Koto (instrument) - Koto Today

Koto Today

The influence of Western pop music has made the koto less prominent in Japan, although it is still developing as an instrument. The 17-string bass koto, called jūshichi-gen in Japanese, has become more prominent over the years since its development by Michio Miyagi. There are also 20-string, 21-string, and 25-string kotos. Works are being written for 20- and 25-stringed kotos and 17-string bass kotos, and a new generation of players such as Japanese master Kazue Sawai, her students including Michiyo Yagi, and American performers Reiko Obata and Miya Masaoka, are finding places for the koto in today's jazz, experimental music and even pop. The members of the band Rin' are popular jūshichi-gen players in the modern (pop/rock) music scene.

Well-known solo performers outside of Japan include koto master and award-winning recording artist Elizabeth Falconer, who also studied for a decade at the esteemed Sawai Koto School in Tokyo, as well as koto master Linda Kako Caplan, Canadian daishihan (grandmaster) and a member of Fukuoka's Chikushi Koto School for over two decades. Another Sawai disciple, Masayo Ishigure, holds down a school in New York City. Yukiko Matsuyama leads her KotoYuki band in Los Angeles. Her compositions blend the timbres of World Music with her native Japanese culture. She performed on the Grammy winning album Miho: Journey to the Mountain by the Paul Winter Consort garnering additional exposure to Western audiences for the instrument. In November 2011 worldwide audiences were exposed to the Koto when she performed with Shakira at the Latin Grammy Award show.

In March 2010 the koto received widespread international attention when a video linked by the Grammy Award-winning hard rock band Tool on its website became a viral hit. The video showed Tokyo-based ensemble Soemon playing member Brett Larner's arrangement of the Tool song "Lateralus" for six koto and two bass koto. Larner had previously played koto with John Fahey, Jim O'Rourke and members of indie rock groups including Camper Van Beethoven, Deerhoof, Jackie O Motherfucker and Mr. Bungle.

In older pop and rock music, David Bowie used a koto in the instrumental piece "Moss Garden" on his album "Heroes". The multi-instrumentalist, founder and former The Rolling Stones guitarist Brian Jones played koto in the song Take It Or Leave It, on the album Aftermath, 1966. Paul Gilbert, a popular guitar virtuosoist, recorded his wife, Emi playing the koto on his song "Koto Girl" from the album Alligator Farm (album). Rock band Kagrra, are well known for using traditional Japanese musical instruments in many of their songs, an example being "Utakata" (うたかた), a song in which the koto has a prominent place. Winston Tong, singer with Tuxedomoon, uses it on his 15-minute song, "The Hunger" from his debut solo album Theoretically Chinese. The rock band Queen used a (toy) koto in "The Prophet's Song" on their 1975 album A Night at the Opera. Dr. Dre's 1999 album Chronic 2001 prominently features a synthesized koto on two of its tracks - "Still D.R.E." and "The Message". David Horvitz played the instrument in a contemporary indie rock scene setting on Xiu Xiu's album, The Air Force.

Jazz pianist Dave Brubeck composed "Koto Song" that, while not featuring the koto itself, is played to allow the piano to emulate its sound. June Kuramoto of the jazz fusion group Hiroshima was one of the first koto performers to popularize the koto in a non-traditional fusion style. Reiko Obata, founder of East West Jazz band, is the first to perform and record an album of jazz standards featuring koto. Obata also produced the first-ever English language koto instructional DVD "You Can Play Koto". Brett Larner was also active in jazz, recording a duo CD with saxophone legend and composer Anthony Braxton.