14 Apr Rare Japanese music resource
The music of japan, a rich and varied culture with wonderful traditional instruments. Now a certain some one has taken the time to collect pre-WW2 recordings of Koto music. The koto (琴 or 箏) is a traditional Japanese stringed musical instrument derived from the Chinese zither (guzheng). 
The koto is the national instrument of Japan.[1] Koto are about 180 centimetres (71″) long, and made from kiri wood (Paulownia tomentosa). They have 13 strings that are strung over 13 movable bridges along the length of the instrument. Players can adjust the string pitches by moving these bridges before playing, and use three finger picks (on thumb, index finger, and middle finger) to pluck the strings.[wp]
The website records and collects rare recordings of historic Japanese music and states its a work in progress, which is good news!
Update: website seems flooded 90% of the time, but we found a mirror