Hirajōshi scale or 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. These scales have been used by rock and jazz guitarists in search of 'new' sounds."Speed, Burgess (2008). Japan: Your Passport to a New World of Music, p.15. .
Burrows gives C-E-F-G-B.Burrows, Terry (1999). How to Read Music, p.90. . Sachs,Meyer, Leonard B. (1961). Emotion and Meaning in Music, p.224. . as well as Slonimsky,Nicolas Slonimsky, (1947). Thesaurus of Scales and Musical Patterns, pg. 160 give C-D-F-G-B. Speed and Kostka & PayneKostka & Payne (1995). Tonal Harmony, p.484. Third Edition. . give C-D-E-G-A. Note that all are hemitonic pentatonic scales (five note scales with one or more semitones) and are different modes of the same pattern of intervals, 2-1-4-1-4 semitones.
The five modes of hirajoshi can also be derived as subsets of the Ionian, Phrygian, Lydian, Aeolian, and Locrian modes.
Synonymous scales have different names per region of Japan, as well as according to several ethnomusicologists and researchers, which may lead to some confusion. For example, the Iwato scale bears the same intervals as Slonimsky's concept of the Hirajoshi scale, and is also the fourth mode of the In scale. The same scale given by Kostka & Payne matches the third mode of the In scale.
Western appearances Peter Sculthorpe's Earth Cry uses the Hirajoshi mode as a tonal centre of the work. Guitarist Marty Friedman uses it heavily.
See also In scale Japanese mode Japanese musical scales
References
Further reading Hewitt, Michael. 2013. Musical Scales of the World. The Note Tree. .