nntsuzu/KFTT huggingface dataset:
English: Later years in China saw this type of vertical flute with the blowing edge formed cut outward from the uppermost end of the bamboo disappear, and the shakuhachi also ceased to be used as a gagaku instrument in Japan.
Japanese: その後中国では、歌口の傾斜が管の外側にあるタイプの縦笛は断絶し、日本でも雅楽の楽器としての尺八は使われなくなった。
English: During the period of history in which there is no record of the shakuhachi, a vertical flute called the hitoyogiri (literally, "one node cut") appeared in the Kamakura period.
Japanese: 歴史上の空白期間ののち、鎌倉時代になると一節切（ひとよぎり）と呼ばれる縦笛があらわれた。
English: Mendicant ascetics called komoso (literally, "straw mat monk") formed, and subsequently established a connection with Fuke sect of Zen Buddhism (a form of Zen related to the Rinzai sect), becoming the komuso (literally, "monks of empty nothingness").
Japanese: 薦僧と呼ばれる集団がそれで、後に普化宗と結びつき虚無僧となっていく。
English: The hitoyogiri was brought to Japan during the Muromachi period by a Zen priest named Roan from China; after Sokun OMORI (1570 - 1625) emerged and became a famous for playing the hitoyogiri, the instrument's popularity spread rapidly.
Japanese: 一節切は、室町時代に中国から日本に渡った禅僧・蘆安がもたらしたもので、名手といわれた大森宗勲（1570年-1625年）が出たのち、急速に広まった。
English: During the Edo period the shakuhachi was recognized as a Buddhist religious implement used for transmitting the Dharma, and only the komuso of Fuke sect were permitted to play the shakuhachi.
Japanese: 江戸時代は尺八は法器として普化宗に属する虚無僧のみが演奏するものとされた。
English: Officially, it was prohibited for the general public to play the shakuhachi; in actuality, however, there were people who enjoyed playing the shakuhachi as a pastime.
Japanese: 建前上は一般の者は吹いてはならなかったが、実際には尺八をたしなむ者はいた。
English: With the onset of the Meiji period, the Fuke sect was abolished, and from that point onward the shakuhachi was permitted to be played by people who were not komuso.
Japanese: 明治時代以降には、普化宗が廃止されたことにより虚無僧以外の者も演奏するようになった。
English: However, though infrequently used, overtones, which increase the range by approximately one octave, are sometimes used.
Japanese: 用いられる頻度は少ないが、倍音を用いてその上の約1オクターブの音を出すことができる。
English: In former times the shakuhachi was fashioned from a single piece of bamboo (referred to as a "nobekan"); however, at present the most widely used type of shakuhachi is made by cutting the length of bamboo into upper and lower halves, and providing a joint between the two halves.
Japanese: 古くは一本の竹を切断せずに延管（のべかん）を作っていたが、現在では一本の竹を中間部で上下に切断してジョイントできるように加工したものが主流である。
English: The original intent of this development was to enable more fine tuning of the bore during the fabrication stage; however, it also has resulted in making the instrument more portable, making it more convenient to carry around.
Japanese: これは製造時に中の構造をより細密に調整できるとの理由からだが、結果として持ち運びにも便利になった。
English: The primary material from which shakuhachi are fashioned is still madake bamboo; however, inexpensive shakuhachi made from wood, plastic and other synthetic materials such as plastic have been developed, and are primarily aimed at improving accessibility to the instrument and targeted at beginning students.
Japanese: 材質は真竹であるが、木製の木管尺八やプラスチックなどの合成樹脂でできた安価な尺八が開発され、おもに初心者の普及用などの用途で使用されている。
English: According to scientific theory, the tone of the shakuhachi should not be dependent upon the material from which the instrument is made; however, there are people who disagree with that, and insist that the material does effect the tonal characteristics of the instrument.
Japanese: 尺八の音色と材質は科学的には無関係とされているが、関係があるとする論争もあった。
English: The blowing edge of shakuhachi produced today are usually reinforced with an embedded piece of water buffalo horn, ivory, ebonite, or the like.
Japanese: 現行の尺八には、歌口に、水牛の角・象牙・エボナイトなどの素材を埋め込んである。
English: In comparison to the widespread five-hole shakuhachi, though the seven-hole shakuhachi are not widely used, there are people who use them.
