The shamisen is a Japanese three-stringed plucked instrument with a long fretless neck and a small square body covered in skin. The player produces the sound by striking the strings with a large spatula-shaped plectrum — the bachi — which gives a characteristic sharp, percussive accent.
The shamisen came to Japan in the 16th century and became an inseparable part of traditional culture: it accompanies the kabuki theatre and the bunraku puppet theatre, as well as the art of the geisha. Different genres of music use shamisen of varying size and neck thickness, from lyrical to powerful, “martial” sounds of the Tsugaru-jamisen style. With its inimitable timbre, the shamisen embodies the very aesthetic of Japanese musical art — restrained, concentrated, and deeply expressive.
