Musical Instruments Of Japan – Examples Of Japanese Instruments
MUSICAL INSTRUMENTS OF JAPAN – Here are examples of some of the musical instruments of Japan, the land of rising sun.
Shakuhachi
A longitudinal, end-blown bamboo flute.It is originally introduced from China. Again, it is usually made in bamboo but there are also versions of this flute made from ABS (a polymer) and hardwood. It is derived from the two words shaku (尺), a unit of length equals to 30.3 centimeters; and hachi (八) which means “eight”, thus the name means “1.8” shaku.
Koto
The national instrument of Japan, it is a stringed instrument which is derived from the Chinese instrument zheng. Koto is usually made from kiri wood and has 13 strings that are strung over 13 movable bridges.
Shamisen
Also known as sangen, it is a three stringed fretless plucked lute and is popularly used in theater such as bunraku and kabuki.
Sanshin
According to Live Japan, it is also a three-stringed instrument of Okinawa and a precursor to shamisen. the Sanshin has a snakeskin-covered body. Both the sanshin and shamisen means “three strings” in English since both have three strings.
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