Although in Japanese theater there are different types of instruments such as:

- Taiko- A “sacred” drum was said to drive away evil spirits and bring rain. [See photo to right]

(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Tsuridaiko.jpg)

- Koto- Is a long stringed instrument that is plucked in order to vibrate to make sounds [See below]

(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Yagi_Michiyo_playing_koto.jpg)


    These instruments can be compared to those of the Western/American instruments found in American theater.

Due to their similarities in sounds, the koto can be related to the violin in Western music.  However in the Western piece we are comparing there is no violin part, therefore it could be compared to the guitars in the song, since they both belong to the same instrument family: chordophones.