#192 琴は生涯の友 Koto, My Lifelong Friend

Yoko Awaya 粟屋陽子

Title: Koto, My Lifelong Friend

The following is a story about the world of koto from Ms. Awaya who was awarded "Woman of the Year" in May 2022. She has been playing the koto for 60 years: "When I was in junior high school, I sometimes heard the sound of koto from a neighbor's house. One day, I met the person who was playing at the house, and she let me in to listen to her music. She was sitting gracefully in front of the koto, which had 13 strings made of silk, with ivory nails on the thumb, index and middle fingers of his right hand. “Kororinshan” is a typical onomatopoeic expression unique to the Japanese language in the description of the sound of Koto. I was fascinated by the Kororinshan sound she made playing the koto as well as her elegant posture, which made me want to learn how to play the instrument myself. After that, I found a wonderful teacher who taught me with joy and sometimes with strictness, and after 10 years of study, I was able to obtain a teaching degree from the Miyagi-Soke of the Ikuta-Ryu school in Tokyo. In January 1965, I moved to Los Angeles to start a new life with my Japanese-American husband, with two kotos and a sangen (three-stringed instrument) in hand, along with my household goods. After a while, I met Kazue Kudo sensei, the head of the Kudo Kai, who was from the same school and I studied under her. What I saw there was how happily many Issei, Japanese-Americans, and non-Japanese Americans were playing the kotos together, and I still remember feeling a sense of relief as well as surprise at the bright world of koto music in Los Angeles. While I was learning from Kudo-sensei, I was given many opportunities to play the instrument at various venues, included recordings for Hollywood movie music and Walt Disney World. I learned a lot from each opportunity, and I was able to join Musician Union. Being a member of this union opened a new door for me to receive various gigs from American entertainment agencies to play the koto.

I have some memorable experiences with American movies such as "The Last Samurai" (original title: The Challenge) starring Toshiro Mifune, and "SF Sword Kill" (original title: Ghost Warrior) starring Hiroshi Fujioka, in which I performed with a large orchestra and was joined by Kaz Matsui, a shakuhachi player and harpist who was very active at the time, as a soloist. I remember that the music score wasn’t given to us until the very day of the performance, which was not even proper koto notation but staff notion, and we needed to transpose it into koto notation on the spot. We also performed several times at the Grammy Award winners' celebration party.

Music is an expression of the human mind. Just as history has changed and the world has changed, all the music, including the traditional Japanese music "Sou-kyoku", has gradually changed according to the flow of the later era. "Awaya-kai" and I, at the point of contact between Japan and overseas, have also endeavored to popularize Japanese music so that Japanese and American society can enjoy it.

As a bridge between Japan and the U.S., we have collaborated with various instrument players from around the world, including the Japanese shakuhachi and taiko drums, and have introduced many pieces that attempt a fusion of Japanese and Western musical instruments. Thanks to the support of many people involved, we were able to hold our annual Awaiyakai concerts featuring Baroque music played on the koto with our students, their families, and supporting performers.

The koto is a beautiful and versatile instrument that has developed so much in recent years that it can be used to play various world music including not only western classical music by Bach, Mozart, and others, but also ethnic music as well as jazz and even Japanese animation music, as the koto ideally maintains the sound that people are looking for. We hope that as many people as possible will continue to enjoy listening to and playing the koto."