Kocarina was initially called “Ocarina made of the woods from cherry trees” and many Kocarina were sold, as an East European ethnic musical instrument, on the streets in towns in Hungary. Back in 1995, Mr. Kurotaro KUROSAKA, now a leading Kocarina player in Japan, brought this ethnic wooden musical instrument to Japan and named it “Kocarina.”

After that, Mr. KUROSAKA and some Japanese woodworkers improved the musical instrument in many ways into high-precision musical instrument.

In 1998, when Winter Olympic Games were held in Nagao, Japan, a group of children played the Kocarina in its ceremony, and then a great number of people came to know Kocarina for the first time. The Kocarinas used there were made from the trees which had had to be cut down due to the construction of Olympiad Roads in Nagano Prefecture.

Several Kocarinas were also made from an A-Bomb-damaged tree in Hiroshima. This tree had been partially burnt by the A-Bomb dropped there. In 2008, the musical performance by these Kocarinas was adopted in a radio commercial introducing Suntry Hall in Osaka. This radio CM won the Journalist Award in ACC CM Festival, Japan’s largest-scale CM Competition, in the same year. The Journalist Award is the highest award in this competition selected by all the major newspaper companies in Japan.

Now, it is estimated that some tens of thousands of people enjoy playing the Kocarina all over Japan. Kocarina is easy to play, and so different generations from children to the elderly are attracted to play this musical instrument for fun. Also, Kocarina makes gentle wooden tones and warm sounds. Kocarina is getting a lot of attention as the symbolic musical instrument associated with environmental protection.

Shape, Materials and Musical Functions of Kocarina

Kocarina comes in various sizes and types, ranging from Soprano Kocarina of 80mm in length and 28mm in diameter to Bass Kocarina of wine bottle size. There is also Joint-type Kocarina just like Pan Flute. Three or four Kocarinas are jointed horizontally into a horizontally long Kocarina.

Different from an ordinary type of flute, Kocarina is closed at its bottom (so Kocarina is a closed tube), and the sound it creates becomes soft and gentle. Plus, the sound itself turns around inside the tube and is nicely influenced by the materials.

Soprano Kocarina is made of the solid woods from broad-leaved trees (including cherry trees, Japanese maples, walnut trees, etc.) and low-pitched Kocarina is made of soft woods from Japanese cedars or other coniferous trees. Kocarinas of different wooden materials make different tones of sounds, which is an interesting part of this musical instrument.

Kocarina is small-sized, and you can hang it from your neck and bring it everywhere. Kocarina is very easy to play. Even small children can make beautiful sounds with Kocarina easily, and can learn simple musical pieces in a couple of days. Thus, Kocarina is an easy musical instrument, and so Kocarina is rapidly becoming popular among Japanese people. They include forest protectors and outdoor sports fans. Some of them say that there are no other better musical instruments than Kocarina to express the gentleness and beauty of wooden materials. Others say that Kocarina sounds as if tree fairies sang. Kocarina is a good musical instrument combined the idea of eco-friendliness and music. In other words, Kocarina is a timely musical instrument timely the demands of our current times.

This is an official home page for Kocarina.