Japanese: このうち、七孔のものは、五孔の尺八に比べれば主流ではないものの使用されている。
English: Present day shakuhachi are fabricated by removing all traces of the joints from the inside of the bamboo to produce a relatively smooth bore, and then coating the bore with layers of urushi-ji (a kind of workable plaster medium containing natural lacquer) to finely tune the bore.
Japanese: 現行の尺八の管の内部は、管の内側に残った節を削り取り、漆の地（じ）を塗り重ねることで管の内径を精密に調整する。
English: In contrast to the shakuhachi fabricated using the above method, the bore of older shakuhachi called 'ko-kan' (literally, "antique shakuhachi"), or 'ji-nashi-kan' (literally, "shakuhachi without urushi-ji) are not coated with urushi-ji, and remnants of the joints often visible.
Japanese: これに対し「古管」あるいは「地無し管」と呼ぶ古いタイプの尺八は、管の内側に節による突起を残し、漆地も塗らない。
English: In the performance of classic honkyoku (pieces originally composed and played with the shakuhachi), the unique characteristics of each ko-kan or ji-nashi-kan shakuhachi can be attractive.
Japanese: 古典的な本曲の吹奏では、このひとつひとつの尺八のもつ個性もその魅力となっている。
English: The standard shakuhachi is the one-shaku eight-sun length shakuhachi, and has a tsutsune of D4 according to the Japanese twelve note scale.
Japanese: 標準の尺八は、日本の十二律で壱越（D4）の筒音を持つ一尺八寸管である。
English: In addition, there are other lengths of shakuhachi that are also used, including the one-shaku six-sun length shakuhachi (tsutsune of E4), which is used to perform the piece "Haru-no-umi" (Spring Sea), and the two-shaku four-sun length shakuhachi (tsutsune A3).
Japanese: 次いで、春の海などで使用される一尺六寸管（筒音E4）や、二尺四寸管（筒音A3）などが使用される。
English: There are also numerous other variations based on the length of the shakuhachi, differing in half-tone intervals starting from one-shaku one-sun length to two-shaku four-sun length shakuhachi; however, compared to the more standard lengths of shakuhachi, shakuhachi of these lengths are seldom used.
Japanese: 長さのバリエーションは、半音ぶんずつ寸刻みで一尺一寸管から二尺四寸管も存在するが、標準的なものにくらべ使用頻度ははるかにすくない。
English: In the same manner as with the flute, the shape into which a player forms his or her mouth (mouthpiece (instrument) embouchure) must be used to adjust to the speed of the air stream blown into the shakuhachi.
Japanese: 尺八はフルートと同じく、奏者が自らの口形（マウスピース(楽器)アンブシュア）によって吹き込む空気の束を調整しなければならない。
English: The recorder (a so-called 'vertical flute') has a structure (instrument) constructed in the form of a fipple, block, which enables a beginner to produce a sound easily; however, to produce a sound on a shakuhachi, it generally takes intensive practice.
Japanese: リコーダー(いわゆる「縦笛」)はマウスピース(楽器)の構造（フィップル、ブロック）によって初心者でも簡単に音が出せるが、尺八・フルートで音を出すには熟練が必要である。
English: Because the shakuhachi has only five tone holes (finger holes), in order to play the Miyako-bushi scale (a Japanese scale), a seven-tone scale or a twelve-tone scale, it is necessary to use techniques referred to as "meri" and "kari," involving the covering half of a tone hole and the adjusting of the angle of ones embouchure, to produce sharp or flat tones.
Japanese: 尺八は音孔（指孔）が5個しか存在しないため、都節音階、7音音階や12半音を出すために手孔を半開したり、メリ、カリと呼ばれる技法を多用する。
English: By changing the distance between the lips and blowing edge of the utaguchi, the pitch (tone) can be caused to change.
Japanese: 唇と歌口の鋭角部（エッジ）との距離を変化させることで、音高（音程）を変化させる。
English: The range of meri-kari expands the closer to the state of being played open (i.e., with the fingers covering no tone holes), with the meri capable of extending to more than four half tones.
