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This is a Modern piece . This piece was composed for koto by Hosokawa Toshio in 1989 .

Banka appears on the following albums:

Album	Shakuhachi	Koto	Shamisen
Tradition and Avantgarde in Japan  (Listen)
"Banka" means something like "elegy," that is, a sung poetry in which a person's death is lamented. The banka I used for this composition is taken from the poetry anthology "Manyoshu" (ca. 760), Japan's oldest collection of native poetry, written by Prince Otsu no Miko. Momozutau Iware no ike ni naku kamo wo kyou nomi mite ya Kumogakurenamu Whether the wild duck that I call on Iware Pond can only be seen today? Whether my life will end? Language in ancient Japan was called kotodama (soul, wondrous power of words), which expressed the belief that every single word has a soul. And it was thought that vocal intonation could enhance even more the magical power inherent in words.