Composer Miya Masaoka has started playing the "Laser Koto," a futuristic version of the traditional Japanese stringed instrument, the Koto, that's been around since the 8th century. Masaoka outfitted ...

These tattooed badasses are not, in fact, extras from that bafflingly misguided "47 Ronin" movie. They’re the members of the newly-signed Wagakki Band, which combines the chunky guitar chords and ...

HAMAMATSU, Japan It was a sight fit for an episode of the Twilight Zone: Dressed in black formal wear, a crowd of musicians filed into a concert hall west of Tokyo and sit down to play. But instead of ...

Discover the relationship between music and Buddhism through ancient Japanese instruments such as the gogen-biwa and kugo from the Shosoin Repository in Nara, artifacts restored from Chinese ...

Consider the saxophone player's pandemic dilemma: How to play at home in a Japanese apartment, notorious for paper-thin walls, without making your neighbors want to kill you. In a pre-COVID-19 world, ...

This flat rectangular brass instrument has four sets of lines on it, two sets on each side. Each set consists of four nested L-shaped lines and six shorter lines that run across them. Some of the ...