Hello everyone. I received a beautiful minyo shamisen from Japan (bought at yahoo auctions). Very nice and beautiful kouki sao, but surprise, the sao is 5 cm shorter than my nagauta (53 cm from the kamigoma to the end of the fingerboard) and the total length of the shamisen is 90 cms . Who can tell me what I bought ? A shamisen for kids ? The dou is the normal size of a chuuzao and the itomaki too (even bigger). An idea ?
In his awesome thesis, Gerry gives the dimensions for a “shuutanzao” shamisen. Could it be mine ? Thanks.
Here we see both sizes. Could it be a “koshamisen” ?
Hmm. It could be one of the larger size Kokyu fiddles. If you don’t know, the Kokyu is a bowed Shamisen. Generally, they are very small, but there are a few larger ones out there. If this is a large Kokyu, you are lucky. They are very rare. Here’s a video of one: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ffvr7pHqzUQ
If it turns out to be one, quickly get a violin bow, rosin it, loosen the hair as much as you can, and bow the thing like an Erhu
Thanks for your answer David. A kokyu would have been fine, but I think it is not a kokyu. The kokyu has no sawari tani, no azuma sawari, and the kamigoma is totally different… The form of the hatomune is different too, and the nakagosaki is much longer… I think it is a shamisen, but… a strange sized shamisen…
Can you describe the timbre of the Shamisen? What is it most similar to?
A s I said in my first post, it’s a minyo shamisen. The sao is just 5 cm shorter…
I never actually heard what a Minyo shamisen sounds like before. I can’t find find any videos online. My best guess about the Shamisen is that the guy making must’ve made a mistake in measuring. Of course, this Shamisen is a unique in this case and you are lucky to have it. It could be serious bragging rights XD
Hi Patrick! I came across a shamisen just like that two weeks ago! I was in Arizona, and the person I stayed with bought a chuko minyo shamisen from Bachido which Nitta san had noted was shorter than the average shamisen. I believe it is the same style as what you have.
I played it for a while and must say the slightly shorter is really comfortable. For a normal shamisen, the stretch from ‘6’ to ‘9’ is far enough that I have to move my hand a bit to reach the ‘9’ position. Well, with the shorter scale, I can reach both positions without moving my hand! 
I would definitely prefer it over a full length sao.
Congratulations!
Thanks for your answers, David and Kyle.