By Kyoto Women's University, Lifestyle Design Laboratory
Kyoto Women's University, Lifestyle Design Laboratory
Shamisen: Japanese musical instrument (2021-08-18) by 三味線Kyoto Women's University, Lifestyle Design Laboratory
About the shamisen
The shamisen is a stringed instrument and one of the traditional musical instruments of Japan. It comprises a wooden body covered with animal or synthetic skin and a long neck on which strings are strung and plucked. The appeal of the shamisen lies, more than anything, in its versatility in musical expressions. One could say that as an instrument the shamisen is special in that it allows for both bold and delicate sounds.
The history of the shamisen
The shamisen is said to have been introduced to Japan from China, with the Chinese sanxian first being brought to the Ryukyu Islands during the Muromachi period (approx.. 1336-1573) and later developed into a Japanese instrument to become the shamisen we know today. It is believed that the progenitor of the shamisen was officially introduced to Japan sometime during the 16th century.
Type of shamisen
There are 3 types of shamisen according to the width of the neck: the futozao (wide neck), the chūzao (medium-wide neck), and the hosozao (narrow neck). The neck of the futozao on the left in the image measures over 3 cm wide and the body of the instrument is also quite large. This type of shamisen is used for music from the Tsugaru region or for gidayu dramatic recitations. In the middle is the chūzao which has a neck measureing between 2.6 and 2.7 cm wide. This type of shamisen is mainly used to accompany jiuta and minyō folk songs. To the right is the hosozao with its neck measuring under 2.5 cm wide. This type of shamisen is mainly used in traditional music including nagauta (kabuki music) and zoku’uta (traditional fold music).
Wood used to make the shamisen
There are 3 main types of wood used to make the shamisen: mahogany, Chinese quince and red sandalwood. The wood shown on the left in the image is mahogany (dark reddish-brown), which became used after the Meiji period. It is characteristically hard and heavy, making it resistant to warping. In the middle is Chinese quince (ochre), which is mainly used to make shamisen for practice. It has a coarser but softer texture than compared to red sandalwood and mahogany. On the right is red sandalwood (brown), which, like mahogany, is dense, hard and heavy.
Types of shamisen body
The shamisen body is made from Chinese quince which is more gentle compared to mahogany or red sandalwood. There are two types of shamisen body, the maru’uchi-dō with rounded interior and the ayasugi-dō with the zigzagging carving on the inside. The zigzagging pattern of the latter augments minute sound vibrations to further increase sound quality.
Types of skin
The quality of the skin and how it is stretched over the body can greatly alter the sound quality. A thicker skin will produce heavier sounds, while a thinner skin will produce lighter sounds. After drying, the skin is dampened with water to make it soft, before being stretched to the limit over the body. This is where the skills of the shamisen craftsperson come through.
Making the shamisen
In general, there are a total of 68 steps in the making of a shamisen. The process is mainly divided into three parts: the tenji (head or top end of the neck), the sao (neck) and the dō (body). Each part is created separately before being assembled. We talked to shamisen maker and player, Satoshi Nonaka (whose workshop is located in Higashiyama’s Ajiki Alley that has many traditional machiya and nagaya houses built over a century ago) about the process of making a shamisen. Let’s take a look at how each component is made.
Making the neck
This part describes how the neck is made. The first step, called kidori, is where the wood – the most vital part of shamisen making – is cut straight along the woodgrain. The wood is then roughly planed, before the warp of the top part and the roundness of the back are shaped out. After finer shaving to achieve the desired shape, the wood is then carefully smoothed out with a whetstone.
Fittings
The neck comprises three sections: the top section, the middle section, and the lower section. These three sections are joint using fittings. The shamisen is often carried in its case with these sections stored apart. The tenons are made to precision using a chisel or a gimlet. It takes a master to create detachable fittings that fit perfectly.
Making the body
These days the making of the shamisen body is increasingly more reliant on machines, but here is how one would be handcrafted. 4 pieces of Chinese quince or mulberry woodblocks are cut, with the outer edges rounded off using a plane and the inner part rounded out. To ensure better tonality, sometimes the inner part is given a further zigzagging, undulated carving called ayasugibori. This carving is thought to improve the tonality of the instrument by allowing sound to disperse in all directions inside the body. A piece of string is used to tie the 4 pieces together, before glue is applied to the joining areas and allowed to permeate and set using heat. Finally, wedges are used to further tighten the string, and the wood is allowed to dry before the surface is sanded using a whetstone and then lacquered. The image shows the repairing of a shamisen body that has come apart as the result of weakened glue.
