Yamatogoto

The yamatogoto (大和琴 / やまとごと), also called wagon (和琴 / わごん) and azumagoto (東琴 / あずまごと), is a six- or seven-stringed plucked bridge zither which, unlike the koto and other stringed instruments, is believed to be truly native to Japan, and not imported from mainland Asia.

According to Shintō myth as written in the Kojiki, the yamatogoto played an important role in the origins of Japan itself.

In the myth, Amaterasu, goddess of the sun, is insulted by her brother Susano-o no Mikoto and hides in a cave, refusing to emerge.

Amused by the music, and by the entertained sounds of the other gods, Amaterasu leaves the cave and returns to the firmament.

Unlike many instruments, the yamatogoto's strings are not arranged in a scale, from low to high pitch, but in a preset melodic sequence which is played in rhythmic patterns.