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Written in fRoots issue 263, 2005
 

BOOK

The Koto - A Traditional Instrument in Contemporary Japan
Henry Johnson
Hotei, ISBN 90-74822-63-0  £50.00 (2004)

All you could conceivably want to know about Japan’s iconic long zither, in a beautifully produced volume full of meticulous description and masses of detailed colour photos of every aspect. Johnson began to play the instrument at Dartington in 1985, continuing at the University of London and doing fieldwork in Japan. His labour of love covers history, variants, making, woods, mechanics, decorations, tuning, notation systems, performing contexts, playing techniques, traditions, terminology, bibliography and even the varieties of stand. It’s fairly expensive, but nothing in English comes close in completeness and quality of presentation. More details at www.kit.nl


© 2005 Andrew Cronshaw
 

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