Who is the Masked Lady?

During the Pandemic, I ventured on October, 2021 to the Leidecker Center for East Asian Studies at Mary Washington University in Fredericksburg, Va. Using the noh-utai lyrics to play the koto’s rendition of “Takasago,” I illustrated how three genres of Japanese music --noh-utai, nagauta, and koto music— each brought out basic features of Japanese music mentioned in my book, Japan’s Musical Tradition: Hogaku from Prehistory to the Present. The students sat masked, at a safe distance, and attentively listened to the lecture/recital. In addition, the University Book Store kindly provided copies of my book.