Japanese: メリ、カリの範囲は開放管（指で手孔を押さえない）の状態に近いほど広くなり、メリでは最大で半音4個ぶん以上になる。
English: With respect to the movements of the player, if the player pulls back and down (withdraws) the point on which the shakuhachi rests (point on the lower jaw between the chin and lower lip), a meri effect is produced, and if the player extends the lower jaw, a kari effect is produced.
Japanese: 奏者の動作としては楽器と下顎（下唇よりやや下）との接点を支点にして顎を引く（沈める）と「メリ」になり、顎を浮かせると「カリ」になる。
English: By repeatedly performing meri and kari in succession by withdrawing and extending the lower jaw (tate yuri), or by shaking the head gently from side to side (yoko yuri), a type of vibrato can be produced.
Japanese: メリ、カリ、つまり顎の上下動（縦ユリ）、あるいは首を横に振る動作（横ユリ）によって、一種のビブラートをかけることができる。
English: The yuri technique differs from the technique of varying the volume of breath used to produced vibrato with the flute, and produces a unique, alluring effect.
Japanese: フルートなどの息の流量変化によるビブラートとは異なり、独特の艶を持つ奏法である。
English: By moving the fingers in a manner such as to smoothly transition between closed, half-open, and open states in combination with a meri/kari action, a smooth portamento can be produced.
Japanese: 手孔を、閉-半開-開動作を滑らかに行い、さらに、メリ、カリを併用することにより、滑らかなポルタメントが可能である。
English: By varying the shape of the oral cavity, the volume of breath and the like, the tone can be modulated so as to produce tone colors traversing harmonic structures such as soft tones, round tones, and so on.
Japanese: 口腔内の形状変化や流量変化等により、倍音構成はよく通る音色や丸く柔らかいものなど、適宜変化させることができる。
English: As a full-scale survey of the number of shakuhachi players has not been carried out, the exact number is unknown.
Japanese: 尺八の吹奏人口についての本格的な調査はされておらず、正確な人口は不明である。
English: The Kinko school is a lineage that was founded by Kinko KUROSAWA the first (1710 - 1771), during the Edo period.
Japanese: 琴古流は、江戸時代に初代黒沢琴古（1710年-1771年）によって創始された。
English: It is said that he was a samurai retainer of Kuroda domain, whose name was originally Kohachi, who, having become a ronin (a masterless samurai), eventually made his way to Edo, where he came to be engaged in teaching the shakuhachi at the fukiawase-dokoro ("fukiawase" refers to a Zen related mode of instruction that is generally one-to-one, and in the case of shakuhachi involves the teacher and student playing a piece together while seated facing each other across sheet music, and "dokoro" simply means "place") of Ichigetsu-ji Temple and Reiho-ji Temple.
Japanese: 初代は俗名を幸八といい黒田藩の藩士であったが浪人となり、江戸へ出て一月寺、鈴法寺の吹合指南役となった。
English: The name of Kinko KUROSAWA was carried for three generations before disappearing; however, thereafter the Kinko school continued to flourish and grow under the guidance of Itcho YOSHIDA, Kodo ARAKI and others.
Japanese: 黒沢琴古の名は3代で途絶えたが、琴古流はその後、吉田一調、荒木古童らにより隆盛を築いていく。
English: The Kinko school is comprised of a number of large and small organizations that form the lineage, and is not a unified or monolithic organization.
Japanese: 琴古流は大小いくつもの組織の総体であり琴古流として統一した組織をもつものではない。
English: The Tozan school is a lineage that was founded during the Meiji period by first generation Tozan NAKAO, and is not directly connected to Fuke sect.
Japanese: 都山流は明治期に初代中尾都山が創始した流派であり、普化宗とは直接のつながりを持たない。
English: By collaborating with Michio MIYAGI and coming to hold the exclusive rights to publishing shakuhachi notation for MIYAGI's compositions, introducing a council system and the like, Tozan NAKANO established a centralized organization that grew to become the largest organization in the shakuhachi world.
Japanese: 宮城道雄と提携し、宮城作曲の尺八譜の公刊を独占したこと、評議員制の導入など中央集権的な組織作りを行ったことなど都山流は尺八界最大の組織となった。
English: The Ueda school is a lineage that was founded in 1917 by Hodo UEDA, who had been expelled from the Tozan school.
Japanese: 上田流は、都山流を除名された上田芳童が1817年に創始した流派である。
English: Although the Ueda school eventually abandoned five-line Western notation, the seven-hole shakuhachi developed by the Ueda school continues to be used.
