Composed while working on The Planets, Holst wrote this suite for the Japanese dance Michio Ito in 1916. Ito supplied the Japanese melodies for all numbers save the "Marionette Dance" and possibly performed in the premiere at London's Coliseum Theatre the same year. The first confirmed performance of this 11-minute suite took place on September 1, 1919 in Queen's Hall with the New Queen's Hall Orchestra conducted by the composer. The suite was finally published in 1925 by Hawkes and Son.

This newly engraved edition prepared by Richard W. Sargeant draws on primary sources and is a welcome addition to the libraries of Holst aficionados worldwide. With a clean and readable layout, the score is a reduced-format version of the full score - also available from Seremissima Music along with the orchestral parts.