Three flavors of strings (Photo: Claire Taylor)

(Writer: Neil White)
The Japanese shamisen (in Japanese: 三味線) meaning literally 'three flavors of strings' is, on the international stage perhaps the most famous musical instrument in Japan.

Like so much else in the culture of these islands, the shamisen has its origins on the Chinese mainland, came in through the southern Okinawa Islands, and although similar in appearance to the guitar and various stringed instruments popular in the west, is a world apart in terms of its role in the culture of the nation, the way it is played, and perhaps above all, the way it is studied.

Many folk who learn the shamisen do so having been influenced by older family members also interested in the instrument, and along the way are themselves often subject to the same disciplined hours of care for their shamisen, and to eventually master the instrument, long periods sat bolt upright in the traditional and often painful 'seiza' position plucking away at notes learnt by repetition; the markers so often seen (or felt) on the strings of a guitar missing entirely from the silk strings of a shamisen.