What is "koto"

n. (context musical instruments English) a Japanese stringed instrument having numerous strings, usually seven or thirteen, that are stretched over a convex wooden sounding board and are plucked with three plectra, worn on the thumb, index finger, and middle finger of one hand.

n. Japanese stringed instrument that resembles a zither; has a rectangular wooden sounding box and usually 13 silk strings that are plucked with the fingers

The koto ( Japanese: 箏) is a traditional Japanese stringed musical instrument derived from the Chinese zheng, and similar to the Mongolian yatga, the Korean gayageum, and the Vietnamese đàn tranh. The koto is the national instrument of Japan. Koto are about length, and made from kiri wood ( Paulownia tomentosa). They have 13 strings that are usually strung over 13 movable bridges along the width of the instrument. There is also a 17-string koto variant. Players can adjust the string pitches by moving the white bridges before playing. To play the instrument, the strings are plucked using three finger picks, otherwise known as plectra, (on thumb, index finger, and middle finger).

Koto is an Italian synthpop group that originally consisted of Anfrando Maiola and Stefano Cundari, later with the Dutch composer Michiel van der Kuy.

Koto may refer to:

• Koto (instrument), a Japanese musical instrument
• Koto (traditional clothing), a traditional dress made by Creole women in Suriname
• Koto (band), an Italian-Dutch synth pop group
• Koto, Tokyo, a ward in Tokyo, Japan
• Koto (kana), a ligature of two Japanese katakana
• The novel The Old Capital by Yasunari Kawabata, originally titled "Koto" in Japanese
• Hikaru Koto, former porn star
• KOTO (FM), a National Public Radio-affiliated radio station licensed to Telluride, Colorado, United States
• KOTO experiment, a particle physics experiment at J-PARC in Japan
• Pterygota bequaertii, a timber species referred to by the trade name "Koto"

The koto, kotomisse or kotomisi is a traditional dress from the Afro- Surinamese women or Creoles in Suriname. The koto was developed during the slavery period in Suriname; its special purpose was to protect the Afro-Surinamese woman against their masters’ sexual interest.

Different kotos exist for various occasions like weddings or funerals. The development of the koto as regular dress is not complete but it is still used in special occasions like the koto-dansi.

With the koto, women wear a head or body covering called an angisa or anisa. The folding of the angisa sends a social message, for example “Let them talk.”

KOTO (91.7 FM) is a National Public Radio-affiliated radio station licensed to Telluride, Colorado, USA. The station is currently owned by San Miguel Educational Fund.

, read as koto, is a typographic ligature in the Japanese language, consisting of a combination of the katakana graphs of and , and thus represents their combined sound, コト . It is drawn with one stroke. It is uncommon and used only in vertical writing.

Koto is a 1980 film directed by Kon Ichikawa starring Momoe Yamaguchi and Tomokazu Miura in an adaptation of Yasunari Kawabata's novel The Old Capital.

It is a remake of the 1963 film Twin Sisters of Kyoto.