Traditional Japanese musical instruments

Updated on Nov 26, 2024

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Traditional Japanese musical instruments are musical instruments used in the traditional and folk music of Japan. They comprise a range of string, wind, and percussion instruments.

Percussion

Hyōshigi (拍子木) — wooden or bamboo clappers

Mokugyo (木魚) — woodblock carved in the shape of a fish, struck with a wooden stick; often used in Buddhist chanting

Shōko (鉦鼓) — small bronze gong used in gagaku; struck with two horn beaters

Sasara (ささら) — clapper made from wooden slats connected by a rope or cord

Ita-sasara (板ささら) — clapper made from wooden slats connected by a rope or cord

Bin-sasara (編木, 板ささら; also spelled bin-zasara) — clapper made from wooden slats connected by a rope or cord

Kokiriko (筑子, こきりこ) — a pair of sticks which are beaten together slowly and rhythmically

Kagura suzu — hand-held bell tree with three tiers of pellet bells

Kane (鉦) — small flat gong

Shakubyoshi (also called shaku) — clapper made from a pair of flat wooden sticks

Taiko (太鼓), literally "great drum"

Den-den daiko (でんでん太鼓) — pellet drum, used as a children's toy

Kakko (羯鼓) — small drum used in gagaku

Ōtsuzumi (大鼓) — hand drum

Shime-daiko (締太鼓) — small drum played with sticks

Tsuzumi (鼓) — small hand drum

San-no-tsuzumi (三の鼓), hourglass-shaped double-headed drum; struck only on one side

Tsuri-daiko (釣太鼓) — drum on a stand with ornately painted head, played with a padded stick

Ikko — small, ornately decorated hourglass-shaped drum

sekkin - a lithophone either bowed or struck

Strings

Biwa a pear shaped lute

Gottan or hako-jamisen

Ichigenkin (kanji: 一絃琴) — monochord

Junanagen (十七絃) — 17-stringed koto

Koto (琴, 箏) — long zither

Kugo (箜篌) — an angled harp used in ancient times and recently revived

Shamisen (三味線) — A banjo-like lute with three strings, the shamisen was brought to Japan from China in the 16th century. Popular in Edo's pleasure districts, the shamisen was often used in Kabuki theater. Made from red sandalwood and ranging from 1.1 to 1.4 meters long, the shamisen has ivory pegs, strings made from twisted silk, and a belly covered in cat or dog skin. The strings, which are of different thickness, are plucked or struck with a tortoise shell pick.

Taishogoto (大正琴) — zither with metal strings and keys

Tonkori (トンコリ) — plucked instrument used by the Ainu of Hokkaidō

Yamatogoto (大和琴) — ancient long zither; also called wagon (和琴)

Bowed

Kokyū - bowed lute with three (or, more rarely, four) strings and a skin-covered body

Flutes

Japanese flutes are called fue (笛). There are eight traditional flutes, as well as more modern creations.

Hocchiku (法竹) — vertical bamboo flute

Nohkan (能管) — transverse bamboo flute used for noh theater

Ryūteki (龍笛) — transverse bamboo flute used for gagaku

Kagurabue (神楽笛) — transverse bamboo flute used for mi-kagura (御神楽,) Shinto ritual music)

Komabue (高麗笛) — transverse bamboo flute used for komagaku; similar to the ryūteki

Shakuhachi (尺八) — vertical bamboo flute used for Zen meditation

Shinobue (篠笛) — transverse folk bamboo flute

Tsuchibue (hiragana: つちぶえ; kanji: 土笛; literally "earthen flute") — globular flute made from clay

Bow flute (弓笛)- a flute developed by Ishida Nehito with bow hair on it to accompany the kokyū.

Reed Instruments

Hichiriki (篳篥) — double-reeded flute used in different kinds of music

Free reed mouth organs

Shō (笙) — 17-pipe mouth organ used for gagaku

U (竽) — large mouth organ

Horns

Horagai (法螺貝) — seashell horn; also called jinkai (陣貝)

Other

Mukkuri (ムックリ) — jaw harp used by the Ainu people

Koukin (口琴) — general name for the jaw harp, in Edo period also called Biyabon (びやぼん)

References

Traditional Japanese musical instruments Wikipedia

(Text) CC BY-SA

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