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May 21 2010 13 Comments

Shamisen sights and sounds

The outdoor playing of guitars, ukuleles and even wind instruments is all well and good, but from a foreign perspective at least, it’s far more fascinating to see something with a much more traditional form.

Like a shamisen for example. With its simple.

Listen!

Japanese shamisen

And yet strangely seductive.

Japanese shamisen

Sound.

Categorized: Culture, Music, Photography

Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. Brett says

    5/21/2010 at 5:52 pm

    You’ll have enough of these musician in a park pictures soon to make a full orchestra.

    Reply
    • Lee says

      5/22/2010 at 10:18 am

      Yeah, I’ve got a fair old collection now. Maybe I should even start a new blog dedicated to such shots, although variousjapanesepeopleplayingavarietyofinstrumentsinvariedplaces.com could be a little unwield.

      Reply
  2. MrSatyre says

    5/22/2010 at 12:58 am

    Saw a Chinese gentleman playing something very similar down at the Baltimore, Maryland, USA harbor a few summers ago. It was very pleasant to listen to, and he was very cheerful, too.

    Reply
    • Lee says

      5/22/2010 at 10:24 am

      Hearing more contemporary stuff played on the shamisen is interesting too. Makes for a very unique sound.

      Reply
  3. Lizzy says

    5/22/2010 at 3:02 am

    That’s a lot more upbeat sounding than I expected. ^_^ Sorry you got hacked, btw.

    Reply
    • Lee says

      5/22/2010 at 10:22 am

      Thanks Lizzy! Fortunately everything is back to normal now. Thanks to a very helpful guide, I was able to root out all the bad stuff.

      Reply
  4. Bekah says

    5/23/2010 at 3:02 am

    Reminds me of people here in Canada playing guitar outside of shops (but it’s usually for tips). Do you ever see people there playing for money? It doesn’t look like this guy is.

    Reply
    • Lee says

      5/23/2010 at 12:21 pm

      Now and again, but not very often at all really. Not sure why though.

      Reply
  5. KenC says

    5/24/2010 at 4:00 am

    Is that Sato-san the sensei from the shamisen shop at Suitengumae? (Not sure if his name is Sato but it fits the alliteration)

    Reply
    • Lee says

      5/24/2010 at 10:28 am

      Haha, excellent! Do you want to do the writing from now on, then I only have to take some pictures?

      Reply
      • KenC says

        5/24/2010 at 4:31 pm

        I don’t get the inspiration as often or as well as you do. There really is a shamisen shop near Suitengumae though.

        Reply
  6. David says

    5/24/2010 at 1:57 pm

    Cool shots (as usual ^^). Is that recording this guy playing? The notes being strummed there remind me of Okinawan music.

    Reply
    • Lee says

      5/24/2010 at 2:02 pm

      Thanks David. Yeah, the recording is of the old fella in the picture. It could well be Okinawan music, but unfortunately my knowledge of such stuff is so little that I can’t confirm it either way.

      Reply

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