Imagine yourself in Edo (old Tokyo) during the mid-18th century. The streets bustle with activity -- almost all of which is accompanied by song: carpenters sing while working wood; mothers lull their babies to slumber; farmers till their paddies to rice-planting songs; and the boatmen's rhythmic melodies echo through the city's many canals and rivers. In the evening, rich merchants gather to hear courtesans quietly intone tunes of love and yearning accompanied by the plaintive melodies of the three-stringed shamisen. The next room may host a rowdy group singing drinking songs. Itinerant shamisen players roam the city's many warrens and alleys entertaining passersby.

Commercial theaters, such as the kabuki and bunraku puppet theaters, flourish, and stage action is always accompanied by copious amounts of song and music. Rows of shamisen, flutes, drums and singers perform for the kabuki and bunraku puppet theaters, a tayu narrator recites dialogue with colorful histrionics. From the common layperson to the star professional, Edo was full of exceptional musicians.

Into this milieu appeared a talented young, blind singer and koto (traditional Japanese 13-stringed zither) player by the name of Toyoichi Yamada (1757-1817). Influenced by the fertile vocal traditions of Edo, where he was raised, Yamada popularized the koto and created for it an extensive repertoire of song. At around age 30, he was awarded the title kengyo, which was the highest social ranking available to members of the Todo-za (guild of the blind) during the Edo Period, and created the Yamada school of koto.

Yamada's compositions blended the best of theatrical narrative and song styles with innovative and new instrumental techniques for the koto. Within a very short time, the Yamada style became the rage, and all ranks of people, from the ruling to the working classes, were studying under him. As testament to his imminence and popularity, shortly before his death, Kengyo Yamada was awarded the title of "soroku kengyo," or official government representative of the kengyo, a position equivalent to the ranking of daimyo (provincial feudal lord).

The Yamada style continued to flourish under Shouin Yamase I (1848-1908). Yamase was active as a performer, composer, educator and innovator. He studied Western-style composition and was a professor at the Tokyo Music School, now the Tokyo National University of Fine Arts and Music. Yamase enhanced the Yamada style and brought it into the 20th century.

Now fast-forward to the present. The Yamada lineage remains very much alive through the efforts of Shouin Yamase VI. Yamase, whose birth name is Shizuko Kihara, was recently designated as one of Japan's revered living national treasures -- the highest honor a traditional musician or craftsman in Japan can achieve.

Shouin Yamase began studying Yamada-style koto at an early age under her older sister. She continued her studies at the Tokyo University of Fine Arts and performed until last year under the name Shizuko. At that time, she took over the name of her artistic lineage, becoming Shouin VI. Her resume includes a number of prestigious awards and commendations, and her yearly recitals at the National Theater, presenting the best of Yamada-style koto music, are always sold-out.

And no wonder. Whether she sings music transposed from the noh theater, compositions handed down from the itinerant biwa lute-playing balladeers of the 12th to 16th centuries or contemporary music, her highly disciplined style, gregarious personality and clear voice harks back to a time when song was a common currency of communication. She reminds us how important it is to sing.

As an instrument, the koto is extremely versatile and capable of breathtakingly beautiful passages, and many modern koto players tend to emphasize only its instrumental and technical aspects. Yamase insists, however, that the most important aspect of the Yamada style is the singing; the koto -- however elegant and refined -- is there to accompany and embellish the song.

The human voice, whether in the Edo Period or the present, represents the soul of Japanese music. Yamase's efforts ensure that the soulful qualities of Yamada-style koto playing will continue as a high art form into the 21st century.

To commemorate Goro Yamaguchi, the recently deceased shakuhachi master and national treasure, there will be a concert featuring all of Japan's top-ranking koto and shamisen players, as well as Yamaguchi's shakuhachi disciples (including myself). Shouin Yamase will perform one of Kengyo Yamada's most important compositions, "Yuya," from "Tale of the Heike," near the end of the concert.