Koto has developed for more than a thousand years since it was first introduced from China to Japan in Nara period. Due to the performance occasions shifted from the court to the folk, Koto has become the solo instrument detached from Gagaku’s accompanied instruments. Moreover, Koto not only emerged other musical styles during the transformational process, but also branched to different musical styles. Koto becomes one of the most representative instruments of traditional music in Japan. In Japan’s Meizi-ishin period, Japan conducted the policy of “The development of civilization”, which was meant to construct the singularity of Japanese culture between western and Chinese culture. Traditional Koto music also encountered the challenge of emerging new music styles under this social context.

In this thesis, I will examine the development and the transition of Koto music from Meizi-ishi to Gendai-hougaku period from the repertoire of my Koto recital-- Hana-No-Woan. Also, I will discuss the context and characteristics of the period from the aspects of important musical events, and the improvement of instruments and performers. In order to contextualize the development of Koto music, this thesis extends from the music of Nihon-Kindai-Ongaku, such as Gendai-hougaku, Gendai western music, and music education. And then comprehend the social context and traditional music’s viewpoint of “modernization”. In the last chapter, I will discuss Koto’s transitional social function, musical diversities and musical layers, and then try to interpret the whole scale of the development of Koto music.