Izumi-Kai Original Instrument Group Classical Japanese Koto Music

Japan owes its music, as its culture in general, to the Chinese. Not only, however, have the Japanese actively developed this heritage, but they have also preserved many elements of older Chinese music which have been lost in its home country. The most important instrument of Japanese art-music is the koto, the Japanese variety of the Chinese ch'in. Other instruments directly taken over from China are the sho (Chinese sheng), the biwa (Chinese pip'a). More strictly indigenous instruments are the samisen, a guitar used by street singers and geishas; the hichiriki, an oboe (not a flute) with a characteristic metal disk encircling the mouthpiece; the kokyu, similar in shape to the samisen, but bowed; and the shakuhachi, a long flute of ancient origin which calls for an especially difficult technique of blowing. Presented here is one of the finest Koto ensembles, playing the ancient music as it has sounded for centuries, with great respect for tradition, providing one of the best representations of the music available on recording anywhere. Classic recording, digitally remastered.