三線

The instrument

The three strings, of silk or nylon, run from a skin-covered body up a wooden neck to tuning pegs called karakui. The body was traditionally covered with Burmese python skin. Trade rules now mean reticulated python is also used, and because natural skins can crack in dry or cold weather, synthetic skins are common too. Okinawans say the tone and value of a sanshin are decided by its neck, and necks of ebony (kokutan) are prized, those from Yaeyama most of all.

The traditional plectrum is made of water buffalo horn and worn on the index finger, though many players now use a guitar pick or a fingernail. Unlike the mainland shamisen, the sanshin is not struck on its body with the plectrum. Players choose among several tunings, called chindami, and read music from kunkunshi, a notation of Chinese characters for finger positions that dates from the eighteenth century and can only be read on the sanshin.

A short history

The sanshin descends from the sanxian of Fujian in southern China. It is believed to have reached the Ryukyu islands through trade, probably in the fifteenth century, and it developed its own character in Okinawa and the Amami islands. In the sixteenth century it reached Sakai, near Osaka, where it was transformed into the shamisen.

Under the Ryukyu Kingdom the sanshin became an instrument of the court. An official post for sanshin music was created in the early seventeenth century, and classical schools such as Tansui-ryū, Afuso-ryū and Nomura-ryū trace their lineage back to that court tradition. Families of the gentry treasured fine instruments, and some displayed them in the alcove of the house.

Folk songs grew up alongside the classical repertoire. They were sung at celebrations and at informal outdoor gatherings, and their words dealt with news, gossip and love. The Miyako and Yaeyama islands have folk traditions of their own; the min'yō page places them among the folk songs of Japan.

The sanshin is still found in most Okinawan homes and is played at weddings, birthdays and festivals by people of every age. In the 1990s it reached a national audience through popular songs, and in 2018 the Japanese government designated it a traditional craft.

Start with

The one sanshin recording on this page was made on Miyakojima in 2016. It is a chance to hear the instrument in the Miyako islands, whose folk song tradition is distinct from that of the main island.

Questions

What is a sanshin?

The sanshin is a three-string plucked lute from Okinawa, with a snakeskin-covered body. It is the main instrument of Ryukyuan classical and folk music.

What is the difference between the sanshin and the shamisen?

The sanshin is the older instrument and the ancestor of the shamisen, which developed from it in the sixteenth century. The sanshin has a shorter neck, is covered in snakeskin, and is played with a horn plectrum worn on the finger, which does not strike the body as the shamisen's plectrum does.

Why is the sanshin covered in snakeskin?

Python skin is the traditional covering, and fine snakeskin instruments were long treasured by Okinawan families. Because natural skins can crack in dry or cold climates and the trade in python is regulated, synthetic skins are now also common.

What is kunkunshi?

Kunkunshi is the traditional notation for the sanshin, dating from the eighteenth century. It uses Chinese characters to show finger positions and is read only on the sanshin.