Kazue Sawai plays Bass Koto

Japanese artist Kazue Sawai is probably the best-known koto player in the world. She lives in Tokyo, and has a large class of students from all over the world. She was kind enough to invite me to her studio in Tokyo one afternoon in late July, and played a mini-recital to demonstrate the capabilities of the koto. I was particularly struck by the bass koto, played flawlessly and with great passion and commitment in this brief video excerpt, generously offered by this magnificent artist.