Japanese: 五線譜の採用は途中で断念したものの、7孔尺八に関しては上田創案のものが現在でも使用されている。
English: Taking up the influence of the Soetsu school, the notation does not use the letters Ro, Tsu, Re and Chi, but Hu, Ho, U, Eh, Ya and Ee, which is referred to as the HuHoU system.
Japanese: 宗悦流の流れを汲み、譜にロツレチではなく、フホウエヤイを用いるフホウ譜を用いている。
English: The most emphasis on distinguishing types of music played with the shakuhachi falls on the genres called "honkyoku" and "gaikyoku," which occupy opposite ends of the conceptual field.
Japanese: 尺八の楽曲分類で大きなウエイトを占めるのは、本曲と外曲という対概念である。
English: The term honkyoku means, 'music that was originally performed only on a specific instrument and which is the original music played on that instrument,' whereas the term "gaikyoku" means, 'music of a different type of genre that has been arranged to be played on a specific instrument not originally used in that genre.'
Japanese: 本曲は、「その楽器のみによる楽器本来の楽曲」を意味し、外曲は、「他種目の旋律をその楽器用に編曲した楽曲」を意味する。
English: The term honkyoku originally referred to the pieces that were practiced by adherents to the Fuke sect; however, following the abolition of the Fuke sect in 1871, the scope of meaning of the term expanded to include solo musical compositions unrelated to religion that were played on the shakuhachi, and even compositions consisting of more than one part for the shakuhachi came to be called honkyoku.
Japanese: もともとの本曲は、普化宗で吹禅に使われた曲を指していたが、1871年の普化宗廃止後は宗教音楽とは無縁な尺八のみの独奏曲や重奏曲も本曲と呼ばれるようになった。
English: In order to maintain a distinction between the more modern compositions that came to be referred to as honkyoku and the honkyoku practiced by adherents of Fuke sect, the term "koten-honkyoku" (literally, "ancient honkyoku") is sometimes used to refer to the latter.
Japanese: これらの比較的新しい本曲と普化宗で吹奏された狭義の本曲を区別するため、後者を特に古典本曲と呼ぶことがある。
English: With respect to honkyoku played by the komuso (mendicant Fuke sect priest) during the Edo period, which included those in the repertoire of the Kinko school, there are more than 150 pieces known to have been transmitted at present.
Japanese: 江戸時代に虚無僧が吹いた本曲は、琴古流本曲をふくめ、150曲あまりが伝承されている。
English: These pieces were brought into being and transmitted as part of a meditative religious practice, and generally speaking, the names of the composers and the dates of composition are unknown.
Japanese: これらは宗教音楽として成立し、作者、作曲年代ともに基本的に不詳である。
English: Nezasa-ha Kinpu school of Hirosaki, the Seien school of Nagoya, which incorporates influences from the Fudai-ji Temple of Hamamatsu, the Myoan Jinpo school of Kyoto's Meian-ji Temple as well as the Myoan Taizan school, the Hakata Itchoken school, the Echigo Meian-ji Temple school, the Fusokan school of the Tohoku region, the Shoganken, and the like are schools that have been transmitted.
Japanese: 弘前の根笹派錦風流、浜松の普大寺の流れをくむ名古屋の西園流、京都の明暗寺の明暗真法流と明暗対山流、博多一朝軒、越後明暗寺、東北地方の布袋軒、松巖軒などの伝承である。
English: "Reibo," "Sanya," "Tsuru-no-sugomori," and the like are representative names of honkyoku; however, depending on the piece, more than ten versions of some pieces have been passed down to the present, each of which has a different melody.
Japanese: 『鈴慕』『三谷』『鶴の巣籠』などは本曲の代表的な曲名であるが、曲によっては10種類以上の旋律の異なるものが伝承されている。
English: Honkyoku as religious music continues to be practiced to this today; the following lineages of honkyoku, including those transmitted after Meiji Restoration across the country, has been transmitted as follows; Kinko school honkyoku, which was gathered throughout the country by Kinko KUROSAWA; and that of Taizan HIGUCHI (1856 - 1915), who first learned the Seien school shakuhachi and established Myoan Taizan school, and later made effort to restore Myoan Kyokai (Myoan Church).
