bamboo curtain (kuro-misu) on the downstage left side.