Biwa
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The biwa is a Japanese short-necked wooden lute traditionally used in narrative storytelling. The biwa is a plucked string instrument that first gained popularity in China before spreading throughout
A selection of biwa in a Japanese museum
Benzaiten (Goddess of Music and Good Fortune) playing a biwa, 1832 woodblock print (surimono)
Gakubiwa
Plectra for the chikuzen-biwa (left) and satsuma-biwa
Shamisen
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The shamisen or samisen, also known as sangen, is a three-stringed traditional Japanese musical instrument derived from the Chinese instrument sanxian. It is played with a plectrum called a bachi.
Biwa
…younger musicians turned to other instruments and interest in biwa music decreased. Even the biwa hōshi transitioned to other instruments such as the shamisen (a three-stringed lute). Interest in the biwa was revived during the Edo period (1600–1868), when Tokugawa Ieyasu unified Japan and established the…
Tokyo geisha with shamisen, c. 1870s
A Japanese man playing a shamisen while another sings
The heike shamisen compared with a medium-sized, or chuzao shamisen
Bachi for min'yo, tsugaru and heike shamisen