Japanese: 宗教音楽としての本曲は、各地の本曲を収集した黒沢琴古の琴古流本曲、西園流を学び明治期に明暗対山流を興し、明暗教会の再興に尽力した樋口対山（1856年-1915年）の系統をはじめ、各地において明治維新後も伝承されたものが現代においても血脈を保っている。
English: The Kinko school honkyoku consists of a repertoire of 36 pieces that the founder of the lineage, Kinko KUROSAWA the first, gathered in his travels to komuso temples throughout the country.
Japanese: 琴古流本曲は、琴古流の始祖である初代黒沢琴古が日本各地の虚無僧寺に伝わる楽曲をまとめ、本曲として制定した36曲である。
English: As head instructor at the fukiawase-dokoro, Kinko KUROSAWA set the pieces he had gathered to notation and established an order in which the repertoire of honkyoku was to be studied, as well as laid the foundation enabling the Kinko school to later adapt the shakuhachi to secular music.
Japanese: 吹合所の指南役であった初代琴古は、これらの曲の譜字のや習曲順の整理を行い、宗教音楽をはなれた琴古流の基礎を築いた。
English: It can be imagined that there were instances of collaborative performances between the shakuhachi and koto or shamisen even during the Edo period, however, it was not until after the abolition of Fuke sect that shakuhachi went out of hands of Fuke sect and the ensemble was permitted.
Japanese: 江戸時代にも尺八と箏や三味線の合奏は行われていたと考えられるが、尺八が普化宗の手から離れ合奏が解禁となったのは普化宗廃止後のことである。
English: In the case of adapting a classical sankyoku pieces for shakuhachi, the shakuhachi part was generally added in a manner so as to roughly parallel that of the shamisen part.
Japanese: 古典的な三曲合奏では、尺八の手付けは三絃の手をベタ付けで尺八向けに編曲したものであった。
English: Sankyoku compositions of this sort, which have been adapted to include a single shakuhachi player, along with Meiji shinkyoku, which are a type of music composed in Japan after the Meiji period reflecting the influence of classical western composition, and including Shin Nihon compositions, such as Haru-no-umi, by Michio MIYAGI, form the genre of music commonly referred to as modern Japanese music.
Japanese: こうした三曲の一員としての尺八は、西洋音楽の影響を受けた明治新曲や、春の海で知られる宮城道雄などの新日本音楽を経て、現代邦楽と呼ばれるジャンルを形成するに至った。
English: Among sankyoku ensemble performers, classical jiuta-sokyoku pieces (jiuta compositions based on the koto part) are referred to as kokyoku (old pieces, or classical pieces), pieces composed by Michio MIYAGI and other from the Meiji period up to the beginning of WWI are referred to as shinkyoku (new pieces), and pieces composed subsequently are referred to as modern pieces.
Japanese: 三曲系の演奏者のあいだでは、古典的な地歌箏曲を古曲、宮城道雄などの明治期から戦前までの楽曲曲を新曲、それ以降の楽曲を現代曲と呼ぶこともある。
English: Starting from about the 1960s, the shakuhachi began to be adopted in compositions of modern classical music.
Japanese: 1960年代から尺八はクラシック音楽の現代音楽で使用されるようになった。
English: Shakuhachi player Katsuya YOKOYAMA appeared with the New York Philharmonic in 1964 to high acclaim, performing a piece called "November Steps," which was composed by Toru TAKEMITSU for biwa player Kinshi TSURUTA of the Tsuruta-school lineage, a lineage influenced by the Satsuma style of biwa playing.
Japanese: 1964年にニューヨーク・フィルハーモニックと尺八の横山勝也、薩摩琵琶の流れをくむ鶴田流の琵琶奏者鶴田錦史のために作曲された武満徹のノヴェンバー・ステップスは反響を呼んだ。
English: It is generally called koto and the Chinese character '琴' is used, but to be exact, it should be '箏' (soh) and '琴' (kin) is another musical instrument.
Japanese: 一般にことと呼ばれ、「琴」の字を当てられるが、正しくは「箏」であり、「琴（きん）」は本来別の楽器である。
English: The biggest difference between the two is that while the tune of Soh is modulated by movable props called ji, there is no prop in the case of kin.
