Koto Differences and similarities

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The Koto and Guzheng share a great deal of their history. They have much in common and plenty different. Let’s dive in! Disclaimer: I have no direct experience with the koto. Everything here is based on findings from secondary sources like “The Koto, A Traditional Instrument in Contemporary Japan” (Page 30-49 especially). Try your local town or college library; it’s out of print and online retailers are inflating prices astronomically (current prices range from $300 to $3,700).

Update: Two other great sources to check out are the Orchestration in Gagaku Music from Stanford and Pro Musicia Nipponia based in Tokyo.

Koto Differences from Guzheng

typically smaller string count
typically longer instrument
finger picks are on rings
strings are single thickness, ~single tension; pitch is controlled by bridge placement. Bridges are spaced in many patterns
farthest string from player might not be lowest pitch
strings are counted 1-13+ from farthest to closest (opposite of modern guzheng, same as older zheng)

Koto Similarities with Guzheng

long zithers from Asia
movable Bridges
uses finger picks
tuned to pentatonic scales

From the Museum of fine Arts, Boston, MA, USA. Used under Fair Use exception of US Copyright law.

Summary

Just like “guzheng”, “koto” refers both to a class of instruments and specific ones. “Guitar” is another example. For example, "What type of guitar do you play? 6 String? Resonator?” When most people think Koto they are picturing the Yamadagoto: 182 cm long, 24 cm wide, with 13 strings.

Koto came to Japan from China in ~700 CE. That instrument was the Tang Dynasty zheng. Since then sizes of koto have ranged from 13-30 strings, 69-240 cm long, and 22-50 cm wide. Some of the smaller ones are called Iris koto (Ayamegoto) with the longest easily the Sanjūgen, 30 strings, 240 cm long and 50 cm wide. There was even one koto made in the 1920s with 80 strings called the Hachijūgen. It was played once publicly in 1929. It was destroyed by an air raid in 1945. A second was made in 1978 and is on display in Miyagi Michigo Memorial Museum. it was roughly triangular 213 cm long and from 37-98 cm wide. The 80 strings meant it could play roughly the same range of notes as an 88-key piano. The 17 string jūshichigen and 20 string nijūgen have had waves of popularity and various modifications.

A contemporary 13 or 17 string koto have little feet hold it off the floor, tend to have less decoration, and their movable bridges made entirely of ceramic or plastic, or wood tipped with bone, plastic, or ivory. The bridges are very similar to guzheng bridges.

Finger picks are hard materials like bone or plastic (or ivory) and are mounted in rings. There are two major Styles: Square tips from the Ikuta tradition or rounded or pointed tips for the Yamadagoto tradition.

Strings

Unlike Guzheng strings, koto strings are all the same thickness on a typical instrument, ranging in weight classes from 16-19 momme (匁, a measurement for silk fabric.) Every string is set to the same tension; the pitch is controlled by the placement of the bridges. Strings were originally silk, then tetron or nylon.

Tuning

The two most popular tunings are the Hirajōshi and Kumoijōshi tunings. See further down for more.

Common Hirajōshi koto tuning ranging from A3 to B5 with Bb.

Table of Koto Types

Many variants have been made over the years, each with terms to match. While I can’t offer an explanation for them all, this list may help you look up more you may be interested in. “Shaku” is a unit of length.

Taken from “The Koto” (2004)

Koto Name	Meaning

Arutogoto	Alto Koto
Ayamegoto	Iris Koto; Short
Bēsugoto	Bass Koto
Bunkagoto	Culture Koto; Short
Dai-jūshichigen	Large Seventeen Strings
Erekutorikkugoto	Electric Koto
Goshakugoto	5 Shaku Koto
Hachijūgen	Eighty Strings
Hansō	Half-Size Sō
Himegoto	Small Koto
Imamuragatajüshichigen	Imamura-Style Seventeen Strings
Jūgogen	Fifteen Strings
Jūhachigen	Eighteen Strings
Jūrokugen	Sixteen Strings
Jūshichigen	Seventeen Strings; Bass
Kābongoto jüsangen	Thirteen-String Carbon-Fiber Koto
Kazune	Japanese Sound; Short
Kogatagoto	Small-Size Koto
Kurumagoto	Carriage Koto
Minichuagoto	Miniature Koto
Minigoto	Mini Koto
Mijikai koto	Short Koto
Nagaisō	Long Sō
Neo-koto	New Koto; Short
Nijūgen	Twenty Strings
Nijūichigensō	Twenty-One String Sö
Poppukōn	Popcorn; Seventeen Strings
Sanjūgen	Thirty Strings
Sanshakugoto	3 Shaku Koto
Shin-Fukuyamagoto	New Fukuyama Koto; Short
Shō-jūshichigen	Small Seventeen Strings
Sopuranogoto	Soprano Koto; Short
Tangoto	Short Koto
Tan-nijūgen	Short Twenty-Strings
Teion-nijūgen	Or Tei-Nijūgen: Bass Twenty Strings
Teion-nijūgogen	Bass Twenty-Five Strings
Yonshakugoto	4 Shaku Koto

Koto Tunings

There are many ways to tune a koto. The two most common are Hirajōshi and Kumoijōshi from the Zokusō tradition, but many others are used. The In and Yō scales are part of these tunings, but a tuning is not a scale.

Grouped by Gakuso, Okinawa / Ryūkyūgoto, and Zokusō traditions and ordered by Latin alphabet. These come from “The Koto” (2004). Shamisen.info is another source for tuning tables; I do not know enough to say how theirs relate to these.

Strings are numbered from 1 (low, bass notes) to 13 (high, closest to performer). This is the reverse from modern guzheng.