Help with my Koto

Hi!

I just got a new Koto and am unsure what it is. It's very small, about the same length as a computer Keyboard. It doesn't seem to have any tuning pegs in the side of the instrument, though inside the body you can see the string ends that have no pegs.

I've tried tuning it but have had a lot of trouble, maybe I'm not doing it right!

This is the koto!

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Koto-Musical-Instrument/151147995865?_trksid...

It seems that it's just a miniature koto, in other words a toy.

Do you think the papers in the photo are instructions? Perhaps you can try posting a better photo of the papers so that someone may translate the gist of it for you.

If you don't know how to play a real koto to begin with, you can start by Googling keywords like "how to play koto."

I'm...kind of dissapointed by that. I was looking forward to having it and playing it! You could see the price it was sold to me for too, it wasn't exactly cheap xD

The papers in the photos are instructions, I can read all of the musical stuff inside, just not the Japanese!

I'm interested in finding out what it says on the little black booklet though.

Apart from the 3 kanji that I can't read...it says something like

Darede maKANJIwaru
oKANJI no KANJIpiki

It does indeed look like a miniature souvenir, but judging by the instruction manual, it should at least be playable.
You tune each string by sliding the movable plastic bridges. A quick glance at the Wikipedia article would have revealed that a koto is typically 180 cm long, and also told you how to tune it.

But a real koto costs 10 to 100 times that price, so it sounds reasonable.

"Darede maKANJIwaru oKANJI no KANJIpiki" doesn't make sense, so I'll still be expecting that close-up photo.

That's why I was drawn to this :3 I thought it was just a short Koto. I have tuned it now though, there was a treble cleff in the book with the right pitches for each string, but it was awkward with tuning because some of the correct pitches were so close together that the pegs had to be side by side, giving some of the strings a wider gap between each other.

Still I'm happy now I've tuned it and have had a quick play through of some of the songs in the little booklet! I think this will be the thing to help me with learning at the start then I can get a full Koto later on!

As for the booklet, I found this other listing from the American Ebay that has a really close up and clear picture of the booklet! Just click on the main picture and it'll take you to the others, then you can mouse over to zoom!

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Miniature-Toy-Koto-Japanese-Vintage-/261286433...

The new link seems to be a discription of a "mini-koto" so I suppose yours is too. And mini-koto seems to be a portable version of a koto and is a real instrument in which you can expect quality sound.

The booklet shows some technical terms I can't understand, but it seems to back up your discription about tuning. In particular, it says that the strings may not lay evenly, but it shouldn't affect the your playing.

If there is any kanji you can't read on the new link, feel free to ask.

Hi! Thanks very much for your translations! :3 I'm happy to know!

I will take you up on your offer though! Can you tell me to Romaji of what's on the cover of the book? I want to know what those mystery Kanji are :3

Excuse me, which corner is it? I can't find the "darede" whatever you're talking about. Which page and which line?

Hi!

It's on the front cover of the black book, where there is a picture of the pagoda.

The Darede is on the top line!

It says:
だれでも弾ける
お琴の手びき

Daredemo hikeru
Okoto no tebiki

Easy to play (literally "anyone can play")
Introduction to the Koto

Thank you all very much for your help :3 I'm happy to know what I have, what it says, and how to play it xD

Thanks :3