Japanese: 最大の違いは、箏では柱（じ）と呼ばれる可動式の支柱で弦の音程を調節するのに対し、琴（きん）では柱が無いことである。
English: Note that ji (bridge of Soh) is normally called 'kotobasira' (bridge of koto) (product's name is also kotobashira).
Japanese: ※ただし、柱（箏の駒）は「琴柱」の方が一般的である（商品名も琴柱）。
English: Koto' in the ancient times of Japan was called 'wagon' (or 'yamatogoto') and it had six strings (five strings in rare cases).
Japanese: 日本古来からある「こと」は和琴（「わごん」または「やまとごと」）と呼ばれ、6本の弦を持つ（まれに5本）。
English: In the Heian period, wagon was used as an accompanying instrument for playing one of gagaku called 'Saibara' (a song accompanied by wind and stringed instruments which was created by arranging indigenous folk music to the style of newly imported gagaku) (at present, wagon is rarely used for playing Saibara).
Japanese: また、平安時代にはやはり雅楽の楽曲種類の一つである「催馬楽（さいばら）」（在来の民謡などを当時の渡来音楽である雅楽の編成に編曲した管絃伴奏付き歌曲）の伴奏楽器として、和琴が加わることがあった（現在では普通、催馬楽に和琴が加わることはない）。
English: Wagon is also played by itako (the Japanese shaman) of Osore-zan Mountain in the ceremony of necromancy, and this music is believed to be the oldest existing Japanese ancient music (provided that a small minority of itako use wagon and azusayumi - a bow made of Japanese cherry birch - is generally used by other itako).
Japanese: また、日本の古代音楽を最も古い形のまま現在まで伝承しているとされる恐山などのイタコが、交霊の際に演奏する楽器の一つとしても用いられる（ただし和琴を使うのはごく一部で、一般にイタコが用いる楽器は梓弓が多い）。
English: Tonkori (also known as "ka"), a traditional stringed instrument of Ainu tribe, has a similar structure with that of wagon (provided that it has five strings).
Japanese: アイヌの伝統楽器の箏であるトンコリ（カーとも言う）」は、和琴と類似した構造を持つ（ただし弦は5本）。
English: Meanwhile, the Chinese Soh, imported from Tang during the Nara period, is believed to have been created in the era of Qin (around the third century B.C) by a person called Moten, but it is nothing but a legend.
Japanese: 一方、後述の奈良時代に唐より伝わることになる中国の箏の起こりは、秦の時代（紀元前3世紀頃）に蒙恬（もうてん）という人物が作ったのが始まりとされるが、伝説に過ぎない。
English: Soh widely known at present in Japan has thirteen strings, and was imported from Tang during the Nara period.
Japanese: 現在日本で広く知られている形の箏は、13本の弦を持ち、奈良時代に唐より伝わった。
English: It was believed to be the symbol of ryu (dragon) and the vestige of such belief remains remains in the name of the parts of Soh, such as ryuto (dragon head) and ryubi (dragon tail).
Japanese: 龍の象徴とされ、現在でも箏の部分の名称として龍頭や龍尾などの名残がある。
English: Soh which is used in gagaku is specifically called 'gaku-goto' or 'gaku-Soh.'
Japanese: 雅楽で用いられる箏を「楽箏（「がくごと」または「がくそう」）」と呼ぶ。
English: Soh was also used as a musical instrument for solo performance (and for singing a song while playing Soh) during the Nara and Heian periods.
Japanese: また奈良・平安時代より独奏楽器（および弾き歌いの伴奏）としても用いられた。
English: A harp-shaped musical instrument 'kugo' which symbolized hoo (a phoenix), one of a pair of ryu and hoo, is not existent as a traditional instrument.
Japanese: また龍と対を成していた鳳凰を象徴したハープ型の楽器「箜篌（くご）」は、伝統としては廃絶した。
English: Its fragments have been preserved at Shoso-in and its reproduction is in use at present.
Japanese: 正倉院に断片が宝物として保管され、現代においては復元された複製楽器が演奏されている。
English: Shitsu' (also called 'hitsu' in rare cases), a large-sized musical instrument that belongs to zither group as with Soh, has 24 strings in the case of Shoso-in's property and 25 strings in the case of the ancient Chinese musical instrument.
