There’s a small stringed guitar-like instrument that I’ve heard used for Japanese folk songs (and some pop songs). Does anybody know what it’s called?
I think the instrument you’re referring to is called a ‘biwa’. Here’s a link to some info that Google turned up:
http://www.bamboo-in.com/biwa.html
Aaron
Could be the samisen, too, though that’s more like a banjo than it is like a guitar. The samisen seems much more common, though.
You can see a bit about both at http://www.geocities.com/Area51/Zone/8307/AHTips3d.html#anchor2673294
It’s surprisingly hard to find a simple photograph of a samisen on the Web. I finally ran one down at http://www.nvva.nl/renekrul/catalogs/japan.girls.playing.koto.samisen.1517.jpg
There’s an Okinawan jamisen shown at http://www.teta.it/narada/Samisen.html although the site calls it a samisen. The jamisen uses snakeskin, like the Chinese sanxian, while the samisen uses white cat skin. (I bet Jerry’s Mouse would like to hear about that.)
Or it could look and sound like this:
http://www.eyeneer.com/World/Ea/Instruments/sanshin.html
and here, further dow the page:
http://home.att.net/~s.robertson/koto/
I maintain some resources for traditional instruments and music of Japan at the ITMS website at http://www.worldtrad.org , and links can be found under COUNTRY->JAPAN.
If you have any suggestions for webpages, I’d appreciate any submissions.
Kevin Krell
Like a banjo.
It’s definitely the shamisen. I guess it is more like a banjo than a guitar. Thanks.
Here is a small photo collection, from Kunitachi Collage, of Chinese and Japanese strings and woodwinds (among others) to bookmark for your files.
I had a go at playing one once when I was in Japan. I managed to knock a slow O’Carolan tune out of it (badly). When I finished the owner said to me “I see you have learned some traditional Okinawan music”! 
Not exactly an instrument for the animal lover, the (very large) plectrum was made of ivory and tortise shell and the vellum was of cat-skin. Fantastic sound, especially when heard in an ensemble with Kotos, Shakuhatchis and Junana-nens.
No argument with what others have said here…
The banjo like instrument is the samisen, very similar to the sanshin on Okinawa. Three strings, no frets.
The biwa is usually called a lute in English translation. I’m trying to remember if it’s fretted, and I can’t recall now.
I’m under the impression that the samisen/sanshin is considerably more popular. More players and heard in more types of music.
Other traditional Japanese instruments:
Shakuhachi, a notch end flute like a quenna. Various transverse flutes generic term is yokobue, more specific are nokan or ryuteki (I hope I’m getting these right, working from memory here). Koto, a 13 string zither. Sho, which I’ve never really understood - multiple reeds somehow. Various types of drums, blocks, and bells.
In my digging around on the Web, I ran across a nice little site on Chinese transverse flute that includes some sound files. The guy, Tim Liu, also sells the flutes and lessons.
http://www.2measures.com/diziprog.html
His flutes aren’t cheap–and they have a beautiful sound. I hope they hold up well. I brought several cheap ones from Taiwan, and they all split during their first winter in Texas. The same thing happened to guitars and wood carvings. I’ll never forget lying in bed at night and listening to the sounds of guitars cracking.
I have a book on erhu (two-string fiddle) that claims that the humidity on Taiwan is so high all year round that it’s impossible to cure wood (and, presumably, bamboo) to the point that this won’t happen. As a result of reading this, I had some furniture that I bought there treated with linseed oil before shipping it to Japan, and it has survived quite well.
Wasn’t that a Madonna song?
Kevin Krell