I.How did World Events affect the Taishokoto development?
During the World War Ⅱ, the Japan military government forces made people live a frugal life without entertainments. Before the war, the taishokoto enabled people to enjoy popular songs. The popularity of the taishokoto was regarded as a kind of entertainment so it was prohibited. Adding this, as taishokoto was using iron partially, it was prohibited to produce under the regulation of metal control by the government just before the end of war and disappeared from the market.
Another reason why taishokoto disappeared from the market was because the taishokoto was easy to play and its sound was simple. Many classic and orchestras were giving lots of performances all over Japan. People got accustomed to western musical instruments and began to compare taishokoto with western ones. People lost interest in taishokoto.
Almost real musicians like pianist and violinist did not recognize the worth of taishokoto as a musical instrument. We could not find any information taishokoto was performed in public hall before the Pacific War in even the city of Nagoya where taishokoto was invented. Nagoya was the city where taishokoto was very popular with the citizens. Not only real musicians but many music shops have not recognized taishokoto as a real musical instrument until around the beginning of 1990s when taishokoto improved its quality.