Illustrated Japanese Culture
三味線
The shamisen is a three-stringed instrument with a long fretless neck and a wooden body covered with skin on both faces. A player usually strikes the strings with a bachi plectrum, though some genres use a finger.
01
The strings run along the neck and over a bridge resting on the skin. The bridge transfers their vibration to the stretched surface and resonating body. The left hand stops the strings directly on the fretless neck. This is a plucked instrument, unlike the bowed kokyū.
Sawari is the deliberate buzzing resonance in the shamisen’s tone. In the yama-sawari construction shown here, the first string touches a raised area of the neck, while the second and third pass over the upper bridge. The first string makes intermittent contact as it vibrates. Other instruments use an adjustable mechanism.
Hosozao, chūzao and futozao refer chiefly to neck thickness and a corresponding combination of body, skin and plectrum. Neck length is generally similar. Nagauta commonly uses hosozao; jiuta, Tokiwazu and Kiyomoto often use chūzao; gidayū and Tsugaru playing use futozao. Other combinations are also used.
02
Honchōshi places a fourth between the first and second strings and a fifth between the second and third. Niagari raises the second string by a whole tone; sansagari lowers the third by a whole tone. Absolute pitch can be adjusted to the singer rather than fixed to one universal set of notes.
A bachi strikes the strings in many genres. Tsugaru performance can also emphasise percussive contact with the skin, while kouta is usually played with the nail of the right index finger.
Notation systems differ between schools. Systems such as bunkafu indicate strings and stopping positions, while kuchi-jamisen uses vocal syllables to help remember and transmit musical phrases.
03
Hardwoods such as kōki, rosewood and karin are used for necks, which may have fitted joints for disassembly. The body is built from joined wooden boards and covered with stretched skin. Workshop organisation differs: Kansai makers commonly separate neck and body work, while a Tokyo craftsperson may carry out the full neck-making sequence.
Traditional skins include cat and dog skin, and silk is used for strings. Synthetic skins also exist, including on instruments made for school use. Materials depend on the instrument and its purpose. Repairs and replacing worn skin can keep an instrument in use.
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The shamisen developed from the Ryukyuan sanshin, which is connected in turn with the Chinese sanxian. After its sixteenth-century arrival in Japan, makers adapted skins and a biwa-like plectrum to the instrument.
During the Edo period, the shamisen served jiuta chamber music, kabuki and puppet-theatre narration. It later appeared widely in folk song and popular entertainment. The different demands of singing, narration and stage accompaniment helped sustain distinct instrument and playing traditions.
A shamisen preserved by the Kakūemon family in Taiji, Wakayama, retains its wooden structure and two plectra but has lost its skin, strings and bridge. A story links it to the courtesan Yūgiri, although the claimed gift is not securely documented.
Tsugaru shamisen grew from folk-song accompaniment and the itinerant performances of blind musicians in Aomori. Instrumental introductions expanded into solos, and the name became widely used around the 1960s. Takahashi Chikuzan’s Tokyo appearances attracted attention in the 1970s. Pieces such as Tsugaru Jongara-bushi have several established forms as well as room for individual performance.
Three, on a fretless neck.
With a bachi plectrum; some genres use a finger.
It transfers vibration from the strings to the skin and body.
Neck thickness, together with related differences in body, skin and plectrum.
No. Tunings describe pitch relationships, and the absolute pitch can suit the singer.
An intentional buzzing resonance in the instrument’s tone.
No. Kouta is usually played with the right index fingernail.
Traditional animal skins and newer synthetic skins coexist.
No. It is one tradition associated with Aomori’s Tsugaru region.
It was adapted from the Ryukyuan sanshin after arriving in the sixteenth century, with changes to skins and plectrum.