Koto

The koto is one of the most popular Japanese traditional musical instruments. To many, the character of koto music is evocative of traditional Japan with the attributes of the western harp, dulcimer and lute.
Many Japanese legends refer to the origins of the koto. A popular one says that the koto was formed in the shape of crouching dragon, a charmed and mythical creature of ancient Japan and China.
The koto was brought to Japan around the end of the 7th century by Chinese and Korean musicians who came to play in the Japanese court orchestra, gagaku. By the 15th century, solo repertoires for koto, sookyoku began to emerge. In the early Edo period (around the 17th century), sookyoku was a popular source of entertainment for the wealthy merchant classes.
The thirteen strings of the koto are stretched along a soundboard of nearly two metres made of hollowed-out paulownia timber. The strings were traditionally made of silk, nowadays synthetic. It is tuned for different songs by movable bridges of ivory or plastic.

The koto is played with ivory plectrum on the thumb and the first two fingers of the right hand, the left hand applying pressure to vary the pitch. The music ranges from the simplicity of the traditional to the melodic as well as challenging contemporary pieces.

Taiko Drum

"Taiko" in general is often used to mean the relatively modern art of Japanese drum performances (kumi-daiko), but the word actually refers to the taiko drums themselves. Literally, taiko means "big/fat drum," although there are many shapes and sizes of taiko. People are sometimes confused by the frequent usage of the word "daiko", which is a suffix used to indicate a type of drum, a taiko group, or a style of taiko playing in a compound word. When used in a compound word, the "T" sound in "taiko" changes to a "D" sound. Thus, a taiko in the nagado style is a nagado-daiko, for example.Although traditionally,

taiko have been used in very specific ways and in certain combinations of instruments, modern kumi-daiko groups do not suffer such restrictions. Taiko selection is based on the style of taiko music you are playing as well as personal style. However, the nagado-daiko is overwhelmingly the most common style of taiko used. Most taiko groups will also have one or more shime-daiko as well. Other taiko styles such as hira-daiko, oke-daiko are also freely used.