| 和琴―WAGON― The oldest “KOTO” discovered in Japan was made about ２３００ years ago． This is made of wood and have four strings and decoration． Wooden “KOTO” often discovered were made about ２３００ to １７００ years ago． The KOTO” in this period are larger than today's Wagon and have complex structure. It is the origin of Wagon and has six strings． And earth dolls (called HANIWA) which seem to play the “KOTO” were excavated． So we can know the spread of “KOTO” in those days． About １３００ years ago,“KOTO” was played in rituals． Most of the players were men． We know that “KOTO” in these days were related to people's life. The form of Wagon was established about １２００ years ago． It was used for ritual music and customs which were peculiar to Japan． They were played in traditional Japanese court music called Gagaku． 琴―KOTO― ―The introduction of Koto into Japan from China― ○ “ＫＯＴＯ” has 13 strings ○ History of “KOTO” （T）“KOTO” was introduced into Japan from China about １３００ years ago． In those days，“KOTO” was often used to play “Gagaku”． Then women as well as men came to play the "KOTO”，and the upper class people came to regard playing the “KOTO” as education in their class． In this way, learning to play the“KOTO” become important in Japanese high sociiety． （U）About ６００ years ago， the upper-class Japanese enjoyde the “KOTO” while they wrote short poems． Court nobles and Buddhist monks began to enjoy the “KOTO”． （V）About ４００ years ago， ordinary people came to sing popular songs of that time to the “KOTO”. “KOTO” was accepted in people's lives． （W）About ２５０ years ago，the government abolish the prerogative of teaching to play the “KOTO.” So “KOTO” became more popular with people． |