Japan
Japanese

Woods, animal skins, cloth, silk strings & rope, bone
Mid 20th century
Length: 39 inches
Chordophones – Lutes

Shamisen literally means “three strings.”  It is a popular spike lute  for accompanying the singing of folk songs and is well-known for accompanying the tayu chanter in the Japanese Bunraku (puppet) Theatre. In the Kansai areas of the main island of Honshū, it is called a samisen.  The shamisen consists of a long fretless neck, three strings with pegs at the top for tuning, and silk ropes at the bottom to hold the strings to the bottom peg.  The three strings are played with a ginkgo leaf-shaped plectrum and are threaded over two bridges, one at top and the other on the skin head.  Both sides of the slightly rectangular convex resonator frame are covered by animal skin. 

This shamisen is constructed in three sections so that the instrument is easy to take apart for transport. (See transport box)  The basic tuning pitches varies, depending upon the range of the singer, however, most shamisen are tuned to the yo-in scale system and its modes.  It is believed that the shamisen was imported from the Ryukyu Islands (Okinawa) in the mid-16^th century, where it was in the form of the larger Han Chinese three-string spike lute called a sanxian with python skins. (Seen in this collection.)