Stringed instruments

The koto is a 13-stringed zither, played horizontally by plucking the strings with the thumb and fingers.
Popular among aristocrats, the koto was a romantic instrument in ancient Japanese literature. In the "Tale of Genji", Japan's first novel, Prince Genji falls in love with a woman he has never seen after hearing her exquisite koto playing. The novel was written by the authoress Murasaki Shikibu, who was an accomplished koto player herself.
The koto is a long, hollow instrument, made from Paulownia wood. The Paulownia Crest is the Imperial Crest of Japan, and the koto is the official national instrument. The shape of the koto is said to resemble a dragon; the names of parts of the koto correspond to various parts of the dragon. The player kneels at the right end of the instrument - at the head of the dragon - and plucks the strings with three picks, on the thumb, first and middle finger. Plucking can be done in a variety of styles to produce various ttimbres. The left hand is used for altering the sound: pressing down on a string on the left side of the bridge to change the pitch, or moving the strings to produce vibrato. The two hands work in close coordination with each other to produce each note.
Underneath the body are two sound holes, one at each end. The 13 strings - all of the same size and tension - are stretched over bridges and tied at each end of the body. They were once made from silk, but nowadays are more usually nylon. The movable bridges, called ji, lift the strings away from the koto so that they resonate when plucked. The position of each bridge along the string determines the pitch. During performance the bridges can also be moved for different tunings; each piece has its own tuning. But this allows for great flexibility: a wide variety of tunings can be created, from traditional Japanese pentatonic scales, to European classical scales and even improvised jazz tunings.

The shamisen is a 3-stringed banjo-like instrument, a relative of the sanshin of Okinawa which in turn derives from Chinese and Central Asian instruments.
It is similar in length to a guitar, but the neck is much slimmer and without frets. Its drum-like rounded rectangular body (the dō) is covered front and back with skin, like that of a banjo.
The three strings are traditionally made of silk, but nowadays are generally nylon. The lowest string passes over a small hump at the top end, producing a buzzing sound which is characteristic of the instrument.
In most genres the shamisen is played with a large leaf-shaped plectrum called a bachi, which was traditionally made of ivory or tortoiseshell but which now is usually of wood.
In kouta or "short song" pieces, (the style of song learned by geisha and maiko girls), the shamisen is plucked with the fingers.
The instrument can be played solo, with other shamisen, or in ensembles with other Japanese instruments. It is used with the singing of nagauta (long song) pieces which usually accompany Kabuki and Bunraku drama.
Tsugaru-jamisen is a modern genre of shamisen music originating in the Tsugaru area of Aomori, a prefecture in the northernmost area of the main island of Honshu. Nowadays it is performed throughout Japan. The genre is played on a large shamisen with a thicker neck and strings than those used for most other styles. The tsugaru-jamisen style is percussive (the plectrum strikes the body of the instrument on each stroke) and strongly rhythmical. The playing style is much less stiff than in traditional shamisen playing. Instruments with pick-ups like a electric guitar have even been made for this genre.

The biwa is a short-necked lute descended from the oud of the Middle East (which in Europe became the lute). Ever since the 7th century it has been used for playing gagaku, the Japanese classical music of the Imperial court. It was also used by blind monk entertainers or wandering minstrels known as biwa hoshi (lute priests). It is played seated, held almost vertical and plucked with a large plectrum (bachi).
The instrument used in classical gagaku music is the Gagaku biwa, with four strings and four frets. The plectrum is small and thin, and made from a hard material such as boxwood or ivory. It is not used to accompany singing.
There are two types of modern biwa:
The Chikuzen biwa, with four strings and four frets or five strings and five frets. Popularly used by female biwa players.
The Nishiki biwa, with five strings and five frets.
The biwa is the instrument of Benten, Goddess of music, eloquence, poetry, and education in Japanese Buddhism.

Flutes

The shakuhachi is the most famous of these, a bamboo flute played vertically like a recorder.
The name shaku (foot) hachi (eight) means "1.8 foot", from its standard length (around 55cm), but many sizes exist.
Shakuhachi are usually made from the root end of the bamboo, and are extremely versatile instruments. The player blows onto a sharp edge (utaguchi), and with skilful techniques, has great control over the pitch and timbre of the sound.
The five finger holes (four in front, one behind) are tuned to a pentatonic scale with no half-tones, but the player can bend each pitch as much as a whole tone or more. The finger holes may also be fully or partially covered. A skilful player can use this variable fingering, together with differences in breathing and blowing angle, to produce notes of the same pitch but with many differences in tone.
Japanese-made electronic keyboards sold in the West often come with "shakuhachi" as one of the preset sounds: this means that the breathy flute sound of the shakuhachi (or at least the synthesised version of it) has been used in tracks by many well-known artists such as Peter Gabriel, Sade and Enigma.

The shinobue or takebue is a high-pitched transverse flute which is often used in the nagauta music ensembles of the Kabuki theatre. It is also used to accompany Noh drama, Shinto music (kagura-den), and traditional Japanese folk songs.

Drums

Taiko are the many sorts and sizes of larger Japanese drum, struck with sticks (bachi).
The smaller sizes, (small shime-daiko) are used in the classical music of Noh and Kabuki drama.
Drumming is a particular attraction of many Japanese festivals: the heads of taiko are strung or fixed very tight, in order to counteract the slackening effect of the heat and humidity of summer when festival usually take place.
In recent years, taiko playing as an ensemble, or kumi-daiko, has developed. The showmanship, costume and physical energy of these performances add to the powerful rhythms of the big drums. The Kodo drummers, based on Sado Island, have toured the world, popularising this exciting spectacle.

Smaller-sized, hourglass-shaped drums are used in the ensembles for Noh and Kabuki: the ōtsutsuzumi is a medium-sized drum, hung at the hip. The smaller kotsuzumi is hung on the shoulder, played with the fingers, and the pitch varied by squeezing the tensioning strings.

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