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Kōjō no Tsuki

荒城の月

[Genre]Modern
[School]Min'yo
[Composed]Taki Rentarō - Koto - 1901

Kōjō no Tsuki appears on the following albums

Album Artist

Bamboo Spirit Shakuhachi : Peter Ross
Play ButtonChallenging Eternity Disk 05 Koto : Nakashima Yasuko
Play ButtonEndless Sea - Impressions of Japan Shakuhachi : John Singer
Play ButtonFlower Dance - Japanese Folk Melodies
The music, which opens with koto, is the Kojo no tsuki composed by Rentaro Taki in 1901. The title signifies the moon viewed from a desolate castle. It is one of the oldest Japanese songs written on the Western scale. Bansui Doi wrote a poem to this music at the Aoba castle in Sendai.
Play ButtonFlute and Koto of Japan Shamisen : Yonekawa Toshiko
Shakuhachi : Yamaguchi Gorō

Hana - Shakuhachi; Nihon no Shijo Shakuhachi : Miyata Kōhachirō
Play ButtonIsaac Stern - The Classic Melodies of Japan Shakuhachi : Yamamoto Hōzan

Japan Revisited Shakuhachi : Ono Mamoru

Koto and Shakuhachi Koto : Shirley Kazuyo Muramoto
Shakuhachi : Tachibana Shigeo
Play ButtonKoto Music of Japan

Koto no Kyoshu Nihon no Merodi-shu Koto : Yonekawa Toshiko
Koto : Yonekawa Toshiko II
Koto : Tsujimoto Chikatoyo
Shakuhachi : Suginuma Sachio
Koto : Yonekawa Megumi

Koto no Miryoku - Disk 2 Koto : Yamauchi Kimiko
Play ButtonKoto no Shirabe - In Memory of Miyagi Michio Koto : Makise Kiyoko
Play ButtonMemories of My Home Shakuhachi : Riley Kōho Lee

Moonlit Castle Shakuhachi : John Singer
Play ButtonMusic of Japan Shakuhachi : Miyata Kōhachirō
An arrangement for a shakuhachi and orchestra of a melody composed by Rentaro Taki (1879-1903). He is well known to Japanese people as an earliest composer of Western music in Japan.

He composed many nice songs for primary and middle school pupils, and they are quite popular among Japanese still now. "Kojo no Tsuki" is one of them. Kojo is a ruined castle and tsuki is the moon. The poem for the original song describes the moonlight over the ruined castle and expresses the longing for the days when the castle was prospering.
Play ButtonMusical Memories of Japan

Nihon no Shirabe Shakuhachi : Mitsuhashi Kifu
Koto : Sawai Tadao

Sankyoku Gassō Dai Zenshū vol. 24  (三曲合奏大全集24) Shakuhachi : Nanba Chikuzan

Shakuhachi - Japanese Traditional Music Shakuhachi : Uemura Shozan
"Kojo no Tsuki" ("The Moon Over the Lake"), is a duet composed by Nakao Tozan in 1922 at his home during a late fall evening in Tokyo. It depicts the cool autumn air as it whips up small ripples on a lake, each of which reflects the moon. The latter half of the piece features a 3/8 rhythm which suggests the moonlight as it wavers on the waves. This piece was the first to utilize three-beat rhythm in shakuhachi music.
Play ButtonSound of Japan Shakuhachi : Mitsuhashi Kifu
Play ButtonTozan Ryu - Shakuhachi Dai Zen Shu - Vol 1 Shakuhachi : Shimabara Hanzan

Tozan Ryu - Shakuhachi Honkyoku Shakuhachi : Uemura Shōzan
Play ButtonTozan Ryu Shakuhachi Honkyoku Shu - Vol 2 Shakuhachi : Hoshida Ichizan II

View From Here, The Shakuhachi : Peter Ross