Japanese: また箏と同じツィター属の大型楽器である瑟（「しつ」、まれに「ひつ」とも読む）は正倉院の宝物が24本、中国の古代楽器では25本の弦を持つ。
English: A legend says that a god split this shitsu into two and created Soh with 13 strings and Soh with 12 strings (it had another name).
Japanese: 伝説では神がこの瑟を二つに割って、13弦の箏と12弦の箏（別の名がある）が作られたと言われている。
English: No historical records are existing from the end of the Heian period to the Muromachi period.
Japanese: 平安時代末期から室町時代までにおいては、歴史的な記録が明らかでない。
English: In the Azuchi-Momoyama period, Kenjun (1574 - 1636), a monk in Kitakyushu, created 'Tsukushigoto' by integrating Chinese as well as indigenous Soh music for solo performance and Soh music of gagaku.
Japanese: 安土・桃山時代には北九州で僧侶の賢順（1574年-1636年）により、中国、在来の独奏箏曲、雅楽の箏曲をまとめて「筑紫箏（つくしごと）」が起こった。
English: While Soh music of gagaku was called 'gaku-Soh,' Soh music in the pre-modern times was called 'zoku-Soh' (or zokugoto) (modern Sho music).
Japanese: 雅楽の「楽箏」に対し、近世の箏曲は「俗箏（「ぞくそう」または「ぞくごと」）」と呼ぶ。
English: Based on the above-mentioned Tsukusigoto, Yatsuhashi Kengyo (1614 - 1685), who was active during the early Edo period, established the basis of the musical instrument Soh as well as Soh music.
Japanese: 前述の筑紫箏を基本として、楽器としての箏および箏曲の基礎を大成させたのが、江戸時代初期に活躍した八橋検校（やつはし・けんぎょう、1614年-1685年）であった。
English: Among others, what was most important was that he changed the tuning of Soh from ritsu scale (anhemitonic pentatonic scale) to miyakobushi scale (characteristic Japanese hemitonic pentatonic scale) which then increasingly became common among ordinary people.
Japanese: 特に重要なのは、箏の調弦をそれまでの律音階から、当時民間で一般的になりつつあった都節音階にもとづくものに変えたことである。
English: He also composed lots of Soh music and the basic form of contemporary Soh music was established at the time (one theory is that Yatsuhashi Kengyo created one of the basic patterns of Soh music called 'danmono,' similar to a variation, when he came in contact in some way with western music, especially cembalo variations.
Japanese: また多数の作曲をして、ここで現在の箏曲の基本形が整った（一説には、箏曲の基本形の一つである「段もの」と呼ばれるいわゆる変奏曲に類似した形式は、八橋検校が何らかの形で洋楽、特にチェンバロの変奏曲に接触したことによって生まれたという）。
English: It has been handed down that 'Rokudan' (no shirabe), a representative Soh solo, was composed by Yatsuhashi Kengyo.
Japanese: 独奏曲としての箏という楽器を代表する楽曲「六段」（の調べ）は、この八橋検校の作曲によると伝えられる。
English: Incidentally, 'Kengyo' was the highest-ranking title given by 'Todo-za,' a guild organized by blind musicians at the time.
Japanese: ちなみに「検校（けんぎょう）」という言葉は当時の盲人音楽家が作る組合制度「当道座」の中で与えられる最高位の名前である。
English: 1685, the year of Yatsuhashi Kengyo's death, was the year of birth of Yohhan Sebastian Bach, Georg Friedrich Handel and Domenico Scarlatti.
Japanese: 八橋検校の没年1685年は、西洋音楽ではヨハン・セバスチャン・バッハ、ジョージ・フレデリック・ヘンデル、ドメニコ・スカルラッティの生年でもある。
English: The name Yatsuhashi Kengyo still remains as the name of Kyoto Confectionary 'Yatsuhasi,' and its shape (baked one, not unbaked one) is modeled after the shape of the Soh.
Japanese: 八橋検校の名は京都の菓子「八ツ橋」の名としても残っており、（生ではなく焼いた、本来の）八ツ橋の形は箏を模している。
English: After Yatsuhashi Kengyo's death, Ikuta Kengyo and Yamada Kengyo were prominent Soh musicians during the middle of the Edo period.
Japanese: 八橋検校以降、江戸時代中期の特に重要な箏曲家としては、生田検校と山田検校が挙げられる。