I’m kind of curious. Does anyone know anything about where the bekkou in shamisen products typically comes from? Tortoise shell products are banned in the U.S. because they typically come from what is now an endangered species. This isn’t a plea to save the turtles, I’m just curious as to whether or not these are being produced in a well controlled, sustainable way. Thanks.
Generally explained import and export banned, so before using the imported turtleshell before banned.I know the batcha artizan,asked him, now aquaclutured, but not good enough as batchi material.Ivory get cost higher, but bekkou cost higher compared to formerdays,I think some route to get it from abroad.I want better fake bekko and skin to make shamisen popular, I know the manufactuer,so I’m now asking.
Interesting! That’s exciting to hear that you are asking a bachi manufactuer about bekkouchou! 
The skin too! Actually, I ordered some Remo skin a while ago. When I get time, I am going to try putting it on a shamisen. I know Remo skin sounds really good on drums and banjo, so it may sound good on shamisen.
on my latest electric kankara I covered the small body with a piece of remo skin but it is too small a piece to actually judge its acoustic value
Ah, is that this one? - http://freecarvers.com/shamisen/signalsem.jpg. It might be a little small to judge, but did you notice anything about it, tone-wise?
I really need to try this out with a bigger piece or a whole little drum head and a koma actually sitting on the skin which is not the case as for this one . . . actually this one got no acoustic qualities at all but sounds like an e guitar when connected to the amp so there is really just a silly tock tock sound when I hit through to the skin that is not similar to the shamisen or appealing in any other way and the percussive sound got not even a wee bit of sustain . . . so I can (only) say that I am also very curious about the potential of using a larger piece of such skin on future creations . . .
I see. Well, I look forward to future updates.
Remo skin! Great Idea! I’ll ask the manufacturer!
This is interesting, I’ve been wondering why there aren’t synthetic alternatives that aren’t really comparable to the traditional materials, given access to modern technology. I guess it all comes down to demand. I’m hopeful for the future though.
Is anyone aware of the current methods of obtaining bekkou though?
Eric,
I’m pretty sure they are still taking sea turtles from the wild, which is troubling.
From what Toshi said, it sounds like they are raising them for bekko now, but that they still aren’t suitable for bachi. I asked a friend about 20 years ago why someone didn’t try farming them, and he said that it takes 50 years to get a sea turtle to the ideal size for bachi. That’s a long time if you are starting a business. Since they are endangered, it seems like cultivating them and using the profits to protect the species would be the way to go, and maybe that is starting to happen now.
That really is too bad. Probably going to be sticking with my artificial one for the foreseeable future. I’m kind of surprised there isn’t more discussion about this.
Yeah. It would really be nice to have a good, synthetic substitute. I mean, there’s no doubt that the technology has improved vastly in the recent years, and I wouldn’t be surprised if there was a super-strong and flexible plastic already available. The only problem is finding a company/party willing to put time and money into developing it for bachi.
I know that Masahiro is actively pursuing making a flexible synthetic bachi, though I haven’t seen results yet.
It’s inevitable at some point I think. Bekkou works for now because demand is relatively low as is outside attention, but as that changes it will become a more difficult practice to maintain. In a related question, do we know where the zouge used in shamisen accessories typically comes from?
Yeah, I would agree. It may even possible to make a change in that now (if the right material can be found), it’s just up to somebody (like us! :-P) to take the initiative. . . and then make it widely known.
I could be wrong, but I think zouge is a bit more legally safe, as there are several legal forms out there - SE Asian work elephants that die naturally, walrus tusk (apperantly much harder than elephant ivory, though I doubt used for koma) and fossilized mammoth tusk.
What?! We can’t go around making instruments out of fossilized mammoth tusk! We need that to clone the mammoths and bring them back from the dead!
The Russians are already working on a mammoth, so no need to worry about that. Not really worried about the ivory, just kind of curious what kind of teeth I might be playing. (when I get a zouge koma, that is)
Personally, I’m rooting for a teleporter.
Or at the very LEAST, a star trek style Combadge. I mean, come on! We’ve got smartphones! A Combadge shouldn’t be that hard.