Composer Miya Masaoka has started playing the "Laser Koto," a futuristic version of the traditional Japanese stringed instrument, the Koto, that's been around since the 8th century. Masaoka outfitted ...

Chicago-born Curtis Patterson has lived in Japan since 1986, dedicating himself to the koto, a traditional Japanese instrument something like the harp. In addition to composing and performing music ...

NEYAGAWA, Osaka -- After tens of thousands of adjustments and eight years of hard work, a craftsman in west Japan has finally created a mechanical doll that plays the "koto" traditional string ...

Discovering the Music of Japan (1966), written and produced by Bernard Wilets, provides an engaging introduction to Japan’s rich musical traditions. This 22-minute educational film explores the ...

Improvisation is the hallmark of jazz. The potential for variations of style and instrumentation is limitless in this free-form musical idiom. So it came as no surprise when, for its current ...

Koto master, Satsuki Odamura was sent to Australia more than 30 years ago, by prominent Koto figure of Japan to spread the traditional Japanese instrument in the county. She has pioneered awareness of ...

With a bow to Conductor Leopold Stokowski, a bow to the Philadelphia Orchestra, a bow to the audience in Manhattan’s Philharmonic Hall, stocky Kimio Eto adjusted his formal robes and settled before a ...

With the use of ivory becoming increasingly taboo, trading company Itochu Corp. and its partners have developed plant-based plectrums for the koto Japanese harp. The companies said the picks, made ...

For his seventh album as leader, Paris-based bassist Chris Jennings allies himself with like-minded adventurers in koto player Mieko Miyazaki and drummer Patrick Goraguer. The common denominator ...