oh right I think I stumbled upon tool in the course of my rage against the machine and nine inch nails fandom (didn’t they have some serious top hit too?) and faintly remember having seen that clip thanks for sharing that one . . .
And while we are sharing videos…
oh f***ing nice those just unpacked senheiser headphones for a decadent price considering a taxi driver’s salary are nice . . .
As several others have said here, I, too, like the idea of there being koto, shakuhachi, etc. sub-forums on Bachido, either now or when discussion warrants it. Having said that, in view of some of the comments here from those who kind of want Bachido to remain true to shamisen, since there are already two other existing koto groups out there (and btw, the FB one attracts koto people primarily, but welcomes discussion of all Japanese traditional instrument stuff), I invite anyone who wants to also be part of a koto forum to come on over and join either or both.
Evyn
We’ll have to keep in touch via Bachido, if you want to that is.
I’d be happy to. I love to “collect” koto players from around the world, and enjoy meeting/greeting/playing with/having tea with them, etc. (yes, tea - coffee is evidently for shamisen players ) BTW, I’m going to be in Japan most of May and the first week of June. Among the places I’ll be are Tokyo, Iwakuni, Miyajima, Nagoya (where I’m hoping to meet up with Kyoko-san), and Kobe. If any of those are near you and if your schedule permits, I’d be happy to have a Bachido “koto sub-forum meet-up” , or maybe even an actual shamisen one… Feel free to PM or email me if you want to discuss that possibility.
[Kyle] might be better off finding a master if he decides to add Koto to the library.
Well, since he now has deep connections to two of them, should be no problem. (^o^)
Kyle
I think there should be a Bachido meet-up in Tokyo on May 9 with whatever Bachido members are on the ground/in the vicinity that day. What do you think about that?
Cody
Hey, koto is Japanese and it has strings so that’s good enough for me.
Love your logic, man! 
Jonathan
So….DEATH TO THE OUTSIDERS!!
Um, care to step outside with me?!?
(kidding 
)
Nick
I have made … one (yamada) koto.
Wow! If you’ve got anything to share, I’d love to see a pic / hear how it sounds!
OK, this reply is specifically in response to Evyn’s comment that
You guys got some great covers out there for the Shamisen, but Koto covers appear to be non-existent!
Well, Evyn, since Kyle’s posting monkey vids and you mentioned koto covers, and there is already a lot of koto talk in this topic, I’m going with the flow (which is not equal to hijacking!) and am offering you a bunch of non-traditional koto vids for your weekend entertainment. Here we go.
I love starting my “introduction to traditional Japanese instruments” workshops with this vid:
OK, on to some Beatles covers:
Now, some Western/classical options:
Starting to bring things back to Bachido-related stuff now (i.e. with shamisen ), we have:
And lastly, full circle back to Tsugaru-land, an offering from the one and only Mike Penny:
Great videos Linda, I wasn’t trying to be mean, I actually wanted to play koto first but I like being portable.
Jonathan
So….DEATH TO THE OUTSIDERS!!
Um, care to step outside with me?!?
(kidding
GAAAHHHHH!!! (Hides under rock)
I actually wanted to play koto first but I like being portable.
Yeah, there is that (especially when one is only ~five feet tall :-D). I’ve often wished that a koto could be made with a hinge in it, so you could fold it in half for transport and then just snap it flat for playing. Too bad about the string tension, tho’, which pretty well makes that impossible…
Actually I chose Shamisen for the same reason, but lookie what I found!
hmm. very interesting! Here’s what I think … go to what moves you at a given moment, always, but perhaps, keep the Shamisen off to the side - because one thing often informs another and what you may learn one place all of a sudden can teach something somewhere else. Happy deep wisdom solstice happy ho ho day.
To the original post–jiuta shamisen is often played with koto. Your koto teacher might also teach that kind of shamisen. So, keep your options open! The four-foot koto in the link looks okay, although not especially cheap… I think I saw an ad or article about a folding koto in the print version of the Hogaku Journal. I can’t find anything on line, but I will try to locate the paper version and let you know.