It is commonly believed that the traditional Japanese three-stringed instrument shamisen originated from the sanxian in China, which entered Japan through Okinawa in the 16th century. The Okinawa sanxian then became the shamisen when it entered the Japanese mainland. Since the Edo period, shamisen has been used as an accompaniment for "kabuki". It was not until the mid 19th century that it became a solo instrument. The neck of the traditional shamisen is made of wood and its thickness is used to classify the instrument. The strings are usually made of silk though nylon is also used. The ideal material for its rounded rectangular body is "padauk". Similar to the Chinese erhu, the body of the traditional shamisen is covered with snakeskin. Cat skin and dog skin were also used in the past because they have greater tolerance for the force of plucking and hence offer much greater tonal variety. One of the major schools in shamisen development is Tsugaru from Aomori Prefecture in Northern Honshu. At the time, many vagrant performers sang folk songs to the accompaniment of shamisen. The instrument is played in a unique way with a bachi (plectrum) made of gingko-shaped wood or ivory. Not only is it played at a very fast tempo, the plucking of strings is also quite forceful, which is why it is sometimes being mocked as a percussion instrument. With its unique improvisational characteristics, shamisen offers the performer much room for creativity and hence is sometimes compared to the improvisational nature of jazz music.
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The English translation appears here with permission by International Association of Theatre Critics (Hong Kong). Both this article and its original Chinese version are published in New Vision Arts Festival 2006 Critics' Guide (October 2006) by IATC(HK). The views and opinions expressed in this article are those of the author, and do not represent the stand of the presenter, the performing groups of the Festival nor the publisher.
