I’ll ask around then and hopefully get you some answers…

While I did post this list of places to visit for cherry blossoms, I have only been to about 5 or 6 of them. Unfortunately, Takatoo wasn’t one of them… I hope someone who has been there will read this and verify if it does indeed have cherry blossoms that climb up to the hills from an alley.

About the koto playing… I’m not really familiar with the differences. I’ve only watched one performance before, and I never really had the chance to know anything about koto, apart from the fact that numbers are used instead of notes to read music… I hope someone out there could help with this, too…

Sorry I couldn’t be of much help…

I came luckily across this blog. Am writing a piece about a man who hears koto music in a small town or small city and follows it to find the koto player. I have two questions: a friend told me that Takatoo is a good town to name: is that OK, or is there another I could use? It’s supposed to be a town with cherry trees blossoming up an alley that climbs a little into the hills, houses along the alley. Any suggestions?

Second question: I have the koto music as Rokudan. My friend says that is too stereotyped. Is there another koto piece that someone knows that is more subtle? Would Chidori be better? I was hoping for something with repeated notes, or a simple but elegant note structure.

Thank you so much–this is a “shot in the dark”–

I hope soo, too! Do you live in Japan?

I’ve been to Sendai, but unfortunately, not Ogawara. I hope I get the chance to visit during the cherry blossom season someday.

I had Hagi no Tsuki when I was in Sendai, it was really good stuff.

By the way, Ogawara is known for ‘Hagi no Tsuki’ (hope I spelled that right) which is usually thought to be a Sendai treat. It’s Sendai’s most popular Omiyage sweet.

I’m guessing that’s the Hitome Senbon Zakura. It looks great in the picture! Haven’t been there myself… have you? How was it?