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In scale

Scale used in Japanese music

Wikipedia contributorsAdapted for Fathomly · View authors
1 min read
Source updated May 13, 2026

The in scale (also known as the Sakura pentatonic scale due to its use in the well-known folk song Sakura Sakura) is one of two pentatonic scales commonly used in Japanese folk music, excluding gagaku and Buddhist shōmyō. The in scale is used specifically in music for the koto and shamisen and is contrasted with the yo scale.

More recent theory emphasizes that it is more useful in interpreting Japanese melody to view scales on the basis of "nuclear tones" located a fourth apart and containing notes between them, as in the miyako-bushi scale used in koto and shamisen music and whose pitches are equivalent to the in scale:

01In scale in the other musical traditions

In Indian classical music, Gunkali (Hindustani), Raga Salanganata (Indian) and Karnataka Shuddha Saveri (Carnatic) are nearly identical to the pentatonic in scale, highlighting the shared past of their origins. Some rare examples of ancient genres of Andean music (e.g. k'antu) use a scale similar to the in scale combined with melody leading with a parallel fifths and fourths. For example, Machulas Kantu by Bolivia Manta folk group from the album Wiñayataqui.

In scale on D with auxiliary notes (F) & (C). 1-b2-(b3)-4-5-b6-(b7) Playⓘ.
In scale on D with auxiliary notes (F) & (C). 1-b2-(b3)-4-5-b6-(b7) Playⓘ.
Miyako-bushi scale on D, equivalent to in scale on D, with brackets on fourths. 1-b2-4-5-b6 Playⓘ.
Miyako-bushi scale on D, equivalent to in scale on D, with brackets on fourths. 1-b2-4-5-b6 Playⓘ.
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Sources and credits

This article is adapted from the Wikipedia article “In scale”, written by its contributors and licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0. Fathomly has changed the layout, removed citation markers, navigation and maintenance notices, and adjusted punctuation. This adapted version is shared under the same license. For references, see the original article.

Images, from Wikimedia Commons:

  • In scale.png by Created by Hyacinth (talk) 01:59, 15 June 2009 using Sibelius 5., Public domain
  • Miyako-bushi scale.png by Created by Hyacinth (talk) 13:26, 21 June 2009 using Sibelius 5., Public domain

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Hirajōshi scale

Hirajōshi scale or hira-choshi is a tuning scale adapted from shamisen music by Yatsuhashi Kengyō for tuning of the koto. "The hirajoshi, kumoijoshi, and kokinjoshi 'scales' are Western derivations of the koto tunings of the same names.

Japanese mode

The Japanese mode is a pentatonic musical scale commonly used in traditional Japanese music. The intervals of the scale are major second, minor third, perfect fifth and minor sixth, essentially a natural minor scale in Western music theory without the subdominant and subtonic, the same operation performed on the major scale to produce the pentatonic major scale.

Japanese musical scales

A variety of musical scales are used in traditional Japanese music. While the Chinese Shí-èr-lǜ has influenced Japanese music since the Heian period, in practice Japanese traditional music is often based on pentatonic or heptatonic (seven tone) scales.