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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- The Spirit of Japan: A Collection of Famous and Popular Shamisen Pieces
- [I Want Healing] Songs That Bring a Sense of Calm: Heartwarming Masterpieces of Japanese Music
- Traditional Japanese Music: Famous Pieces of Gagaku and Kagura. Recommended Traditional Japanese Music
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- [Japanese-style Piano Pieces] A selection of recommended works with a pleasantly Japanese flavor
- [Hometown Songs] A curated selection of popular Japanese tracks that fill your heart with nostalgia
- Makoto Kawamoto’s famous and popular songs
- [Kyoto Songs] Masterpieces that sing about Kyoto — songs themed on the ancient capital. The enduring heart of our hometown passed down in song.
- Today's Piano: Masterpieces and Popular Pieces Woven with Delicate Tones
- Nothing but masterpieces! Hit songs from the Reiwa era that are perfect for background music
- Band songs perfect for winter nights: heartwarming masterpieces of Japanese music.
- Gently soaking into a weary heart... Healing songs released in the Reiwa era
Spirit of Wa: Masterpieces for the Koto – Japan’s Beautiful Melodies (1–10)
Song of the WindSawai Tadao
Composed in 1970, this piece is quite new for the koto repertoire and was created by Tadao Sawai, the founder of the Sawai Koto Institute.
It depicts a dialogue between the wind and the human heart swayed by it.
Rather than a traditional piece, it’s a new type of work that explores the possibilities of ensemble between koto and shakuhachi.
I’m deeply moved by its musicality, which feels like a meeting of past and present.
Some of you may know him from a coffee commercial he appeared in in 1985, famous for the tagline “The man who can tell the difference.”
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.
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.
Spirit of Wa: Masterpieces for Koto. Beautiful Melodies of Japan (11–20)
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.
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.
MemoryEto Kimio
“Memories” is a richly emotional piece whose beautiful, wistful melody seeps into your heart, making it impossible not to recall dear people and places.
It was composed by Kimio Eto, one of Japan’s leading koto musicians.
Eto held a recital at Carnegie Hall, becoming the second Japanese performer to do so, following violinist Toshiya Eto, and he was active internationally as a koto virtuoso.
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.