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About Okinawan Musical Instruments, Except Okinawa Sanshin

Jan 15, 2022

The sanshin is one of Okinawa's most popular folk instruments.
The sanshin is a standard instrument that "accompanies" Okinawan folk songs and pop music with its warm sound, but the sanshin is not the only instrument that accompanies Okinawan folk music.
There are also eisa drums and Ryukyu koto (Okinawan zither).

In this article, we will take a deeper look at instruments other than the Okinawan sanshin used in Okinawan music.


◆Eisa drums.

In Okinawa, there is an ancestral memorial service called eisa.
It is named "eisa" because people parade around the town during the Bon Festival, shouting "eisa, eisa" as they go.

There are three types of drums (o-daiko, eisa shime-daiko, and parrank) used in eisa.

There are three types of drums: the o-daiko (uffudeikoo) with a diameter of 50 cm, the shimeidaiko (shimeideikoo) with a diameter of 30 cm, and the parranku with a diameter of 20 cm, and they are danced with these drums.


◆Ryukyu Koto
The Ryukyu koto (so = koto) is used as an accompaniment instrument for Okinawan folk songs. The body of the instrument is the same as that of the Yamada and Ikuta schools on the mainland, but the tension of the strings and the claws are different.
The strings are strung loosely, and the rounded claws, which have no corners, produce a soft sound.
This style was not developed as Okinawan music, but rather is a older style of koto than the Yamada and Ikuta styles on the mainland.


◆Kucho (kokyu)
It is read as "kucho", not "kokyu".

It is a stringed instrument with three or four strings.
It is unique in that the bow is fixed in position and the body of the instrument is moved to make the sound.

Also, unlike the violin, the bow used is very flexed.


◆Summary.

How was it?
There are many other instruments unique to Okinawan music.

You can learn Okinawan music from anywhere in Japan with the online music lesson Lesson Grid.

If you are interested, please apply for a trial lesson.
We are looking forward to seeing you.

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