Hello all!
Yes, unfortunately there’s been no change. I’m still waiting for a shamisen which was shipped in May. (I thought delivery would be faster to the west coast, but everywhere is slowed to a crawl.)
Japan has reopened EMS shipping to most countries in the EU and elsewhere, but the US is still cut off. It’s doubly worse now, as China is also cut from trade. Pretty much all shamisen accessories are made in China (by a Japanese company), and with trade/travel closed, suppliers in Japan are unable to fill their stock. So now with Japanese suppliers out of accessories, we’re only able to take pre-orders until trade resumes. 