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This is a Sokyoku piece in the Kumiuta style from the Ikuta Ryû school . Usu Yuki is also known as: Asagao No Kyoku, Shinonome No Kyoku. This piece was composed for koto by Yatsuhashi Kengyo .

History (from Tsuge Gen'ichi)
Usuyuki ('Light Snow'), one of the 'Thirteen Yaysuhashi Song Cycles,' is classified in omote category (1). The texts of the first four songs are based on passages from 'The Tale of Genji.' The first uses Nakanokimi's waka in the 'Beneath the Oak' (Shigamoto) chapter; the second, Po Chu-i's 'The Song of Everlasting Sorrow' cited in 'The Paulownia Court' (Kiritsubo); the third, Genji's waka in 'Lavender' (Wakamurasaki). The fourth song is based on a scene from 'Evening Faces' (Yugao).

The title is derived from the opening song, which refers to the death of the Eighth Prince (brother of Genji and father of the Uji Princess). Because of this reference, the song cycle is often performed at memorial concerts.

(1) Kumiuta are traditionally classified into four categories according to the degree of profundity and stylistic proficiency required and sometimes the technical difficulties involved. These are omote (lit. "outside"), ura (lit. "inside"), naka (lit. "interior"), oku (lit, "deep interior"). By way of illustration, it may be helpful to imagine these categories as representing the structure of the imperial palace or a Shinto shrine with outer and inner walls, and further inside, the outer and inner sanctuaries. It should also be mentioned that these categories represent stages of a student’s progress in the learning of the koto repertoire, and are regulated by the issuing of diplomas along the way.

Poem (translated by Tsuge Gen'ichi)
Lamentable
Is my destiny.
Our vow, so fragile,
Has disappeared like
The light snow.
As a keepsake,
Only tears
Remain.

Our vow
To share a wing in the sky
And to share a branch on the earth,
Was mutable after all.
But then,
I will not feel
Bitter toward him
Who once was kind.

Since I held it
In my hand, a leaf
Of the lavender,
My longing has grown
Even deeper.
Our vow of eternal love
Is tied to that affinity
With another grass.

At dawn,
A morning glory
Fresh with dew drops
On the bamboo fence.
A jeweled chaplet
Gracefully adorns
The flowery image of
The Lady.

The moon,
Which people have watched
Age after age,
Must be a true momento-
At this thought,
At this thought,
My tears fall
Like jewels on a string.

A raft floating
Down the flower-laden Yoshino River-
One can hardly find
A spot to place the pole.
The waves are high
And the wind off the mountain
Scatter the flowers' fragrance
In all directions.

Usu Yuki appears on the following albums:

Album	Shakuhachi	Koto	Shamisen
Jiuta to Sokyoku no Sekai - 3  (Listen)
Sokyoku Jiuta Taikei 03  (Listen)		Takahashi Eisei II