随筆 Zuihitsu
Hobby & Creativity
Music, art and the traditional crafts of Japan.
The Shamisen: How Three Strings Tell Japan's Stories
The shamisen is a three-stringed Japanese lute with no frets, played with a large plectrum called a bachi. Where it came from, why it buzzes, the three main types — and why its sound still cuts through the noise of modern life.
Japanese Music for Meditation and Focus: Koto, Shakuhachi and Shamisen
Instrumental music without lyrics is the easiest way I know to calm the mind. Traditional Japanese instruments — the koto, the shakuhachi flute and the shamisen — are made for it. Which one suits meditation, which suits studying, and the one-hour koto recording I keep coming back to.
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