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Henry M. Johnson
T HE KOTO (also called so, so-no-koto and, occasionally, jusangen ), a thirteen-string Japanese long zither ( ), is both a practical musical instrument and a signifying object of music material culture. 1. When analyzed beyond the descriptive level of instrument construction it reveals layers of meaning that help in understanding not only its own form and function, but also aspects of Japanese culture as a whole. The koto , like many other objects of Japanese culture, may be understood ''as a miniature version of Japan'' (Falconer 1990, 468). Indeed, ''once we open our eyes to other aspects of the musical instrument, we are surprised by the diverse meanings attached to and associated with it'' (Tsuge 1978, 10).
While organology has often put forward arguments for a greater emphasis on understanding holistically the cultural significance of musical instruments (cf. Dournon 1981, Hood 1982, Wachsmann 1984, and De Vale 1990a), and some instrument ethnographies have taken into consideration such topics as the form, function, meaning, iconology, and mythology of these material objects (see, for example, Gulik
Special thanks are given to the following for their help in making this particular research possible: Kyoto City University of Arts, the Japan Society for the Promotion of Science, Osaka College of Music, Musashino Academia Musicae, Dartington College of Arts, Matsuzaki Shusetsu, Makimoto Gakki, Kisaragikai, and Kikuhara Hatsuko. I would also like to thank Thomas G. MacCracken for his comments and suggestions. All photographs accompanying this article were taken by the author and used first in Johnson 1993. Vol. 2.
1. A character list appears at the end of this article, covering all Japanese words given in transliterated form in the text. All illustrations (referred to in the text as figures) will be found following the character list. For further discussions in English concerning the morphology of the koto , see Adriaansz 1973 and 1984 and Johnson 1993 and 1996; in Japanese, Kishibe 1982 and Tanabe and Hirano 1982, which are reproduced in Hirano, Kamisango, and Gamo 1989, provide a useful starting point. The present article is based largely on Johnson 1993.
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1940, Grame 1962and 1972, Winternitz 1967, Grame and Tsuge 1972, De Vale 1977, 1988, and 1990b, Tsuge 1978, Simonson 1987, Kárpáti 1989,...