Bonding the body of shamisen (2021-05-21) by Photo:Sinya MaezakiKyoto Women's University, Lifestyle Design Laboratory
Skin stretching / stringing
The skin is first dampened, and then the areas that will be adhered to the body frame are scraped down using a pumice stone or sandpaper. Next, special pegs are clipped along the four sides of the skin. Glue is then applied to the body frame and the skin still with all the pegs attached are placed over the body frame. The body is placed on the stretching platform and the skin is gradually tightened using cords wound to each peg whilst checking the sound by tapping on the skin using a mojiribō stick. Once the skin is stretched and dried, excess skin is then trimmed off. After that comes the stringing. The assembled shamisen is thoroughly checked for all angles. Finally, the bridge is attached and the strings are each tuned to the required note.
The bridge attachment of shamisen (2021-05-15) by photo:Sinya MaezakiKyoto Women's University, Lifestyle Design Laboratory
The tools
In general, there are dozens of different types of tools used in the 68 steps of making a shamisen, including chisels, planes and files. Today, shamisenare mostly made by different craftspeople depending on the parts. We will take a look at the tools used by Tomofumi Nonaka who is in charge of making the neck.
Planes
The planes used by shamisen makers differ slightly from those used by carpenters. Foreign wood such as mahogany is much harder than wood produced in Japan. Let’s take a look at the two types of planes Mr. Nonaka uses.
Tachi-kanna and sakadachi-kanna planes
The tachi-kanna is a scraper plane used to shape the neck. The word ‘tachi’ literally means ‘standing up’ and the name of the plane comes from the fact that the blade is set to a 90-degree angle, which is different from normal planes. This angle is necessary in order to prevent chipping of the blade, something that is common with normal planes when planing hard wood. The sakadachi-kanna, on the other hand, is a plane mainly used for the final finish. ‘Saka’ means ‘the other way round’ and the plane is so called because the blade is set to the opposite angle of blades found in planes used in carpentry and other purposes. The sakadachi-kanna plane gets rid of any fuzzy grain and leaves the wood surface smooth.
Toishi (whetstone)
A whetstone is an essential tool in the shamisen-making process, used to polish the surface of the wood. From left to right, they are called Aoto, Nakato and Shiageto. These three types of grinding wheels are divided according to the "grain size", which is defined by the size of the "abrasive grains" contained in the wheel. The smaller the grain size, the rougher it is, and the larger the grain size, the finer it is, with Aoto being the smallest grain size and Shiageto being the largest. Thus, Aoto is therefore used as a medium polish after filing. Also, Nakato and Shiageto are used for final finishing and polishing.
Polishing with a Toishi(whetstone), shamisen (2021-05-15) by Photo:Shinya MaezakiKyoto Women's University, Lifestyle Design Laboratory
Polishing with Aoto is used to remove scratches and polish the surface of the neck.
Repairing a shamisen
Today, shamisen workshops undertake many repair jobs. The repairing of a shamisen neck is called kanberi-naoshi. The word ‘kan’ comes from kandokoro or the areas touched by the player’s fingers which become worn overtime. As the kandokoro become worn and dented, the strings get pushed in and prevents adequate sound to be produced. For this reason, kanberi-naoshi is done regularly.
Kanberi-naoshi
Kanberi-naoshi is done by using a plane to thinly plane down the entire surface to a flat finish. The repair also includes the correction of the slight warp (shakure) in the neck deliberately created to allow easy play and to ensure better sounds. This warp can gradually become distorted as the shamisen ages and so it is necessary to fix the warp.
Traditions and innovations
Since being included as part of the compulsory music study at schools from around 2004, traditional Japanese instruments such as the shamisen have become familiar items to Japanese school children. In addition, these instruments have also been used by rock bands, as well as being incorporated into various music genres. As a versatile instrument that can adapt to the times, as well as different playing and music styles, the shamisen will no doubt continue to take on new musical styles in the future.
Information provided by:
Nonaka Satoshi
Text written by:
Ami Izawa, Yukino Kawakami, Mao Nakano, Kyoto Women's University
Photo by:
Dr Maezaki Shinya, Kyoto Women's University
English translation by: Eddy Y.L. Chang
Project Directors:
Dr. Maezaki Shinya, Kyoto Women's University
