Now, to be entirely accurate, we've looked into it and it seems like what he's carrying is not much of a Koto, and probably more like a shamisen. I guess that could be a commentary on how little Raoh actually knows about musical instruments, but a "koto" was the official translation Sentai Filmworks went with.
You can thank Gia for the shamisen bit, because goodness knows while it might not look like a Koto, I never would have guessed "shamisen."
Any hoo, enjoy the anecdote, I know I did.

























I wish we had the DVD handy so I could see what he actually says, but alas, it's in the office! :)